Quoting the words of the European Commission: “The climate emergency is serious and represents the task that defines our generation”.
We can deepen this quote, without going into an analysis of the historical processes and events that have brought man to this situation, affirming that climate change and environmental degradation go hand in hand with a moral, ethical and aesthetic degradation of the man. Its detachment and alienation from nature are the consequences of an industrial and consumerist logic, supported by a technical-scientific domain that has characterized the last 200 years. What emerges, moreover, is an increasingly strong individualistic tendency of man, characterized by a mostly selfish drive, aimed at achieving one's own uniqueness, to the detriment of the needs and / or interests of the community of which the natural world.
Yes, the climate emergency is therefore serious and it must not be only the anxious images of skeletal polar bears, oceans full of plastic, the melting of glaciers to testify to the drama of the situation. These symptoms caused by Climate Change must be considered in their entirety and the real problem is in fact the ecological balances that are compromised and which in turn can jeopardize our survival. Because if the planet manages to cushion the damage caused by man over time, the same cannot be said of Humanity if it were to be faced with the anger of environmental catastrophes.
Furthermore, according to the UN forecasts, the world population will reach 9.7 billion people by 2050 and about 70% will live in urban environments. Multiple researches have confirmed the importance of living in contact with Nature. For example, a study of 341 Berliners conducted by researchers at the Max Plank Institute for Human Development in Berlin concluded, after tests of memory, reasoning and magnetic resonances to evaluate the areas that process stress, that there is an important relationship. between the residence environment and mental health. Living in contact with Nature improves the functionality of the amygdala, the brain structure that works in times of stress, and reduces the risk of mental and physical illnesses.
For years now we have been warned by scientists from all over the world about the environmental risks we are facing, but immersed in an individualist era, with capitalist values and with the idea that domination over Nature is our salvation, we fail to succeed. pain to perceive them in our daily life. To perceive these risks, on the other hand, a long-term vision and considerable responsibility for our choices is required on our part, aware of the fact that the latter will have consequences for future generations.
If to date we have done little to reduce CO2 emissions and other important objectives (electric cars, separate waste collection, etc.), we are still firm in terms of ecological education, which is necessary to completely change our lifestyle.
Ecology, in fact, develops a thought that contrasts with the last era characterized by hyper-specialization, since it is a transdisciplinary subject and requires different notions such as geography, geology, climate, chemistry, physics, zoology and the human sciences that they allow us to deepen the relationship between human beings and nature. And this is precisely the greatest task of our generation, to reconcile the spirit of man with nature.
Are we capable of being moved by the beauty of nature in all its manifestations? How do we claim to safeguard the planet if our eyes are unable to see the beauty in the natural environment that surrounds us? The distressing images of environmental disasters which by now constantly remind us that we live in a climate emergency, very often have an anxious effect, especially on children, helpless in the face of such marked despair. If we really want a change, this will only happen through a renewed education, capable of teaching us and our children that humanity needs to regain its integrity with Nature. We all feel suspended and bewitched in that moment when landscapes show themselves to us spontaneously through picturesque sceneries, such as a sunset by the sea or a panorama seen at high altitude. The emotions aroused by these images must be rediscovered and cultivated in the memory of man, in such a way as to insert them in this educational project, capable of giving value to an enchantment of Nature as much as to a gesture of maternal care.
(Article written by Zonca Simone for the magazine "Riscopri l'Ossola" produced by Ossola news: http://www.ossolanews.it/adv/riscopri-lossola-28383.html)
