Conjecture: - An opinion or conclusion formed on the basis of incomplete information; a guess
An increase of 1.5 degree C in planet’s temperature is dicey, and 2 degree C will be catastrophic…the catastrophe of beyond 1.5 degree C temperature could be here in 12 years by 2030. Averting it requires urgent, large-scale changes from governments and individuals, plus a massive investment of about 2.5% global GDP for two decades… - Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Report 2018
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is working to make a greener propellant for replacing the highly toxic, corrosive and carcinogenic hydrazine. The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Studies 2018 has been awarded to William D. Nordhaus and Paul M. Romer for their work in integrating climate change, sustainability and economics. The IPCC Report 2018 has emphasised the importance of individual actions.
With climate change (read here) / global warming (read here) at the fore everywhere, this blog describes 13 actions to cut greenhouse emissions as individuals. It explains how climate change/environment missed out after a similar rise in 1970s, famously touted as the ‘decade of the environment’. And why conjectures just won’t work anymore.
WHAT CAN I DO AS AN INDIVIDUAL?
“The climate scientist James Hansen has called two-degree warming ‘a prescription for long-term disaster’. Long-term disaster is now the best-case scenario. Three-degree warming is a prescription for short-term disaster: forests in the Arctic and the loss of most coastal cities. Four degrees: Europe in permanent drought; vast areas of China, India and Bangladesh claimed by desert; Polynesia swallowed by the sea; the Colorado River thinned to a trickle; the American Southwest largely uninhabitable. The prospect of a five-degree warming has prompted some of the world’s leading climate scientists to warn of the end of human civilization.”
Changes must come from energy, land use, cities, industry to individuals. The approach must be as much bottom-top as top-bottom.
We, the individuals, are the smallest and indisputable unit of the bottom-top approach.
Here’s how-
1. Buy locally sourced seasonal food, always- The farther the food imported or sourced from, the more energy required in getting it to us- packaging, transportation all the while keeping it fresh artificially (frozen, chilled, preserved, processed or packaged in plastic).
2. Give up meat (at least begin weaning off it)- IPCC too has echoed the same. Ruminants such as cattle, buffalo, sheep and goats produce nitrous oxide, carbon di-oxide and methane (28 times more potent heat trapper than carbon dioxide), mostly through belching and farting.
“…you could feed eight people on the food the cow eats to produce one small steak.”
“Livestock is responsible for about 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions.”- United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)
They also encroach huge area of land that could instead grow food crops and energy crops to resolve the issues of world hunger and fossil fuel emissions respectively.
“Up to 7 million sq km of land will be needed for energy crops.”
Keeping creatures alive only so they can be fed on, especially in the modern civilisation of today is unnecessarily gory. The brutal conditions in the sheds and abattoirs present yet another reason to switch cuisines.
Vegetarian diets are balanced with plant-based foods having grains, fruits, vegetables and pulses without any saturated salts. This decreases chances of stroke, high blood pressure, heart diseases, obesity, cholesterol levels, hypertension, type 2 diabetes etc. The high fibre diet keeps digestive system healthier.
3. Walk, cycle, carpool, public transport- Electric cars are the future but until the infrastructure is completely ready for them, we must try to keep the transport emissions low. Transport sector has swiftly overtaken other sectors to score highest greenhouse emissions.
4. Rail and Road- Prefer trains and buses over flights whenever possible. Also, flying too frequently per year exposes fliers to considerable cancer causing cosmic radiation.
5. Videoconferencing- Use videoconferencing over business travels.
6. Adopt Renewable Energy- They are not the sacrificial medium to save the Earth anymore.
“Renewable energy can meet all our energy needs…its technical potential is much higher than all global energy demands.” – IPCC
Renewable energy enables us to produce, consume and store energy locally. We can even feed the rest of the energy back to the grid being paid for it.
“Renewables are estimated to provide up to 85% of global electricity by 2050.”
Renewable energy is dually sustainable- environmentally safe and economically cheaper than fossils now. It indeed saves us money in the long term after an initial sizable investment. The switch to them at work and home is imperative now.
7. Trees are truly life givers and savers- Plant trees and invest (time/money/effort) in campaigns and programs that do so.
“100 healthy tress remove 53 tons of CO2 and 430 pounds other air pollutants per year; catch about 1,40,000 gallons of rain water per year; strategically placed trees save up to 56% air conditioning costs…and 3% on heating.”
IPCC Report 2018 highlights that billions of trees will have to be planted, officially stamping the traditional and indigenous wisdom that has been around since forever.
