A Ticking Time Bomb: Why Climate Change Solutions Can No Longer Wait and What We Can Do to Help
For many decades, the delicate topic of climate change was often shoved to the side and placed on the back burner, mostly forgotten about and not granted the importance it deserved. It was one of those issues that could always wait, one that never would require urgency to solve since someone else could take the reigns. Thanks to the influence of non-believers and significant governmental power, warnings were never heeded while little to no progress was made in large periods of time to curve its effects on the world. Now, we have reached a crossroads in our history as a species where our decisions regarding climate change can either lead us to a better existence or to our ultimate extinction.
Throughout all this time, we weren’t even aware that it was our planet that had been stuck on the back burner, becoming so warm to the point where a lot of changes that have been made are irreversible. The hope that scientists had for having a chance to repair them are now out the window, giving us no choice but to adapt to the changes in the present in addition to those that will be coming. As a matter of fact, even if the world were to stop ALL carbon emissions permanently, the planet would still increase in temperatures and the destruction of a lot of habitats, including a lot of polar ice caps, wouldn’t completely cease. With those harrowing facts in mind, experts have made these next 11 years the most critical in our history.
The goal is to cut global carbon emissions by two-thirds upon the year 2030 in hopes of keeping increasing temperatures worldwide to a stable 1.5 degrees Celsius. If we succeed in doing so, then the world’s climate change effects can be better managed as humanity adopts a greater amount of clean energy sources to prevent further problems. If we don’t, a possibility that 95% of people currently believe will happen, the planet will enter a positive reinforcement cycle, an uncontrollable one where global temperatures will exceed an average of 4.5 degrees Celsius or higher. In that case, there would be little to nothing that humanity could do to stop it, so, now more than ever, it’s time for people to stop shoving the issue of climate change to the side. We need to accept the reality that it’s no longer an issue…it’s a crisis!
As the Trump Administration keeps rolling back key environmental legislation, compromising our safety as well as that of future generations, the battle is going to be a long and exasperating one on our end. It’s downright disgraceful that even his administration attempted to show him the recent grave report this past year, only to have him respond, “I don’t believe it.” Because of his agenda, we are now falling behind other nations in the progress to fight back, even China, one of the world’s most well-known polluters. This alone is absolutely embarrassing and demonstrates how far we have fallen, a signal to all U.S. citizens that we must do everything possible to resist his plans.
In the recent issue of the Sierra magazine, novelist Kim Stanley Robinson describes in her article, “There Is No Planet B,” how we have entered what is being called an Anthropocene, or a “human age.” Climate scientists coined the term in response to how humans are rapidly changing the environment at such an unprecedented rate, and the only thing that can be done on our part is to determine if we make it a good Anthropocene or a bad one. A good one would allow us to make adjustments in our lifestyles to adapt to a changing world, but those adjustments would be stable enough so that we can stop further carbon emissions, saving the planet from further destruction. Kim stresses in the article, “If we continue to burn ancient carbon, strip-mine the soil, and raze forests, we could be headed for the sixth great mass extinction event in Earth’s history. If we ignore the consequences of the manmade changes, then famine, war, and pandemics could result from wrecking Earth’s life-support systems. It can’t be emphasized enough just how awful a bad Anthropocene could be.”
However, she also hints at potential methods to remove carbon from the atmosphere and help make amends to our environmental follies. She suggests, “It’s worth investigating the potential of mechanically sifting carbon dioxide out of the air and then burying it, or binding carbon directly to rocks, even though doing so at a global scale would likely have associated problems.” Then again, planting trees, restoring forest hectares, shutting down coal factories, and switching over to hybrid vehicles are just a few of the many ways that we can begin reducing carbon emissions, but only if every nation does its part. Overall, she reminds people, “Getting the atmosphere back to something like 350 parts per million of CO2 will be an integral part of making a good Anthropocene.”
She goes on to mention an idea that is very unique and, perhaps, not thought of as much: pumping seawater onto the ice cap that covers eastern Antarctica. This could help curve and possibly reverse glacial melting as the water freezes on it, and, based on the findings made by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, it would be financially possible for this endeavor to come to fruition. It would take about 7% of all electricity generated by the world’s population to deliver a sufficient amount of water, so, despite being possible, governments like that of the United States may find it to be economically unfavorable given their financial agendas. Therefore, we need to dismantle the destructive political and economic barriers that prevent real solutions from being reached, the same ones that aid dirty coal and other fossil fuel resources.
