Water: the final
Guardian
Water, also known as H2O, is amazing. Covering 70% of our
planet’s surface it is one of the most common substances in the world, but at
the same time it can in many ways be considered as our most valuable resource. Its' many unique properties carry limitless potential,
allowing the substance to work as a crucial participant in many natural
processes. Life as we know it would be unimaginable without it. Nevertheless, many
take this resource for granted. They are unaware that their casual actions can
have long-term, or even permanent destructive consequences affecting natural
processes that keep our planet stable. The problem of redundant consumption is
a perfect example. While it is literally frowned upon by many in our society,
it is gradually consuming our planet, becoming a greater problem for each day
that passes by. I think the lack of attention towards these problems is
questionable. I wish to elaborate on some of these problems and their possible
outcomes.
With the increasing amounts of
pollution, the Earth’s average temperature is rising. This is demolishing
several natural processes that are fundamental in supporting the planet’s
stability. On each of these fields, water is fighting as our final guardian, the
last barrier separating Earth from its demise.
One of these
battlefields is located in the tundra of Siberia. Throughout the ages, thousands of tons of
methane have been stored within the permafrost. The methane has been trapped in
there due to similar circumstances as oil and other gas instances; the tedious
decomposition of organic materials. Storages like these are naturally made in
order to get rid of excess materials that do not have a place in our planet’s
current state. The methane is not meant to be released, as it was stored to
relieve stress from the atmosphere. However, the continuous increase in
temperature is threatening the permafrost of the Siberian tundra to melt. Being
the most powerful greenhouse gas, the methane release would result in
devastating consequences to our atmosphere, and cause a massive snowball
effect: from gradually increasing the greenhouse effect with our more “casual” carbon
dioxide emissions, we would suddenly have multiplied it several times from the
massive methane release. Worst case scenario: the average temperature could
raise high enough to make the planet uninhabitable.
The other
battlefield is located on our planet’s poles, and it revolves around water
melting as well. We are already seeing decreases in the average ice volume in
glaciers. This is caused by global warming, which is making the polar climate
warmer. Shards of these glaciers, also known as ice bergs, are continuously
breaking off, sailing away into the ocean. These ice bergs eventually melt into
liquid water, water which does not belong in the ocean. If the glaciers melt
completely, which is not unlikely given the mentioned circumstances above, it
is estimated that several countries will be flooded as a result of the water level
increase. Additionally, the water stored in the glaciers is fresh, and the
amount could possibly be enough to disturb the balance of salt and fresh water
in the ocean. If the disturbance is strong enough, it might permanently cancel
the natural production of several different water currents. The Gulf Stream is
especially relevant to us Norwegians, being a source of heat that is vital to
maintaining our relatively mild climate, despite us being located in short
proximity to the North Pole. Interrupting it is estimated to remove all seasons
except winter in Norway and other afflicted countries.
As mentioned, we are constantly
contributing to a reduced state of the world through excessive consumption. We
are practicing an unsustainable development, placing our current “needs” before
the world’s. I believe the problem lies here, in our mentality. Excluding
people that are living obliviously to the world’s environmental state, the
mentality of always wanting to please our current needs is far too common. This
way we are slowly pushing our planet towards desolation. At the same time, this
cannot be solved by individuals changing their lifestyle alone. In order to
create a noticeable impact, measures on a collective scale are required. This
introduces another problem. People are required to reduce the quality of their
lifestyles in order to contribute to a change that will only be possible if a
huge number of people participate. Logically speaking, a single person’s
contribution is therefore very insignificant, making mentalities like “Nobody
will notice if I hold on to my redundant consumption” easy to assume.
Furthermore, people will think about this and ask themselves why they should
reduce their lifestyle when their fellow commoners are not?
As you can see, we are facing problems
that have the potential of making devastating changes to the planet. At the
same time it seems like we are pretending the problem is not there, or that it
will eventually be solved by itself. We are currently in need of a solution,
but it is not an easy task to drastically influence the minds of so many
people. Water is our final guardian,
fighting valiantly for us to see another day. At the same time, we choose to
ignore these problems, and wait obliviously for our demise instead. Our current
average consumption is not even close to supporting a sustainable development,
and at this rate we might have to face the destructive consequences. This is
terrible enough in itself, but even worse is that we, who are causing the
world’s destruction, are not even aware of it.
