Climate change is the world’s biggest problem, and yet it does not look like it. Due to gradual changes in climate, one barely notices anything, while in reality there are a couple more degrees to go until the Earth becomes a ball of hot sand. Everyone knows that because people around the world get educated about the importance of being carbon neutral and it is constantly announced that a new invention has just been developed in order to fight climate change. And that is absolutely amazing. Is it enough though?
Fossil fuels, petrol vehicles, agriculture, unsustainable business production are the most influential factors of climate change. Yes, some leading world countries “promote” green technologies and programs, but it is still profitable for them to keep things as they are. Okay, so what government overlords should do to keep us from burning alive?
1) Increasing taxes on petrol vehicles. Some might say that they are already pretty high and it is going to put automobile companies out of business, but actually it is a passive-aggressive tool to strongly encourage vehicle production companies to pivot in the direction of producing electric vehicles. Lower prices on denser and efficient power sources in coming years are going to play a crucial role in shifting towards electric vehicles. However, that is going to put extra pressure on electricity production, which brings me to point number 2.
2) Eliminating fossil fuel production. Duh. But easier said than done. Developing countries (and industrial ones also) still heavily depend on fossil fuel production and will at least during a couple of coming decades more. From my point of view, the best solution would be insisting on all countries entering a pact on completely getting rid of fossil fuels. Yes, it has been agreed that countries will do that by 2050, but it has to happen not only gradually in the energy sector but in all industries at once. For instance, it would be easier to make a multi-industry anti-carbon campaign in the energy sector if coupled with removing petrol vehicles along with natural gas out of heating and cooling systems that are actively used in buildings. Just from the top of my head.
3) Funding agricultural innovations. Eating one kilogram of beef is equivalent to producing 27 kg of carbon dioxide. I personally love eating meat. I would give it up if there were better alternatives to meat. I know that there are some vegetables like sweet potatoes that pretty much replace meat, but still meat has other nutrients beside protein that a human body needs. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary to encourage innovation to replace meat with some grown or lab-made alternatives along with developing better practices in agriculture that lower its carbon footprint. It is also a good idea to simply plant more trees and completely pivot to composites, plastics and other materials. However, there is just something about working with wood; it is such an elegant and simple material. There has to be a very similar material to wood in order for us to remove real wood from our library of materials entirely. Taxes, however, are another way to go.
4) Space travel industry promotion. It is a good idea to have a backup plan. Mars is good, but 500 days for a round-trip is too much considering that one wants to kill himself after 4 hours on an airplane with a crying baby. Chemical propellants that supply rockets these days are not able to get us anywhere close to going out of the Solar System. The shift towards electric solutions for in-space propulsion is absolutely necessary if we want to make sure humankind survives on other livable distant planets. One might think that this is some Star Wars BS, but it is tomorrow’s reality (unless we die of nuclear war or something, I don’t know I can’t see the future). Once, Star Trek devices were just fiction in 1960, but look at us now.
There you have it, guys, I hope this article gave you some new perspectives on climate change. Something that we should think about quite often nowadays. I am sure, some of the points you may find debatable, but that was the point: to get you thinking about the topic. Anyways, make sure to keep doing all of the basic stuff that you have heard so many times: sort trash, turn off water and light when not used, travel by bikes and electric cars, etc. Keep it cool 😉
Sergey Vorobey