Luke Schmitz -- Blog 1: Climate Change

By Luke Schmitz

Most people in first world countries wake up each day and shower, brush their teeth, eat and commute to work.  They spend their money on materialistic items that cost way more then just the price on the tag.  Most of these people are unknowingly harming our environment.  Perhaps they have heard about climate change on the news once or twice, but they don’t really have a grasp on what their daily actions are doing to our planet.  Luckily, activists are becoming greater in number to try and prevent total chaos and destruction in the future.  First, we need to respect our environment and the planet before we can hope to make any changes.  I truly believe that this respect and love for the environment begins at a young age.

I grew up on a small farm in upstate New York.  The farm consisted of a dog, a few barn cats, a couple dozen chickens and 3 horses.  It sat on about 15 acres of land and was connected to the land of many neighbors, which totaled in over 300 acres cumulatively.  This land consisted of a few fields, but was mostly forested and wild.  I spend a great deal of my childhood exploring the woods and started to feel a great connection to the woods.  I was lucky enough to have a father who frequently took me horseback riding and hiking throughout these woods.  While on our journeys, he would teach me about different trees, plants and animals.  He would explain the circle of life and how most creatures rely on each other for survival.  In the first chapter of Communicating Nature, Julia B. Corbett says that, “Even decades ago, psychologists knew that children’s experiences with nature had crucial and irreplaceable effects on their physical, cognitive, and emotional development.”  When I was angry, upset or needed time to think, I could go walk alone in the woods and I felt certain tranquility that couldn’t be found anyplace else.  The woods would help me solve whatever problems I was going though.  This foundation is what has made me care about keeping our environment healthy, strong and alive for as long as possible.

It is our responsibility as high intelligence beings to do all that we can to slow the process of climate change.  After reading “How to Talk about Climate Change so People will Listen” by Bill McKibben, I realized the that we need to take action immediately to stop potential destruction in the future.  So far, we have raised the temperature of the planet by .8 degrees Celsius.  This raise in temperature has brought about a great deal of changes in the climate.  However, scientists estimate that a raise in temperature by more then 2 degrees Celsius will change the Earth as we know it drastically.   As a human being who is a part of this planet, I can’t help but raise the questions of, how long will it take for us to raise the temperature by 2 degrees Celsius?  What effects will it have on the planet?  And, what can we do to ensure the temperature doesn’t rise that much?  It would be encouraging if more people on this planet started thinking about the same questions.  Luckily, some actions are being taken.  167 countries that are responsible for 87% of the world’s carbon emissions signed the Copenhagen Accord, which is the first step in the cleaning up our emissions as producers. 

I think that most people believe that climate change is not a big deal and that they will still be able to survive in a planet that is only a few degrees warmer.  However, the rise in temperature is not the main concern, it is what the rise of temperature will do the planet. As Charles C. Mann explains in “How to Talk About Climate Change so People will Listen,” a rise in temperature will lead to decreased agricultural productivity, sea level rises, increased storm frequency and flooding due to melting ice caps.  These are the conditions that will affect humans drastically and will start the demise of mankind.  The movie “Earth 2100” shows how these devastating effects will harm the planet.  Although the movie is a science fiction film, it depicts what the earth will look like based on the current trends that we are setting now.  It shows how major cities will be flooded and how lack of food and clean drinking water will lead to uprisings and crime, simply just to survive.  The movie is filmed in a cartoon style, as if to remind you that all of what you are watching is simply a future prediction, however, it still gets the point across that we need to do something to prevent disaster in the future.  The movie shows a worst-case scenario, but if there is any possible chance that it can become reality then everybody should be motivated to ensure that the possibility becomes zero.  Luckily, there are some actions that people can take to help prevent climate change, but it needs to accelerate at a faster rate.

