Our ocean is loving and tolerant, but she can only absorb so much of our pollution and hate. Every drop of excess heat and waste is taken in and accumulated despite how insignificant we think it is.
Think of a teapot of boiling water. There are signs that things are heating up, but we ignore it until it’s reached its boiling point and blowing steam everywhere. Salt water, like our oceans, takes even more heat to boil over.
Our ocean will reach a tipping point too, and her wrath and fury will strip away our security. Water will wash away our cities on the coast and rain down and cleanse our mess on land. She’ll call on Fire to burn down the areas she can’t reach, while Earth and Air will accelerate the process. And every one of us will feel the effects because we are all connected.
It has already begun. The warning signs are there. Our climate is changing. Our storms and wildfire seasons are worse and more frequent. Sea levels are rising. The last nine years are among the hottest ten years in the 143-year record (NOAA NCEI). It is damaging our food security. People are being displaced or relocating in response. It is happening even if you don’t see it or believe it. We must see the signs now before it all boils over.
Please don’t wait to take action in any way you are called to. Let our imagination run wild with ideas of sustainability, mutual aid, and community building. Revolutionary ideas are already out there! What matters most to you? Start locally, find groups, talk to friends and family, find inspiration from nature, listen to your heart, and wear it on your sleeve (like literally mend the hole on your sleeve and keep wearing that sweater!). We have the internet; we can learn from each other.
Don’t wait until you have things figured out. Let these ideals and moral compass guide you through the challenges of life rather than our current mindset which has and always will be inadequate. There will never be a better time in the future. The time is now.
It’s a difficult and painful process but inaction will only bring more pain and suffering. We have to trust that there is a brighter future that we are collectively working toward, otherwise what are we living for?
You can count on me to do everything I can, to constantly evolve and be a better person. Talk to me! Can I count on you?
Emy Syrop is an artist, marine biologist, and mother residing in Newport.