Kim adds that the “most important thing we can do to adapt to climate chaos and the dislocations of the Anthropocene is to rethink the assumptions and revise the rules of corporate capitalism. After all, the current economic order, while massive, isn’t permanent or unchangeable.” As most people know through personal experience how bad capitalism can be as profits are put first over the well-being of others, maybe a new system is needed in the United States like Democratic Socialism. To beat climate change, we are going to need to begin a major political shift so that everyone’s needs will be met, and a system like socialism tends to meet the needs of everyone, not only those of the elite.
Thankfully, there have already been much-needed changes in the United States, one of those being the gradual phasing out of the coal industry. In a recent article published by Matt Egan of CNN, solar and wind are beginning to boom in the U.S. while coal is becoming the misfit of energy sources. Specifically, utility-scale solar power is expected to increase by 10% this year and 17% in 2020 while wind should increase from 12% to 14%, beating hydropower for the first time. From what were very expensive resources, these two are now prepped to lead the way in the coming years as prices continue to fall, giving us the boost we need to push back even further against coal.
Further, coal plants’ share of power fell to 28% in 2018, a stark contrast to its 45% grip back in 2010. It’s expected to drop down to 24% in 2020, and coal consumption by the U.S. decreased by 4% in 2018 to the lowest level since 1979. As concerns over climate change grow even larger, many homes and business plan to install solar panels to generate cleaner energy, and the competition for cleaner energy is now pushing big coal closer toward its own extinction. This combined with organizations like Greenpeace and the Sierra Club who are working tirelessly to decommission more of these coal plants, hopefully Trump’s goals to promote the nasty resource will be stunted.
As for tips to manage the effects of climate change, an article by Eliza Barclay and Umair Irfan from Vox highlighted some fascinating changes that are taking place and how individuals, as well as entire nations, can make a difference. One of those is to price carbon emissions so that people will have an incentive to switch to cleaner sources of energy, and even companies like ExxonMobil desire to implement a carbon tax. Barclay and Irfan explain that, to date, about 40 countries have been pricing these emissions, and cap-and-trade schemes are in the works, including the European Union’s Emission Trading System in addition to China owning the largest carbon trading market. Once again, China is outcompeting the United States to pave a way for a better future.
In addition, there’s talk of replacing all automobiles that run on fossil fuels with those that run on electricity and biofuels. In 2017, it was announced by China, India, and a handful of European nations that they were going to ultimately end the sale of all gas and diesel vehicles, and China is even giving incentives to manufacturers of electric cars and busses, giving subsidies to customers who purchase EVs to at least $10,000 per vehicle on average. These developments are flabbergasting at best, so perhaps we can start counting on major polluters like the two nations just mentioned to begin revolutionizing how we tackle our environmental problems. The United States is the one that needs to resume its previous leadership and influence, especially with the Paris Climate Accord, in order to get the rest of the world on board. Our actions under this presidency are very detrimental to the goals set by others.
Zero deforestation supply chains are beginning to take form, too. For certain, it’s difficult to keep an eye out on forest activity from the other side of the world, so working closely with local communities is essential to prevent more hectares from being destroyed. Norway is one of the leading nations at the moment against deforestation, making sure that products, including those that require palm oil, do not result from the terrible process. The great thing is that if deforestation can be greatly reduced while also replanting lost patches, 7 billion metric tons can be eliminated annually from the atmosphere which is equal to getting rid of 1.5 billion cars!
Besides planting trees, recycling, switching over to cleaner sources of energy at home, and other simple remedies, changing your diet to that of a plant-based one is an excellent way to accompany the others. Producing beef and dairy products from livestock actually contributes up to 26% of carbon emissions, making it worthy enough to persuade societies to promote drastic changes to dietary programs that reach every citizen. Unfortunately, this is one of the hardest aspects of our livelihoods to adjust as so many people are accustomed to eating as they wish, so advocating for restrictions and mandates on the consumption of beef/dairy products would be a great risk. Once more, nations like China are already incorporating reduced meat consumption goals into their dietary guidelines, so it’s our responsibility to pick up the pace and do our part as a nation for the good of everyone on the planet.
Whatever we decide to do to fix our mistakes as a species, we must do it now before it’s too late down the road. The window is closing fast, so that means everyone needs to pitch in and at least try to make a true difference in not only their own lives but in the lives of posterity. Indeed, these new developments and innovations give me hope for the future, but that doesn’t mean we should leave them for others to carry alone. Remember, we all got ourselves into this mess, so it’s going to take the same collective responsibility to work our way out of it. If we can all work together and set aside cultural, economic, political, and religious differences, then I have no doubt that we will save the world.
