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Global Warming
& What to Do About It
by Terry Leahy
Global warming, often referred to as the greenhouse effect, is
certainly the most serious environmental problem at the moment.
Two useful books, which explain the problem and suggest solutions,
are The Coming Storm by Mark Maslin, a British climate scientist and
The Weather Makers by well known Australian scientist and director
of the South Australian Museum, Tim Flannery.
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To a very large extent, global warming is caused by the burning of
fossil fuels. Coal, which we use to generate electricity, oil,
which we use for most of our transport, and gas. When these fuels
are burnt they give off carbon dioxide. This is what is warming up
the planet. For the last 400,000 years the amount of carbon dioxide
in the air has stayed less than 280 parts per million. Since
industrialisation we have pushed that up to 370 parts per million
and it is still rising. We know that changes in carbon dioxide in
the past have been linked to changes in climate. Scientists are
sure that what we can expect is between 3 and 5 degrees increase in
temperature in the next 100 years. It could get a lot worse if we
maintain or increase our use of fossil fuels.
So why is this a problem? Well, even with the changes in the
global temperature that we have created already, we are causing
drastic impacts on the planet. For example, in the Southern oceans,
the number of krill has gone down to 20 percent of what it used to
be up until a few decades ago. Krill is the food that sustains
penguins, seals and whales. The whales that we vigorously protect
from Japanese whalers are quite likely to die off in the next 20 to
30 years as a result of these changes.
In the Northern Hemisphere all the species of the Arctic region
depend on the sea ice around the North Pole. This is now melting.
We will see the extinction in the wild of such well-known and well-
loved species as polar bears, killer whales, seals and reindeer.
This is a heart breaking disaster.
In terms of our own human needs the consequences are likely to be
equally drastic. The East coast has been getting drier and drier as
a result of the greenhouse effect – we have already lost some of our
average rainfall in regions like the Hunter and this loss is
predicted to amount to 10% by 2070. This is having severe
consequences in terms of our farming industries and urban water
supplies. While we can certainly cope with the current situation,
the future looks very much more worrying. If we go on failing to
solve this problem we could easily end up with our grandchildren's
generation facing starvation.
In North America and Europe the paradoxical effect of the planet
warming is that these countries may come to have weather that looks
more like that of Siberia – extremely cold and windy. This is
because the warm stream of water that comes up through the Atlantic
Ocean, the Gulf Stream, could be stopped as the polar ice melts.
Most of the agricultural areas of Europe and North America would be
wiped out. This is just one of a number of dire scenarios.
This is all very depressing.
Some easy solutions
In world terms, Australia is a very wealthy country and because of
that, per head of population, we use a lot of fossil fuels to power
our affluent lifestyle. We are in fact the highest per capita
producers of greenhouse emissions of any industrialised country.
What this also means is that if we can solve these problems in
Australia we have a chance to lead the way. Developing countries
like India and China would not have to end up intensifying the
problems the world now has. They could see another way forward. To
begin to stabilise climate, scientists believe that we must cut our
production of carbon dioxide by 60 to 80 percent.
Recent research at the University of Newcastle has revealed that
people are extremely worried about environmental matters. Yet, they
have a number of concerns about environmentalism and the Greens
parties. Basically, people are concerned about jobs and the
economy. They fear excessive regulation of their personal consumer
and leisure choices. They are worried that environmentalists want
to force people into an impoverished simpler life style without mod
cons and conveniences. Without going into the rights or wrongs of
these sentiments, it is clear that it is absolutely necessary to
develop solutions that can appeal to the broadest cross section of
the community. A dedicated minority cannot solve these problems on
its own.
Government or business action is required to deal with emissions
from industry and public institutions. Government action would be a
great help in beginning to restructure our energy use and energy
industries. On the other hand a huge part of the carbon dioxide that
we produce from burning fossil fuels comes from our own activities.
By doing something now, we can actually provide a base level of
change. We may hope business and government will match this, as
they try to catch up with the demands of consumers and the
electorate.
There are a number of changes that can be made which are not vastly
disruptive to the current lifestyle of people in rich countries such
as Australia. Taken together, these changes would reduce outputs
of carbon dioxide from people's private actions by more than 60
percent.
- Live closer to work. Many people live a long way from their
work. They usually drive to work rather than using a bike or public
transport. Making a choice to live closer to work could cut this
use of fuel considerably
- A much smaller car. Most people in Australia drive cars
with engine capacities between 2000 and 4000 ccs. By cutting the
size of their cars to those with engine capacities of less than 1000
ccs people could cut their emissions from transport by more than 60%
without spending any more than they do now and without any
significant change in their current lifestyles
- A solar hot water system. Using electricity from coal fired
power plants for heating and cooling is the biggest producer of
greenhouse gases in households. Gas heaters and hot water systems
are also a problem. Air conditioners, fridges, hot water services,
heaters, washing machines, dryers and dishwashers are the key
appliances to watch. Anything that can cut down on the use or
number of these appliances can make major savings in power. For
example, washing all clothes in cold water and drying them in the
sun.
Changing to a solar hot water system can reduce household carbon
dioxide emissions by 30%. It will cost about $3000 to install.
People will save the extra money over the life of the hot water
service, but there is no getting away from the initial expense
- Green energy. Most energy companies offer people the
option of green energy - for example Origin, Energy Australia and
AGL. The idea behind these schemes is that the company agrees to
buy sustainable energy (not from fossil fuels) and put it into the
grid for you. The amount of electricity you use is the amount they
will buy from sustainable sources. The easiest thing to do is to go
on the net or ring these companies and see what is available. Some
of these schemes are cost neutral but most involve the customer
paying up to 150 percent of what it costs for energy from coal fired
power plants. This is not extortion; it actually costs more to get
energy from most sustainable energy sources - solar, wind power and
so on. By buying green energy people can cut their household
production of greenhouse gases to virtually nothing. The money
spent will also be an investment in research to make sustainable
energy cheaper and more efficient
Government Action
Personal solutions like this are not enough to solve this problem.
We also need effective government action. At the very least to
reduce carbon dioxide emissions from private business and public
institutions. As well, government action is the key to
international cooperation on global warming. The major parties are
certainly starting to talk about these issues and some reforms have
been put in place. However on any reasonable analysis these moves
are somewhat tokenistic.
Under the coalition Federal government, Australia is one of the few
countries in the world that has not ratified the Kyoto protocol to
reduce greenhouse gases. If elected to office, the ALP has promised
to ratify the Kyoto protocol. Nevertheless, this is only an
agreement to reduce greenhouse gases by 5 percent - when scientists
claim these gases need to be cut by 60 to 80 percent. In
recognition of this, the Carr government in NSW announced a
commitment to 60 percent reductions by 2050. This is laughable
really when one realises that extremely serious problems are already
upon us. By 2050 we will be wondering whether we can save our
cities and feed people in Australia.
There is even less action on the ground where it counts now. The
same NSW government has approved 5 new gas fired power stations in
2005. Two of these are now being constructed and the other three
are planned. This is a considerable expansion of fossil fuel energy
in the state. It is hardly the kind of action that one would expect
from a party that was seriously committed to doing something about
global warming. Adding to this is the rush to export even more coal
internationally, as Australia fires up the massive expansion of
fossil fuel use in the growing economies of India and China.
It seems certain that Australian politicians do not believe that the
public is seriously concerned about this problem. Nothing short of
a substantial change in the political behaviour of Australians will
make much difference to their outlook on this.
- – Terry Leahy
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