Something tells me we didn’t get the message. Temps are going to break in the next few days but don’t let our collective bad memory let you forget that temps will remain hotter, melting permafrost, increasing co2 in the atmosphere, slowing the thermocline conveyor belt in the ocean, melting sea ice and causing massive algal blooms that also heat the oceans and suffocate sea life, atmospheric rivers shifting causing intense hurricanes and fires, which destroys forests and pollutes water supplies with runoff, and all of this increases human use of scarce resources making the problem worse. If we do not make the entire planet carbon neutral by 2050 the temps will increase about 5 degrees on average globally by 2100 if the polar ice melts sea levels will rise about 10 feet on average wiping out most coastal habits and cities, forcing massive displacement and migrations increasing global warming even more. It is a real problem and if you would rather bury your head in the sand worry not because there will be a lot more sand once the arable land is scorched.
Reduce your frivolous consumption.
Repurpose everything and anything.
Divert organic waste from landfils into terrace farming and foodplots.
Grow more green stuff and stop the use of nitrite fertilizers which poison ground water.
Reduce your carbon footprint by planning travel to prevent excess wasted fuel.
Electric cars are not enough.
Reduce the use of all oils and especially plastics, also papers and pulps.
How has this not become the most important problem for the world to solve?
Because war and famine and global income inequality.
The global 10% wealthiest take 52% of all the wealth while the bottom 50% share about 8% of global wealth.
If you make more than 100k you are in the global top 10%. If you make more than $1million you are in the top 1%.
Use your exceptional privilege to improve the world.
If you cannot use your money then use your time to make better quality choices to reduce your impact on the world.
If you cannot use your time then use your voice to refuse anyone who attempts to tell you global warming is not real. They are absolutely wrong, and just because you imagine something isn’t real doesn’t make it disappear.
Something like 23 of the last 25 years have shown average global temps increase over the prior year.
Today it is 96 degrees and feels like 108 even with 50% relative humidity.
There is a 98% chance one of the next five years will be the hottest ever recorded.
It requires people who believe the science of global warming to act in ways to decrease their carbon footprint.
It requires people who don’t believe the science to be forced to accept it, whether by taxing fossil fuels and electricity produced from them at deep penalties or outlawing them completely.
It requires radical change in the way we live in society, including the end of all wars and famine, the investment in responsible nuclear and hydroelectric, wind and solar power.
It requires not colonizing space which will take too long but using the same technology that will be used to colonize space for our own efficient use here on this planet.
Small ways to help include:
Setting your hot water heater to warm instead of hot.
Taking shorter showers and avoiding baths. Baths use at least twice the water of a shower on average.
Turn off all lights and put electronics on a system so they are not using phantom power when plugged in and not in use.
Eat less processed foods, including eating fast food less, to reduce the amount of landfill waste from packaging.
Repurpose old clothes as rags and cloths. One pound of processed cotton uses about 1,320 gallons of water. That is 650 gallons of water to make a tshirt.
Put down the phone. It takes over 3,000 gallons of water to make one. It uses a constant stream of energy at about 2kwh per year which uses about 36 gallons of water per person. It is not charging the phone per se, it is the data and the energy required to store it. One measly gigabyte of data costs about 3-7 kwh of energy to store it. That is equivalent to about 150 gallons of water. That is about 15,000 gallons of water to store a terrabyte and 328.77 million TB of new data are created every day!
Global electricity consumes 3 trillion gallons of water per year. While there is a lot of water on our planet about 10% is locked up in conversion processes (rain cycles, atmosphere, soil; 3% of it is fresh water, and only about 1% of the 3% (.03% of all water) of the fresh water is accessible for use, desalination is also energy intensive at 3.5kwh, costing 91 gallons of water consumed, per 1000 gallons of fresh water produced, so use less of it: both electricity and water.
Climate Emergency is a series of short films produced by several of the world’s leading experts and organizations on climate change. Consider watching these in your classes, sharing these instead of arguing with climate change deniers, and if possible support the organizations and scientists who are working to slow down the feedback loops that accelerate global warming. Improve things in small ways today and also take significant steps to change your habits long term. That starts with ensuring your children are raised to respect nature and our fragile blue planet. That requires we set that expectation. Vote for policies and politicians who are bullish on energy sustainability and buy products and services that are proven to be resource efficient. 73% of all greenhouse gases are caused by energy consumption for electricity, heat and transportation. It takes every single person working to innovate new ways of sustainable energy production and conservation. You really cannot afford to wait to begin transforming the world toward economies of sustainability, peace and global cooperation. Think globally, act locally. Do more with less. Start now.