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.
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 650,000 years the amount of carbon dioxide in the air has never gone over 300 parts per million. Since industrialisation we have pushed that up to 380 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 2 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. Over the last fifty years we have more than a fifth of our rainfall in some areas. 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. South Eastern Australia could lose up to 35% of its rainfall. 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, may be stopped as the polar ice melts. Most of the agricultural areas of Europe and North America could be wiped out.
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.
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 $4000 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 this outlook.