“To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known.” -Carl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot (1994)
I was in High School the first time that I heard astronomer Carl Sagan’s Pale Blue Dot speech. Just before the Voyager 1 space probe left our solar system in the 1990s, it turned around to take one last photo. The image that it captured depicts Earth, sized only one pixel, against the great expanse of space. Sagan’s now famous speech explores just how minute the world we know is. He explains that everything that we have ever known exists on the lone dot from Voyager’s photo. Sagan tells of the bloodshed and hatred that humans have witnessed, all to rule what he describes as “a fraction of a dot.” After hearing Sagan’s remarks, I bottled up my emotion until I got home for the day, at which point I sobbed into my pillow.
Earth is our only home. The only thing that we have ever known. Though she is tiny, she is mighty. But, even the mightiest have an eventual demise.
Mother Earth, how could we do this to you? You provided us with an appropriate climate to sustain life. You gave us plants and livestock to fill our bellies. You made sure that we had water so that we would never go thirsty. You granted us an atmosphere to hold in the air that our lungs desperately need. Dearest Earth, you have shown us nothing but benevolence. Yet, we took more than we needed, depleting your resources beyond repair. Our greed and our carelessness has left you weak. Each and every one of us has contributed to the decline.
Now, the scientists say that it is too late to save our planet. That we are beyond the point of no return. I hope for our sweet, sweet Earth’s sake that this is not the truth. There are steps that as a population we can take to turn back the clock. I know that I alone cannot fix this; however, I am responsible for my own person. I can continue to take steps to help heal the planet that we know and love.
Please, don’t let it be too late.
I love you, Earth.