Sustaining science in order to achieve success

We are a culture of obsessed people.

    We care about how many likes our Instagram picture gets, when someone famous breaks up with a significant other, and when the newest iPhone comes out.

    The access to all of this information is at our fingertips thanks to technology. While the rapid development of technology has had major positive impacts on our society, we are not using all the power such advancements have given us to change the right things.

    The reality is our planet is dying.

    Technology gives us a voice to spread awareness for environmental problems and advocate for change. We can talk behind a screen and complain for hours about what people are and aren’t doing, but that doesn’t fix our polluted air and waters, or the reality of a detrimental influx of natural disasters.

    Students are taught to reuse, reduce, recycle from a young age. Although encouraging these behaviors is certainly beneficial, it is not enough to solve the crisis unfolding. Finding a way to lessen the amount of waste humans produce in the first place is essential in saving our earth. In order to do this, our workforce needs more environmental engineers, protection technicians, and conservation scientists to make the change.

    We hear the words “climate change” all the time. We hear about the forest fires out west that leave people dead and without a home. Most of us see it as problems that are not affecting us, so we don’t have to worry about them, but that is not the case. Humans don’t typically take things seriously until they see the consequences of their actions first hand.

     Maryland’s 2018 average rainfall was 72 inches, and that isn’t average at all. Increased rainfall and prolonged heat waves are only a few of the small ways we are being affected on a local level by our Earth’s disease, climate change.

    Our population is growing so rapidly that we are taking advantage of our natural resources. We are building new housing developments and taking down trees to account for that growth. This is not good for humans, and it certainly is not good for any living organisms, animals and plants included.

     Across the world there are species of animals that are becoming severely endangered and extinct as a result of our apathy and ignorance.

   There are about 80 black rhinos left in the world, and Rio’s famous Blue Macaw has gone extinct. Will humans need to be put on the endangered species list before our population starts noticing that our planet doesn’t get a second chance?

   Whether the problem is global warming, air and water pollution, urban sprawl, or waste disposal, we need change, and that begins one person at a time.

    Pursuing a degree in science will give people the confidence to answer questions that society doesn’t know the answers to. “Will the world run out of water?” “Are we going to run out of the natural resources we need to sustain life on earth”?

     What we need are critical thinkers, problem solvers, and leaders to take on the task of handling our Earth’s environmental health. We need people to manage cities, the construction of housing developments, species of plants and animals, to encourage the discovery of alternative resources and materials for long term sustainability. The list is never ending.

   Our generation needs to be environmentally educated and aware so that we can protect National Parks and public lands for many years to come. Keeping our waterways clean so that life can be sustained in the Chesapeake Bay for many years to come is just as important.

   All of these things need to happen so that future generations can enjoy our beautiful planet and the resources we take for granted everyday.

   We need innovation and ingenuity to make our planet sustainable for the future, and that starts with us.