What Global Warming is really about...

What global warming is really about…


What does the future hold?
Did you know that the next week or two might decide your future? Your future, my future and your children’s future and what kind of planet we are to live on in the future.
If you have not noticed already from all the news reports and media coverage, the UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen is up and running and with it has come accusations, arguments, counter claims and all that comes from people wound up into an issue that border all aspects of our society. The aim of the conference is to extend and in reality to create a new binding global agreement for each country to cut their carbon emissions to stop runaway global warming.


Public opinion
I am still amazed when I look at message boards and discussion groups across the internet or I gather opinion on the street about the issue of our changing climate, the science is clear yet as our society we refuse to accept the influence we have on the earth’s natural systems. The whole issue of global warming emanates from the greenhouse effect, which I am sure most of us were taught at school and a simple fact that is lost in the confusion and ramblings of the present day policy makers and scientists. The problem is that the message has been lost due to the fact that global warming affects everyone, it affects industry, sport, food production, healthcare, the list is endless, this means everyone has an agenda (mainly due to power and money) and with agendas the truth gets lost. It gets lost in people twisting the science to conform with their own views and policies and due to the fact that science is all about opinions, theories, evidence and a health portion of scepticism it is all too easy to do.


The science
The greenhouse effect is the simple, natural cycle of carbon dioxide being trapped in our atmosphere, acting as an insulator, trapping the sun’s heat as it reflects back off the earth’s surface. If it were not for carbon dioxide we would constantly be in an ice age. We need carbon dioxide in the atmosphere for life on this planet to survive, the problem by burning fossil fuels we are unlocking naturally stored carbon sinks from eons, sinks that the planet naturally dealt with. Hence we are now creating unnatural and never seen before levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and this is the most important part, the level are unnatural and beyond the earth’s normal climatic cycles. If you want to dig deeper this one simple man-made (anthropogenic) influence that we have is changing the structure of the atmosphere, the weather patterns, ocean cycles, wind currents, animal migrations and creating positive feedback loops we cannot control. I do need to ask some questions though, do you as a reader understand in enough detail how our planet’s natural climate cycles work? Do you know enough to make an informed decision? Have you ever read a scientific paper from a scientific journal?

The science is fundamentally so simple if you peel away the agendas, yet too few still accept this is happening and here is the reason why, it is because it means we have to change the way we live our lives and that we need to accept that fact that the way that we do live our lives is fundamentally and morally flawed. The human race is now too big for its boots.
I wish this want not true, I want to take plane flights without feeling guilty, eating food that has been shipped halfway across the planet because it tastes good and is easy to cook, I would like not to think about the environment and what we are really doing, unfortunately this cannot happen anymore, but it does not mean we will be poorer because of it.


The real issue
What global warming highlights is that we need to accept that we live within boundaries, that our planet is not an endless resource, that in fact the earth is alive and kicking and that we need to alter how as a species we see ourselves and our role within its ecosystems. Homosapiens are used to pushing boundaries, exploring frontiers, acting first and thinking later but this is now the time to stop and actually look at what we are doing. We can either continue the way we are going, creeping towards environmental collapse or we can change society bit by bit, a green revolution where we finally realise that living with the planet can be good for us.
The real issue, one that could redefine himanity is to admit that we were wrong, its as simple as that. History has taught us though that this one simple admission iis something we find very hard to accept and deal with. Can you accept that the way you live your life is wrong for the planet? Will you change your lifestyle because of this? Surely, accepting we were wrong and is a small price to pay for the planet’s continued survival?

The planet, the future and how everyone has a role to play

As the UN Climate Conference gets underway next week in Copenhagen, which is seen by many leading scientists as our last chance to curb global warming and prevent ecological collapse it gets me thinking as to what we can all do.
I am sure that not a day goes by where in some shape or form we feel our hope fading as we are bombarded with doom and gloom stories about the earth and how we are facing ecological disaster. I hate to say this but they are not going to go away and even though the media can distort news stories, the underlying science and evidence is there to be seen. We have over fishing, habitat destruction, over population, global warming, I could go on but you get the picture. Believe me as a naturalist it is sometimes impossible not to get bogged down and a little disheartened by the rate at which we consume our planet for money and greed.
But what if we flip the coin and see the other side, how about we look at the potential of change? If you lived in the 1980’s and someone was to say global warming and environmentalism and say they became big political issues I am sure you would get laughed at and possibly be booked an appointment with a doctor! The fact is, we can change and we are starting to, we must not get bogged down by negativity as what does negativity ever achieve? It does nothing but create more negativity and uncertainty. Then nothing will be achieved and we will feel helpless at the oncoming onslaught of pessimism.


As a species we seem to look at nature too much and be with her too little, the natural world is too abstract, too much of a fashion statement, an item thrown away and recycled into another product or message when we feel it is convenient. We seem to forget that everything and I mean everything we have comes from this planet and its natural cycles and resources and when it is gone, it is gone. Where do you think new cosmetics come from? The components for our new ipod’s? Or, the fabrics in our newly bought clothes?


If we keep on consuming the planets resources at the rate we are currently doing then our 21st century way of life will implode faster than we can say HD TV, the warning signs are there. Now, I can hear you say ‘surely, though all the small changes I can make are insignificant to what is required and it is up to our politicians to do something?’ WRONG! It may be a cliché but every small change is worth its weight in gold and is a piece in the larger puzzle of bigger change. Not only will you be making a difference but I guarantee making small changes will alter the way you see the planet and how you feel about yourself. Simply, doing the right thing is a great way to make you feel good about yourself. Surely doing something is better than doing nothing?


So, go change those light bulbs, buy sustainable timber products, go food shopping and buy locally sourced produce, cycle or walk instead of driving, because I assure you that as well as saving money and doing the right thing your hidden connection with nature, that is located deep in all of us will be reawakened and so you will be as well. The planet needs you...