A Better World

Figure 1: Cartoon on climate change

I had intended to add this cartoon the end of my last post but decided against it as I felt it warranted its own post. This cartoon again links in to whether there is a need for Geo-Engineering as well as highlighting the human aspect of resistance to reacting to climate change. At present, action against climate change is happening very slowly – Geo-Engineering is only in the initial research phase – and this got me to question why as a species are we so slow to adopt climate change adaptation or mitigation strategies. Research has found that our brains can’t react to climate change because we are not wired to respond to large, slow moving threats which means that it is particularly difficult to reduce emissions.

This cartoon highlights the confusion surrounding people’s resistance to climate change action as it is clear that the transition to a greener, lower fossil fuel burning economy would actually bring about many personal and health benefits for humans and many other species. Despite this, fracking is on the rise (from 23,000 fracking wells in 2000 to 300,000 in 2015) and fossil fuel consumption is ever increasing. From this, it is clear to see that global energy demand is not decreasing and the end of fossil fuels is not close enough. Because of this, greenhouse gas emissions are unlikely to decrease any time soon and thus carbon levels in the atmosphere are also not going to decline in the near future. In addition, around 30-50% of the Earth’s land has been exploited in some form by human activity and all of this means that human impact on the planet has been so profound that global climate may shift away from natural behaviour for many millennia. It is clear to see from this that the ‘Better World’ pointed out in the cartoon is not going to be achieved through a decrease in fossil fuels in the near future and this emphasises the need for Geo-Engineering to reduce climate change effects until individuals begin to reduce their own consumption and emissions.