This year has been a shrine to our changing climate. Much of our planet has been set alight by wildfires & relentless heat waves have shed light on the current effects of climate change. The Earth has weathered through 4.5 billion years of existence, and yet the most dynamic changes are being seen in the past 100 years. As a species, we have used & abused the resources around us, and the effects are now undeniable.
2020, before coronavirus or any of the other nightmares, began with wildfires decimating much of the Australian East, destroying habitats, homes & emitting 250 million tonnes of carbon dioxide ~ half of Australia’s yearly emission. It’s estimated a minimum of 3 billion vertebrates were killed, including Koala’s which are now on the brink of extinction. This black summer is a clear indication of what may become a regular occurrence in the near future. Australia was rated the worst out of 67 nations in climate change policy, with Prime Minister Morrison understating the role of climate change in the fires & a dependence on the mining Industry. More startling is the many high-profile climate change deniers in the Liberal Party, which rightfully resulted in a lot of backlash both nationally, and worldwide. Governments and policy makers are too focused on the present to cope with the fact that if we keep over-stressing our environment, the landscape of the future may be unrecognisable from today. Nonetheless, Australia isn’t the only place feeling the effects of our negligence.
In Europe; temperatures soared and broke records, set last year. I remember the first time it hit 30°c at my home in the North of England, and now that’s expected every year, it’s even starting to hit 40°c all across europe. The fact that I can notice this, in my 17 years of life is staggering. Though it may seem like a distant problem for us to face, we will have to stand up to those who’re letting us down. The responsibility has trickled past the leaders of the nations in the world, down to our generation and the too few who care. It’s both humbling & terrifying to think that the only way to make meaningful change is for millions of people to all make a conscious decision to make more environmentally friendly choices. Unfortunately it relies on other people doing the right thing, which seems a lot to ask with the way the world is going, so it really does come down to what you do as an individual. You can’t have the mentality of ‘I’ll let someone else do it.’ That will just snowball until everyone is expecting the responsibility to be on someone else’s shoulders. To have the privilege of living on this planet in the relative luxury we do, we need to accept the responsibility of reducing the amount of damage we’re doing to it.
Soon, it’ll be impossible to reverse the desecration of our planet. Permafrost holds over 9x the amount of methane that’s currently held in the atmosphere. If this permafrost starts to melt, it’ll increase the rate at which greenhouse gases are released, increasing global temperatures, which then repeats the cycle. We found out about the human effect on the climate over 100 years ago, yet we’re only just seriously putting willpower behind a solution. Cattle farming, deforestation, carbon-based energy sources & cement production are all major sources of climate-change causing pollution. Thankfully, many areas are switching to use renewable energy, but cattle farming is still going strong & even expanding in areas like South America. Additionally, cement is going to have to take a backseat to more sustainable building materials if we’re seriously going to try and combat the damage we’ve already caused on the planet. The UN set a target for a 2°c increase in average temperature, and that’s very much where we’re headed unless we embrace new technologies and alternative sources for food and energy for example. We’ve wreaked havoc on our world, now is the only time to make change.
To conclude, I’d like to ask you to please spare a thought about your impact on the world, it doesn’t even need to be about the environment, just in any way you’re positively or negatively influencing your surroundings. Being a more considerate person not only betters other people, but ultimately yourself. If you do want to take action to reduce global warming & climate change, take part in student strikes, reduce wasteful purchases & make your voice heard.
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