A Short Preview of Leading Causes of Climate Change
It is nothing new that we as humanity, face the climate crisis and a lot of young people put it to priority although you wouldn’t have to go so far in history to see people thinking that climate change is a myth, in fact, there are some people which still don’t “believe” in it today. Just ask Mr Donald Trump :). The first mention of climate change dates back to the early 19th century when the scientist mentioned the greenhouse effect for the first time. It was not clear what was the primary source of “greenhouse gasses” causing the anomaly. Now it’s more than clear that the main emitters, and therefore the main cause of climate change, are we humans. It is estimated that currently, the concertation of CO2 gas in our atmosphere is at 410 ppm. (According to research, the concentration has never exceeded 300 ppm in the past, until The Industrial Revolution.) Scientists also estimated that if the energy demand will rise as fast as to this date, we could hit the concentration of 900 ppm by the end of the century. It is not only the industries which have a huge impact on our planet. Industries make products for us because there is a demand. For example, meat industries are forced to produce much more meat products because the consumption of meat raised more than 3 times in the past 50 years. It can take up to 20 000 litters to produce 1kg of meat and an enormous surface to produce it. In contrast, it takes about 4000 litters to produce 1 kg of wheat and much less of an earth’s surface. Does it mean we all should become vegetarians? Well, technically yes. The lower the consumption of meat is, the better for our planet.
What about the well-beloved fashion? Clothing production has more than doubled in the last 15 years. Meaning, that much more cotton and synthetic materials have to be produced. In conclusion, much more pesticides have to be used, and much more water sources are becoming polluted. In countries where cotton is grown, the number of cases of serious illnesses has grown rapidly thanks to the rapidly growing use of harmful chemicals. 150 billion garments are produced yearly, out of which almost 30% ends up in landfills or gets burnt, releasing toxic gasses into the atmosphere. The same goes for other types of waste, especially plastic. About 6.3 billion metric tons of plastic waste are produced every year. Unfortunately, 91% of the waste ends up in landfills, some not exactly in the same country. More precisely, some of it ends up on the other end of the planet, especially in third world countries. Is there a solution? Just stop producing waste! There are so many alternatives to food, I’m sure you can find unpackaged ones. Try to bring a bag with you every time you go grocery shopping. Try shopping at package-less shops. Especially, try wearing a slow fashion. Buy your clothes second-hand or from certified brands. I know it could cost you a bit more, but it is meant to last forever or at least for a longer period.
And finally, the problem of transport. Currently, there are so many vehicles on the road, it’s getting hard to get somewhere. Parking spaces are always full and the streets are congested. People are getting lazy to walk even to the shop a few meters away from their home. Emissions from transport are one of the main causes of climate change. I’m pretty sure you already heard something about so-called “alternative fuels” especially electricity. Electric cars are becoming the new standard with a promise to lower the emissions from traffic. But is it really as simple? The problem with vehicles powered by electricity is that they have to have some sort of energy storage, a.k.a. battery or fuel cells. The production of batteries involves huge energy consumption and therefore high emissions. (In some cases, dangerous chemicals or rare earth metals.) Some speculate that electric vehicles are not cleaner or not similar to gasoline-powered vehicles, but even worse. I can say this is not true. According to the latest studies, electric vehicles are much cleaner than ICE vehicles in more than 95% of countries. (It matters where do u get the electricity from.) But in today’s pace of building green powerplants, I can assure you that if not now, electric vehicles will become truly zero-emission vehicles in a matter of a few years.
It is important to know that we, the consumers, have enough power to make a difference in the world. Even though the best car is no car, the best fashion is no fashion and the best waste is the waste that did never arise, we can do a lot of things to live a comfortable life sustainably.
