An Apathetic View

People have a lot of opinions on the state of the world. Some are positive, but most are bleak. I’m young, and I am aware that I do not know everything about the world. I have seen good, and I have seen bad. But I am only one person out of the 7.53 billion people who call this planet home. So I’m choosing to dwell on the facts, the few things I know about the world that are true.

Fact: The sea level has risen 7 inches since 1900. This is because our atmosphere is warming. As humans, it cannot be argued that we haven’t played a major role in this. But Earth has been through 5 ice ages. That’s 5 times this planet has been rapidly warmed and rapidly cooled. This phenomenon is not unique in and of itself.

Fact: Between 200 and 2,000 species go extinct every year. Once again, humans are indisputably a primary reason for this. But interestingly enough, we have been contributing to the extinction of animals since humans evolved. Did you know that scientists blame the human race for the extinction of wooly mammoths?

Fact: The sun won’t stop burning for at least 5 million years. If we survive for that long, we currently haven't even reach halfway mark.