On Monday, we had big business saying not enough was being done to mitigate the threat presented by climate change to the global economy (see post for Day Forty-Five). On Tuesday, the 2007 Human Development Report was released (by the UN Development Programme) spelling out the dangers of climate change to the world's poor. So it was with some relief that I found an article today, Wednesday, suggesting there are things we can all do to benefit the Earth's atmosphere.
The article, in Scientific American, is informative, detailed and lengthy - but worth the read and ultimately positive. The author reckons that if each of us take on just three or four of his recommendations the world will benefit. Who knows how 'scientific' this really is, and I don't feel wholly comfortable with all the solutions suggested - but on an issue where lack of certainty has for too long justified a lack of action, it's kind of refreshing to see such a strong focus on solutions rather than on further debating of the problem.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Day Forty-Eight: how to help the planet
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
2 comments:
The thrust of this is very persuasive and couched in terms that bring home the reality of global warming. I’m sure most people are now convinced by the evidence of catastrophic climate change, but they don’t feel it strongly. Carbon footprint and carbon offsetting are great concepts, but they are ideas, they don’t grab people by the throat. They are not as near to home as wasting energy through thoughtlessness – like the staggering fact that Americans spend “more money on electricity to power devices when off than when on.”
I know that the article is deliberately a counsel of perfection, but some of these objectives are a long way from being smart: most often they miss out on the third element of the acronym – being achievable. Call me hopelessly romantic, but I think science will eventually catch up with climate change and my money is on geoengineering to save the planet. Meanwhile I’m getting an allotment, going veggie and will never travel to work again..
I'm not sure, Harry. I think these things are achievable - if people can be bothered, and, with respect to some but not all of the 'solutions', if they can afford to make the investment (e.g. buying a bike, buying a new car etc). Being a vegetarian is probably cheaper than eating meat in some societies, and energy efficient appliances (and lightbulbs) definitely work out cheaper in the long run. Actually, if it's indeed true that if everyone did these things then our carbon emissions would be drastically reduced, then I'm kind of surprised at how little it might take.
As I think you said the other day, however, one suspects it's the 'big things' that will make the real difference, like the multi-national enterprises really changing the way they do business - and then individual consumer behaviour change goes alongside this. And, then, yes - technology helps us adapt to what is by now inevitable global warming (IPCC figures suggest 2 degrees warming is virtually certain within the next few decades - the result of carbon already in the atmosphere). My worry is that the adaptive technologies will be as unevenly distributed as so many other resources currently are - including the TVs, computers and DVD players that so many of us in wealthier societies luxuriously leave on stand by... So, unless we see some real effort to transfer the benefits of new technologies to Africa and other less wealthy regions, then put simply the rich will get to adapt and the poor will be left to cope with the mess... If you see any articles suggesting such efforts are being made, please send the URL!
Post a Comment