[The World on the Page] The Revolution to Save the Earth Begins with Me

Spring began with record-breaking wildfires, followed by a summer of record-breaking heatwaves and droughts, and now we are facing winter with record-breaking cold waves. It has been a year in which climate-related disasters stood out unusually. The signs of catastrophe are becoming clearer day by day, yet movements toward recovery are exceedingly rare. Neither the state, society, nor individuals choose to use less energy, reduce meat consumption, or clear fewer forests; instead, they continue to encourage greed and stimulate consumption. American author John Green lamented in To Save a Planet Centered on Humans (Duran), saying, "Humanity itself is the apocalypse."

The total weight of humanity currently living on Earth is about 385 million tons. The total weight of our livestock, such as sheep, chickens, and cattle, is about 85 million tons, and even when combined with all other mammals and birds, it does not reach 100 million tons. Humanity overwhelmingly dominates the Earth. In this reality, the survival of other life forms largely depends on whether the species is useful to humans or not.

Humans drive other life forms like the lemmings in Disney movies. "Foolishly, lemmings throw themselves off cliffs, and those who survive the fall swim in the sea until they drown. Until they face their final fate, until they face death." This scene, which greatly contributed to the creation of the lemming myth, has nothing to do with the actual ecology of lemmings. Real lemmings are good swimmers and mostly do not migrate like this. For the sake of staging, Disney filmmakers used trucks to dump lemmings and filmed them falling. The drowning of lemmings was entirely due to human greed.

The strong who do not reflect on the weak become disasters by their very existence. For this reason, in the East, it was always said that those in power should aspire to be sages (聖人). The character for sage (聖) originally means an act of standing on tiptoe (壬) toward the sky while praying (口) and listening (耳) to the voice of the gods. Since the hearts of the weak (民心) are the hearts of heaven (天心), listening to the voice of the gods is also listening to the voices of the weak. When humans, the rulers of the Earth, fall into arrogance and ignore other life forms, catastrophic disasters like the climate crisis are inevitable. The lemmings in Disney movies are a metaphor for the human species.

According to Green, human power is strong enough to cause global warming of the entire Earth, but not strong enough to stop it. We possess more resources, more diverse knowledge, and better cooperation systems than our ancestors, and we are a "persistent" species that has overcome numerous obstacles to become conquerors of the Earth. However, today humanity is gradually losing the opportunity to ensure its long-term survival by solving the climate disaster. Amid the reckless race of greed where everyone lives extravagantly, intoxicated by infinite optimism, feelings of helplessness and fear spread in despair.

Perhaps future history books will clearly record the fact that we took a foolish path. In the 1970s, we learned that carbon emissions affect the Earth's climate. In the 1980s and 1990s, we completely failed to reduce carbon emissions for various reasons. In the 2000s, even as the consequences of climate change began to emerge, we still struggled to organize a global response and continued to defer solutions to the future. Future generations who will bear the sacrifices will neither forgive nor understand our incompetent and barbaric choices. A world where the actions of adults become the despair of children is hell.

The reason modern people hardly feel climate change is that they live isolated from nature. Strawberries are in season in June. However, nowadays strawberries mostly appear in December. This is because indoor cultivation has gradually advanced the shipping season. We have become too accustomed to living regardless of the weather. When it is dark, we turn on the lights; when it is cold, we raise the heating temperature; when it is hot, we operate fans or air conditioners. Our bodily senses are supernatural. We are accustomed to indoors maintained with the help of fossil fuel energy, regardless of the external climate. Even medicines like insulin or antibiotics can lose their efficacy if not stored at "indoor temperatures" between 20 and 25 degrees Celsius.

However, our lives ultimately cannot escape the compulsion and limits of nature. We are inside the climate. Terry Williams said, "When one of us says, 'Look, there is nothing out there,' what we mean is 'I cannot see it.'" Even if we try not to see it, our actions inevitably affect us in big and small ways. Air conditioners running to endure heatwaves raise the surrounding temperature, eventually requiring even more air conditioners. Plastics used for convenience break down and fragment, eventually returning to our bodies and harming our health. This is why Green argues that climate is both something that happens to us and something we must create.

The Pit River people, Native Americans, call white Americans "Dinaldawi," meaning homeless people. It means living as if chased, with no interest in forming deep relationships with the animals or plants on the land they belong to. The Pit River people criticize that a part of the white people's hearts is dead. Without establishing a good relationship with nature, we lose most of the energy that maintains our mental and physical health. For this reason, modern people suffer from a void that can never be fulfilled.

However, Green is optimistic that humanity will find a way to survive the coming crisis. The starting point is to go outside and enjoy the wonders of nature. Nature is abundant in itself. Anyone can know this just by looking at the evening glow. As Toni Morrison said, "At some point in life, the beauty of the world is enough. You don't have to take a picture, paint it, or even remember it. That is enough."

Accepting the natural abundance of nature like this is more necessary than anything else. Looking around, how many moments feel miraculous, unreal, or as if enchanted? The more often we bring these moments into our lives, the more we can escape the despair and depression that have come and live a fulfilling life.

When we pay attention to the endless wonders of nature and boldly imagine and act on what nature's wonders demand, miraculous changes can occur. Revolutions always start with oneself. Saving the Earth is no different.

Jang Eun-su, Publishing and Cultural Critic

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.