So for the past 5 weeks, we have taken you through the entire history (somewhat abridged) of climate change and its similar concepts. Which leaves the only question left to discuss, where are we now? Since enacting the Paris Climate Agreement we have slashed carbon emissions. Have we learned from the scientists from the 1850’s? Have we made changes to improve the global warming outlook predicted in the 1980’s?
The answer isn’t as simple as that. Yes, globally we have made tremendous progress thanks to the Paris Climate Agreement, which has not only created jobs but transformed the energy industry, allowing for more clean resources to become available. And yes, we have learned a lot from the scientists in the 1850’s, and made lots of advancements from their original research. And yes, we have made changes to reduce emissions and stave off potential disaster from increased temperature due to global warming that were predicted in the 1980’s. However, is this enough?
This answer differs for everyone. Some people believe we aren’t doing enough and we should be leading the charge with renewable energy as a role model for the rest of the world. Others believe that we are doing enough to combat climate change and any increased efforts or restrictions to companies (in order to decrease emissions) would only cause disastrous effects to our economy. Some people don’t even know what to think about climate change. With all of these different viewpoints, we can only offer you our opinion based on our knowledge and experience working to solve climate change in our local community. So for our last post of this series, we would like to discuss our thoughts on are we doing enough to solve climate change?
If you came out to our orchard planting event in April, and just watched the volunteers, you would have noticed many things, and many different kinds of people. Some effortlessly picked up shovels and got to work, needing little prompting, leaving with their hands dirty and a smile on their face. These people were familiar with nature, they knew how to nurture it and work it to get the results they were after. On the other hand, some volunteers came very clearly out of their comfort zone. Never having used a shovel or having worked outdoors, these volunteers were less knowledgeable and needed more help to impact the environment in the positive way the others had. And in this moment I would like to point out that, NEITHER ONE OF THESE EXPERIENCES OR VIEWS IN INVALID. We love that there were experienced gardeners at the event, but we loved even more that there were people there we could teach, and help grow. Growth and learning is the most important step to solving climate change, and we by no means think everyone should have or even could come into this as an expert (we most definitely weren’t). With that being said, the things that stood out to me most was the background of each individual. The difference between volunteers who knew how to garden and those who had never held a shovel, was whether or not they grew up in an urban environment or a rural one. We so often try to pretend that urbanization doesn’t have an effect, but that just simply isn’t true. Living in a city with no greenery and no yard makes it difficult to truly appreciate the environment and all the things it can do for us. We simply take it for granted and push it from our minds. And we are all guilty of this.
I give this example to show that we absolutely still have a ways to go when it comes to tuly ‘solving’ climate change. As a global society, we have to remember that urban industrial living has its perks, but we shouldn’t have to sacrifice our planet to have that. With that, I will leave you with a quote from James Gustave Speth. Take a moment to read this quote and think about the effects that climate change has in all areas of society. If you can’t think of any, look through some of our other blog posts to get an idea of just how far climate change has reached.
"Climate change . . . is the single greatest threat that societies face today."
- James Gustave Speth, environmentalist and dean of the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.
"Remember to love the world around you, it is the only one we have, and it is magnificent."
- The Edible Landscape Initiative Team
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