Can we rescue our young people from climate change?
IT IS marvellous news that the 13 people have been rescued from a Thai cave. The effort that was put in was impressive and the huge amount of courage shown by the rescuers was proved when sadly one of them was lost. I am confident that a similar attempt would happen if something similar happened locally and brave people would come to the fore.
I would hope that something comparable will happen to save our youngsters from the hazards they will be facing in the future from climate change. But little is happening and I would suppose that it is the difference between something in your face and something which will happen in many years. If an asteroid was going to collide with the Earth, then someone like Bruce Willis would be sent up with a hydrogen bomb to destroy it, but dealing with something that will mostly affect future generations and might cost us money now is a different matter.
The CO2 that we put into the atmosphere now affects us in coming decades, but will also still be around for hundreds, maybe thousands of years, so it is important to take action now.
In November 2017, 15,000 scientists from across the globe signed up to a Warning to Humanity from the Alliance of World Scientists. The statement spelled out the gravity of our environmental crisis and the urgency of taking action to tackle it. Since then, a further 5,000 scientists have backed the call.
No government has yet taken action.
There are two main factors in driving climate change. The biggest one is the huge number of humans on the planet, it being obvious that two billion people will produce much more CO2 than one billion. This is complicated by more-affluent countries that produce more per person than less-rich countries. However, even little old Guernsey uses a lot more energy per area than a country like the USA because of our very high population density (we are the 14th densest, with Jersey shooting ahead of us in 13th place).
The main climate change problem for Guernsey is a rising tide – and we will be lucky if the Braye du Valle does not fill before the year 2100. The local danger of sea level rise is not taken seriously by local politicians and even in the Guernsey Press, an old photo was shown of the Town waterfront submerged quite deeply, giving an impression that it is not getting worse. Because a storm surge (with more frequent storms) may add a few metres to sea rise, the danger of flooding is severe, and at a time when more housing is being built in that danger area. 2100 is the year when the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change gives figures for various climate change effects, as if that year is part of a film where the story ends. Youngsters recently born will likely be alive after that year and could suffer greatly.
A further problem with climate change is that there are various turning points which may come into force (such as the melting of permafrost) which will endanger the future of humanity and the rest of the planet.
DAVID WYLIE,
La Chanterelle, Ruette des Fries,
Castel, GY5 7PW.