By Phil Dickenson | February 17th 2021
A cover-up by Exxon Mobil followed by several decades of denial mean that humans are no longer in a position to prevent Global Warming. Forest Smoothie® explains how we must stop it, to survive!
15 years ago climate change was a hotly contested phenomena, as anyone from suburbanites to city folk, politicians to business leaders, companies big and small routinely balked at the plausibility of humans warming the planet. Most of the arguments albeit by the BBQ or in boardrooms seemed to be subjective rather than objective, emotional rather than rational and if it wasn't for the run-away success of An Inconvenient Truth in 2006 the environment would ordinarily rank in last place of things to discuss, let alone protest about.
Fast forward to January 2021 and the Peoples Climate Vote the largest ever opinion poll on climate has exposed a call to action that is both bipartisan and universal. Of the 1.2 million people canvassed in 50 low to high income countries 64% of people agree there's a Climate Emergency with the greatest consensus among youngsters aged 14-18.
Graphic by The Guardian, Source UNDP
The opinion poll also shows that 65% of people in the U.S. favour action, 72% in Australia, the EU and Canada over 70% and the highest confirmation of all in Italy and the U.K. at 81%. India was among the lowest, but at 59% still counts as a clear mandate for our civic, political & business leaders.
Graphic by The Guardian, Source UNDP
The global awakening on climate is hardly surprising, in the past few years there's been an acceleration in environmental catastrophes to the extent that Climate Change was sounding too benign and had to be upgraded to "Climate Emergency". With temperatures at their hottest for 12,000 years, discussions on our warming planet have become click bait for the world's press and social media with newspapers such as The Guardian even committing to a 'Climate Pledge' which promises to probe & push for legislation and includes an Environment Now page with real-time statistics on Atmospheric CO2, Global Temperature, Ice Mass & Sea Levels.
The Climate Emergency is now undeniable as more frequent and severe heatwaves, wildfires, droughts, dust storms, crop failures, floods, cyclones and rising sea levels appear to touch every human life!
That is unless you live on mars which save for a privileged few at an estimated cost of 10 billion dollars per person, will be 225 million kilometres out of reach for a long, long time. So this leaves us in one hell of a predicament, earth is our only hope for survival and as the growing number of protest banners proclaim "there's no planet B".
Image by Alejandro Alvarez
Peoples Climate March, New York, September 2014
As the most famous climate activist in the world 17 year old Greta Thunberg has been saying to stoic politicians since 2018 "our house is on fire". So how hot is the situation we find ourselves in?
The average surface temperature across the planet in 2020 was 1.25C higher than pre-industrial times, which is dangerously close to the 1.5C target set by the world’s nations to avoid global warmings worst impacts. Taking into account that 2016 was an El Niño year and a climatic anomaly, 2020 was the hottest year ever recorded and scientists have warned that without urgent action the future for many millions of people looks tinder black.
Graphic by The Guardian
To put out the flames and protect the weather systems & biodiversity that support all life on earth, we need to dramatically reduce our carbon and methane emissions.
Gathering in the earths atmosphere at higher concentrations than our oceans and forests can handle, these greenhouse gases prevent heat from radiating back into the atmosphere at night, causing the ocean, a major driver of our weather systems to warm.
Graphic by The Guardian
Ocean Warming has been on the rise for as long as measurements have been taken, and no single year can prove or disprove global warming. That confirmation comes from the appearance of a trend i.e. what is happening in subsequent years?
The answer is unequivocal, our oceans have been warming since the 1940s and with only 5 exceptions since 2000, each year has been warmer than the past.
This affects all life on our planet as warming oceans increase evaporation which create more powerful storms. Some areas are becoming wetter with heavy rainfall, flooding and cyclones, while other areas are becoming drier with more intense heatwaves, droughts, and wildfires. We saw these effects at a dramatic scale in the recent wildfires of Australia and West Coast of America and cyclones of Matthew in Haiti and Yasa in Fiji.
Image by Joanne Francis
Australia's historic wildfires 2019-2020, killed or displaced 3 billion animals.
Warmer oceans are less oxygenated which threatens large powerful fish like tuna, marlin and shark that keep our oceans healthy and also plant life including the phytoplankton, coral and algae that absorb 50% of our CO2 and through photosynthesis produce upto 80% of our oxygen.
