Why Didn't People Act Sooner On The Climate Crisis?

Hi Everyone!

Welcome back to Green World, where today I wanted to talk about why people didn't act sooner about the climate crisis, when we have known about this issue for decades. I asked myself this too, and it wasn't until I read the chapter about it in Greta Thunberg's book that I started to understand the reasons behind why action was not taken sooner, and why this crisis has been allowed to escalate as far as it has.

As someone who has only been on the planet for 14 years, a part of me does resent people around long before I was for not having acted on an issue that they knew would continue to affect people around the world. They knew it was not an issue that would go away, so why didn't they act, when it was easier to do so? Changing our now very ingrained habits is so difficult, whereas fifty years ago, ways of life could have been more easily influenced.
Well, there are a few reasons why action was not taken to combat climate change sooner.

1. Fossil Fuel companies

Unfortunately, people were lied to. Fossil fuel companies, let's face it, wanted money, and everyone suddenly no longer wanting to use their business anymore would have been just a little inconvenient. They took tactics from the tobacco industry, in convincing people that they were not in the wrong, that the science is uncertain, and so much more. This was done through advertisements, campaigns and misrepresentation of evidence. They funded research to deflect from the issue, told people they needed to manage their personal carbon footprint and even questioned the credibility of climate scientists.
They fed into and influenced politicians and ultimately the public, creating a warped view of this crisis, and delaying action being taken and decisions being made.

2. Infrastructure and renewables

Fifty years ago we just didn't have the infrastructure and renewable energy technologies to sustain a fossil fuel free life. They could have been fazed out but the solar, wind, geothermal, biofuel and other renewable technologies were not as advanced and developed. Transitioning to renewables is much easier now that these technologies are at their best yet.

3. The science wasn't AS advanced

The science was there. But we didn't have the last however many years of evidence that this issue is real and it is happening now, today. The science is complicated, and most people probably don't really understand it, but now, thanks to many campaigns, educational documentaries and books, more people have a basic understanding of what is happening, and therefore a basic understanding of the extent of it.

4. Climate change is affecting people now

It isn't a thing of the future anymore, and maybe that's why we are beginning to wake up. Maybe that's why we are beginning to take action. People today are feeling the effects of climate change, people today are feeling the effects of rising sea levels, of more extreme natural disasters and the extent of wildfires. People are living through this now. And I'm in a very privileged position where I can say that so far, climate change has not affected my life in any major way. But there are so many people, especially in developing countries who are feeling the effects of climate change today.

We don't want to be the next generation not to act. We don't want to be the ones who failed to turn it round. This is our only chance to fight climate change, on both a personal and community level. Through managing our own choices to protesting, this is an issue that we can find solutions to, and one which we can continue to fight. Let's be the generation who ACT.

Your Green World Blog Team💚

p.s. thank you so much for all of your support recently - it's been incredible!!

Sources:
The Climate Book by Greta Thunberg

Images:
This image is owned by a blog editor

Comments

Photo Essay || Iceland Series (part 1)

Hi Everyone! I recently went on a school trip to Iceland! It was such an incredible experience (and I'm going to sound cheesy now) but it was also incredible to do it with some of my closest friends! I saw so many incredible things and learnt so much, so I couldn't resist sharing a little Iceland mini series of posts, all about Iceland, both my experiences there and what I saw, but also the way it uses geothermal energy, and the animals, natural landforms and plants that are there. Today I'm sharing some photos of my trip. These are all photos I have taken, and are also the highlights so please bear that in mind as you browse these! I hope it is interesting and inspires you to book a trip to Iceland! The blue lagoon <33 landscapes.... Lost little farmhouses a...

January 2021 Factfile - a bit of news from the past month and more!

