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| We cannot hide from effect of
our lifestyles |
We all have a role to play in stopping
the seas from rising around us, argues conservationist Alasdair
Harris
A melting ice cap |
THIS month, I have witnessed 190 governments meeting in Montreal
for the UN climate change negotiations. There is no longer any serious
scientific debate about the issue.
The cause and reality of global warming are now clear, and the evidence
is frightening. The 10 hottest years on record globally have occurred
since 1991, and in that same period sea levels have risen by around
20 centimetres.
Complex ecological systems upon which our environment depends are
breaking down, often before we’ve even begun to understand
them. The latest estimates from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change – often criticised by many observers for being too conservative
with climate predictions – forecasts that without coordinated
global action to reduce greenhouse gases, temperatures will rise
by as much as 6șC by 2100. The planet has only warmed by 4șC since
the last ice age 15,000 years ago.
The problem is ecosystems have adapted to current climates and are
ill prepared to deal with rapid changes.
Current climate change is effectively irreversible. It cannot be
stopped but it can be slowed to allow biological systems time to
adapt. Sadly, global warming doesn’t wait for a political consensus
to be reached. Science dictates the targets and timetables, and
tells us emissions must peak between 2020 and 2030.
During the climate talks, which have been the first meeting of the
parties to the Kyoto Protocol (those countries which ratified the
treaty to reduce emissions from 2008 to 2012), I’ve represented
the UK in a global youth delegation. Despite divisions and the efforts
of certain governments – most notably the United States –
to derail the talks, reassuring progress has been made.
Governments have fought to clarify the Kyoto regulations, ambitious
plans are now underway to discuss how emissions will be cut after
2012, and global community – including the US, India and China
– has agreed to examine the way forward. Tony Blair has described
the final agreement as “a vital next step”.
Through my environmental research, I manage two London-based organisations
to raise awareness of climate change; a responsible travel company
Travelroots (www.travelroots.com), and a marine conservation charity
Blue Ventures (www.blueventures.org). As a scientist, I’m involved
in researching the climate’s effect on the Indian Ocean’s
coral reefs.
Climate change has been causing tropical coral degradation and threatens
the survival of these critical ecosystems, as well as millions of
people living on tropical coastlines that depend on them for an
income. Sadly, the effect on the oceans represents just one of the
impacts. While in Montreal I’ve worked with environmentalists
who experienced the horrors of global warming: Innuit fishermen
whose landscape, culture and livelihood are melting; Pacific islanders
whose coasts are sinking; Sahelian farmers whose forests are turning
to desert. Delegates have been meeting representatives of communities
whose way of life are being decimated.
From the streets of New Orleans to the thawing permafrost of the
Arctic, its effects are falling disproportionately on those who
have contributed to it the least, and who are the least able to
adapt to the unprecedented changes.
These experiences have highlighted a worrying disjunction between
the information we receive and our often halfhearted response as
consumers. Science is not being met with action. As Londoners most
of us understand the scale of the problem and the role we can play
in solving it. But how much are we willing to let our concerns for
the environment compromise our lives?
Perhaps we feel complacent that in Camden we’re likely to continue
to lead comfortable lives. Of course, we have the financial and
technical resources to adapt. Yet around the world we will see poverty,
famine, extinctions, ecological breakdown and human misery. We must
act now.
In Montreal our delegation called for a transition to renewable
energy, including the removal of fossil fuel subsidies.
We urged for refined urban planning policies, more green architecture
and discouraged car use. Vehicle fuel efficiency standards should
be enhanced, and aviation emissions reduced through targets. Consumers
need to play a role. Beyond Kyoto and Montreal, we face an unprecedented
challenge and must all address it.
• Alasdair Harris, 26, lives in Belsize Park. |
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