Plant A Tree Today

It’s Earth Day. Hopefully most of you were aware of that before seeing the new Snapchat filters, but that may be too much to ask. Our planet is no stranger to the “Janus faced god” that is science. The Earth knows all too well the “death and beauty, wounds and power: the piercing horns of the dilemma of science.” There have definitely been scientific discoveries that have immensely helped our planet and improved our understanding of nature. However, one of the greatest periods of scientific breakthrough, the Industrial Revolution, jump-started the anthropogenic climate change that has hurt the Earth for centuries now. When we discovered new sources of energy (fossil fuels) we were unaware of the significant implications that would follow – reintroducing fossilized carbon into the atmosphere it had not been exposed to for millions of years. Chlorofluorocarbons, or CFC’s, were an amazing breakthrough chemical used for refrigerants and propellants in aerosol cans. The hole in the ozone layer they caused was not discovered until decades later. These examples are a just a couple among countless others.

I love science. Being a scientist, Chet Raymo clearly does too. But humans have had the tendency to rush into scientific breakthroughs, often driven by fame or commercial gain, without anticipating or caring about the consequences that will follow. With this reckless attitude, science can easily become more of a “weapo[n] of destruction” than anything else. In honor of Earth day, I urge you all to exercise “a measure of restraint” with the amount of waste you throw away, gas you burn, or water you run.