Global warming - "The greatest moral crisis of our time" - Harrison Ford

My apologies for the late posting today, but I have been very busy this week !

Recently I saw a video of Harrison Ford giving a speech about global warming and the environment. He makes some very good points and I recommend you go and watch it, so click here to take a look. It is a very inspiring speech.

It also made me realise that I have not yet spoken about global warming on this blog. It is often something that is overlooked. Currently the focus has been on being waste free and reducing plastic which is great. Something that is posing an even greater threat to the world is global warming. One of the points Harrison Ford makes in his speech, is that people need the world, and not the other way around. In many speeches on this topic they talk about humans causing the end of the natural world, extinction of animals etc., however what we are really heading towards is our own extinction. The world will recover quite alright without us.

So what is global warming?

I am sure you already have an idea of what global warming is. Now some people think it is a myth, there is a natural earth warming and cooling cycle, but it has been accelerated by human activity.

Global warming is caused by greenhouse gases, the most commonly spoken about one being Carbon Dioxide or CO2. These greenhouse gasses create a "blanket" in the atmosphere, trapping heat inside and slowly increasing the Earth's temperature.

The Earth does have a natural temperature fluctuation, however it has been dramatically increased due to human activity pumping the atmosphere full of CO2 and other greenhouse gasses. 

What are the facts?

• Global temperatures have risen by 0.9 degrees C since 1880.
• The highest CO2 level in Earths history is 300 ppm (NASA projected estimates back thousands of years). Current levels are 412ppm going above 300 substantially for the first time (probably) in Earth's history.
• The arctic sea ice minimum is decreasing 12.8% every decade and Ice sheets are losing mass every year.
• Sea levels rise 3.3mm per year on average.

Nasa published these facts here if you would like to have a look, they also have diagrams showing the increases.  

Nasa have been conducting research every year and recording the Earths temperature. They have concluded that the Earth's temperature has increased since 1880, having record high years 12 times in the last 15 years. Many of the worlds scientists have all come to the conclusion that global emissions are the key driver for this increase.

Scientists have also warned that should the Earth's temperature go 1.5C over the average of the pre-industrial revolution, the effects would be irreversible. Another interesting thing to look at is the CO2 emissions by country. Here is a map that shows each countries contribution to global CO2 emissions over the years.

What is being done about it? 

In 2015 many nations met and agreed emission decrease targets and methods for completing this. This was called the Paris Agreement, 55 countries committed to reducing their emissions and making preparations for the effects of climate change. The agreement came into force in 2016. 

The UK emissions statistics from 2017 shows that the highest contributor to emissions in the UK is transport, shortly followed by energy supply. You can view this document here. Overall in the UK, according to this document, emissions have been gradually decreasing due to government efforts. The UK has also being decreasing it's use of coal burning for energy, which has helped reduce our emissions dramatically.

Another very positive thing that is happening in many countries is a huge effort to replant forests that have been decimated. Going back to Harrison Fords speech, he states that it is his belief that the only way to tackle the current emission crisis is through putting back trees into the world. I think this is one of our best weapons and many countries are rising to the challenge, pledging to plant forests of mammoth proportions in the coming years.  

There is hope for the future, however more needs to be done and at a faster rate than what is happening currently, and everyone needs to step up and do their bit.

What can you do about it?

1. Reduce your driving as much as possible, walk, cycle or take public transport. Avoid flying where possible.
2. Keep your tyres inflated properly and it will make your fuel go further.
3. Go the extra mile - get rid of your car!
4. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. If you don't know what I'm talking about read the last blog post!
5. Turn off appliances, those standby lights burn power.
6. Save water by having shorter showers and installing water butts outside for your garden
7. Plant trees or support charitys who do.
8. Insulate your home so that you do not need the heating as much.
9. Eat less meat and dairy as they are very energy heavy to produce.
10. Use low energy lightbulbs, turn your lights off when you are not in the room or use candles.

Thank you so much for reading, I hope you have found it informative and interesting. If you have any opinions leave a comment down below, I'd love to know what you think. These are just a few ways you can help the world recover from global warming, there is much more out there that you can do.

I will not be posting now for about 5-6 weeks as I am going on a long holiday and will not have much internet where I am going, so sorry in advance! I may be able to post a few things, but will have to see how I go.

Thank you :)

Trees in Autumn, captured on film by me.

Some other sources:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/789830/1990-2017-uk-emissions-final-figures-by-end-user-sector-fuel-type.pdf

http://www.globalcarbonatlas.org/en/CO2-emissions