On the future of our planet

They say that if you put a frog into boiling water, it’ll jump out and save itself.

But, if you put a frog into cold water, and slowly heat it up until the water’s bubbling, the frog will stay in there. And boil alive.

Earlier this week, the UN released a report stating that, as it stands, there’s no pathway for us to keep global temperature rise below 1.5°C. It’s literally impossible.

Our only hope now is a complete, radical, and quick societal reform.

We were warned. Over, and over, and over. We even signed International treaties, promising that we would curb our emissions and ensure that the world we live in stays, well, liveable.

And yet, here we are.

At present, the world we’re living in is around 1°C hotter than it should be, thanks to our actions. The consequences of that are killing us.

Hurricane Ian decimated Florida and became the most lethal hurricane in the state’s history. Researchers found that, unsurprisingly, climate change made it much, much deadlier than it needed to be.

A heatwave in India and Pakistan resulted in around two months of continuous 40°C heat and the loss of at least 90 lives.

Even the UK, famous for its rainy, miserable weather, managed to reach 40°C this summer.

As I type this, Storm Nalgae is devastating the South Philippines, with mudslides and flooding engulfing entire villages and cutting an untold number of lives short.

And that was all this year. With 1°C of global warming.

If you’re lucky — and by lucky, I mean probably from the West, privileged, relatively comfortable, and crucially, sheltered from the worst impacts of climate change, you might not even notice how the earth is crumbling around us. Stick your head in the sand, stay in the pot, and pretend it’s not happening.

Of course, if you wanted, you could find out what’s happening. If you’re privileged enough to be in charge of what path society takes, then god I hope you do.

In fact, at this point, I’d say it’s pretty impossible not to know what’s going on. It’s everywhere, in every newspaper, on every channel, in every book, and referenced in every TV show. Ignorance is no longer a sufficient excuse.

So why then, do we find ourselves in this position? Refusing to change, while the natural world falls apart around us?

I don’t believe we’re stupid enough to think we’re above it all. That without a healthy planet, humanity can carry on prospering. Carry on as we are now.

When I think about the future, I’m not sure what’s in store for us. But I know that it won’t look like it does now. That the way we’re leading our lives won’t follow us there. It can’t. We’ve depleted all our resources. Soon enough, there’ll be nothing left to take with us.

If we carry on as we are, there will come a point when the fate of humanity is called into question. We’re called into question. Our lives, families, friends, favourite foods and hobbies, our bad habits and the good ones, our futures, Jesus our entire way of life, are all becoming increasingly uncertain. And I’m scared.

Because the future we’re currently paving doesn’t leave much room for us. It doesn’t leave room for a hospitable planet. The picture we’re painting, is one of quite frankly, annihilation.

We’re the frog in the pot. And the water is getting hot.

Will we jump?

Move forward to Society 2.0 and leave fossil fuels behind?

Or will we literally boil alive?

You choose.