Climate Change

By: Beverly deVries, M.A., creator of Humans of a Warming World

The rainforest is generous. It has always been there for us. It supplies us with wood from its trees and medicine from its plants. It even allows us escape into its beauty. It has watched us leave time and again, but we always come back. We know how to make things, amazing things, so why would we need an old forest anymore? We breathe air, and the rainforest makes air. If we lose our forests, we lose our climate.

May was the 13th month in a row to break temperature records according to figures published this week that are the latest in 2016’s string of incredible climate records which scientists have described as a bombshell and an emergency.

Goodbye guilt; hello cooperation, integration and meaningful action. This abstract emphasizes that people are far more inclined to be proactive about climate change if it is framed as a collective issue, and not a personal responsibility. Instead of focusing attention on the individual contribution to climate change, and all the guilt and grief that can accompany that realization, it makes more sense, and has a bigger impact, to represent it as a collective issue.

Home is more than a suburban house, a city apartment, or a log cabin in the woods. It is our refuge, our foundation. It is built from the soil covering the ground, the trees lining our forests, the coral reefs populating our ocean, and the starry sky enclosing us above. It gives us comfort and it shelters our families. If we don’t take care of our home, it cannot take care of us.

The G7 nations have put forth a landmark pledge to end oil and gas subsidies by 2025. At the summit in Japan, they declared that these types of subsidies were “inefficient”, and since commodity prices continue to fall, subsidies are as well. The updated pledge builds on plans put forth in 2009, which until now, were lacking a concrete timeline.

Canada’s status as an “energy superpower” is under threat because the global dominance of fossil fuels could decrease faster than previously believed, according to a draft report produced by Policy Horizons Canada, a federal government think-tank. Driving this  very real future are two trends—renewables will become cheaper than fossil fuels and faster than anticipated and electric cars are now becoming fully competitive.

Life starts with flowers. They are the foundation of our food chain. They nourish our fruit, grains, and potatoes. They are also worshipped for their picturesque beauty and their aromatic scent.

Over the last few years, concerned citizens in several countries have undertaken a unique strategy by suing their governments for failing to take action to mitigate climate change. A recent case in Oregon includes 21 young litigants represented by a legal nonprofit.

Yesterday, Alberta introduced its carbon tax legislation, as outlined in this Globe and Mail article. Improving Alberta’s environmental reputation is seen as crucial by the NDP government and some energy industry leaders, who believe that the strategy will help attract investment in the oil and gas sector, put greater emphasis on technology and renewable energy and win support to build one or more new pipelines to Canadian coasts.