Movin on with Nellie: Today peace faces a new danger: the climate emergency —Guterres

Mother Earth’s defrosting glaciers, fuming fires, and crumbling crops point out the growing peril to peace on earth. 

I mean, as the glaciers melt, the ocean levels rise on the coasts. Rising seas compel and shift people off their property and out of their homes.  Taking out the canopy of the Amazon also displaces many life-saving plants and precious animals. As stress is internalized, angst increases throughout society and psyches as their basic needs of shelter, food, family are threatened. Peace is challenged. So, everyone can see how home-grown terrorists can topple steeples and towers.

As fires eat square spaces, habitat builders are thrown into conflict with nature and with each other.   We see this pitting between the lumber industry and the environmentalists.  We see it between Republican and Democrat platforms. And between the haves and have nots. We are challenged to understand when we see the argument between the upper one percent and the other ninety-nine percent. We saw it last week when the five-million-dollar toilet (artwork) was lifted from Blenheim Palace.  Iran attacked Saudi Arabia’s oil fields this week—another conflict manifesting between peoples.

Climate change is melting the poles and causing sperm, belugas, blue whales and other ocean life to reprogram their migratory behaviors, just as some of the Sand Hill Cranes have altered their trek.  CBS This Morning reported yesterday morning that billions of birds are missing according to a study published by the Journal of Science. The numbers of other wildlife are dwindling, too.  More species fall onto the endangered list every year and some fall off as extinct.

Sometimes the hottest spot is in Williston, North Dakota; and the coldest spot is in Alamosa. The climate seems topsy-turvy. The Bugs like Texas cock-roaches hitch rides and survive through winters now in Colorado, too. Hurricanes and tropical storms pack more wind, water and tornados than ever before.  Some talk says that a polar shift will happen eventually.

Yesterday, students across the world walked out of classes to call leaders to stand up for Mother Nature and to stop the corrosive carbon uses and drilling fossil fuels. We need to stand up for peace on Mother Earth. I’m of the mind that we need more uses of solar and wind energies, renewable energies and to leave the fossil fuel alone.  Let mother earth live instead of being gutted and deflated as she swings around the sun. 

NASA, Space X and other private explorers and entrepreneurs are salvaging the rich for off planet living in orbit or on Mars.  Don’t they already know that Mom Terra is dying and will not always support life? These space programs are making technological changes to take select few off the planet—although they are masking the program as human exploration.

Wait, what can we do if we can’t physically join protests?  Sign petitions that matter; write government representatives and leaders. Recycle aluminum, glass, and paper.  STOP USING PLASTIC. Shop with reusable bags. Use an aluminum thermos instead of plastic bottled water. Use less gasoline, carpool, walk, bike, or use an electric vehicle. We can change light bulbs to LED lights to save energy. We can conserve energy and species.

We can take UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s lead: “Today peace faces a new danger: the climate emergency, which threatens our security, our livelihoods and our lives. That is why it is the focus of this year’s International Day of Peace. . .”

We can build peace through gentle living on the earth.

Nelda Curtiss is a former substance-prevention media specialist, journalist, and retired college professor who enjoys writing and fine arts. Contact her at [email protected]