This video is sponsored by audible, climate change is upon us, oceans are rising, fires are raging, storms are brewing and we need solutions fast, and world leaders and politicians often seem to be spewing empty promises and that’s.
Why? We are pledged here in the uk to deliver net zero by 2050., but there is hope on the horizon. We just need to act fast. We have hundreds of readily available climate change solutions at our fingertips that, when scaled up could successfully prevent and then balance the amount of co2 in the atmosphere back to pre-industrial levels, project drawdown a non-profit group of researchers and scientists compiled a list of the top 100.
. In this video, we’re, going to talk about just three which, when expanded over the next 30 years, could reduce emissions by as much as 269 gigatons of co2, which is a staggering amount. When compared to the fact that, since 1751, the world has emitted a cumulative total of 1500 gigatons of co2, [ Music ] in kigali, rwanda, 106 representatives shuffled through a meeting hall, the mood was relaxed as they scribbled their signatures on what would become one of the Most significant global climate agreements – you’ve, probably never heard of, but before we discuss the inner workings of what is now called the kigali accord.
Let’s. First, look at the problem we face to do that. We have to travel back to 1987 to a balmy august day in montreal that day, 196 countries and the european union ratified a protocol calling on all countries to phase out the use of chlorofluorocarbon or cfcs in refrigerants by 1996.
. Up until 1987, cfcs were shredding a hole in the ozone, but as a direct result of the montreal protocol, cfc used dropped drastically and the hole in the ozone layer began to shrink. The treaty was a definitive success, except for one thing, cfcs were replaced by hydrofluorocarbons.
A substance that doesn’t damage the ozone, but instead is an extremely potent greenhouse gas, hydrofluorocarbons or hfcs have one thousand to nine thousand times the capacity to trap heat than co2. Although it’s fairly short-lived in the atmosphere.
The consequences of an hfc buildup could be massive, but it also means that a phase-out of hfcs could visibly slow the rate of global warming substantially, which brings us back to that accord signed in kigali starting in 2019.
The kigali accord requires high-income countries to begin the phase-out of hfcs, followed by a series of lower-income countries over the next eight years. According to a number of research papers, replacing hfcs with natural refrigerants, like ammonia or propane over the next 30 years, has the potential to avoid up to 0.
5 to 1 degrees celsius of global warming and the equivalent of avoiding 57.8 gigatons of carbon dioxide emissions by 2050.. That’s, the same as taking every single car off the road globally for the next 90 years.
What’s exciting? Is that the montreal protocol’s, success and the kigali amendment’s. Ratification show that management of hfcs is not just a dream. It’s, a very real solution to climate change that is already being scaled up across the world.
[, Music ] in denmark, factories are forging giants, colossi that scrape the sky and cling to the wind, because wind is what denmark knows best, and nowadays it’s where they’re. Getting a whole lot of their energy.
Onshore wind turbines provide a huge opportunity for low cost and low emissions energy creation. Indeed, in 2019, denmark sourced 47 of its electricity from wind turbines, with 29 of that coming from onshore installations turbines, have a remarkably small land footprint, allowing for farming, recreation and conservation to continue under their shadows.
The researchers at project drawdown proposed that if we can scale onshore wind capacity to 26 of our global energy consumption, we could avoid roughly 147 gigatons of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
. But right now the world only derives four percent of its energy from wind power. So how do we get from four percent to 26 in the next 30 years? I look at this question much more in depth in my renewable energies.
Solutions video, but in short, the current rate of onshore wind expansion, will not be enough to reach 26 by 2050.. We need to spur the ethical expansion of the wind turbine construction industry with smart energy policy and generous government subsidies all while ensuring that the raw materials for these turbines are not sourced from exploitative extraction industries and majority world, and once the turbines are built.
The implementation of backup systems like grid interconnections and large-scale storage techniques are essential for wind energy’s. Success because, unfortunately, the wind does not blow all the time.
These are herculean tasks, but they are possible and considering the consequences. If we don’t quickly, scale up wind production, windy landscapes across the world have the moral responsibility to follow in the footsteps of denmark.
A future of wind turbines could have substantial positive effects on our changing climate. Wind turbine construction and refrigerant management are large-scale infrastructure tasks that will undoubtedly require global government mobilization on an unprecedented scale and while more personal actions like pressuring corporate and government officials on the street in the mail or on the phone are essential for driving those solutions.
There’s. Another solution that you can tackle in your everyday life, embracing a plant-based or plant-rich diet. The fossil fuel demands associated with animal feed, transportation, deforestation and animal emissions themselves make up a large chunk of global greenhouse emissions.
The animal agriculture industry now accounts for nearly 14.5 percent of the world’s. Total annual carbon footprint, as well as 45 of its land use but project drawdown models that if just 50 of the world’s, population adopts a plant-rich diet by 2050 we could avoid 65.
02 gigatons of greenhouse gas emissions, but the path towards this transition Will not be simple, especially in meat-centric western cultures like the us, so education and advocacy will be essential. Vegan activists like earthling ed, provide a perfect example of effective plant-based advocacy.
Not only is ed extremely sharp-minded, but he employs a convincing combination of multimedia empathy, facts and storytelling to inspire others to embrace plant-centric diets. But education only goes so far.
Reluctant meat-eaters will also need meatless alternatives and delicious vegan recipes to sway their dietary choices. And while this is a primarily demand side solution requiring dietary change from millions of people as project drawdown points out, there are currently government subsidies in places like the us that distort the true cost of meat, ultimately making it much cheaper, eliminating meat subsidies and instead subsidizing The staples of a plant-based diet is yet another avenue through which we can make switching to a plant-rich diet easier.
In short, a plant-based diet is a choice that we, especially in heavy meat-eating countries, can make every day to have a drastic impact on our global emissions. At the end of the day, all these solutions will only work if you and i make our mark and do the work, whether that means taking to the streets getting rid of meat working with your institutions to transform their policies or doing all three action is essential.
As the years tick closer to 2050, our chance to avoid the worst of climate change slowly escapes us, but working towards these three solutions, alongside hundreds of others, is the work we need to do.
Complacency and apathy are in the face of climate chaos, a luxury we cannot afford. We, the global community, have the solutions available. We just have to have the courage and will to turn them into a reality.
I love learning and reading about environmental issues, but sometimes i find it hard to sit down and read a dense, non-fiction book about climate change, which is why i’ve turned to audiobooks recently and there’s, no better place to listen To your favorite audiobook than audible, with thousands of audio books, podcasts and even guided meditations audible has been a treasure for me.
I just finished listening to hope. Jiren’s new book, the story of more and i can’t recommend it enough. It’s an emotionally packed narrative about climate change that does a great job blending personal struggles with global issues.
She dives into complicated topics like population growth, food systems and renewable energy, and what’s even more awesome about the audiobook? Is that hope? Gerund is the narrator. So you get to hear exactly how she intended the book to sound.
I can’t recommend it enough. So if you want to listen to the story of more or browse through, thousands of other audiobooks, then definitely go to audible.com r, changing climate or text, our changing climate to 500, 500 and sign up for a free 30-day trial and with that trial comes an audiobook Of your choice, absolutely free, hey everyone, charlie here, thanks for making it all the way to the end screen.
If you want to support this channel directly, consider supporting our changing climate on patreon patreon has given me the financial consistency to make more and more ambitious videos. So every little bit counts thanks again for watching and i’ll see you in two weeks.
Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=IjT7O3ZodTA
