Why should we care about Polar Bears?
I remember someone said to me "...the Polar Bears are dying? WHO THE HELL CARES?" It's understandable that some people think the loss of the polar bears will have no effect on us. They're just animals thousands of miles to the north that are of no consequence whether or not they survive the next few decades. Their cubs are cute and they make great stuffed animal toys...
At that time that statement was made to me (I don't remember who said it), I almost agreed. The Polar Bears die off and it's not like my day would change. They aren't part of any intricate web of life in our own ecosystem. Their deaths won't affect the value of the dollar, my capacity to pay future mortgages, nor the amount of money I have to pay at the gas pump. Life goes on regardless of their demise.
Should we care because we share this planet and we have a responsibility? That's an ethical question that we all have to ask ourselves. However, I think the reason we should care whether or not the Polar Bears survive the next few decades comes at me within an analogy my professor gave to my class.
Miners working in deep coal mines bring canary birds in with them. As you all recall, if the canary dies, it means there there is a dangerous level of CO2 and is an indicator for the miners to leave. Well perhaps the Polar Bears are acting like canary birds. Them dying off is an indicator to us that there is something terribly wrong. The concentration of CO2 and the amount of warming occurring in the atmosphere is unequivocal to recent history. The biggest problem projected now is that emission of CO2 is continuing to increase.
We are essentially an obese person that should be eating less, but instead eating even more. Given the multitude of factors including industrializing countries, population growth, and rising demands for raw resources, we're not just digging our own graves but the some 20-30% of the planet's animal and plant life.
I'm taking a course on climate change and society and everything I'm learning is worrisome.
At that time that statement was made to me (I don't remember who said it), I almost agreed. The Polar Bears die off and it's not like my day would change. They aren't part of any intricate web of life in our own ecosystem. Their deaths won't affect the value of the dollar, my capacity to pay future mortgages, nor the amount of money I have to pay at the gas pump. Life goes on regardless of their demise.
Should we care because we share this planet and we have a responsibility? That's an ethical question that we all have to ask ourselves. However, I think the reason we should care whether or not the Polar Bears survive the next few decades comes at me within an analogy my professor gave to my class.
Miners working in deep coal mines bring canary birds in with them. As you all recall, if the canary dies, it means there there is a dangerous level of CO2 and is an indicator for the miners to leave. Well perhaps the Polar Bears are acting like canary birds. Them dying off is an indicator to us that there is something terribly wrong. The concentration of CO2 and the amount of warming occurring in the atmosphere is unequivocal to recent history. The biggest problem projected now is that emission of CO2 is continuing to increase.
We are essentially an obese person that should be eating less, but instead eating even more. Given the multitude of factors including industrializing countries, population growth, and rising demands for raw resources, we're not just digging our own graves but the some 20-30% of the planet's animal and plant life.
I'm taking a course on climate change and society and everything I'm learning is worrisome.