‘Did we avert climate disaster? And did Mayo ever win the All-Ireland?’ – Independent.ie

Did humanity come together to take the steps needed to protect the planet or are ye now building spaceships to join the Elon Musk-founded colony on Mars?

While humans are specialists in dragging their feet, the Covid-19 pandemic and war in Ukraine showed that, as a species, we can move heaven and earth to accomplish something when we really want to.

I hope none of ye have to experience sunset on Mars.

And I also hope Limerick still have a stranglehold on Liam MacCarthy.

Today the worlds carbon dioxide concentration is 418ppm and rising yearly despite all we know about the impacts of CO2 on global warmingand of climate on our survival.

We have destroyed vast ecosystems and devastated animal populations despite all we know about nature and the life support system it affords us.

We have the science and technologies to fix this but are mired in our own ignorance, greed and cowardice.

The kind of world you inhabit depends on how we change our mindsets and habits now.

I hope we do right by you.

Dear future friends of 2122.

I must be dead at least 50 years now, so Im running low on news.

Its March 2022, and our family is in the throes of battling Covid-19. We are isolating in our home. Its boring.

Vaccines saved millions of lives worldwide.

I hope your generation never experiences anything like this.

Pandemic aside, its a scary time in the world right now.

A Russian autocratic regime is, as I write, bombarding the sovereign democratic country of Ukraine.

The threat of climate change looms large over humanity, and I hope we passed on a better world to you.

Maybe you could answer some questions for me.

Did I ever write that screenplay? Did I have a second baby? Did I ever buy a cottage by the sea?

Did Mayo ever again win the All-Ireland?

In my time capsule I would put in my hopes for a female Taoiseach and outline the biggest challenges facing the country at the moment housing, a possible recession and recovery out of a global pandemic, to give future generations an idea as to what life is like today.

On a pessimistic note, I feel like the country will probably still be dealing with similar challenges, as housing is an issue now that was also a problem a century ago.

Ill also write about the joy of meeting people in real life and not through online introductions. Dating apps and making friends through Instagram seems to be all the rage nowadays but I love nothing more than just bumping into somebody in a pub and making a friend.

If you are able to read this 100 years from now, it hopefully means we have done something substantial to curb the effects of the impending climate catastrophe and the water and food shortages that will inevitably follow from it.

If, as I fear you might be, you are reading this in some kind of post-apocalyptic hellscape, I can only apologise. In that case, I hope the paper this is printed on can serve some actual use as part of an improvised meal or kindling for a fire. At the very least, maybe you can make a hat.

Hello, is anyone out there? Im hoping a human is reading this and not some alien species that has since colonised Earth after we did our best over the past century to destroy the planet through pollution, climate change, war, greed and hatred.

Sorry if I sound pessimistic but even as a child growing up in the Atomic Age,I played in my neighbours backyard bomb shelter and I really hope the threat of nuclear annihilation thathas been in the background for my entire life never came to pass.

I also hope that people realised that saving the planet was more important than showing off in their SUVs or doing other stupid things to keep up with the Joneses at the expense of humanity. If you are a human reading this, then well done. If not, we only have (had) ourselves to blame.

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'Did we avert climate disaster? And did Mayo ever win the All-Ireland?' - Independent.ie