Climate Change in my Backyard (2b)

Environment   Oct 10, 2016 by Jordan Rose PSHS

As part of this activity, I elected to view 3 artworks provided by Canadian participants. The three submissions I reflected upon can be found here:

Balance On Earth (Harem)

Canada's Disappearing Water Supply (Katrina Finnigan)

The Daily Journey (Rachel Zewde)

These three participants each provided an insightful and skilful representation of their perspective on climate change and its effects. I was especially intrigued by Balance on Earth, which contained a strong message. This image depicted a scale, with one side supporting the natural growth or the Earth, whilst the other side held up the industrialised aspect of our planet. The idea behind this piece is not to try and diminish any of these sides, as each one plays a key role in the survival and progression of our species. It is instead important to realise that we as human's have the ability and a responsibility to maintain an equality of these. If one side is to overtake the other, our species would fail to flourish and we would surely fall under our own inability to sustain ourselves.

Living in Australia, I can appreciate the relevance of maintaining a balance between these two aspects. I personally live a very technologically-dependent life, and in terms of carbon emissions mine are quite high. It is my responsibility to realise that this, although having a minimal effect on me personally right now, will eventually lead to complications towards my livelihood in future. I decided to see how climate change is projected to influence my own community, and was shocked to find that by 2100 it is believed that a large number of inner Townsville homes (upwards of 3000) will be at risk of severe flooding. This would occur due to a natural response to increased temperatures, which would drive sea water onto land on a previously unseen scale for my area, causing severe damage to unprepared property and a potential hazard to life. Furthermore, any supposed solutions are unrealistically expensive or have extremely limited effects. Through this it is clear that the only plausible solution is to prevent the emissions that would cause the problem, rather than try to fight against the insurmountable forces of nature.

Rising sea levels, drought, famine, pollution. These disasters of human negligence have near no perceived effect on me, and yet in truth they are all more prevalent than ever before. Every person from every corner of the globe needs to realise that no matter their lifestyle or location, they are not safe from their own impact on the environment. Even now, many are left without water, or food, or clean air. Through unsustainable actions, we must reach sustainable ends, or face extinction at our own hands.

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