An Honest Letter to Humanity
By: Melina Farahmand
Founder of Past Present Future Co.
Author— From Dust to Breath: Finding Our Place in the Circle of Life
Executive Director of Guardians of Our Democracy.
Dear Humanity,
I’m a young environmental activist who is a current student studying environmental science, and this is an SOS. The current state of our planet is in utter chaos, and we have done very little to try and address our greatest existential threat: climate change. Please have a seat at the table, and let’s discuss this. Since the industrial revolution, we have seen an upward trend in greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere, contributing to the global increase in the earth’s surface temperature. This increase has proven incredibly dangerous to not just the environment but to humanity itself. I won’t bore you with too much of the science behind the phenomena of global warming and climate change, respectively, but we need to have a serious conversation about how dangerous this threat is and what we can do to try and fix it.
The reality is that we have failed our planet, and as its custodians and caretakers, we have a moral obligation to ensure its survival for the next generation. The wise Native American Proverb states, “We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.” Many believe we should leave things as we found them for our children to have. I think we should leave things better than when we first found and inherited them. As I said, we have failed at this. Multiple generations have failed, but we can and must be better. The gravity of this situation is one we shouldn’t downplay as “crazy environmental alarmists.”
There is extensive scientific proof of this phenomena’s ability to change almost everything in our earth’s natural cycles. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, also known as the IPCC, the worlds leading research group on the climate crisis, reported in 2022 that “Human-induced global warming has already caused multiple observed changes in the climate system (high confidence)” (IPCC, 6th Report). Many regions are experiencing delayed or changing seasonal patterns and dealing with intensified weather (fires, floods, snow, etc.). Species are going extinct at high rates every day, and one of the reasons for this is that their ecosystems have changed so much that they can no longer adapt to them. Glacial melting continues to be a massive threat to our global temperatures and current patterns. Our jet streams are becoming weaker, and there is only so much change the planet can handle to its natural systems. We know that “Any increase in global temperature (e.g., +0.5°C) is projected to affect human health, with primarily negative consequences (high confidence). Lower risks are projected at 1.5°C than at 2°C for heat-related morbidity and mortality (very high confidence), and for ozone-related mortality if emissions needed for ozone formation remain high (high confidence)” (IPCC, 6th Report). The bottom line is that the proof is there; we need to acknowledge it.
To the politicians and leaders of the United States, at what point are we going to say ‘enough is enough?’ Young environmentalists keep pushing for solutions, and scientists have sounded the alarm for decades, all while our government officials and many of our fellow citizens choose to ignore or deny the situation. The next generation will inherit this planet and they deserve something better than what we are leaving them with. When children are missing school so they can protest in the streets, we need to listen. Young people are the future, and we deserve a seat at the table, so we, too, have a say in our futures. We understand what’s at stake because we’ve witnessed catastrophes when the government and our leaders have not been proactive. Many countries are trying to make efforts, but we need everyone at all levels of government to get involved. The issue we are seeing is that there is too much lobbying engaged in our politics, corrupting an already unstable system and encouraging many politicians to deny the existence of climate change and not to do anything to preserve the environment. The United States, in particular, needs a major overhaul not just with its policies and practices but also with its education system. I firmly believe that we need to implement climate courses in all K-12 schools. We are failing to be proactive by only allowing exposure to these issues by younger adults through social media platforms. We need our education system to teach them the facts so they can be better-equipped learners who can make a difference from the first day. Education is vital in any society and is just one tool to help better educate our young people.
To my fellow young environmentalists, this part is for you. Continue to fight for a healthy planet. Push the adults in your life to vote for green public servants who want to see a change in how we treat our Earth. Sign petitions and get your friends and family involved too. Please don’t give up hope that we can have a better future for everyone. Hope keeps the flames alive, and we desperately need hope in activism. Most importantly, please don’t ever stop fighting to protect our home. As the next generation of custodians, we need to push for legislation like the Green New Deal and fight to preserve existing legislation such as the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts. We are the change we seek, and I can only hope that others start to listen to our voices and not dismiss our concerns.
To the every day citizens and adults at this table, I hope you will also take the initiative. There is so much we can all do on an individual level, but we need to push for change at the highest levels of society to reach results and save our planet.
Sincerely,
A Young Environmentalist and Concerned Human Being
