Dear niece,
I really hope you are doing well as you might now reach your 13th birthday in 2030 or 33rd birthday in 2050. I really wish that hopefully mankind would have realized how much their actions have damaged our home planet and that it was time for actions. The couple of years we are living now are really important and can set up different scenario for the incoming future of humanity, leading us to an end or to a new start. Unfortunatly even democratic system are now directed by powerful groups that claim that climate change is fake and denying any scientific work.
That is no longer possible. As a citizen who has been traveling a lot seeing, sharing and living with different culture as your mother did, it is my duty to warn those whose actions are damaging our beautiful planet and diversity in order to protect those who are suffering the most.
As a scientist, I cannot let ignorance refute or destroy the proof of climate change, motivated by lobbies financial support which absolutely don’t care about protecting people living far away, and only think about the immediate yearly benefit. Facts can be discussed in the scientific process analysis, but it is clearly not possible to deny the danger we are facing now and I would plead that international group who deny it could be charged of crime against humanity and even against biosphere life.
As I am now embracing a new life in New Zealand, it is time to think about my own actions and their consequences, making lifestyle choice and changing consumption habits. Everyday actions count like little actions such as light and water saving, trying to reduce rubbish packaging but you can even go further in your decisions. Not having a car in a city like Auckland, where the civilization seems surprisingly to be highly car-oriented, can be a commitment but I am it worth it, both for your own health and the one of others. Even digital life can have consequences which can be counterbalanced by simple habits. I am still suffering to see how much my flight trips are bad for carbon emission, that is why I try to reduce them as much as I can, and I really hope that advanced engineers will eventually find a way to achieve such greats journey without affecting the atmosphere. My passion sailing will maybe be the answer, carrying goods and people using winds as our ancestors did but improved by modern design to achieve reasonable duration in a global world economy. I hope my work career will at some point contribute to this change.
As your uncle, it is my duty to warn you about the effect our daily actions can have. Travel across the world, see the landscapes and countries I have seen, meet the people I have met and go beyond. Don’t be afraid of changing your actions, of spreading your opinions, of learning from others.
I sincerely hope to give you, as a younger generation, the keys of our home planet in a better state than it is now. We are aware of this situation, and not acting is both criminal and results in failure. The effort to battle the different danger, without any political considerations, might be challenging and take several generations but it is worth it. I really hope that you will be able to see hundred of dolphins as I did yesterday while sailing in the Pacific Ocean.
Take care.
Cheers,
Nicolas
