I Am Concerned About Climate Change
What changes will be needed to deal with climate change in the 21st century ?
I believe there are four main areas of change: End of the fossil fuel era; Expand use of public transit; Conserve energy; Plant trees.
1. [b]End of the fossil fuel era[/b]. Over a century ago began the era of oil (petroleum) and the internal combustion engine. Fossil fuels powered cars and trucks, but at too high a cost. We have pumped millions of tons of carbons into our atmosphere, warming the earth's climate. We are now in the era of transition to clean energy sources. The fossil fuel industry will fight this tooth and nail, but eventually, they won't be able to stop the change. Oil and coal for power will become a thing of the past.
2. [b]Transportation Sector[/b] - In the U.S. we will have to make much greater use of public transit and less use of cars and trucks. Congress will have to change spending priorities away from highways and toward modern high-speed passenger rail, urban light rail and low/zero emission buses. Other countries are much further along in use of public transit than the U.S. We have a lot of catching up to do. The car and highway lobby will fight this, but the change is inevitable.
3. [b]Conserving energy[/b], no more waste. In the 20th century we squandered energy resources like a drunken sailor. No more. We will have to see energy as a valuable resource that has to used judicially. Much of our energy use is wasteful and unnecessary. No able-bodied person needs a car to travel half a mile. In the U.S. our life style will have to change. But it will be a good change, we will conserve our environment and we will be healthier.
4. [b]Plant trees[/b]. Expanding forests, which sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, could seriously make up for humans’ toxic carbon emissions. In 2018, the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the world’s foremost authority on climate, estimated that we’d need to plant 1 billion hectares of forest by 2050 to keep the globe from warming a full 1.5 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels. (One hectare is about twice the size of a football field.)
These changes and transitions will have challenges, but also great opportunities. Millions of jobs will be created here in the U.S.
I believe there are four main areas of change: End of the fossil fuel era; Expand use of public transit; Conserve energy; Plant trees.
1. [b]End of the fossil fuel era[/b]. Over a century ago began the era of oil (petroleum) and the internal combustion engine. Fossil fuels powered cars and trucks, but at too high a cost. We have pumped millions of tons of carbons into our atmosphere, warming the earth's climate. We are now in the era of transition to clean energy sources. The fossil fuel industry will fight this tooth and nail, but eventually, they won't be able to stop the change. Oil and coal for power will become a thing of the past.
2. [b]Transportation Sector[/b] - In the U.S. we will have to make much greater use of public transit and less use of cars and trucks. Congress will have to change spending priorities away from highways and toward modern high-speed passenger rail, urban light rail and low/zero emission buses. Other countries are much further along in use of public transit than the U.S. We have a lot of catching up to do. The car and highway lobby will fight this, but the change is inevitable.
3. [b]Conserving energy[/b], no more waste. In the 20th century we squandered energy resources like a drunken sailor. No more. We will have to see energy as a valuable resource that has to used judicially. Much of our energy use is wasteful and unnecessary. No able-bodied person needs a car to travel half a mile. In the U.S. our life style will have to change. But it will be a good change, we will conserve our environment and we will be healthier.
4. [b]Plant trees[/b]. Expanding forests, which sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, could seriously make up for humans’ toxic carbon emissions. In 2018, the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the world’s foremost authority on climate, estimated that we’d need to plant 1 billion hectares of forest by 2050 to keep the globe from warming a full 1.5 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels. (One hectare is about twice the size of a football field.)
These changes and transitions will have challenges, but also great opportunities. Millions of jobs will be created here in the U.S.
