Culture

All The Best Dogs From The Massive Global Climate Strike

We do not deserve dogs.

by Joseph Earp  21 September 2019
Dogs at the 2019 Climate Strike

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It’s easy to think about the threat posed by climate change in strictly human terms.

After all, the climate apocalypse will certainly be very, very bad for humans. If we stay on our current trajectory, then even conservative estimates project widespread migration caused by swathes of the Earth becoming inhospitable, famine, war and death. Clearly, the prognosis is bad. Clearly, we’re all worried about it. Clearly, something needs to be done.

But reductively assuming the worst of climate change is merely a dire threat to human civilisation is a key part of what got us in this problem in the first place. We’re not some alien species, thrust on the planet; we’re part of the Earth, an integral connection in a unified whole. A warming earth doesn’t just pose a threat to us. It’s a challenge for every single species on the planet, from the smallest ant to the biggest elephant.

All that explains why it was so genuinely heartwarming to see animals at the massive global climate strikes that took place — and are continuing to take place — at countries around the world.

Or, not just animals. But dogs.

Because dogs are the best.

Yep, the global climate strike was an extremely big deal — at the moment, it’s estimated that 50,000 bodies attended the Sydney march on the domain, for instance. And, as ever, dogs were there closely by our side to help us pull it off.

Of course, the climate strike is still ongoing in many parts of the world. So, even if the idea of the government’s total inaction on the climate is filling you with a low-level, impossible to ignore existential dread, just take solace in the fact that somewhere, right now, a dog is marching for your future.

Truly, we do not deserve dogs. Particularly not when the planet is on fire.