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Our Planet

We live on a small planet orbiting a rather small yellow star .  In our galaxy The Milky Way there are billions of stars and our galaxy is one of many billions of galaxies in the Universe. Right now, researchers around the world are looking for other planets, where there might be life. They want an answer to the question:  Are we alone in Universe or is there life and possibly intelligent life elsewhere?  Life is a precious thing, we can all agree on that.

We humans need to be careful with what we do with our environment and we should take good care of our planet simply because we live there and have nowhere else to go. Today we can see how the climate is changing and getting warmer because of the fact that we are polluting the atmosphere with too much carbon dioxide, methane and other gases. The water in the lakes and rivers are becoming acid because of polluting emissions and a lot of living organisms are eliminated. Even the oceans are subject to acidification and an increase in temperature and we see how the coral reefs are depleted of life. Toxic emissions, deforestation, over-exploitation of natural resources and destruction of ecosystems are other factors that are not sustainable in the long run. The biological diversity on our planet is decreasing at a frightening speed and we have to stop that very negative spiral before it is too late.

If we want life on our wonderful planet to be rich and plentiful in the future we have to start thinking in a radically new way. New sustainable, environmentally friendly solutions must be introduced and developed and we must stop the destruction of nature and its ecosystems and realize that we are part of a larger very vulnerable ecosystem namely Planet Earth. We depend on having a vibrant and rich environment. The next generation must also have the right to enjoy a rich environment without pollution and with a lot of animals and plants.

One of the reasons that we have had major environmental problems on our planet is that we use fossil fuels – oil, coal and gas – as fuel for vehicles, heating, etc. Gas emissions from vehicles, houses and factories have caused the climate to become warmer. In addition, the gases acidify lakes and rivers. These energy sources are not renewable and will run out and we have already seen severe energy crisis with soaring oil prices.

About 60 percent of the global emissions of greenhouse gases come from burning fossil fuels. Today, there are enough proven reserves of fossil fuels to endanger the earth’s climate many times over. Therefore, we can not, as some believe, wait for the reserves to run out, before we put on a new and modern energy society. The price of waiting is too high, both for the environment, for people and for the global economy. This is a shift that still needs to be done sooner or later. Let’s do it while we still can avoid the worst impacts of climate change. Today, there are plenty of options – clean renewable energy. Sun, wind and water can provide all energy we need.  Biofuels are already being used and the technology can evolve towards greater efficiency. Major efforts are being made to increase the efficiency of solar cells. New ways to take advantage of the energy from sun, wind and water are developed. New opportunities to produce energy are current – magnetic energy, energy from solar flares, etc.

We need to introduce green eco-friendly solutions. The technology exists to do this on a large scale throughout the world to cover our energy consumption. Now that we are clearly facing a situation where environmental degradation threatens to become impossible to control and repair it is very important that rapid and large-scale introduction and use of clean, green solutions will be implemented.  It is also important to invest one hundred percent on research and development of truly environmentally friendly products and processes.

There is good hope for the future if we act now and don´t wait. Instead of following a downward spiral, we can step by step create a positive one and reverse the downward trend. Our children are worth it.