In an article called, “Climate Change Compliments Efforts to End Poverty” by The World Bank, it explains how climate change will have devastating effects on poverty.  A herder who relies on his cows for money, needs every single cow in order to survive.  If cows are dying due to drought, he may need to resort to selling other livestock at extremely low prices in order to maintain any income to feed his family.  Unfortunately, the poor have a catch-22 situation.  They often live in the least desirable locations that are the most vulnerable to climate shocks.  The damage that these disasters have on the towns and houses that these people live in only help to further drive them into poverty.  If disasters increase in number, then it will only make poverty a harder battle to fight. 

The previous two pages have been about me ranting towards changing our way of life so that we can help stall climate change.  Although I believe that is true, I am still a United States citizen who enjoys my first world luxuries.  I also understand that there will be a great struggle between trying to limit our emissions while still living somewhat of a 21^st century lifestyle.  However, I also believe that as an intelligent species, we can make some sacrifices and work hard towards developing “green” technology.  In chapter 1 of Mark Schapiro’s book, he explains how according to the United Nations, aviation contributes to 3-4% of the greenhouse gas load every year, which is more than any other form of transportation.  Bill Hemmings, who is the Policy Director for Transport and Environment, an environmental NGO based in Brussels stated that, “If you want global warming, then traveling by air is one of the fastest ways to get there.”   Although aviation is a fast way to lead to climate change, is it realistic to tell humans that they can’t travel anymore?  Without flying, how would people get to different countries?  Ships also burn a tremendous amount of fossil fuel and not to mention, pollute our waters, so they wouldn’t be a realistic substitute.  I’m not sure that limiting aviation is a feasible option to help prevent climate change because too many people will be enraged that they can no longer travel.  I also believe that them being enraged will create more hatred towards the environmental movement, opposed to helping it. 

There are some ways to limit our emissions that are more realistic approaches.  As stated in Chapter Nine of “Carbon Shock” by Mark Schapiro, Brazil is currently getting 80% of its energy from renewable resources such as hydro, geothermal and wind.  Only 15% of their energy comes from fossil fuels.  There is an example in this chapter of a coffee cup in Brazil, which although slightly more expensive in terms of dollars, costs far less in terms of carbon.  The clay was obtained by water-powered hydro dams and the cup was manufactured in a ceramic factory fueled with biomass transported by trucks using biodiesel.  I also think that the documentary “Everything’s Cool” had two pretty realistic approaches for tackling climate change.  Bish Neuhouser, one of the people in the movie was using vegetable oil to run his car on clean fuel, opposed to using gas from stations.  Also, Heidi Cullen, a climatologist on the Weather Channel was gaining more airtime, which could help to educate and influence potential viewers of the show.  The film showed how she needed to dumb-down her presentations so that people could understand her and relate to the information.  However, with more air-time, she could have the opportunity to present all of the information necessary to portray her message of how we are destroying our planet.   The documentary portrays how the media and politicians are neglecting to inform the masses of the horror that we are approaching.  It is trying to get people to start truly caring about the environment and the future of life as we know it on this planet.

Essentially, I believe that it is evident that climate change is occurring and will cause problems for us in the future.  People need to start looking past their own lives and thinking about their future generations.  Although it is a serious problem, it needs to be dealt with in small increments that people will actually follow.  It is unrealistic to expect millions of people to stop flying or switch from their current cars to electric cars.  In fact, I think that people will respond best once we have better political involvement.  

The article, “How to Talk about Climate Change so People will Listen” by Charles C. Mann says, “Environmental issues became ways for politicians to signal their clan identity to supporters.”  Unfortunately, I think that there are very few politicians who truly care to make a positive change in our environment, and just like many other issues, they say what the people want to hear to gain support from their followers.  Stricter laws should be implemented towards factories and production companies, and there should also be increased incentives for companies than comply with certain emission standards.  Until this happens, it is sad for me to say, but I do not think many people or companies will change without a push from the government.

It is good to see that there is an increase in popularity for the climate change movement.  The first step in making a change is getting people involved and educating them on the issue.  We have accomplished this step, and the next step involves actions to stall the undeniable change in the climate.  Activists need to push the media, who in return will push the masses to understand the severity of the issue at hand.