Are we doomed? The planet lays in our hands

FORWORD

My personal vision is to motivate people to think and act in a more sustainable way so that we and especially our children and the future generations don't need to live on a dying planet with a broken, not regenerable system.

I always felt like one can #domore to raise awareness in our communities and network. After, extended research I decided to use Linkedin as a platform for spreading my point of view and those of 26.800 scientists (ascending trend) of the DACH-region, that only if we act quickly and consistently can we limit global warming, halt the mass extinction of animal and plant species, preserve the natural basis for life and win a future worth living for present and future generations.

As I do believe that everyone is entitled of his proper opinion especially regarding his political views, there are always people disagreeing with you. But in this case, those thousands of studies and data which are available, prove the facts I'll be given to you. You will find those reliable sources always hyperlinked in the context.

WHAT is going on?

2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 were the four warmest years in worldwide history since the beginning of weather records in 1880. This has obviously tremendous aftereffects. Natural disasters and their consequences increase to a massive extent. This already cost us more than $650 billion in the last years ($160 bn in 2018).

We are currently loosing, by factor 100, faster animal species than ever before. We are extinguishing entire habitats like coral reefs and biologists even proclaim mass extinction, like is has been 66 millon years ago, when an asteroid, of the size of a megacity hit earth.

All that just happenend due to the rise of global warming of 1° C. The Paris Agreement on Climate Change of 2015 obligates states under international law to keep global warming well below 2° C. In addition, all countries have pledged efforts to limit warming to 1.5° C.

If we follow this goal of 1.5° C, you can calculate the amount of CO2 left which humanity can still use before exceeding this level. This amount is fixed and shall not be surpassed. The velocity on how fast we use the capacity left in the atmosphere is our choice. If we continue at this current rate, without adjustments, we will have around 8,5 years left.

HOW did this happen

CO2 & Methan gas are the 2 biggest responsable causes for accelerating the global warming effect. The more of those gases are in the air, the hotter it gets. It exist since the beginning of dawn, but did drasticly increase in the last few years. The main reason is that we keep producing harmful coal and using more and more petroleum and gases. A raise in methan is mainly effected due to our industrial animal husbandry.

In politics it is sometimes stated that Scientist are actually not sure who or what is responsible for global warming or that is even fake, but it has been extendedly reviewed and proofed that there is 97% of consensus among papers taking a position on the cause of global warming in the peer-reviewed literature that humans are responsible.

WHAT are the consequences

Science is in agreement that the temperature must not be exceed the 1.5° C, yet alone 2° C. Because if we do, we will be pushed into an unstoppable endless spiral, in which it keeps getting hotter and hotter, no matter what we do. This then will be irreversible and to the point, that one can say we have destroyed our planet. The life of our children, our grand children and all the future generations will not be the same and they will never know our planet, earth, as we do now.

"The irreversibility of the change of the ecological systems in their regeneration simply has not yet been understood." - Prof. Dr. Maja Göpel - Secretary-General of the German Council on Global Change

So how will it look like living in such and endless spiral?

Approximately more than 400 Mio. people will need to escape their countries and live abroad, as the conditions for life, as it used to be, are not given anymore. More natural disasters will be happening, food supply is limited, more wars for important resources will be a consequence. Mass extinction, as mentioned, is definite. But not only for the animals also human life will be changed by that, infectious diseases and allergies will be a lot more common.

HOW can we change it and accelerate the process

We humans need to change or at least adapt our behaviour. It is not only something nice to do or a trend but a necessity for each individual to act in a sustainable matter. Using more public transportation, changing the way we eat, stoping to flash money to the fashion industry and keep buying stuff we don't need to impress people we don't like.

It is now important to reduce the net emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases quickly and reduce them to zero at the latest worldwide between 2040 and 2050. Faster lowering increases the likelihood of reaching 1.5° C. The burning of coal should be almost completed by 2030, and the burning of oil and natural gas reduced simultaneously, until all fossil fuels have been replaced by climate-neutral energy sources. Matching demand with supply at low cost in among 20 world regions with 100% intermittent wind, water, and sunlight (WWS) for all purposes would cost us the same or even be cheaper then currently. Taking global climate justice into account, this change would have to be even faster in Europe.

To accelerate this, politicians, in the first place, are responsible for creating the necessary framework conditions in a timely manner. In particular, climate-friendly and sustainable action must become simple and cost-effective, while climate-damaging action must become unattractive and expensive (e.g. through effective CO2 prices, cessation of subsidies for climate-damaging actions and products, efficiency regulations and social innovations).

Furthermore companies should adapt and align their milestones or their big north with as much of those 17 "Sustainable Development Goals" as possible. Not just will it impact us humans but also further the culture of a company and with this even more economical benefits.

There are a lot of companies and businesses that are currently on the right path and take a pioneering role in their industry.

Companies with a mission

For instance the danish renewable energy company Orsted; their mission is to create a world that runs entirely on green energy. Realising this with bioenergy and offshore wind solutions.

Or the Swiss IT-company Prime Computer; their vision is that IT-hardware has to be used and produced sustainably. Reducing the carbon footprint by creating fanless servers and mini pc's which focus on energy efficiency, longevity and durability.

What about the sport fashion company Patagonia; their claim is that they're in business to save our home planet. They donate their time, services and at least 1 percent of their sales to help hundreds of grassroots organizations all over the world so that they can remain vigilant, and protect what’s irreplaceable. 

Conclusion

We are facing a difficult time. The last 4 years have been the hottest ones recorded and the global temperature will continue to rise. The question is how fast can we act to stay below the limit of max 2° C. Each individual is in demand to #domore for the future generations. There is so much one can do, but we need politics and companies to align with the mindset of adapting to those complex changes. It's still not too late but we need to act - now!