Nature isn’t just living things. It includes mountains, oceans, weather… anything not made by people. But I just want to talk about the living part of #nature which is an interdependent system. Every living thing plays a part in the system and we all rely on each other. For example, without pollinators like bees, plants would die. No plants, no oxygen, no food, no animals, no us.

We are the stewards of this living system because we’re the only ones on earth capable of screwing it up. We have to protect the natural world from ourselves. We can’t pollute all of the clean drinking water, we can’t allow too many species to go extinct, and we can’t let ecosystems fail. If humanity upsets the natural balance too much, we're in trouble. And we won't know how much is too much until it's too late.

Storms, droughts, fires and floods are already more frequent, severe and costly. These natural disasters destroy lives and property. If they destroy enough property, they could destroy economies. If we don't address climate change soon, we are going to have some very costly problems on our hands. Look what hurricane Katrina did to New Orleans. Look at the flooding in Southern California, or the recent flood in Nepal caused by a collapsing glacier. We're already paying the price of ignoring our impact on our #environment.

There are people who don’t care about the health of the natural world. There are politicians who deny climate change, and #science in general, to score political points. There are people in business who exploit, damage and pollute nature in the name of profit. There are people who aren't interested in protecting nature because they are more concerned with the afterlife than real life. We have to make sure that our laws and our government protect nature from people who either don’t live in reality or don’t give a shit. We need plants, animals, forests and coral reefs. We need the natural system intact if we are to thrive.