WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT CLIMATE

WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT CLIMATE

Read about one person living within each person’s average allowable personal CO2 budget of one tonne per year if the temperature is not to rise over 1.5 degrees. (Even this ‘low’ figure is forecast to give a one third chance of failure. Think about it, in what other aspect of your life would you be satisfied if death were the outcome one third of the time?) The figure is derived from each person’s lifetime average allowance of 30 tonnes.

As an aside, this figure, and this article, illuminate, in stark relief, the glaringly obvious fact that there are far too many humans living today.

The average emissions in the USA is 17 tonnes and in Canada it is likely more. Quite a goal to shoot for, don’t you think? Say one twentieth, or 5%, of our average. Time to get started!

The author realized that most CO2 discussions revolved around the sins of the Big Polluters, whoever they may be, and more or less avoided taking the possibility of individual actions into consideration. She is attempting to correct this error, both with her life behavoir and her article.

A couple of points: her CO2 budget allowed only 45 minutes of gas heat a day; flying, for any distance, is obviously out.

There are a couple of very useful graphs and one major typo (a reversal of two figures).

Read more HERE

Ian Whyte
Ottawa, Canada