By: Jose Caceres
Global warming is a threat and it has the potential to produce catastrophic consequences if nothing is done to tackle it. Global warming is occurring now and the scientific community concurs that it is linked to the emissions of greenhouse gases, being CO2 the most relevant of them, given the large amounts of it released to the atmosphere mainly due to the burning of fossil fuels.
According to paleoclimate studies the atmosphere has reached concentrations of CO2 that are way beyond any level seen in over a million years and its impact on the climate is certainly noticeable. It is estimated that the global temperature has increased by about 1°C since records started in 1880 and the rate to what this is happening is faster than any time during Earth’s history.
Mankind in its pursuit of meeting its energy demand burns fossil fuels. Since most human activities are linked to the consumption of energy which directly or indirectly happens to be a carbon emitter, it is proper to say that every human populating the planet is a carbon emitter and therefore it leaves a carbon footprint. Everything pretty much accounts for the human carbon footprint, the use of electricity, the use of means of transportation, the consumption of products that are manufactured somewhere else and need to be shipped to its final destination, even the food we eat.
The world population is peaking to above 7 billion inhabitants and therefore leaves an enormous footprint. The good news is that we as individuals and as a collective group have the ability to control it. The science and technology is there to make it possible, however, only the willingness from everyone involved, and that means the humanity as a whole, is what will make this to actually happen.
Luckily the world over is on alert on this important matter. Only few weeks ago in the COP21 (Paris conference on climate change) 177 countries converged on setting ambitious goals to reduce their carbon emissions in order to fight climate change. In this conference, it was agreed to prevent a temperature increase well below 2°C and to make the efforts to limit it to 1.5°C above preindustrial levels, recognizing that this would significantly reduce the risks and impacts of climate change.
How can we do this?
First of all, it is possible, we have done it before, though certainly in a much smaller scale, an example of this is the abatement of the hole in the ozone layer produced by aerosols known as chlorofluorocarbons (CFC’s). By banning the use of these aerosols, the ozone layer is now replenished and it is expected to be back at 1950’s levels by 2080.
Some effective ways that carbon emission reduction can be attained are: Reducing fossil fuels consumption by being more energy efficient in all scales of the society, from households to entire industrial systems, phase out generation of electricity from coal combustion by replacing it with renewable energy alternatives such as solar photovoltaic and solar thermal, wind, biomass, geothermal or with nuclear power, buy products produced locally, recycle, reuse and waste less, use public transportation or transportation that is eco-friendly such as bicycles, fuel efficient cars, hybrid or electric vehicles, etc.
Geo-engineering such as carbon sequestration and storage is also an option, which by trapping carbon and reinjecting it underground would help to reduce the levels of CO2 in the atmosphere.
Of course the option of not doing anything to resolve the global warming threat also exists and that is to continue in a ‘business as usual trajectory’, but this option would only benefit few and likely only for a mere short-term. In other words, the economic benefits of this inaction will be short-lived but the consequences of it won’t, as they will be felt profoundly in the climate and consequently in humanity and the environment.
Opting for the de-carbonization of the planet also makes sense, economic sense, an example could be the use of renewable energy for producing electricity, such as solar photovoltaic and wind. Both are mature technologies and their costs have reduced significantly in the last few years and as of today they are cost competitive with other electricity supply options. Also governments can see tangible solutions to energy supply in the adoption of renewable energy to diversify the energy matrix and reduce dependency on fossil fuels.
On today’s world is undeniable that acting towards so called ‘green’ options is becoming a global trend and this should continue to strengthen even so within the business community as the educated segment of the public is more concerned than ever about the environment and the potential impacts of climate change. Bad reputation is known to greatly undermine businesses profitability.
The cost of not acting on this matter today will surely be much greater the longer we wait. There is no reason to believe that the planet is doomed and that it is too late to rescue it. In fact, the planet will always end-up standing, it has gone thru multiple apocalyptic catastrophes in its history and it will continue to do so, but it is humanity that might not stand a chance if we don’t take concrete measures to tackle climate change.
“You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make” -Jane Goodall
