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No Time To Waste: Experts Warn Fighting Climate Change Is Urgent

Climate experts from around the world are sounding the alarm. Act now, or we risk losing everything. Just ahead of Halloween, they’ve released a new report that scares the hell out of me, and I hope it scares the hell out of you too.

After three years of research, scientists have found that the goal of keeping the global temperature rise under 1.5°C isn’t happening; we’re actually heading towards 3°C.

Experts and government officials spent a week together in South Korea earlier this month, finally releasing the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) special report on the impact of global warming.

It was once believed that keeping warming below 2°C this century would make climate change more manageable. That’s not the case anymore, with the IPCC determining that limiting warming to 1.5°C is crucial.

If we don’t, we’re in trouble. And for those who figure they’ll be long gone by the time anything awful happens, think again.

The report says we can expect food shortages, droughts, flooding, and wildfires to worsen, and the disappearance of the world’s coral reefs by 2040. That’s not too far away.

We’re no longer talking about making the world a better place for our children’s children. We need to make it more livable for us.

Can we, though?

Experts say yes, it is possible to slow climate change, but it’ll take massive amounts of money and effort at the government level.

That’s always concerning to me because instead of being preoccupied with the environment, governments are typically more worried about the other “e” word: the economy.

The BBC has taken an excellent in-depth look into the IPCC report. It says if we want to succeed, energy systems, transportation methods, and land management techniques all have to change. It’ll cost a fortune; the article suggests about 2.5% of the GDP for two decades. Annual investments of about $2.4 trillion have to pumped into the energy system until 2035.

And while all of that is going on, environmentalists will still have to be working feverishly at the grassroots level, planting trees or even building machines to suck the carbon out of our air. Phytoremediation should be considered to clean our Earth.

Those feelings of helplessness may be setting in about now, but we can all contribute to such a worthy cause. A few simple lifestyle changes can go a very long way.

  • Can you walk or bike to your destination? Do it.
  • Hang your clothes out to try instead of using a dryer. It smells better afterward, anyway.
  • Insulate your house; you’ll be warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer.
  • Reduce your meat consumption significantly. You can do this; trust me.
  • Buy locally produced and seasonal foods. Your wallet will also thank you.
  • Compost, compost, compost! Keep all of that food waste out of the landfills.

The list goes on and on.

Many of us live in a world where we have everything at our fingertips. If we don’t make these important changes, we could soon have trouble growing basic food crops.

We have no time to waste; it’s now, or never. The IPCC report says if we don’t act, limiting the global temperature rise to 1.5°C isn’t doable.

Are you scared yet?    

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Author

Catherine Sherriffs

Editor at Garden Culture Magazine

Catherine is a Canadian award-winning journalist who worked as a reporter and news anchor in Montreal’s radio and television scene for 10 years. A graduate of Concordia University, she left the hustle and bustle of the business after starting a family. Now, she’s the editor and a writer for Garden Culture Magazine while also enjoying being a mom to her three young kids. Her interests include great food, gardening, fitness, animals, and anything outdoors.