The Zero-Emissions Challenge: Part One
Speaking earlier this month at the Camp for Climate Change, George Monbiot, a left-leaning writer for The Guardian, had this to say about global warming:
"Combine [several items of research] with the stuff contained in the IPCC's 4th Assessment Report which shows that in order to have a maximum cap of two degrees of warming we need an 85% global reduction even before you take population growth into account. So when that's added to the fact that we're going to have something like a 50% increase in population, you can see that that pushes way over 90% even before you take the issue of global equity into account which means that the rich nationsmust cut the emissions much further than anybody else, you realize that we are talking at a minimum of a 100% cut, and it looks like it might have to go to 110% or 115%."
Cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 115%: That means not only halting the rate of increase, but cutting and absorbing emissions so that we not only eliminate or absorb all the greenhouse gases we now produce, but 15% more besides! That's what he sees as necessary to stop the polar ice from melting, which would reasult in:
"inundation of most of the inhabited world [with sea water, since] something like 60% of the people live within 50 Km of the coast [and it] also means that you get a severe and sudden change in global albedo change as white stuff at the poles gives way to dark stuff absorbing much more solar radiation."
Monbiot calls for drastic and immediate governmental intervention, but he won't get it. Our leaders are not forward-thinking enough to risk their re-election by doing what's right. So it's up to us, as individuals, for the time being, using whatever technology and funding is available.
Can it be done? Can the average family in the U.S. reduce their greenhouse gas impact below zero? I decided to take a look at this challenge, to see if it would be possible for my household to reach the necessary negative production of greenhouse gases. It's not an easy question, since almost everything we do creates greenhouse emissions: from driving to the office, to turning on a lightbulb, to buying lettuce grown in another state, to eating beans.
In a series of posts, I'll explore what I learned. But this much is already clear: it won't be easy.
Can it be done? Can the average family in the U.S. reduce their greenhouse gas impact below zero? I decided to take a look at this challenge, to see if it would be possible for my household to reach the necessary negative production of greenhouse gases. It's not an easy question, since almost everything we do creates greenhouse emissions: from driving to the office, to turning on a lightbulb, to buying lettuce grown in another state, to eating beans.
In a series of posts, I'll explore what I learned. But this much is already clear: it won't be easy.
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