Ryan

Where have all the flowers gone?
Young ones have picked them, every one.
Where have all the forrest gone?
Gone to logging, every one.
Where have all the ice caps gone?
Gone to oceans, every one.
Where have all the islands gone?
Underwater, every one.
Why have all the people come?
For survival every one.
Where have all the food crops gone?
Gone to deserts every one.
Where have all the children gone?
Gone to war zones, every one.
Where have all the creatures gone?
Gone extinct, every one.
Where have all the humans gone?
Gone to history everyone.
Why must all the rebels come?
For survival every one!

Biophilia - a term describing humans innate love for life in all its forms.

The forests and jungles of the world act as carbon sinks, drawing in carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and locking it into their bodies. Rampant deforestation is removing this effect and returning centuries of locked carbon back into the atmosphere. As this carbon warms the atmosphere, their are more forest fires which emit more carbon feeding a viscous cycle. Eventually we will reach a tipping point.

The white surface of ice caps reflect much of the sun's heat back into space. With a warming atmosphere, these icecaps are melting into the world's oceans. With smaller icecaps and more dark blue sea, the sun's rays are absorbed, heating the atmosphere further. There is another tipping point here; another viscous feedback.

The melt water from icecaps leads to rising sea levels. The sea has already started submerging many small island states and many cities like London and New York are predicted to be submerged in the 21st century.

These rising sees and other environmental pressures, like cyclones and drought, mean people aren't able to live where they once did. The refugee crisis is inextricably linked with climate breakdown. The UK's hostile environment and immigration policy mean makes it harder for these people to find a safe place to live. Many have died in the attempt to reach our shores. If they do make it here they live in confined housing, aren't allowed to work and have to survive off £5 a day.

With a warming climate, the process of desertification sees fertile lands turned to deserts. Other environmental disasters and extreme weather events such as flooding, storms and fluctuating temperatures result in an unreliable food system. Small scale and subsistence farmers are already unable to feed themselves. In the larger scale food systems will collapse. Scientists refer to this as a multi bread-basket failure. Some predict this may happen in the next ten years. The resulting famines will leave much of the world starving.

With the increase of famines and droughts, wars will ensue over food and water. Younger generations will bare the brunt of this but in many places conflicts have already started. Links have been drawn between changed climate, internal displacement of people and the societal tensions the lead to conflict in Afghanistan. This is happening now.

The biodiversity of life on earth is declining at a rapid rate with extinction levels estimated to be hundreds to thousands of times higher than the "baseline" rate. Many well known species such as puffins face extinction with hurriedly declining populations. The inextricably intricate web of life that sustains us becomes less robust with every species lost.

With the tortuous complicated intertwined processes of climate breakdown already killing people and the decline of biodiversity scientists predict the possibility of human extinction. Some even compare our current age of extinction to the permian mass extinction which killed more than 96% of life on earth. Human extinction is a distinct possibility.

It is needed that we come together for climate action; for a love of all life on earth.

Extinction Rebellion is a movement founded in 2018 which now exists world wide. Realising the lack of national and global cooperation is due to a lack of political will they are in open rebellion against the UK government for there inaction the climate crisis. They base their tactics in the historic principles of non-violenence and direct action. They welcome everyone: xrmcr.org

Please know that if you have feelings of overwhelm when facing these incomparable truths, there is a community waiting to share this burden with you. It is important that we lean into this truth; that we feel it. Only then can we act as if the truth is real.

Where? a walk into Extinction

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