Maybe, just maybe I’m a little late to the party on this one. This article made the press back in November (wooo) and they have probably done a much better job than I will at writing about it but here goes anyway.
The short version is 5, rather well renowned scientists wrote an article! This article was then signed by 11,258 scientists from 153 countries. Impressive huh, these guys obviously dropped something big(Picture university offices in Oregon bursting into flames as they hit print). This paper laid out a series of “vital signs” in graphical forms displaying the effects on humans on the climate. And it isn’t a pretty picture, metaphorically, the graphs are lovely. The 5 then lay out what they think needs to change to prevent climate disaster and urge everyone to adopt these climate vital signs for assessing impact in the future. That’s the short version, if that’s enough of me here is the link to the article. Have a read look at our trajectory for yourself. If you haven’t had enough keep going down for what I took from it.
Who are they? The 5 who published the paper were; William Ripple “Distinguished professor of ecology” and Christopher Wolf Post-doc from the Oregon State University, a university in the top 1% of world universities. Also featuring is Thomas Newsome lecturer at the University of Sydney, the chief science and policy officer of the conservation biology institute Phoebe Barnard and William Moomaw Professor Emeritus of the Fletcher School. As a side note their paper was published in BioScience’s, a journal with impact factor 6.591 which I would say is respectable.
What did they do? These scientists went through with their “moral obligation” to “warn humanity of any catastrophic threat” They visually represented the vital signs of our planets health far beyond the standard global surface temperature used before. They looked at these vital signs over the last 40 years using “relevant data sets that are clear, understandable, systemically collected for at least the last 5 years and updated at least annually”.
What did they say? To quote “To secure a sustainable future, we must change how we live, in ways that improve the vital signs summarised in our graphs”. Further to this they lay out six critical and interrelated steps in how we can change. They also state that we will need more than these but as a start this is good. The steps are as follows;
1)Energy – Energy efficiency and conservation practices must improve, fossil fuels must be replaced IF safe for people and planet and fossil fuels still in the ground should stay in the ground. The article highlights the need for wealthier countries to support and assist poorer nations in this transition.
2)Short-lived pollutants – Simply methane, soot and HFCs should stop being put into the atmosphere.
3)Nature – The good one. We need to protect and restore Earths ecosystems!! Pro-forestation, reforestation and afforestation should all be increased in a safe and thought out manner.
4)Food – Reducing meat consumption by eating mainly plant based food. This frees up land used for cattle and other ruminant livestock for reforestation and essential food production in a much more effective manner. Food waste is also mentioned at the end, reduction in waste improves food efficiency.
5)Economy – Move away from GDP to sustaining ecosystems and human well-being as measures of success. This should also curtail the extraction of materials and over exploitation of ecosystems driven by this constant need for growth.
6)Population – World population should ideally start to reduce… This seems a bit dark… Got Utopia vibes… not great but a valid point.
What can we do/What am I doing?
1) Confession time . I don’t think my energy supplier is the greenest going. Shoot me I’m a student, in a student flat so we went cheap. I didn’t buy in to the climate and I suck. But I won’t be a student for much longer, and my next supplier will be judged on their use of renewable energy and that alone.
2) Umm this one on a personal level I don’t really know… Please sen help or stop eating cows…
3)NATUREEEEEEEEEE. I love nature and surely that is the biggest thing we can do to encourage this change. Go outside, hug a tree, listen to some birds and pay for the car parks, the forestry commission or national trust to show we want green space. And we want it all!
4) System change is going to take a while. Changing diet can happen tonight. I am vegan and proud and I promise you will not miss anything when you get into it. There is now I am sure a plant based version of everything. Try it. I get it if you don’t want to say “I’m a Vegan” but why not try “I eat a plant-based diet” instead.
5) “I’M NOT BUYING YOUR CRAP” he says, or tries. But not buying is probably the best way to say I don’t care about growth, maybe, I’m not an expert. But shopping recycled fashion and electronics, repairing and re-purposing items surely says something.
6) Consider not having children right now… If you’re like me this might suck, you might have always wanted to be a parent. But the fact is this is an emergency and maybe not having kids right now is what it will take to keep this planet the way it was when we were kids. So the kids that are already here can enjoy all the wonders we did. But still does kinda suck.
The Climate Changed Me 