S***ting on your future
Nearly 40 years ago, I was sitting in my usual seat in the back row of a lecture theatre at Brunel University in West London. I was a third-year chemistry student, probably mildly hungover and relying on a cup of builders’ strength tea to kick start my day.
On that occasion, it was something quite different that perked me up. The environmental chemistry lecturer showed a slide that left a lasting impression with me.
The slide in question included the ‘Mauna Loa Graph’. It showed the historical trend in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration from the late 1950s to the late 1970s as measured at the observatory of the same name in Hawaii. The measurements, started by David Keeling of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in 1958, are widely recognised as the world’s first warning bell regarding the possibility of man-made climate change. The trend was clear. Seasonal fluctuations aside, the concentration of CO2 in the earth’s atmosphere had increased from 315ppm to around 340ppm in just two decades; an 8% increase.
Given what I already knew about the greenhouse effect and the tendency of CO2 to trap the sun’s heat and warm the atmosphere, it seemed obvious to a rookie chemistry student that all was not well. So much so that I did some further reading around the subject and answered a question on the topic in my final degree examination. Thereafter, and whilst I doubt that I always practiced what I preach; I’ve tried my best to be an environmentally sensitive, green consumer.
As I write this blog, the monitoring equipment at Mauna Loa is recording 414ppm. The CO2 level in the earth’s atmosphere has increased by a further 22% since I was a student and it’s up by almost a third since Keeling started collecting data 60 years ago. The average temperature on Earth has increased by about 0.8°C since the end of the Industrial Revolution. Two-thirds of this warming has occurred since 1975.
The world is getting hotter. Human activity is to blame. The problem is accelerating; but for some bizarre reason we seem powerless to act.
In one of her final actions before being forced out of Downing Street, the former Prime Minister, Teresa May, proposed a legal commitment to reach net zero emissions by 2050. It remains to be seen if Boris Johnson will commit to deliver on this proposal; but even if he does, I’ll be 91 years old if I live long enough to see it happen.
The UK is ranked amongst the world’s most progressive countries according to the Social Progress Imperative. If it’s going to take a developed country like mine another three decades to end its carbon addiction, planet Earth is in a perilous position.
Fixing the problem is going to take some brave thinking, international collaboration on a previously unseen scale and a great deal of personal and national economic sacrifice. Some serious thinkers have stepped up, including the Global Apollo Programme, which proposed radical action in ahead of the UN Climate Change conference in 2015. Four years on, despite the warm words contained in the much-acclaimed Paris Agreement, we’ve seen little in the way of decisive action. Global warming continues unchecked. International collaboration has fallen out of fashion and extreme weather events are commonplace rather than extreme.
If there is cause for optimism, it comes in the form of the Swedish schoolgirl, Greta Thunberg. In a solo school strike, Greta distributed leaflets stating, ‘I am doing this because you adults are shitting on my future’, outside the parliament building in Stockholm in 2018. Soon she was attracting attention all over the world and became big news, particularly amongst young people who have enthusiastically followed her example.
In July 2019, the international oil producers organisation, OPEC, declared Greta and her growing band of climate activist followers to be the ‘the greatest threat’ to the fossil fuel industry. She modestly tweeted her thanks: ‘Our biggest compliment yet.’
We can’t just leave the hard work to our children and grandchildren. I’m doing several things to reduce my personal carbon footprint:
I was an early adopter of solar electricity back in 2010. Over the last ten years the solar panels on my roof have generated renewable electricity saving nearly 16 tonnes of CO2
Sadly, my holiday flights to the USA probably emitted around 6 tonnes of CO2 so until someone comes up with a sustainable source of jet fuel, I really need to cut down on air travel.
Three years ago, I switched to a hybrid car, I’m thinking about switching to a full battery electric vehicle next time I change. Also, my next house move will be heavily influenced by access to public transport.
Meat eating is bad news for the planet, particularly beef. Scientific studies have shown that beef production releases four times more greenhouse gases than a calorie-equivalent amount of pork, and four times as much as an equivalent amount of poultry. It’s hard, but I am striving to eat more meat-free meals.
My pension is invested in ethical funds that avoid fossil fuel companies
Finally, as a general principle I try to consume less, waste less and enjoy life more.
And so, my message to Greta and my daughter’s generation is this. There are no excuses; I had all the information I needed right there in front of me back in the 1980s and so did many others. But today, I am trying my best not to “shit on your future” and I’m doing everything I can to encourage others to do likewise.
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