It is extremely difficult to look out my window on a daily basis and see the effects of climate change all around me. I've noticed changing trends in the weather around me. I know that Florida now is quite different than what it was when I was a young child. Still, it's hard to connect the exhaust from my car with the expensive imported sushi I love and the second new flat screen TV I bought, and deduce that maybe my lifestyle affects more than just me. I think it's only when we step back and look at all the interrelated pieces of the puzzle that we can make sense of this issue.
That's why I think courses like the University Colloquium are so important. Where else would a person stumble across the idea that the ecological footprint of a hamburger could effect the world in such a profound way? How would I know that the glaciers that feed freshwater into the Ganges River are melting away at an alarming rate? I'm sure I never would have seen computer-generated-images of the flooding of New York, if I hadn't taken this class. Michael Moore notwithstanding, I think it's extremely important to make films that can show people the concrete physical evidence that they need to be spurred into action.
My religious background makes it extremely difficult (read: nearly impossible) to believe that the world, or at least humanity, will end in an ice age brought on my global warming. That being said, the idea that human being are doing irreparable damage to the planet is clearly evident. So at least for me, the climate change issue is not about saving the planet from destruction so much as it's about taking care of the resources that I will pass on to my descendants, however many future generations that may be.
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