Human spirit they key

By Cameron Dueck

Climate change, endangered animals, pollution, melting sea ice, smog, disappearing forests ... It's easy to let all these things get us down. It's sad to see how humans are knowingly damaging the earth. We know what we need to do to protect the environment, yet often these issues get pushed aside for profits, convenience and political reasons.

Some children find all this very depressing. What difference can I make anyway? We might as well just give up. If the planet will be damaged so badly in the next 50 years, what does a 10- or 12-year-old have to look forward to?

But all of us can make a difference, and we shouldn't let all the bad news discourage us from trying to correct the climate change problem. There are no easy answers to the earth's environmental problems. But there's one thing that gives me hope - human ingenuity - which has helped us conquer global problems in the past.

My 81-year-old father is visiting Hong Kong from Canada this week. He's very interested in the history of Hong Kong, and how a city as grand and successful as Hong Kong could grow out of a few fishing villages in such a short time. He's impressed by the ingenuity of the Chinese people in building their country.

That same creative spirit has come to the rescue before.

Look at some of the great technological achievements we've made. Humans wanted to communicate with each other over long distances, so we invented telephones and the internet. We wanted to see what was on the moon so we designed a way to fly there, and come back alive.

We already have the tools and technology to stop much of the environmental damage to the earth and at the very least slow down the changes to our climate. Scientists have created new ways to harvest energy from the sun, waves and wind. They've designed ways to power cars using cleaner fuels.

The only problem left is to find the willpower and desire to make it happen. If you have the passion to make it work, your biggest job is to share that spirit with others.

To to join the discussion, click here