My son

One year ago my wife presented me with a baby boy and just like every father I look forward to the world that my son will live in. I shall be 36 years old in August and I look forward to the time when my son will be the same age.

In the year 2041 the present government, all the present ministers and all of the MPs we have diligently elected and entrusted with our future, will have been, for better or worse, consigned to fading memories, as I will, most probably. However we will all have left our mark on this world.

Should we be trying to save the world for our children?

The world has been here for millions of years and will continue to exist for millions more. The question is: will it continue to host us? Our stay on this planet is a short phase in the actual history of the planet, so what we should be asking is: Can we save the world as we want it? What are the facts at present?

We have an unprecedented rate of extinction of species when we do not even know all the existing ones. Our children are suffering from asthma, diabetes, cancer and other effects of pollution. We are fast running out of clean drinking water. In fact it is forecast that by the year 2025, 75 per cent of the population will not have access to it (Kofi Annan).

My son will be 20 years old then, just the right age to go to war to protect what is left. I will be 55, still young I hope, but not really of an age to fight alongside him.

We are watching oil prices rise and increased extraction to fuel (sic) the demand, however all those estimates of reserves were made on forecast demand. So when will it actually run out?

In Malta we are coping with global warming and overcrowding by installing more air conditioners. This increases the demand on the power station (oil) which already cannot cope. We rush around our lives thinking only about the present and using vehicles that consume even more fossil fuel although we have alternatives.

We live in the middle of a sick sea that is now seeing alien species. The temperature has risen to such an extent that certain fish have migrated from connected water bodies looking for more comfortable homes, just like the refugees we see arriving on our shores.

As an airline pilot, I look at this small island we call home every time I approach home. I see sewage pouring into the sea, smoke from Maghtab, a general brown haze over the whole island and it breaks my heart.

However, I also see hope. Early morning arrivals show Malta in a different light, literally. Those few short hours of reduced traffic and reduced demand allows the air to recover slightly.

The night time cooling and condensation scrub a lot of the dust and pollution out of the air but it only lasts a very short while between 5 and 6 a.m. If you cannot get up that early, look at the colour of the light after a rain shower.

There are alternatives to what we have become so used to. Public transport is improving slowly, electric vehicles are available, low tech cooling for homes has been around since the Zigurrats of Babylon and solar heating can be cheaper.

As seen in my early morning arrivals, given the chance, the world will clean itself up.

My son will not be able to choose his government for another 18 years, so it is up to me and his mother to choose for him and it is up to our leaders and policy makers to look beyond the next election or four or five. My son's future depends on it.

Already my son does not have the opportunity to follow his father into the aviation industry. There will be no fuel to fly the planes.

How old will your children be in the year 2040?

pavas@maltanet.net