There are situations, images and events in front of which it is difficult to remain indifferent. Some of them affect our sensitivity so much that they provoke immediate reactions.
When we talk about the environment and think about how humanity treats – and has treated – the planet’s ecosystems, wildlife, and resources, we can only conclude that humans are often the worst enemy. of itself. Exploiting every nook and cranny of the earth, damaging the most delicate of environments, and depleting resources one by one are all irresponsible and domineering behaviors that end up harming human beings themselves.
Rising global temperatures, poor air quality, melting ice, increasingly violent and catastrophic natural events: signs of something wrong , something we are slowly having, but surely, changed.
The 12 photos that we show below are therefore intended to be useful just to realize it. Let us never forget or underestimate the risks that we act solely for profit or negligently. The consequences are, unfortunately, visible to everyone …
#1
What you see is a bird that wanted to quench its thirst at sea, but was literally trapped in oil spilled from a rig in the Gulf of Mexico. The photo was taken in Louisiana.
#2
Polar bears are increasingly threatened by melting ice and rising sea and ocean levels. As the ice melts, it becomes more and more difficult for them to move from side to side in search of food. The result ? The cubs are often left alone and unable to feed or, as in this case, bears get lost or find themselves in very precarious situations.
#3
This photo was not taken on a foggy day, but on a regular day in a city in northern China. The fog is “just” pollution, so high that it has reached levels 40 times higher than international standards. Impossible to walk without a mask on your face …
#4
Another oil spill. This time, we are in China, in Dalian, near an oil pipeline that exploded in 2010, dispersing very large quantities of product into the environment.
#5
No, this child is not swimming in the middle of suggestive aquatic vegetation, but in the middle of a carpet of algae, harmful to the ecosystem, out in the waters of Qingdao, China.
#6
La “isla de basura” del Océano Pacífico ya es casi del tamaño de México, alertan expertos https://t.co/zOOf7d0SVh #Noticias #Mundo pic.twitter.com/IyqzfP0bEa
— Diario Presente (@DiarioPresente) March 26, 2018
What you see is not a picture of a quiet boat ride. The photo was taken in the Pacific Ocean, where huge amounts of plastic waste have accumulated, and not only. The waters of the region today are a huge open-air garbage can, where boats have to “make their way” through the garbage.
#7
Here we are in India, on the Yamuna River, where all types of waste are regularly thrown. The boy you see is trying to cross it literally swimming between the garbage.
#8
It almost looks like a dream image, which inspires a sense of spirituality. Of course, the people in the photo are praying, but the Indian Yamuna River is anything but an idyllic environment, so polluted that it produces a thick layer of moss.
#9
20 shocking photos that show the many ways humans are destroying the Earth http://t.co/Dt7tsGOs8n pic.twitter.com/yNAahii9DB
— Business Insider (@BusinessInsider) June 17, 2015
At first glance, nothing strange. But that photo might not be the same in a few decades. It shows an island in the Maldives, an archipelago that, due to rising sea levels and climate change, is slowly sinking into the water.
#10
Can you believe it’s a picture of the Caribbean? Unfortunately, it is: plastic pollution of sea and river waters has reached intolerable levels around the world.
#11
It’s impressive, but in the absence of any other water, this child in China is forced to drink that from the contaminated river in Yunnan County.
If these images have also touched you, it is good to act and move forward, even though small daily gestures, in the sense of respect and protection of the environment in which we live.