I don’t know about you, but the world seems a strange place at the moment with major disasters springing up all over the globe, whether that is flooding, forest fires, droughts, or even unusual events such as deep snow in New Orleans, Luisiana; Pensacola, Florida and other parts of the USA’s coastline around the Gulf of Mexico.
For me, this is clearly an indication that Mother Nature is not happy with the way we are using and abusing the planet.
To those who simply believe that climate change is not real and that this type of thing has always gone on, I would simply point them to the University of Reading’s Climate Stripes (see below), created by Professor Ed Hawkins in 2018.
The other thing we can all do is keep ourselves better informed
Russell Jones Content and communications manager
Hotter and hotter and hotter
If you aren’t acquainted with this shockingly visual representation, it represents global temperatures and shows how they have risen over nearly two centuries.
Nothing could more clearly indicate how mankind’s impact is heating up our planet.
Of course, there have been hot periods in the past but not on a scale currently seen.
Look at the dramatic shift to red as we continue burning carbon, and the tipping into deep, almost blood red as we reach today.
Whether everyone agrees or not, we are literally at a crisis point.
Climate Stripes - Hotter and hotter and hotter
So, what can we do about it?
When we hear the 47th President of the United States say “drill, baby, drill” and China is reported to be building new coal power stations on a massive scale, it might be easy to think “what’s the point in anything I can do?”
For me, this is where it becomes personal because I want to be able to look future generations in the eye when they ask: “Why didn’t you stop it?”
I want to be able to say that I did what I could and, regardless of what other countries and governments were up to in their quest for money and power, I tried, in my own, individual small way to play my part.
I often tell the tale of when my eldest was a cynical teenager and she used to say: “Dad, I can’t go to sleep. Tell me about heat pumps!” Actually, that made me prouder to work for a company trying to play it’s part and more determined to also play my part.
So, whilst I know there is much more that I could do individually, I do what I can. I walk to the shops at the weekend, rather than jump in the car. I am cutting more and more meat from my diet and washing clothes when they need it, rather than when I’ve worn them briefly. We also only wash on lower temperatures as well now.
There are many, many other things we can all do, and every little thing we do will make a difference.
Yes, a small difference, but it will also make you feel better about your own role in tackling climate change.
Paying attention
The other thing I think we can all do is keep ourselves better informed.
In these days of fake news and disinformation on an industrial scale, it is easy to switch off and ignore what is happening around you.
Whether you follow the news at all, it will seep into your consciousness whether you want it to or not. The average attention span now is around five seconds as everyone scrolls their mobile devices from one video, meme or headline to another, so it is easy to just think you know a story from the tidbits you get fed.
For example, in the paragraph above, I just wrote that China is building new coal power stations on a massive scale, which is true. However, that only tells half the story, because as this piece reports – China is building more coal plants but might actually end up burning less coal!
China also now has over 80% of its bus fleet powered by solar energy and has over one third of the world’s installed solar panels, so it is always worth looking beyond the immediate headline.
It is also worth remembering what happened when the 45th President of the United States was in office. His name was Donald Trump and he pushed back against climate change, yet many States ignored him and pushed on with their own climate agenda as they realised the urgent need to do something.
So, keep up the faith and collectively, little by little, we can push back against isolationism and all make a difference.
Russell Jones is content and communications manager
