Ever wondered why December 2022 felt like midsummer? The rather unexpected answer to this question is … butterflies.

As the traditional thinking would say, the events that changed the world’s environmental status are highly influential, such as volcanic eruptions, changes in the orbit of the Earth or even shifts in the Earth’s crust, but what we fail to see is that much smaller events like driving an SUV or lighting a cigarette can have an impact on a larger scale through enhancing the greenhouse effect, which actually leads us to the notion of the butterfly effect.

The butterfly effect reflects the interconnection of the world, it proves that tiny occurrences can be the catalyst for a complex change. Evoking the idea that a butterfly, with a brief flap of the wings, might cause a storm that would ravage half a continent. Applying this to our ecological state means starting to see the issue within our smallest actions rather than blaming it on bigger factors.

It was proven scientifically, that a butterfly flaps its wings approximately twenty times every second, each one participating in the progressive creation of ecological chaos and not even realizing the consequences of their actions. Since they have adapted to survive in just about any habitat and ecological niche imaginable except for the most extreme cold, could it be the reason why they’re warming up the planet? Or is it but a pile of unthought decisions that grew into bad habits? If you are done with your cigarette, you casually drop it wherever is convenient. If you are going on vacation, you load up your car with gasoline and press that accelerator as hard as you can, and before you know it, forests are on fire, animals are extinct and progressively the whole ecosystem, destroyed.

I know what you’re thinking: but if butterflies don’t flap their wings, they can’t fly.

Well initially butterflies were wingless creatures called caterpillars unable to participate in any ecological change, an inoffensive fragment of the ecosystem contributing in its development like any other living entity would. But as years passed by, progression happened though cognitive and industrial revolutions, enabling caterpillars to transform, arming them with a menacing weapon … wings. Thus, resulting in the creation of butterflies, the very center of the ecosystem and the most threatening creature that ever lived.

So, if you ever wonder, dear butterfly, how come you’re taking a dip in the middle of winter? It’s probably because of that water bottle you unconsciously tossed on the ground a year ago.

Written By : Sarra Lasram.