Article and Cover Story by Manuela Andaloro for FocusOn November 2019.
Deniers of global warming argue that our planet has always been cooling down and warming up. Based on what we know today from science, this is presumably true. But the big difference with the past is that cooling and heating took place over thousands of years; not within a handful. Until recent times, the Earth had never had to deal with billions of consumers and polluters who have had no issues at all with that, at least for a long time. The greenhouse effect, abnormal temperatures and desertification are not just some ideologies. Denying them when the first hint of winter comes is like claiming – as a scientist told Trump – that world hunger does not exist because you just had a Big Mac.
Scientific status quo and socio-economic SCENARIOS.
All most recent scientific research and the reports issued by the United Nations on the basis on the analysis and revision of thousands of studies, agree that the average temperature of the Earth is increasing at an alarming rate, with ever more evident repercussions: from more intense and extreme weather conditions, such as storms and hurricanes, to abnormal heat waves (this summer, in Europe, there were three of them), ice melting at the Poles and on mountain ranges, the rising of sea levels.
Based on the collected data and the time cycles, the entire scientific community agrees that human activities have contributed significantly to global warming. The production of carbon dioxide, deriving from industrial activities and large consumption of fossil fuels, has increased the greenhouse effect beyond the natural rate, preventing the Earth from dispersing part of the heat accumulated by solar radiation. Without a conspicuous reduction in carbon dioxide, scientists say, it will be impossible to reduce the increase in global average temperature.
A recent report by Goldman Sachs on the impact of climate change on cities around the world leaves no room for doubt or soft solutions. (Source: Markets Insider)
The international scenario
An extraordinary meeting on climate change summoned by the United Nations was held on Monday, 23 September in New York but, for many, the meeting did not yield great results neither did it lead to serious promises by the most industrialised countries to reduce polluting emissions.
A lot of talking, many clichés, good intentions but few effective strategies.
No promises from China, no statements from the United States, or India, essentially confirming three of the most polluting countries in the world are indifferent to the most important topic of the century.
It seems that the countries with sovereign leaders and parties with a strong populist ideology do not consider the climatic emergency worthy of note.
A negative outcome then?
Maybe not. The delegates who participate in these institutional meetings mainly belong, by culture and age, to the generation that caused the problem in the first place, the generation of economic growth at all costs. The same generation that in many cases perceives this issue as annoying, as evidenced by their actions – though not their words. But the future, of our society and our planet, belongs much less to today's 50- or 60-year olds, and much more to today's 15- to 40-year olds.
A more aware generation is rising, younger in age and culture, embracing very different principles. A generation that, to a large extent, cannot access (yet) institutional meetings and political or governmental decision rooms but which has found a way to make its voice heard.
On Friday, 27 September, over 4 million people of all ages from around the world (8 million according to other estimates) have peacefully taken to the streets to make their voices heard, to join a climate strike launched in different countries to ask rulers to take actions and a serious commitment to address the climate change.
The summit held on 23 September may perhaps have failed, but it succeeded in changing the perspective on climate change on the international scene. World leaders have noted that such an event would not have happened without the pressure of so many young people.
Earth Overshoot Day
For those with young children, summer holidays are usually a moment to look for a common wavelength, spend more time together and find ways to deal with everyday highs and lows together. Basically, a time to search for common ground between different generations. For as long as they can remember, my 6- and 4-year-old children have always found rubbish on the beach (be they well-maintained beaches or free beaches, unfortunately, no one is immune to the serial polluter, uneducated and ill-mannered) and plastic in the sea. For as long as they can remember, I have invariably read a newspaper every day, trying to translate it into a language they can understand, commenting on the daily news, using common sense to filter what can be understood and processed by their minds in such an important phase of their lives.
In this context, during the last summer holidays, I found myself trying to explain to them what the "Earth Overshoot Day" is – which, this year, took place on 29 July. A whopping 5 months before the end of the year.
If planet Earth were a company, the Earth Overshoot Day would be the day it would go bankrupt. It is not just a metaphor to explain what over-exploitation is. It is the reality of scientific facts.
Non-governmental organisation Global Footprint Network calculates the Earth Overshoot Day precisely, rigorously and scientifically, and it does it every year. The Overshoot Day is the date on which humanity's resource consumption for the year exceeds Earth’s capacity to regenerate those resources that year.
What about vegetarianism?
Aware of the link between human nutrition and the climate crisis, an increasing portion of the world population has recently decided to turn vegetarian.
But is vegetarianism really more eco-friendly? The simple answer is yes because the environmental impact of the animal food industry is currently catastrophic and is destined to grow.
According to statistics, meat production levels are set to increase from 309 million tons in 2013 to 465 million in 2050, when the world population will have exceeded 9 billion inhabitants. Over the last 50 years, we have witnessed an impressive increase in consumption, which has grown fivefold compared to the past. Consequently, there has been an increase in the number of animal breeding, a deterioration in meat quality and, in general, in the livestock industry.
Our food choices dramatically affect the planet: according to a UN research report, meat farming is responsible for 18 per cent of gas emissions and 37 per cent of methane ones.
Even if we leave aside for a moment the animal rights aspect (a recent video by the non-profit association CIWF Italia exposes the main problems of intensive farming, with a specific focus to animal suffering: the video ends with the slogan "truth sells less") it is undeniable that by decreasing the consumption of meat and paying more attention to quality it will be possible to change the course towards more ethical and sustainable consumption, both in terms of environmental impact as well as human and animal welfare.
Manuela Andaloro for FocusOn’s Cover Story, November 2019