The condition of the environment in the world is not going to get better but worse. The article, “The Collapse of Western Civilization: A View from the Future,” by Naomi Orestes and Erik Conway, delivers a sad but truthful message to the readers. I agree with Orestes’ and Conway’s view on the future of Western Civilization, which they claim that the Penumbra falls today and will continue to fall for years, decades, and even centuries to come. Unfortunately, not only the future of Western Civilization is going to face disaster after disasters, but all civilizations are going to fall politically, economically, and environmentally. Even though the government was to take actions to cease global warming, but darkness will continue to fall over people and the world. Unfortunately, the world we live in is dying faster than ever because nobody wants to take responsibility and act upon what they knew about their own environment.
Through the lens of the scientists, we see that the cost to fix the problem of climate change and global warming is “nearly all costs” (45). Surprisingly, from 1751 to 2012, 365 billion tons of carbon had been emitted into the atmosphere (45). Orestes and Conway states that more than half of these emissions occurred after the mid-1970s; total carbon dioxide emission increased by 38% between 1992 and 2012 (45). These staggering facts rise up a question: who releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere? According to Orestes and Conway, wealthy nations have the most amount of carbon dioxide emissions because they increased their production of fossil fuels. Unfortunately, the wealthiest nations do the most damage to the environment. Since the most wealthy countries have the most power in the world, who can tell them what to do? If the wealthy countries stop and begin to address the issue of climate change and global warming, soon the developing countries will take over their place. Therefore, developed countries and developing countries will continue to produce whatever they need to maintain or gain power even if it means to risk individuals’ health.
Government does play an important role in environment issues, but they are not going to help the people to produce a better and healthier environment. It does not matter what kind of government we have, every single government is going to seek power and wealth. Thus, the issue of climate change and global warming seems to be life threatening, but it will never be on the government’s priority list. If government decide to solve the problem of global warming and climate change, they are not able to solve the problem because the problem is inevitable.
If we look at the world through the lens of a historian, we know that the environment of the world did not get better but worse. For specifically, the issue of global warming and climate change are great examples to demonstrate the environment in the world in a historical perspective. We know that carbon dioxide and water vapor absorb heat in the planetary atmosphere (41). Since the scientists discovery of carbon dioxide to the late 1980s, “concentration of carbon dioxide another greenhouse gases were having discernible effects on planetary climate, ocean chemistry, and biological systems, threatening grave consequences” (41). Merely, 20 years or so since scientists discovered carbon dioxide, the world is in threat of high concentration of carbon dioxide. According to Oreskes’ and Conway’s article, climate change was intensified in 2010. As a result of climate change, 50,000 people in Russia were killed and over $15 billion were in damages. In 2012, a massive flood affected the lives of more than 250,000 people in Australia (42). In addition, the “year without a winter” hits the United States in 2012. Due to the drought, it takes away 500,000 lives worldwide and costs $500 billion in losses due to fires, crop failure, and the death of livestock and companion animals (43). Through the lens of a historian, we see one disaster causes after a greater disaster. Disaster does not cease to occur since the existence of mankind.
Through the perspective of historians and scientists, the issue of climate change and global warming are bad and are continuing to get worse. Although there are people who take responsibility and actions on what they knew about the environment, the world is still heading the direction of death because of the Second Law of Thermodynamics, which states that the quality of matters and energy become progressively worse over time.