Most of the human-caused troubles can be avoided

KAMLOOPS — There is nothing like thick billows of wildfire smoke close to town to remind everyone that Mother Nature has an indubitable upper hand. Humbling. As the fire was raging, I heard someone say, ‘I hope it’s not human-caused, but I am afraid it might be.’ I guess many of us had the same thought. It happened too many times already this year and in previous years too.

Then the confirmation came: human-caused. While freak accidents are just that, there is something infuriating about one more human-caused wildfire. On Thursday night, the burnt side of the hill where the fire raged during the afternoon was a tapestry of eerily glowing smoldering bits. If something can be scary and beautiful at the same time, I think that sight comes as close as can be. I thought of the firefighters on site, breathing in the heavy smoke as they were doing their best to contain the fire before the predicted Friday strong winds had a chance to make it really ugly.

As of now, Sunday evening, there are some barely visible wisps of smoke floating over the slope, which ought to make us all very grateful. The BC Wildfire Service hopes to see the fire contained in the next few days. It is the firefighters’ job to fight the fires, yes, but to think that some are caused by negligence or ignorance (which could of course be avoided) …well, there is so much at risk that we just can’t afford to be negligent or ignorant anymore.

The two dreaded words, human-caused, can morph into troublesome situations, some of which are potentially deadly. And it’s not just with the fires. A couple of days ago a piece of news caught my eye. Two Vancouver-area little girls were feeding a bear cub through the patio window. I had to read that twice. The video was posted on Instagram and garnered some complimentary comments such as ‘oh, so lucky, where is that?’. Nobody is lucky when that happens.

That’s children not understanding the severe implications of feeding a bear, some might say. Well, it’s not. An adult man from the same household is also seen handing a whole pack of crackers through a barely opened door to an adult bear. Talk about human caused trouble for people and wildlife. Cute as it may seem, a hand-fed cub will grow into a bear that will come seeking that human food. Bears like that do not knock, nor do they patiently wait for you to hand over a treat like a dog does. Such bears are likely condemned to be put down. Human-caused trouble due to…

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Then comes the troubling case of selfies. People put themselves in danger by taking a selfie for the sake of some short-lived internet glory, they cause others to put their lives at risk by imitating them, or, as it happened recently in Italy, they trample over humanity itself as they take a selfie near the site of a tragic train accident. People fall off bridges taking selfies, or they get attacked by wild animals they try to include in their projected shot to quick fame. Human-caused misery has many facets indeed, some of which heartbreaking.

The list is not done still. A recent federal study concluded that the largest Canadian national park, Wood Buffalo National Park, is having some serious trouble due to its water supply being affected by industry, climate change and natural cycles. Can we agree that the first three are, to a certain degree, or fully, human-caused? Sadly so.

In the age of being pelted with so much information on any given day (not all accurate though,) you’d think we would all be more knowledgeable about how things work and able to avert most of the human caused disasters. Truth is, we are overwhelmed by information, we are hurried, we are gullible and letting egos getting the best of us. We are also wishful thinkers, which is fine as long as we do not turn our heads from possible dire consequences but instead think our actions through and influence better outcomes.

Here’s to wishing that we all choose better, whether it pertains our own lives, the community we live in, the wildlife that adorns our beautiful world or our environment. Here’s not just to wishing, but to making that wish a reality, because truth be told, some human-caused troubles cannot be solved, no matter how hard we may try.