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Twelve years to save Nemo
Oct. 31st, 2018 08:51 am We have twelve years in which to reduce our carbon emissions by 45% or face catastrophic climate change.
It's not a topic people are comfortable talking about, because it requires us all to make difficult choices about our lifestyles, but it's a topic that we have to raise for our own sakes, let alone the sake of our children and grandchildren.
This is not some far distant future.
Drought in the UK this summer had a massive impact on crop yields (our allotment produced half what it normally does - and we watered as much as we could).
Fire in the USA had devastating results.
Floods last winter caused massive damage.
The Great Barrier Reef is dying from heat stress, much of it is dead already. If we can keep the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees, then we will only (and I stress the word 'only') lose 90% of the world's coral reefs. If the temperature rises by 2 degrees, then we lose ALL the coral reefs.
We're past the point where recycling your rubbish will make a global impact. (It's useful and virtuous, but it can easily be mistaken for making a serious impact on the problem)
The big carbon issues are :Travel, Heat, Meat.
Cut out aviation and you will have made the single biggest change that you can make. The last time I flew to the USA was shortly after 9/11. I was damned if terrorists were going to stop me visiting my American friends. What terrorists could not achieve, environmental issues did. The next year, I did a carbon footprint calculation - I have never flown since I did that calculation. The cost was simply too high.
My annual carbon emissions are around 3 tons. One return transatlantic flight would add another ton to that.
It's not a topic people are comfortable talking about, because it requires us all to make difficult choices about our lifestyles, but it's a topic that we have to raise for our own sakes, let alone the sake of our children and grandchildren.
This is not some far distant future.
Drought in the UK this summer had a massive impact on crop yields (our allotment produced half what it normally does - and we watered as much as we could).
Fire in the USA had devastating results.
Floods last winter caused massive damage.
The Great Barrier Reef is dying from heat stress, much of it is dead already. If we can keep the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees, then we will only (and I stress the word 'only') lose 90% of the world's coral reefs. If the temperature rises by 2 degrees, then we lose ALL the coral reefs.
We're past the point where recycling your rubbish will make a global impact. (It's useful and virtuous, but it can easily be mistaken for making a serious impact on the problem)
The big carbon issues are :Travel, Heat, Meat.
Cut out aviation and you will have made the single biggest change that you can make. The last time I flew to the USA was shortly after 9/11. I was damned if terrorists were going to stop me visiting my American friends. What terrorists could not achieve, environmental issues did. The next year, I did a carbon footprint calculation - I have never flown since I did that calculation. The cost was simply too high.
My annual carbon emissions are around 3 tons. One return transatlantic flight would add another ton to that.
