"Climate Change ignorance” used to be bliss. It used to be all-good to not care. Now it has become a more obvious problem and we reach new levels of stubbornness as we continue to ignore this elephant in the room. The earth’s climate has already changed, so let’s talk numbers.
This year’s average temperature for March was 1.22 degrees hotter than the 20th century average for the same month. This follows nine consecutive months of record breaking temperatures. To put that in context, scientists have accepted that even two degrees of warming will be catastrophic for humanity. We’re on the cusp of it. Climatic models suggest that at our current rate of C02 emissions, we will reach that two degree threshold in approximately 30 years.
According to NASA, Arctic Sea Ice Extent is falling by 13% annually. We’re losing 421 billion tonnes of land ice from Antarctica and Greenland every year. Methane imprisoned in Greenland’s ice could be expelled into the atmosphere causing further warming. Maybe we don’t have 30 years.
“Fuck the ice”
Last week, a fire in Alberta forced 80,000 Canadians to evacuate Fort McMurray, and the Great Barrier Reef just had its greatest bleaching event in history. These are not coincidences.
“meh”
That’s not to mention the increasing likelihood of more floods, droughts, megastorms, rising seas, and climate related mass migration. Emissions in NZ are produced via transport, power stations, and agriculture. But what can you do, without breaking a sweat, to reduce your emissions?
You can avoid buying a new petrol car. If you are going to buy a new car, get an electric one. They’re cool, fast, reliable, and they save you money once bought. They’re good for our economy and could save us 8 billion dollars annually.
They’re safe, they’re stylish and they’ve got plenty of range. Some of them even drive themselves. Most importantly though, they don’t fuck with our atmosphere. Tell your parents, tell your mates. It’s basic science.