Destroying Earth is making us sick
Re Cooler planet, better health, Editorial June 29
In a recent column, Rick Salutin poetically captured a basic truth: “Each individual is hewn organically from material reality and returns there eventually.” Without wanting to co-opt Salutin’s discussion of race and group identity, I wonder why we do not identify more with that “material reality” from which we are so clearly hewn; namely living Earth. In fact, I would argue we are not “hewn” from living Earth at all; rather we are expressions of it. Only our fleeting sense of self makes us feel separate.
So I am perplexed by the prevailing norm to timidly frame calls for environmental action in terms of furthering our self-interest; as though there were ever any such distinction. It is true that “healing the planet will make us healthier.” But the real issue is that destroying living Earth is making us sick.
We do not have a clear definition of “life,” but, whatever it is, Earth is bursting with it. We are all temporary patterns in the incomprehensible flow of matter and energy that is the ecosphere of living Earth. As we disrupt and destroy this flow on a planetary scale, it should come as no surprise that what we are doing to living Earth, we are doing to ourselves.
Life on Earth might have been inevitable, but that does not mean that human life was, or is, inevitable. And, unlike birds on a tree, we cannot fly away after fouling our nest. Ironically, as we struggle with the concepts of identity and self, it is our selfishness as “individuals” that is destroying the very wellspring of our selves: living Earth. Who are we, really, if we knowingly continue to do this? Kevin Farmer, Toronto Kudos to the Star for arguing that climate change mitigation brings health benefits. You rightly suggest that investing in recreational green space encourages people to walk and cycle — which reduces the risk of heart disease and cancer. But it’s also the case that green space helps cities combat extreme heat.
A recent report from the David Suzuki Foundation — “The Impact of Green Space on Heat and Air Pollution in Urban Communities” — found that trees have an exceptional ability to reduce street temperatures, especially during hot seasons. This is vitally important because high summer temperatures, increasingly common as we feel the effects of climate change, lead to illness, hospitalization, and even death, particularly among seniors.
We need to grow the Greenbelt and add more areas, such as ravines and wooded areas, to show that, far from being onerous, actions that protect our climate also improve our quality of life. Gideon Forman, David Suzuki Foundation, Toronto