One week in July each year there is a week called “Motor Week” in the small town where I live. During this week several associations have organized for instance a competition in watercross. They also get prizes for the one who is best at doing a burnout, meaning the vehicle stands still, and the driver makes the wheels spin at a high frequency, so it causes a big amount of smoke. A car cruising also takes place in the city center. These are just a few of all the activities they have for everyone who likes vehicles. And during the evenings and nights they have different bands playing in the town square, so it comes a lot of people here during this week.

Why can’t these people show compassion?   

I’m against this week because I don’t think that the people who organize this week and all the ones who takes part in it show compassion, respect, and concern for other people, animals, and the environment. During the nights they drink a lot of alcohol and play loud music that disturbs people that have to go to work the following day because they play until the late hours. And when the music stops playing the people continue to drive around in the city center, some of them screams from the cars and hammer on their vehicles so they can make as loud noise as possible. While others can leave their cars idling, outside apartments where people live, four o’clock in the morning. And these aren’t ordinary cars with regular engines, no, it is engines that sound deafening! It lives pretty much people in the city center and not all of them like that noise. Some of these people have pets, and they don’t like the noise either. Why can’t these people show compassion?

Automobile emissions are bad for the health

Sometimes the automobile emissions come into people’s homes since they have to have their windows open because of warm weather. And that doesn’t only come from when people leave their cars idling, it also originates from the slow motion driving during the days and evenings because there are lots of vehicles in this town during this week, for instance during the car cruising. It’s not healthy to be forced to breathe automobile emissions in your home. And I also feel sorry for the pets who have to do that. Emissions can cause allergic reactions, asthma, chronic bronchitis and heart disease. They also contain carcinogenic substances.

They don’t show compassion for animals

One year they, (I don’t know if it was the police or the people who govern this city), tried to stop all the driving around in the city by putting a gate across the street in one crossroad. But the people who take part in this week didn’t care about that because they went out from their cars and moved it so they could continue to drive. They also throw lots of garbage on the streets and in the city parks. They are insane. I wonder if people who behave like this have drunk too much alcohol…

Why haven’t their parents taught them to show compassion, respect, and concern for other people, animals and the environment? The people who behave like this doesn’t care if they scare the fishes and the otters in the river or the ducklings in the pond with all the noise they cause. And they don’t care if the garbage they throw everywhere and the booze bottles they smash injures animals and that it is not good for the environment. They also don’t care about that they are polluting the air. And they don’t care about the people who wants peace and quiet during the nights. By the way, it isn’t only young people that take part in this week.

It is important that we use the vehicles less

Domestic shipments and driving in a car stand for a third of Sweden’s emissions of greenhouse gas. And because of that, it is important that we use the vehicles less. Most of the scientists agree that the increasing climate change comes mostly from people’s activities. All the emissions disturb the balance in nature; it gets warmer. Unique ecosystems, for instance, Arctic, coral reefs, and the Maldives probably don’t survive a global warming on two degrees. And if it gets three degrees warmer, there is a high risk of an extensive loss of biodiversity globally. It is unacceptable. They don’t know if similar habitats will exist somewhere else, howsoever that was the case, a lot of species can’t move fast enough from their existing habitats. Due to global warming, when it increases, species will become extinguished.

One in six species risks becoming extinguished

Sensitive ecosystems, endangered animals, and plants, who already are severely affected by emissions are most vulnerable to climate changes. And if a heatwave, drought or flood happens, then a species can perish. A new study shows that one in six species risks becoming extinguished because of the climate change.

Reindeer, Salmons, and Walruses are already affected by the global warming

There are already animals that are affected by this, for instance, reindeer in Arctic, North Atlantic salmon, and walruses in Alaska. The reindeer use to wander over ice and the frozen ground, but when rivers, lakes, and mires don’t freeze in the same way as before, they have to make long detours. And the salmons are at risk to decrease drastically because when the water temperature rise it gets harder for the spawn and adult individuals to survive. The number of walruses in Alaska that goes to land has increased dramatically when the sea ice is gone. Typically they lie in small groups on the sea ice. When they are on land cubs and older individuals are at risk to be stamped to death when tens of thousands walruses get spooked and try to get in the water at the same time.

Polar bears are vulnerable

And the polar bear is today vulnerable because it gets for instance threatened by retreating sea ice. The ice melts and the remaining ice gets thinner which makes it harder for the polar bears to hunt seals. They have to go for longer periods without food. And thin ice can easier drift away with the currents and carry a polar bear to unfamiliar surroundings, which forces the bear to swim until it finds a new ice floe or gets to dry land. More polar bears will most likely drown because the ice is melting. And when the polar bears are on land they get in conflicts with humans since they have to go closer to areas where people live in order to search for food. It’s also harder for the polar bear cubs to survive since they mostly live on ice-dependent seals, so the mothers need access to ice when they come out from the dens with the cubs. The cubs get also threatened in the den since the changes in the rainfall patterns can cause the roof of the den to crash, and then they get subjected to predators and harsh weather.

Lots of moose calves in Sweden is dying because of the climate change

And many moose calves are dying on an island called Öland here in Sweden. In 2013 75% of the calves died. The scientists believe that happens because of the climate change. There is an ongoing research regarding the climate change in the north where for instance the researchers will find out how the increasing temperature will affect the reindeer in Sweden, Finland, Norway, and Greenland. The climate changes are often first noticed in the north since the ecosystems there are usually more vulnerable than in the south. Scientists say that the climate changes here in the north has been underestimated up to now.

Who teach insane people that their actions get consequences?

But do the people who organize this motor week and the people who take part in it care about the dying moose calves and the poor polar bear cubs who may get killed already in the den, or their parents that starve and drown? Do they care about the reindeer who has to wander greater distance than before? Do they care about the walrus cubs that can get stamped to death? Do they care about the salmons who don’t survive? Probably not. Do they show compassion? No.

All this happens because of the climate changes and driving around for fun in the city and do burnouts is appalling for the animals and the environment. Who teach those people that their actions get consequences? Who teach them to show compassion, respect, and concern for all living beings? I guess no one. These people are that kind that doesn’t think; they only care about driving around and drinking booze. They only care about having fun but ignore what their behavior leads to.

There are lots of other stuff people can do for fun

I do not understand why people think it is fun to cause other living beings harm. Why do they engage in activities that are bad for animals and their habitats? I’m troubled that there are so many people who behave like that because if more and more people start acting like that, what happens to the animals and the environment then? Why can’t each person take responsibility for the environment? If everyone does their damnedest to take care of the environment then maybe we can stop the global warming and save the animals and the plants. I urge everyone to think before they act and consider what the consequences may be. There are lots of other stuff people can do for fun that doesn’t harm others like; photograph our beautiful nature, join a book club, interpret your dreams or pick berries. Or go bird watching, go butterfly watching, go dragonfly watching, go hiking, go jogging, go rowing, go canoeing, go sailing, go biking, go mountain climbing, go surfing, go snorkeling, or go scuba diving.

Please, show compassion for all living beings!