Image courtesy of Sebastian Pena Lambarri
700 ocean sites now suffer from low oxygen, compared with 45 in 1960
In May 2020, Carbon Dioxide in our atmosphere hit 417ppm (parts per million) which is the highest it's ever been in human history and likely the highest concentration on earth in 3 millions years. The last time atmospheric carbon dioxide was this high, sea level was 50 to 80 feet higher and temperatures were 3.6°–5.4°C warmer than pre-industrial times. A delay in the physical response to a forced increase in carbon dioxide suggests this is where we're headed in the future.
Image courtesy of Fabio Fistarol
Forests less than 140 years old absorb the most carbon
In collaboration with the ocean, our forests are earths second largest carbon sink and as part of natures harmonious cycle, convert carbon dioxide into rich biomass for plants, trees and soil.
But unfortunately the beloved trees that keep us cool by day and help regulate the weather have roots in the ground where gluttonous industry want to pursue unsustainable farming practices. Expanding the vast mono crops of maize & soybean to feed 70 billion farmed animals per year (10 x the human population) and space for grazing is using 77% of our agricultural land and a whopping 38% of earths habitable land, compared with 1% of the earth taken up by urban areas and cities. Perhaps the most staggering statistic to highlight this prodigious waste of space is that meat & dairy provides the global population with 18% of its calories and 34% of its protein, the rest is provided by plants which utilise just 7% of our arable land.
As a result, 50% of the world's rainforests have been lost since the 1960s at a rate of 81,000 hectares per day, an area fourteen times the size of Manhatten and globally we lose an area equivalent to 30 football fields per minute. All this without mentioning soil health, ground water and desertification.
Image source unknown
Animal farming accounts for 77% of global agriculture land use
To keep global temperatures within 1.5 degrees celsius above pre-industrial times, it's critical that natural solutions are complimented by technological ones. From increasing our capacity to harness power from the wind, sun and waves to developing alternative sources of protein. However the consequences of believing that technology is key to our survival or an escape route (Yes Elon Musk) are plain to see.
Its our ingenuity and aplomb for innovation that has deposited the human species in the fossil record of a new geological epoch called the Anthropocene. Among the hallmarks found in an archaeological dig many centuries from now (if intelligent species exist) would be radiation from nuclear bombs and nuclear spills such as Fukushima, the prevalence of skeletal remains of cows and chickens from industrial farming, the presence of higher concentrations of carbon and acidified oceans & plastic waste. All of which were a consequence of how we deployed technology.
Another mistake would be to allow a green new deal to be hijacked by the same market forces and proponents of 'economic growth at whatever cost'. We simply cannot turn unsustainable business into sustainable business with the same capitalist driven outlook. We must prioritise social value above economic value and ensure that corporations view intention and integrity as benchmarks, not valuation and share price. If we don't change our ways as well as our products, there'll be no chance of making the future equitable or safe for all people. Injustice will continue, inequality will remain among race and class and volatile markets will ensure humans continue to live under a constant pressure to 'succeed' and power the new engine, albeit electric.
So while the window for change has narrowed and the realities of shrinking sea ice, escaping methane, wildfires & floods has outpaced most scientific predictions, we still have 10 years to build credibility, effectiveness and fairness into this transition. So what can you and I do?
Here's the "Top 10 Ways to Survive the Climate Emergency" by Forest Smoothie.
TREES volunteer to plant trees or subscribe to a tree planting plan
ENERGY make the switch to a renewable source of energy, such as wind, solar or hydropower.
TRAVEL reduce your air miles by flying less.
TRANSPORT cycle, car share or take public transport to work.
FOOD adopt a plant-based diet OR limit meat & dairy intake to max. 3 days per week.
IMPORTS restrict food purchases to local and seasonal produce.
CONSUMPTION reduce, repurpose, recycle or refuse to consume more than life's essentials.
WASTE seperate organic and non organic matter and use municipal recycling bins.
WATER limit showers, use a dishwasher and water the garden before 9am and after 7pm.
COMPOSTING place food scraps in a compost bin and use for your own or a friends garden.
Please share if our blog helped you Understand the Climate Emergency
Image by Thom Milkovic
Wildfires turn the sky orange across the U.S. West Coast, 2020.