While coalitions meeting at Copenhagen this December may have many different needs, perspectives, and individual goals, it is important to remember the interconnectivity of the Earth.
Interconnectivity: The concept that all parts of a system interact with and rely on one another simply by the fact that they occupy the same system, and that a system is difficult or sometimes impossible to analyze through its individual parts considered alone.
As a biologist will tell you, dividing the Earth into ecosystems is misleading. While it may be possible to draw distinctions between different environments on Earth, exactly where the lines are drawn is arbitrary.
And every system affects one another. New York City and the Adirondacks are not mutually exclusive although it may seem as if you have to drive through a lot of rural area to get to the mountains. While Romantic Natural History (Blake, Wordsworth, Thoreau, Emerson, etc.) required a view of humanity as separate from nature, “we have ended the thing that has, at least in modern times, defined nature for us – its separation from human society (McKibben, 55). Man cannot consider himself separated from nature if his actions are changing its most fundamental aspects – “the wind, the sun, the rain” (41). McKibben argues that by changing these aspects, the meaning of nature has already changed (41). “Yes, the wind still blows – but no longer from some other sphere, some inhuman place” (41).
Our actions are so large that:
Man controls nature.
And every action is connected to one another. The largest threat to a constant, unchanging nature has been a misunderstanding: the smog in our cities doesn’t affect our pristine landscapes. Yes, as a matter of fact, it does.
But now that we’ve recognized our interconnectivity, how can we divide our answers into coalitions?
Don’t get me wrong, colations are necessary. Coalitions offer a streamlined version of country or area-specific problems and offer solutions. Let’s just remember:
One coalition’s solutions affect everyone.
Each piece to the puzzle cannot be considered individually, but through its far-reaching effects. By the definition of interconnectivity, the individual parts cannot be examined without analyzing the entire system.
So it’s very important to work as a team. We cannot solve drought, desertification, and floods in Africa without having some affects elsewhere. What are these affects? It’s our duty to predict them before choosing solutions so we can make educated decisions that are globally beneficial.
And there is the key word: global.
It’s called global warming for a reason. It’s a global problem with global solutions. The definition itself should remind us of just how interconnected we all are.
Remember, there’s no “i” in global warming.
(Hence why I haven’t mentioned climate change.)
Works Cited:
McKibben, Bill. The End of Nature. New York: Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2006.
Bill McKibben (from National Geographic)
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Tags: Brett Shollenberger, climate change, coalitions, COP15 Resources, interconnectivity
