Big Foot

"Morality is often mistaken for science," states Michael Specter in "Big Foot." Humans wear the excessive carbon footprint that causes the horrible effects of climate change. The goals of carbon emissions are unclear and it seems that the biggest problem obesity now imposes is the carbon burden that they place on the environment. Greenhouse-gas emissions are at their highest level in the last six hundred and fifty years. Each of the six billion people on Earth account for one ton of carbon emissions. Carbon emissions must be reduced in order to prevent catastrophic effects. Michael Specter comments, "A person's carbon footprint is simply a measure of his contribution to global warming." Every human activity has a carbon cost attached to it. Food in our generation carries immense symbolic power. Michael Specter describes "food miles" as "the distance a product travels from the farm to your home." Climate change is directly linked to "food miles." Factories around the world are deeply impacting global warming. The food we eat is much more significant than Americans seem to notice. Iowa State University found that food miles connected to items one buys in a grocery store are twenty-seven times higher than those those goods bought from local sources. Ten percent of our red meat is imported from Australia or New Zealand and broccoli is shipped eighteen hundred miles in a refrigerated truck. This is absolutely ridiculous being that both cattle and broccoli are vast in the US. The carbon footprints of products are astronomical. "Food miles" put humans at great risk for climate change and global warming. Carbon emissions must be reduced before these "food miles" destroy the planet. My immediate reaction to Specter's inclusion of John Elkington's claim: "We are in an era of creative destruction," is that humans are in a death spiral created by our doing. Elkington deeply feels that people will not be able to address the problem of global warming. There is much denial and despair left to be seen. Things will begin to fall apart. Destruction is within our reach with the way humans treat the planet.

As a consumer I feel personally responsible for global warming. The devastating effects of global warming are quite visible. However, in a way I feel torn. If one were to ask me if I would give up my Hyandai Sante Fe for a more fuel efficient car I would say no. I am just like so many Americans who make their decisions against environmental protection. Knowledge of global warming has been instilled in my brain constantly by all different sources for years. The effects of climate change are real and growing. Then why do I not live a life focused on protecting the environment and the Earth? I am selfish. I love my big car. I do not plan on giving it up. Selfishness characterizes most humans. There is not doubt that my choices affect global warming. In a large scale, everyone's choices affect global warming. The steps humans decide to take will greatly impact the course of global warming.