We are fortunate enough to live on what is the most incredible, animate, and beautiful planet in the known universe.
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Since I have been born, a giant Coast Redwood has grown 66ft. I’ve travelled 36,000,000 miles around the sun and countless new species have been discovered on this magnificent earth.
There have been so many beautiful objects created and inventions that have on some levels made my life immeasurably easier as well as richer.
However, away from these unquestionably good or miraculous happenings, there is the flip side and one that when put in numbers is sobering to say the least.
When I was born, I shared this space with 3.2 billion other souls, today it is 7.2 billion. In the year of my birth, the earth was blessed with 11.2 billion acres of forest, today 1.4 billion acres remain. In this same period, the ozone hole has grown from 6 to 26 million square miles and the sea level has risen by 5 inches.
All of this in the short period of my life.
I know that every decision I make has an impact on this planet, what I choose to do affects this place, and I can choose the effects that I make.
I think it really is that simple…..
Photo courtesy of the author.