now and before

“when blue rivers seemed to never have existed, when birds never seemed to sang, where swimming in rivers seemed impossible, when living never seemed to be fun.”

“The planet Earth is the only entity in the universe that we know can sustain life, and at that, a very intelligent life. We don’t want to lose this planet Earth; otherwise, maybe, the Earth will just be so empty without any life on it.” – Dr. Josefino Comiso

Before, when a child was asked to describe the environment, the typical answer would be: “Oh, the tree, beside the clear blue river, is full of fruits, beside the tree, are flowers of different colors. The tree also had a nest for the birds, and a whole in the middle for the owls.” This was the common answer, which soon became the typical drawing of the environment. Now, if a child is asked to describe the environment, generally, the thought would be: “The river is black in color, maybe because of the factory beside it, it smells so bad because of the garbage bags floating on it, and there are no more trees near here.”
This quick change in scenario happened within the past 20 years. These two decades changed so much of what the world is. The world is no longer a place to enjoy living in, but a place to live in, and impossible to enjoy. So many terrible things happened because less logical things were done.
From signature clothes, internationally imported goods, adopted teleseyes, gameshows and reality shows, to poor Peso quality, corrupt government officials and empty progress promises, the Philippine society has much yet under its wings. They said that the Philippines, as a country, is rich because of its agricultural lands and rivers. However, in account of this problem of global warming, the only thing Filipinos “have” will be gone. What was held dear for hundreds of generations, protected by dozens of cultures will be washed away, literally, just because the Filipinos today did not care.
The Philippine society is now seeing so much, to care intensely about the soil they’re standing on. From the questionable and incapable governance of the present administration to the rapid alarming rise in prices of necessities, it is just too much for the Filipinos to handle… or is it? There are people who are aware of the current uprising of global warming, yet still stand unaware and rely on petty excuses of having a poor government. There are still people who admittedly know what things strengthens the problem, yet still sits down, drink a cup of coffee, and point fingers at each other. In addition, there are still people who deliberately ignore the problem being too busy or thinking that it’ll be far-fetched for them to be involved in this problem. If that is the case, the water levels will continue to rise, forest fires will continue to burn its raging mockery, the ice caps will continue to fall, and thousands of species will be gone.
Just because children focus more on playing online games, just because adults focus on making a living, politicians want to earn more than celebrities, the government wants more industries than trees, and the people preferring a good contraceptive over a well living planet. This is an embarrassing way to go down. It’s just ironic to see people in the Philippines demanding a solution to this problem while belching smokes from their vehicles, using harmful pesticides, and waiting for someone else to do the dirty work.
The documentary, “Signos”, showed the relevance and the rather great effects present in the islands of the Philippines by the infamous global warming. It cited events and occurrences that strengthen the claim of immediate address to solve global warming. And included the voices of respected intellectuals in the said field, including Dr. Comiso of NASA.
The rivers of Manila are overflowing, the ecosystems in rural areas are being converted into land of industrial factories, the temperature increased by a centigrade, when it is sunny, the sun burns through the skin, and when it rains, the water swallows thousands of houses and buildings. If this scenario does not initiate mobilization, nothing will. A new dilemma should not be anticipated before doing an action. Does action need dozens more floods, thousands more of lives, millions more of destroyed houses, before it occurs. Right in front of Philippine populace lies the reason to act out. What is experienced by the society is more than enough for, at least, even half of the mass to mobilize. But, evidently, nothing is accomplished.
The thing is, again, there are Filipinos who does not see the point of helping solve the problem, because, probably, they live on a high ground, or the effects of global warming will be felt a decade from now. Ignorance, evidently, is the first wave of defense, therefore ignorance must be the first thing to solve. It’s illogical, and at the same time, immoral to look on the opposite direction when fellow Filipinos, and the rest of the world, are crying, reaching out their hand for help. It is not so much to do something big, but the mere recognition and effort to help is more than of a contribution a single person can make.
This problem requires an intricate, long and step-by-step process, not an immediate show of force, like rallies and threats, that Filipinos are familiar and well accustomed to. if solutions get postponed like this, for time-to-time, then this solution can never be done. Nothing can be achieved, because no one dared to start. The scientists today, and probably some concerned, can never be enough to make up for those who do not. What is required here is a general motion, a step that has to be done by the whole society, in unison, with consent, and with dedication.
This generation has to refuse to be that generation when everything went wrong - when blue rivers seemed to never have existed, when birds never seemed to sang, where swimming in rivers seemed impossible, when living never seemed to be fun. This generation has to make its mark, that, yes; this is the time when problems aroused, but was massively answered.