“In 1979, Dr T.M. Das …estimated that the monetary value of a tree, during a life span of 50 years, amounted to about $2,00,0000 (at 1979 rates)…(Figure 1)”
Trees are considered hindrances in developing infrastructure. Fascinatingly, the Indian Institute of Architects with its 20,000 members and 80 institutes for Architecture can always come up with an expert plan for buildings, with least damage to biodiversity. Make them do it.
“Rainforests are the earth’s largest sinks of carbon, safely storing the greenhouse gases that cause climate change.”
Millions of hectares of rainforests have been wiped out to be made into for e.g. Palm Oil plantations making monies for giant MNCs. Palm oil is used in majority of cosmetics, foods, cleaning products and fuels. A lot of palm oil is for biofuels but the torching of rainforests, loss of biodiversity and further emissions of CO2 and methane make them thrice the danger that fossil fuels are.
“Refined palm oil contains large amounts of harmful fatty acid esters that are known to damage DNA and cause cancer.”
Say NO to products with Palm Oil in them when you can (frozen pizzas, biscuits, margarine, body creams, soaps, makeup, candles, detergents etc.)
8. Conserve electricity- I cannot mention this enough. Shut down devices instead of sleep mode. Turn off lights when not in use. Use a clothes line or washing line to dry clothes instead of tumble dryer etc.
9. Smart Architecture- Well ventilated buildings reduce the energy consumption of air conditioners. Similarly, proper insulation of homes reduces heating requirements.
10. Sustainable Fashion- Social Media Fashion is harmful for mental health and the environment both. Changing the wardrobe very often leads to more consumption and waste; and makes life quite superficial.
11. REFUSE/CHANGE/AVOID everything producing more waste- Be it litter, food, plastic, glass, metal, electronic, energy or resources wastage.
Our waste either ends up in landfills emitting methane or requires inordinate amounts of energy to be exterminated or simply banks up untreated in the environment.
“There is no such thing as ‘Away’. When we throw anything away it must go somewhere.”- Annie Leonard
India’s ‘wet’ waste, if composted, can potentially transmogrify cities and towns with lush gardens, sparkling lakes and rivers, and green landscape. Presently, millions of tonnes of recyclable plastic, precious metals and useful waste ends up in landfills. Generate the least waste and hand over the recyclable waste (plastic, paper, metal etc.) to recyclers and scrap dealers.
12. SAYING NO TO PLASTIC-
“Get over your excessive convenience and be responsible for the waste you produce. When you pay for something that comes in plastic you are voting for more plastic to be produced.”
Alternatives like products of jute, starch, hemp, corn, cotton, bamboo, steel, metals, glass etc. are quite prevalent, and REUSABLE. Save yourself money and minimise per capita energy consumption and wastage.
NOTE:- A slew of carcinogenic, neurotoxic and hormone altering toxins are involved at every stage of plastic manufacture, disposal of waste residues, usage, and end of life.
Compounds added to plastics like vinyl Chloride (PVC), dioxins (PVC), Phthalates, Bisphenol A etc. are some of the most noxious and potent toxins on the planet.
13. BE HEARD- Voice our need to have a healthy future (Figure 2).
WHY ARE YOU EXPECTED TO DO SO MUCH?
Honestly, for yourself.
Longer the wait in acting to reduce greenhouse emissions, costlier will be the strategies with drastic changes to economic systems worldwide.
“…to limit warming to 1.5 degree C, annual average investment needs in the energy system of around 2.4 trillion dollars between 2016 and 2035.”- IPCC Report, 2018, BBC
Nonetheless, controlling climate change would increase the world economy by $26 trillion and add over 65 million new low-carbon jobs. 7, 00,000 air pollution-triggered premature deaths would be avoided by 2030. The resultant benefits surpass the investments for averting climate change destruction.
‘…if the ocean was only 30 feet deep, it would have warmed by 6.5 degree C every decade since 1991!’
Failure to act now would mean relying on more treacherous, unproven and controversial technological interventions. It would mean putting the whole Earth under some uncanny and unprecedented experiments that have no other way of being tested at miniature levels. (Figure 3)
Nearly everything we know about global warming now was known in 1979 and most scientific questions had been already answered. There has been no breakthrough in the science of climate change/global warming since. Only the models are more accurate and more data have made the evidence sounder.
Figure 3 shows the lesson learnt- Cannot expect one country or leader to lead. Efforts must come from across countries, governments, organisations, corporates, environmentalists, media, and most importantly, individuals.
“…lifestyle changes can make a big difference…this is not about remote science; it is about where we live and work…because everyone is going to have to be involved.” – Dr Debra Roberts, co-chair IPCC
Else when the ailing, homeless, war-stricken, resource-strapped, nature-abandoned future generations question us on why we chose to sell their future to venal tycoons, it will be painful to answer.
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