Global warming and Climate Change were the two main topics discussed at Crowcombe Village Hall on 28th October. Ian Myers from the Environment Agency presented a workshop on How To Improve Your Carbon Footprint for Quantock Eco. His focus was what an individual can do to slow the apparently inevitable slide into destruction of the natural world on a scale that is difficult to imagine.
He quoted the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research results published that week. Since the Paris conference and more recently Cop 26, Governments have failed to make the necessary changes to prevent global temperatures rising above 1.5C. The world is already at 1.4 C He urged his audience to consider what an individual can achieve.
Producing statistics that compared Britain with the rest of the world, and specifically China, he showed that despite their present extreme industrial pollution, we are more, not less responsible for the present situation. Referring to the danger of reaching the temprature tipping points from which the world cannot recover, he referred to the present collapsing of the Greenland ice shelf, the war in Ukraine and the largest rise in methane concentrations since measurements began 40 years ago. He pointed out how each person uses resources accounts for a third of the nation’s total emissions.
Quoting Charles Darwin saying that the survival of the species is dependent on how well it adapts to change, Myers stressed it’s time to wake up to Global Warming as a reality and if we are to survive, we must change. His audience explored how to make a difference by being more conscious of domestic use. The discussion considered ways to do that from less flying for business and holidays, to proper insulation, lagging, no more lengthy baths or showers, using less electricity and gas and buying electric not fossil fuel cars.
Praising the lead Britain has given in the past he expressed concern that Rishi Sunak has decided not to attend COP27 and wondered if King Charles might go as his is a sane voice on climate change.
The bottom line at the end of the workshop was that few people fully understand the risks of climate change and the need to create a greener future. The best we can do is pay attention to our own individual energy consumption and keep the pressure on our politicians to take the situation seriously.
He was thanked by Julian Anderson who chaired the evening.
