38
impulse
The Whole World in Our Hands Years of inaction and complacency have brought us to a pivotal climate crossroads. Young people won’t walk down the same route to destruction. It’s time to forge a new path. Words by Emma Barton
F
alkirk, underwater. That could be the reality we face, according to a recent study which suggested the city will be completely submerged by 2050. As someone who lives less than an hour’s drive from Falkirk, it made for disturbing reading. Yet, hardly anyone seems to have heard this warning. The harrowing estimation highlights the speed at which the planet is warming, and it’s not slowing down just to give us a chance of catching up. As a child I was told, “Remember to turn off the lights, to save the polar bears.” I did as I was instructed, and began to feel this small pang of guilt grow into a tidal wave of anxiousness whenever I did something that would negatively impact the planet I call ‘home´. Now, I am older. I have watched
countless documentaries, read hundreds of articles, and have been warned of the destruction that awaits my world if we do not change. I must ask myself, however, what can I (as one small, insignificant speck) do? I’m no poster child for the fight against the climate crisis. I may fail to turn off the odd light. I may fail to recycle a plastic bottle. And I may fail to turn the water off every time I brush my teeth. Though, I never fail to forget about the devastating consequences that await this planet. It consumes me. Older generations turn to young people with their grand, “It’s your job
Illustration by Wiktoria Orlicka
