Cracked and crumbling, the earth once full of life and water lays barren and dry. Dust bunnies blow across the land without a single living thing in sight. Blue skies turn gray and smoky. Trees that once seemed to hold up the sky with their strong arms are now reduced to stumps. That is the future that lays ahead. 

Climate change has always been a big problem. Politicians ignore it as if they weren’t the ones who created it. Advocates protest, and we turn a blind eye. Brushing it off like it’s nothing, a mere annoyance. No one expects the earth to crumble away in their lifetime. We flourish in our big cities focusing only on what’s ahead of us, but not what’s above or below us. We move too fast to acknowledge problems that seem to loom ahead. Problems that are screaming to be solved. Problems that are bolded and put in italics for us to see. Problems that are shoved in our faces but we choose to ignore.

So what if the earth is dying? Why should I care? It won’t happen in my life so there’s no reason for me to do anything. These are all excuses. Excuses not to care nor act. Excuses to not do anything. We waste our lives away waiting for someone else to do it for us. We wait and wait and never yet to consider that everyone else may be waiting too. 

There must be something done soon, or there wouldn’t be an earth to worry about.

Books about climate change are available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. They are also available to download for free from Libby.