Sundried Hope On Planet Earth

Aren’t human beings in an environmental dilemma? As absurd as it sounds — Over the years we have witnessed a gradual variation in the form of protests. The government and society have been accustomed to hunger strikes, sit-down strikes, general strikes, economic strikes, etc.

There has also been an unfolding of violence during such movements whether the protests have taken place to meet the demands or needs of railway unions, farm unions or so on. This has led to the advent of a peculiar cycle in human minds.For a long period of time, environmental activists have adopted various forms of protests. Though it has become unusually challenging for them to garner alertness from people toward their demands, speeches, or awareness put forth.

The sense of urgency from climate activists’ end comes from the apparent lack of responsibility taken by the government. These activists don’t just face the issue of being unheard but also how blatantly science and academics are ignored. The nature of the decisions taken up by the government is expected to signify responsibility and commitment toward the environment.

"Climate Activists Throw Soup on Vincent Van Gogh’s ‘Sunflowers’ to Protest Fossil Fuels"

“What is worth more — art or life? Is it worth more than food? Worth more than justice? Are you more concerned about the protection of a painting, or the protection of our planet and people? The cost of living crisis is part of the cost of oil crisis. Fuel is unaffordable to millions of cold, hungry families. They can’t even afford to heat a tin of soup.”

When one of the climate activists who was a part of this incident was approached, claimed that there was minimal damage made to the frame and the painting wasn’t in jeopardy. The harm to a renowned painter’s artwork from history was done to spark a conversation in people. This wasn’t done with the intention of promoting the splashing of soup on paintings.

Is it only controversy that can leave people talking about the crucial climate crisis?

Are the mundane movements or protests even going to work anymore?

Has attention-seeking violation and vandalism left as the only option to convey the seriousness of the climate situation?

“Supporters of Animal Rebellion want farmers to forge a plant-based future”

Another destruction-based protest was to convince the government to support the farmers and fishing communities in a plant-based transition. The protesters resonated the act with the argument that animal agriculture is a leading cause of the climate crisis and that transitioning to a plant-based food system can fix problems concerning the land.

What this really leads to is the segregation of people in terms of their eating habits. Forming a vandalism-driven protest at the parliament isn’t going to make people turn to the path of veganism.It can start conversations. The escalation of protests to gather the attention of the media on the subject has been successful. Though the manner of raising concerns isn’t going to persuade people and result in a mutual alignment of interests.The blatant and disruptive protests with a lack of undue consideration of the well-being of other people are just going to cause harm to the purpose of the cause. The roadblocks have made it harder for ambulances as well to move — in order to solve the crisis can we forget humanity?

Let’s try to understand the psyche of the younger generation for a few minutes. From a young age when elders make their kids equipped enough to tackle the worst of situations and instill valued lessons in them.There exist some contradictory chords, elders working their best to provide their kids with the best of opportunities. Though what about the future? Working in companies that result in an increase in greenhouse gas emissions, is that going to keep their kid’s kids health at its finest?

'I care about Climate Change but my dad works in the oil industry'- BBC News

One person avoiding the opportunity to work in the oil industry isn’t going to make the planet a better place. Someone else might hop on to the opportunity. Fair point. Although the kids see their parents through a reflective lens, whatever they observe, tends to somehow either get engraved in them or leave an impact.At the same time, all that comes into the picture for a vast majority of the population is the system of industries. The oil and gas industry does manage to provide energy needs as well as jobs.

No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference, a book by Greta Thunberg

On Aug 20, 2018, Greta Thunberg’s initiation of a school strike led to a global movement that shook the government and people across nations. The younger generation is often exposed to the perspective of first working toward an authoritative position and then leaning to take serious measures towards any gruesome issues.

The 15-year-old Swedish girl started her protest with the motto of exerting pressure on the Swedish Parliament to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This strike received many comments such as the students should be in the school rather than embarking on a strike. Some people also said that she should be studying in school to become a climate scientist and be in a position to solve the climate crisis.

Greta mentioned that the crisis has already been solved, and we have the relevant data and facts as well as the solutions. The problem arises when people are being ignorant about the scientific information which has been provided by environmental bodies and scientists. The only responsibility of humans is to wake up to this information and change the way of living. She expresses that in her eyes when it comes to survival, there are no grey areas.

“And when I say that I want you to panic, I mean that we need to treat the crisis as a crisis. When your house is on fire you don’t sit down and talk about how nice you can rebuild it once you put out the fire. If your house is on fire you run outside and make sure that everyone is out while you call the fire department. That requires some level of panic.”

She emphasizes a lot of the time that has passed by and so much little time that we have in hand, it’s either now or never. Greta expresses her concern for her and the future generation who have to live through the climate crisis.The responsible professional people aren’t taking this into account as well as the parents of the young children. There is always a choice and right to act and voice up their disapproval toward the treatment of the house where the gigantic population of 788.84 crores lives and breathes.

Greta also suggested in order to keep future generations safe from climate breakdown, it will require us to adopt cathedral thinking. When humans are on strike for sake of any direct interests such as demanding increased wages or improved treatment and equality, humans are obliged with the privilege and the option to voice out their interests and complaints. — What about nature?

When it comes to a meltdown in terms of finance-related affairs, the headlines would be flashing on every news channel. A drop down with respect to wealth when the country goes through a recession or economic slowdown leaves people thinking.

While the term “Climate crisis” has led to the emergence of psyching numbing. The more news we hear about the climate condition, exploitation of fossil fuel resources, and oil crisis, the more indifferent we tend to grow toward these news pieces. Climate activists have been in a perplexing situation in order to depict the nature of the emergency and take the path of attention-grabbing methods in today’s fast-paced world. Greta hints towards the same in the last line of the book.

"I hope my microphone was on. I hope you all could hear me."