Ethical Consumption to save Ethiopia

As you are struggling to loosen your belt this Thanksgiving and savoring those last few bites, it could definitely put a damper on your holiday mood knowing that for the poor citizens in Ethiopia times are looking even bleaker and their last meal could have been days ago. In a country already stricken with poverty, famine, and disease, things are looking to only get worse due to the effects of global warming and subsequent climate changes. There is a growing awareness of the need for everyone to become more ethical consumers, but sadly for those currently living in Ethiopia, these efforts may already be coming too late.

For the over 2,000 people inhabiting Loke, Ethiopia their main supply of what food they have comes from the maize grown across the span of 215 miles. These farming lands used to be able to supply these villagers with towering maize stalks and fruition, but visit those tracts today and you will be met instead with a dismaying display of dried stems and brittle stalks. The area has been suffering from a sever lack of rain, and the direct sun has had its way. With even less of a food supply, it has been the consequence that even more are succumbing to starvation, with the potential for well over 23 million inhabitants to be left without food on their plates.

Along without having enough precipitation, the villagers of Ethiopia are further struggling under scorching temperatures. Again due to the effects of carbon emissions, this region has already experienced a jump in their average temperatures causing livestock and farm animals to die. So now along with having to forgo the staple of maize, there is no meat from the livestock, no eggs, and other essentials. It is forecasted that with the donning of 2080, the overall average temperature for Ethiopia would have risen by almost 4 degrees Celsius to an already generally hot area. Add to this to the fact that most of the cities lie well above sea level, usually around 2,000 meters above to be more exact, and they are prone to an even more direct path of the sun's penetrating rays.

While Ethiopia is already pleading for other counties and food organizations to come to their aide, the amount needed is so great that even despite intervention, times will still look bleak for these poor citizens. The effect of too much carbon emissions being cast into the environment has many fatal repercussions, and the state of Ethiopia is only the latest in this chain. Ethiopia, and the other nations of Africa are hoping that other countries worldwide will do their part to cut back their toxic contributions of carbon gas by 25 to 40 percent. If we can all use this as further
inspiration to curb our own carbon footprint and be more ethical consumers, we can at least do well to aide those suffering souls in Ethiopia. We may not be able to stop what damage has already been done, but in spreading the green word, we can at least do well to stop inflicting further damage.