The Age of Stupid is the latest and quite possibly the most powerful of the new genre of films aimed at helping to wake up the citizens of Planet Earth to the crucial urgency of reversing global warming. It follows in the loud and ominous footsteps of its predecessors–An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore and The Eleventh Hour, narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio.

All three of these films, along with a rapidly-growing array of similarly grim media reports, are currently alerting us to a potential impending global disaster of nearly incomprehensible magnitude.

Unlike advance warnings of other imminent disasters, such as tornadoes and hurricanes that are predictable only a few minutes or hours before they descend upon us suddenly and violently, the horrific disaster that we are being warned about here has been unfolding outside of our ordinary awareness very gradually and insidiously for many decades. There is now strong evidence, in fact, that it has been brewing slowly from the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.

Unfortunately, the human species is not genetically well-equipped to deal effectively with this kind of slowly-developing and nearly imperceptible danger. The reason for this is very simple. Down through the vast eons of our evolution, the survival of our ancestors has depended most strongly on successfully fighting with, or fleeing from, immediate, in-our-face dangers, rather than those that were far removed in time and space.

We are also notorious as a species for relying on a variety of ego-defenses, such as denial and rationalization, in dealing with unpleasant realities that activate our discomfort. This gives rise, for example, to the well-known “elephant in the living room” phenomenon whereby we dysfunctionally ignore blatant warning signs of serious impending problems.

Given these inherent human deficits and the unique nature of the looming disaster of global climate change, then, extraordinary “alarm clocks” are required to wake us up and call us to take effective action in order to avert or reduce the magnitude of the impending disaster.

Fortunately, there is growing evidence that this is happening to an increasing degree throughout the world. Paul Hawken, for example, in his most recent book, Blessed Unrest, speaks of this as part of “the largest social movement in history.” He estimates that there are now two million or more separate grassroots groups all over the world that are recognizing and addressing various aspects of this problem, along with those concerning social justice.

He likens this phenomenon to that of our individual immune systems becoming spontaneously mobilized to counteract a bodily disease that threatens our personal survival.

There is a growing consensus among environmental scientists that the global warming crisis is more severe and also more imminent than was originally estimated. Due to the progressive thawing of the tundra in the Arctic, for example, methane gas is being increasingly released into the atmosphere. This is accelerating the melting of the Arctic icecap, which in turn is increasing the rate of thawing of the tundra in a classic vicious circle.

There is also now a very strong scientific consensus that no matter what we do to slow down or reverse the emission of greenhouse gases, there will inevitably be some major disastrous planetary effects, both for humans and other life forms. Many of these, in fact, are already occurring.

In a worst case scenario, if we don’t take immediate and effective action to reduce the level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, civilization as we know it could be destroyed.

This is the basic thesis of the eco-documentary, The Age of Stupid, which is set in the year 2050 when global warming has reached catastrophic proportions. The protagonist in the film, an archivist, has discovered through his investigations that the masses of people living in 2008, had they not ignored warnings about the approaching disaster, could have helped prevent it.

There are endless ways that everyone can help “the age of stupid” get smart by heeding the urgent warning message of this film, along with that of thousands of the world’s top environmental scientists. First and foremost, this requires that we get educated as fully as possible in all of the many things we can do to reduce our personal carbon footprints and then actively and consistently implement this knowledge.

Secondly, we can effectively become part of the earth’s “immune system,” as Paul Hawken suggests, by becoming actively involved in–or at least actively supporting–one or more of the vast number of groups that are already mobilized to counteract the massive corporate and governmental resistance to reversing greenhouse gas emissions or to otherwise helping to preserve the natural environment.

Interestingly, one of the simplest and easiest ways to help support these groups is through a process of “embedded giving” that entails no personal cost at all. All that it requires is to do your online shopping through a designated website of the organization of your choice.

The sponsoring organization then earns a significant commission on whatever is purchased. Since substantial rebates are paid on all of the products that
are purchased in this way, the supporting shopper actually ends up paying less, rather than more, while simultaneously helping their chosen organization to generate revenue to fund its particular mission.

Paul Hawken points out that absolutely everyone can participate in some way(s) in helping to heal the deep wounds that we, as a species, have collectively and unwittingly inflicted upon the larger nature that we are all part of. As he says, very simply and succinctly, “the ‘Help Wanted’ signs are everywhere.” So in meeting this huge challenge to our future survival, nobody needs to remain “unemployed”.

Rick Jorgenson is the founder and Executive Director of HealthyLife Foundation, an organization dedicated to helping non-profit environmental organizations.
http://healthylifefoundation.wordpress.com/

[tags]global warming, climate change, environment[/tags]