Carbon Almanac University
People often ask me why I talk so much about the climate lately, and how on earth I got to know so much about it.
At first, I replied I was writing a few articles for a book about climate change in a group of enthusiastic but worried volunteers from all over the world. Then one day I jokingly said I enrolled in Carbon Almanac University. That’s actually not far from the truth.
Before I received the invitation to contribute to this worldwide project, I thought I knew quite a bit about climate change and its causes. Then I realized I didn’t. A friend asked me to explain what CO2 is and why exactly that causes problems for our planet.
I started proudly stating that it’s carbon dioxide. After that, I blanked as my confidence quickly fell into mumbling something about the air heating up, resulting in ice melting. “Duh, Einstein,” she said. “I know all that, but I want to know what’s really going on and what I can do about it.”
From day one, participating in the creation of The Carbon Almanac felt like going to Carbon Almanac University. A five-month masterclass. Being able to see the birth of over 250 articles on a wide range of climate change related topics has been an incredible learning experience. It hasn’t always been easy because many topics are complicated and new to me, and we needed to explain them so that people like me understand it as well.
Something gave me strength to continue. I knew that The Carbon Almanac would transfer all this collected and assimilated knowledge to the reader in one easy-to-read place.
Five months of study, research, and fact-checking in one book.
For the price of one cinema ticket, popcorn, and a soda, we made what I now see as probably the only book on climate change we’ll ever need to read. I still call it my Carbon Almanac University course.
I now know much more about what CO2 is and does, why too much of it is a bad thing, and what can be done about it. Of course, CO2 is just one of the many things we learn about in the Almanac, and I believe there is still hope if just enough people read it and start doing just a couple of things from what they learn.
Michel Porro is a photographer and a lifelong volunteer for environmental causes. He is a member of The Carbon Almanac Network. Learn more at thecarbonalmanac.org.
