WHY THIS SHOULD BE THE YEAR YOU SAVE THE PLANET
Happy new year! I know I’m not alone when I say that most of my new year’s resolutions to date have tended to relate to self-improvement or self-care. It makes sense. When we think of resolutions, we tend to consider the aspects of our own lives that need improvement.
This year, consider adding the planet as one of your resolution beneficiaries.
After all, Earth is your home, and home to everyone you love and everyone who they love and ever will love. It’s the only planet we have. And more now than ever before, it is in trouble.
Our planet is warming at an alarming rate, causing disastrous, deadly effects.
Research shows that if we do not take steps to reduce our carbon emissions, land temperatures will rise so substantially that 19% of our planet will become uninhabitable by 2070. For comparison, only 0.8% (parts of the Sahara Desert) is uninhabitable today. And this is only one of many catastrophes which are to come if we don’t reduce our carbon emissions.
Global sea level rose about 8 inches in the last century. The rate in the last two decades is nearly double that of the last century and is accelerating slightly every year. If we keep conducting business as usual, without reducing our carbon footprint, sea levels are expected to rise another 1 to 8 feet by 2100. A rise of 1 foot would submerge some communities and cause billions of dollars of damage. A rise of 8 feet would be absolutely devastating, submerging major cities like Manhattan, Miami, and Boston, to name just a few.
As a result of global warming and climate change, the number and intensity of extreme weather events has increased. These events include intense rainfall events, major hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, and fires. The number of weather or climate-related disasters causing at least a billion dollars in damage is on the rise in the US, with 69 such disasters since 2015, costing more than $525 billion in total.
There is so much plastic pollution that we are literally eating and breathing plastic.
Plastic has been found at every level of our food and water supply. We eat and drink so much plastic that it has even been found in our poop.
A huge amount of plastic pollution makes its way into our oceans. Approximately eight million metric tons of plastic enter the ocean annually, 80% of which is suspected to originate from land-based sources. That’s the equivalent of dumping the contents of one garbage truck into the ocean every minute. If present trends continue, scientists predict that by 2050, the oceans will contain more plastic than fish, ton for ton, and there will be 12 billion metric tons of plastic in landfills.
According to a recent study, human made stuff now outweighs all life on Earth. The world’s plastics alone now weigh twice as much as the planet’s marine and terrestrial animals.
The world’s forests are disappearing, causing a huge loss of biodiversity and accelerating climate change.
Since 1990, it is estimated that 420 million hectares of forest have been lost through conversion to other land uses. When we lose our forests, we lose all their potential, including a massive amount of carbon absorption crucial to the fight against climate change, and incredible plant and animal biodiversity.
These are just a handful of dire problems our planet is facing. They are problems that we created, and will not be solved by anyone but us.
As they say, there is no planet B. We solve these problems or perish. And this year, we have the opportunity to be part of the solution.
We don’t have to forego our personal resolutions. Nor do we need to do anything particularly onerous or complicated. There are many, many things we can do to help the Earth that are simple. Opt for reusable instead of disposable where possible. Buy recycled toilet paper. Eat less beef. Buy less stuff. These are just a few actions that, when done by enough of us, can make a huge difference. The possibilities for easy, impactful change are practically infinite. And my own resolution is to keep bringing them to you, one blog post at a time.
Here’s to a brighter—and greener—new year!