The UN weather agency has recently reported that the CO2 emissions are the highest they have been in 800,000 years. (Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/co2-levels-record-1.4378091) While it is fair to say that global climate change has been one of the leading concerns for the global community, this news may still come as a surprise. Personally, I found it shocking that despite all the effort to battle climate change, CO2 levels rise rapidly. After all, most of the climate change articles talk about improvements in green technology. So how come for all of our solar panels, electric cars and renewable energy, greenhouse gasses keeps rising?

What are the consequences of mainstream media focusing primarily on positive news, in regards to the climate change? Positive news in general makes us feel more accomplished, it makes us feel that we are on the right track to our goals…When it comes to the topic of climate change, this type of thinking is dangerous. It is dangerous because it makes us believe that we are doing a good job battling climate change. It makes us believe that if keep doing what we are doing, we will reach our goals. However, the most recent news by the UN weather agency shows us that it is not at all the case. Apparently, we are not even close to our goals.

There seems to be a discrepancy between what we believe and what the real situation. We think that driving Teslas and investing in a solar panel is enough, while it turns out that the situation is worse than ever. We, as a global community, have not done enough to deserve the feeling that things are going to be fine. Once there is a steady decline in the CO2 levels, maybe we will have the luxury of having this mentality. But today is not the day.

What can we take away from all this? One thing is clear: we cannot allow ourselves to be ignorant of what the real situation is, no matter whether it is positive or negative. Mainstream media is a powerful tool to sway the public opinion. As such, it should not be making us feel better about battling global climate change. It should be telling us facts as they are. Today, the fact is that we are in danger of leaving the world a lot less habitable for the future generations.