This is Mother Earth and I have a message for all humans.

I often ask myself why you humans ever dedicated a day to me when you are the ones destroying me. And I hope you realize that by destroying parts of me: the land, the air, the oceans, fresh water, and much more you are also destroying what you ultimately depend on for your own existence and posterity, but also for the existence of non-human and other living beings.

Today,  I need to make a special and urgent plea because it seems that some human folks don’t understand the consequences of their actions nor the gravity of the situation. There are two things that are particularly concerning to me: i) the environmental destruction that occurs in warfare: during and for decades afterwards and ii) the increasingly indiscriminate use of Artificial Intelligence.

Many will say that humanity has always engaged in war, so that it’s futile to think that it could ever be abolished. Please challenge this notion ––too often, countries resort to war without considering other alternatives, such as non-violent ones. The fact that war itself is a major contributor to the climate crisis (and believe me, it is a crisis) should be reason enough for nation-states to rethink strategies of protection, security, and related matters.

I have borne witness to war among humans for thousands of years. And I’ve never really understood why you continue to do so, when you know perfectly well the damage this causes to me and you. Surely, there are other methods you could use to resolve conflict and tension such as dialogue, mediation, non-violent conflict resolution, etc. You humans get so caught up with your own egos and thirst for power that you become blind to the devastating results of your actions and willfully resist to think there may be  better alternatives.

At one particular time there lived a theologian, I think his name was Augustine who lived circa 400 AD. He was one of the first people to write about war. From his and other writings emerged just war theory. Most wars have been said to be justified within the framework of this theory; of course, some of them unjustifiably. And this continues to this day.

Money is of no value to me, but I would be remiss not to mention, at least, the exorbitant military budgets that support the war industry. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan cost the United States, $1.5 trillion ––about twice the cost of the Vietnam War when adjusted for inflation. One out of every five tax dollars is spent on armaments and the armed forces. The U.S. spends more on its defense budget than the next ten countries combined ––including Russia, China and allies. Not surprisingly, the United States is the world’s largest supplier of weapons.

I’m flummoxed by this latest onslaught on Iran which is costing the United States Government (and U.S. taxpayers) at least $59.3 million just on daily operational costs. The amount spent supporting Israel and its onslaught on Palestine has cost billions or even trillions.

War has created a huge global military empire that feeds the world’s oil-based economies. Waging war is dependent on burning vast amounts of oil and generates high levels of greenhouse gases. Increased military spending diverts funds from social, educational, health and environmental needs.

My other concern is AI and how it is being used indiscriminately without any attempt to anticipate unintended consequences. AI is also used in warfare.

I was around during the Industrial Revolution and saw how that epoch was the beginning of my destruction. Don’t start a digital revolution ––I won’t be able to sustain it. I can’t even sustain my own being today; and I will not be able to sustain the lives of all humans, non-humans and other living beings for much longer. My water sources are becoming scarcer; many of my resources are not infinite, so the race to build even more sophisticated types of artificial intelligence will deplete precious metals such as cobalt and lithium. And it makes me extremely sad to see young children and women being exploited and exposed to toxic levels because they are forced to mine for cobalt in places like the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Many of you are turning to AI because it is able to do some amazing things: answer questions, create projects, write papers, etc. I don’t think many of you realize that the more you use AI the more energy will be consumed; demand will increase which only places more burden on me. Did you know that someone’s daily digital activity can consume 3 liters of water, and asking ChatGPT to write a 100 word email uses the equivalent of a 500 ml bottle of water?

Some of you realize the potential negative effects of AI and have even protested against the building of data centers near your homes. You understand the negative impacts these data centers have on energy use, water use, noise, and lighting close to your homes. Thank you for thinking about me, too. But this is not enough.

Much more needs to happen to mitigate the effects of war and AI. Political leaders need to be stopped when they commit crimes against humanity and breach international law because they also commit crimes against the environment (ecocide). The only way this will happen is by upholding international law. Laws exist, what doesn’t is political will, or mechanisms that would hold people and countries responsible and accountable for their actions.

Limits need to be placed on corporations too, through laws, regulations, and standards. Making profit cannot be the only goal of these behemoths.

Please work on those mechanisms for your benefit and mine.

Peace on Earth (my home and yours).

Anna Malavisi (Mother Earth’s messenger) is an Associate Professor and Associate Chair in the Department of Philosophy, History, and World Perspectives at Western Connecticut State University.