Mother Earth is Going Through “The Change”

By:  Stephanie Benney

Did you feel it?  Did you think you were losing you mind?  Suffering an episode of vertigo? Being visited by a poltergeist?  Perhaps you didn’t feel anything and you were strangely disappointed (I don’t understand why anyone would be disappointed about missing a natural disaster).  The earthquake felt here in Pittsburgh on Tuesday afternoon was a shock to many of us.

Now, let me take you back to the previous Friday.  I was so excited because I was scheduled to finish my interview with Sue Kerr, of the Pittsburgh Tote Bag Project and head out to Sandcastle for the first and probably last time this season.  All I had to do was run home, drop my Mac off, change into my suit and I’d be on my way.

As I pulled out of “Larryville”, I noticed the skies looking quite ominous with a twinge of peach.  I tried to convince myself that in mere minutes, I would be basking myself in the sun next to the wave pool echoed by the laughter of children jumping waves and swooshing down the watersides.

As soon as I was to exit at Squirrel Hill, the call came through that they shut the park down due to the inclement weather we were about to experience.  My Dad is buried right by, so I decided to stop and say a quick prayer.  I had never felt thunder  or heard lightning like that – the storm was directly above me.  I quickly kissed my Dad’s tombstone and ran back to my car.  What awaited me on the way home was nothing in comparison to what those poor people in Highland Park would experience.  Ironic, isn’t it?  I ran from death to life, while they passed from life to death.

Many people I had talked to in this past week in regards to these recent “freak” natural disasters were baffled and could not offer any explanation other than pure disbelief and the usual human apathy, except for one.  She was a well dressed business woman with killer eye wear and every hair in place, but the second she spoke, she renounced any physical stereotype she had been carrying with her.  She watched the television in the background cover the flood and looked at me and said, “We have really pissed her off…we’ve pissed off Mother Nature.”

We’ve all heard about the Apocolypse and the 2012 scare.  While much of this is speculation, there is one thing for certain, something is going on with our “Mama”.

According to NASA, the Earth is currently going through a warming pattern, raising an average temperature of 1.1 degrees Fahrenheit over the last century.  Humans are the main reason the Earth continues to warm at a faster rate than ever before.  “Since the Industrial Revolution, humans have attained the magnitude of a geological force in our ability to change the Earth’s environment and impact it’s climate system.”

The human population has doubled more than twice and continues to grow.  With this increase in population comes the increase in amounts of burning coal and oil.  Carbon dioxide(greenhouse gas)levels have increased by over 30% and is responsible for trapping warmth near the Earth’s surface.  We are also depleting habitable land to build cities and roads to make room for more people, which means emitting more pollution, which influences changes in cloud coverage and rainfall.

While humans continue to inflict pain on Mother Earth’s aura, she is also experiencing some internal changes of her own.  Since the dawn of time, plates have shifted  and will continue to shift resulting in faults, earthquakes, expansion of sea floors and volcanos.  While nothing can be done about these internal changes brewing in her fiery belly, we can try to alleviate her symptoms.  Take care of her and be kind. For if you don’t, she will continue to put you in time-out…

Stephanie Benney is a “Sustainable Visionary” and also the new Pittsburgh Representative for Fuzed Marketing, where she helps companies increase their brand presence. stephaniebenney@yahoo.com