The message is clear! We, fellow citizens of the world, are scarcely aware of the reality of global warming. According to a NASA article in December 2007, Dr. H.J. Zwally predicted that all the ice could be gone from the Arctic Ocean by the end of summer 2012. According to Dr. Gerald Dickens, Associate Professor of Earth Science at Rice University, about 93% of the world's carbon is in the ocean. Thus, as human activities add CO2 to the atmosphere faster than it escapes into the biosphere or the ocean, the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere continues to increase very quickly. Dr. Katey Walter, in a report from the Institute of Arctic Biology at University of Alaska Fairbanks, states that methane being released from Arctic permafrost and bubbling up through lakes is accelerating global warming in ways not currently accounted for. According to research by Dr. Gregory Ryskin at Northwestern University, methane explosions from the ocean caused extinctions of 90% of marine species and 25% of terrestrial species 250 million years ago. We may be heading down the very same path. According to the United Nations report in 2007 on natural disasters, nine of the ten worst disasters historically resulted from climatic disturbances.

According to a report by the United Nations, “Livestock's Long Shadow”, animal agriculture is a major cause of global warming. The livestock industry is the main driver of deforestation as over 70% of Amazon forest was cut down to support meat production. Livestock is the largest single source of water pollution, contributing heavily to oceanic “dead”' zones, chemical pollution, coral reef die-off, human health problems, and antibiotic resistance. Moreover, livestock are responsible for 18% of all greenhouse gases, more than all forms of transportation combined (13.5%). Therefore, Dr. Henning Steinfeld, Chief of Livestock Information and Policy Branch, FAO of the United Nations, concluded that "Livestock are one of the most significant contributors to today's most serious environmental problems" and that "urgent action is required to remedy the situation."

Many influential leaders have spoken about the urgency of the situation. As you can see from the video above, we have an emergency where the survival of our planet is at stake! Fellow citizens, we still have hope. According to Dr. James Hansen from NASA, "We have passed tipping points. We have not passed a point of no return. We can still roll things back, but it is going to require a quick turn in direction." Hilary Benn, British Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural affairs, said it best. "Living in harmony with the natural world is the only way for the future—9 billion people, one planet, one chance to get it right." We, as individuals, are responsible for doing our part. As citizens of planet Earth, we must ask ourselves, "If the future of the world depended on me, what would I do?"