Movements for environmental awareness have began pushing their way into schools and media, encouraging people to adopt clean energy and recycling techniques. The debate for the existence of global warming is warring. An aspect that cannot be questioned, however, is that the world is currently populated by over 7.6 billion people and the number is quickly increasing. According to LiveScience, the Earth can sustain a maximum of 10 billion. In July of 2015, the U.S. Census Bureau’s International Data Base estimated that the world would reach 9 billion by 2040. As we are reaching our limitations, it must be realized that the rate at which we are depleting our natural resources and polluting the Earth is only moving up our deadline.

Like most situations, quantity plays a major role on the impact of an action. In a protest, two thousand people are significantly more effective in their cause than a hundred people. Similarly, nearly 7.7 billion people are a much greater influence on the environment than 1960’s 3 billion. In order to compensate for this rising variable, our methods must adjust.

Innovations must be made to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions pumped into the air by cars, airplanes, factories, and even gas-powered lawn and garden equipment. Air pollution is not only terrible for our health, but also slowly diminishes the strength of the ozone layer. In some areas of the world, people already have to deal with the ramifications of this. The more people that use these contaminants, the greater effect it has on Earth.

This particular sentiment also applies to deforestation, water pollution, and animal endangerment as well. As we run out of resources, countries begin to fight over them, which eventually leads to war. However, war does not solve the wasteful rate at which these resources continue to be wasted. A third of the country can decide to be zero-wasters, but it doesn’t change the impact of the rest of the world.

There is lack of compassion towards the world we live in. This is not because we don’t see the detrimental effects of our actions; the evidence is all around us. It is because we think that the end will come long after we’re gone. It is because we think that someone will always find a way to compensate for our own laziness. It is because we think that our actions have no impact if the rest of the world isn’t willing to make the change. Why should we bother to give other countries the advantage?

Each generation gets smarter with more innovations and more knowledge. Yet, somehow we have also become more aloof. We care more about having a completely charged phone at all times than how much energy we waste leaving that charger in the wall. We don’t conserve because we care about the environment. We do it because we save money on our water and power bills.

In order to survive, our society needs a sharp change in perspective. We can question the existence of different environmental factors, but it doesn’t change necessary action. Nothing in life is certain. We take precautions because we can. It is better to have tried than to have done nothing at all. We can take the pin out of the metaphorical grenade and hope it doesn’t blow up or simply wrap the whole thing in environmentally-friendly duct tape.

We need to innovate and reevaluate because at this rate, we can’t afford to be too lazy to care. Our species’ intelligence gives us the ability to change the Earth. Our growing population allows us to save or demolish the planet. It is simply a choice of knowledge.

Do we teach ourselves and the generations after us to care? Or, do we simply sit back and watch the slow death of our planet and everything on it?