Reduce, Reuse, Resign yourself to the planet's inevitable demise

it has become impossible to remain unaware regarding the rapidly escalating climate emergency we are facing. even though Greta Thunberg is both better and younger than me i still feel like reflecting on this topic. over the last few years we have been reminded of things that we, as individuals, can do to lessen our environmental impact. however, it often feels that even the culmination of our individual efforts to recycle more can do little to offset the profound and substantial damage that has already occurred. 

while scientist's concern about climate change began during or before the 1950s, it has only taken about 70 years and some white people in Australia to lose their houses in a fire for global warming to truly become a hot topic that is impossible to ignore (although some people certainly try). 

every day it feels wrong to continue life as usual, as if climate change is not upon us. yet every day i continue my life as usual. unfortunately, in the event that i don't imminently die in a climate change related fire / tsunami / meteorite strike reminiscent of the 1998 drama/sci-fi Deep Impact then i still need to have a job :/  

i am aware of the ways in which i can reduce the impact that i have on the environment, but is it enough? for as long as corporations & capitalism destroy the planet in exchange for profits my own efforts feel inconsequential. sometimes i feel like i should just lie down in the street and die like the elephant man as a means of reducing my carbon footprint. 

?should the responsibility to save the world fall to individuals while BP and Exxon or whatevr cause 90% of all climate emissions? while i do think the average consumer can make some changes which would be to the benefit of the environment, will these efforts really have a deep impact?

speaking of Deep Impact (1998) i remember first seeing parts of this movie as a young child. a deep & impactful exploration into the end of humanity via environmental cataclysm; it took me almost 20 years to find this movie again as all i had to go on was a vague and distant memory of Elijah Wood on a moped. this movie actually has nothing to do with climate change although it depicts an environmental emergency in which most of the population dies in a series of tsunamis while the world's 'elite' either seek refuge in a network of interconnecting caves constructed inside the earth or go to Mars or something.

i recall as a child seeing the final scene of the movie in which the movie's protagonist and her estranged father stand on an empty beach as the first tsunami approaches, accepting that death is inescapable.