Notes on Pollution, the Planet, and the Human Population

Kensho
3 min readNov 8, 2024

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Viruses

1. Viruses are a product of the earths immune system, trying to fight back against what is humans are doing. The human equivalent is when our white blood cells kill of viruses and infections in our body. Nature understands that the only way to protect itself is to dismantle humanity, and it realises that humanity’s death is the only way to do this.

Natures Adaptions

2. Nature itself seems to be countering to industrial impacts in remarkable ways, almost as if it’s actively fighting back. For instance, Cryptococcus neoformans, a type of radiation-absorbing fungus, thrives in high-radiation environments like the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, using melanin to convert gamma radiation into energy. Similarly, certain plastic-eating microbes, such as Ideonella sakaiensis, have gained the ability to break down polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a common type of plastic that would otherwise persist in the environment for centuries. Radiation and plastics are unnatural, industrial, human creations, and nature is fighting back. These examples illustrate how Earth’s ecosystems are developing mechanisms to counteract industrial pollutants and restore balance. It’s a reminder that nature is driven by an intrinsic resilience to protect itself from us.

Climate Change

3. There is this large notion from world leaders, influencers, and misled common people alike that climate change is something very much human created and a large issue.

It is not, and for good reason.

4. Climate change is a natural phenomenon that has occurred since the Earth’s formation, with temperature cycles that cause the climate to fluctuate regularly. As the attached graph demonstrates, Earth has experienced periods of much higher temperatures than today, as well as numerous ice ages. One could argue that humans are speeding up climate change, and we are, but by very marginal amounts, and by the time the next major ice age happens those marginal amounts will seem irrelevant.

Climate Fluctuations in Relatively Recent History

5. “If our actions will be countered by the planet,” one might say, “then why should we care about our impact on the environment?”. This argument doesn’t take into account the lives of the animals and organisms that live peacefully on this planet that will be tortured by our compounding wants and killed by our negligence to their homes. They cannot get a say, even when they are the ones who live life more in harmony with our planet then we humans do. To think like the previous argument is to prioritize your wants and consumerism over the welfare of nature and its creatures.

Carbon Footprint

6. The term ‘Carbon Footprint’ was invented as way for big oil companys to pass the pollution blame from themselves onto the common people. The term was originally popularized by the advertising firm Ogilvy & Mather in the early 2000s as part of a campaign for British Petroleum (BP).

7. British Petroleum is a multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, England and one of the world’s largest companies measured by revenues and profits.

8. Blaming the common people for pollution is what the huge oil companies want us to do. By making the general public focus on individual responsibility, BP and other industry giants like ExxonMobil have avoided taking full accountability for their role as some of the largest polluters on Earth. While individuals certainly contribute to pollution, the environmental damage caused by these corporations vastly outweighs that of the common person.

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Kensho
Kensho

Written by Kensho

A place for the thoughts that no one I know seems interested in hearing.

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