Hi Everyone! Welcome to the first monthly fact file! We are going to share a news article from last month as well as animals and more! News You might have heard that the UK has authorised the use of a pesticide harmful to bees. It has been authorised for use on sugar beet with their excuse being to do with the virus yellows disease. But bees are in serious decline and this is not going to help. It is authorised for emergency use and only in specific conditions but, in our eyes, that doesn't make it okay. Farmers need bees to pollinate crops and now they are killing them with a horrible pesticide. What do you think? We would love your opinions below! For more information on bees in our honey bee post click here . We have also found an article about some Indonesian monkeys from the island of Bali who steal anything expensive, that tourists have because they know they will get a reward! They know which items have the most value and wi...

Announcement: Galápagos Islands

Greta Thunberg's Speech at the UN Climate Action Summit 2019

Hi Everyone! I thought I would share the transcript of Greta Thunberg's inspiring speech from the UN Climate Action Summit. The phrase we remember is 'How dare you!'. But what did she really want us to take away from it? She wanted us to act, so watch the video using the link below and take action because the world isn't just going to heal itself. Greta Thunberg's speech at the UN Climate Action Summit video "My message is that we'll be watching you. This is all wrong. I shouldn't be up here. I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean. Yet you all come to us young people for hope. How dare you! You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words. And yet I'm one of the lucky ones. People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic g...

Ways to help make your household environmentally friendly

We have told you a bit about the problems that the environment is facing in previous posts but we haven’t told you how to help the environment around the house. You don’t even need a garden to make a difference! Ways to help stop global warming Tip 1: Turn the lights off when you leave a room. Tip 2: Walk or cycle on short journeys. Tip 3: Don’t have the windows open and the heaters on at the same time. Tip 4: Never leave your engine running Tip 5: If you can, buy an electric car as these produce less Co2. Ways to help stop plastic pollution Tip 1: Buy a water bottle. It seems simple but every year the UK uses an estimated 13 billion plastic bottles. Tip 2: Use a bar of soap and a bar of shampoo instead of shower gel and bottled shampoo. Some say soap can dry your skin out but if you do your research you can find plastic-free high-quality soap, perhaps at a price but it depends on where you get it from. Tip 3: Make...

Major ocean currents and how they affect global temperatures

Hi everyone, This week we're talking about ocean currents. Ocean currents are part of the ocean's circulation system and influence local and global weather patterns. They are produced by gravity, differences in water density, winds on the ocean surface and Earth's rotation on its own axis. They cause the movements and exchanges of different ocean properties such as salinity, temperature and nutrients. Ocean currents can flow at speeds of up to 4m per second however most flow at speeds between 5cm and 50cm per second. Weather patterns and ocean currents constantly influence one another. Ocean currents follow similar paths as global wind do, transferring heat from the equator to polar regions. They create and influence ecosystems worldwide, especially marine ones. However they also spread plastics and microplastics around the world far from their original source. This system of ocean currents is often referred to as a global conveyor belt. Today w...

Animals 36-40 in our '50 incredible animals' series

Hi, As you probably noticed, we took a break from this series, mostly due to having just too much to do. But we're back now with the last three posts. 36. The Pinocchio frog The Pinocchio frog can be found in the Foja Mountains in Indonesia. They mainly eat insects, although little is known about them. They are named because the males have a spike on their noses. They were only discovered in 2008, and this was completely by accident! It remained unnamed scientifically until over ten years later when it was given the name " Litoria pinocchio " . There is very little information about them but Wikipedia states that "the male Pinocchio frog inflates its nose when calling, and the nose decreases in size when the frog is calm and quiet," which I think is hilarious and so interesting! 37. Snub-nosed monkey Especially noticeable due to their curious looks, the snub-nosed monkeys can be found in the forests of central China and northern...

13.12.2020 Animal Of The Week: Lark

Hello, Today's post is all about a rather interesting bird I don't know much about and so I can't wait to discover more! Habitat There are many different species of Lark so they are quite widespread. Different websites say different figures but most agree that there are between 90 and 100 different species of Lark. They live in open countryside from deserts to mountains. Their colour is adapted to their environment and so they can vary in appearance. Diet Larks are omnivorous animals and eat many species of insects as well as seeds, leaves, grasses and fruits, especially in Winter as insects are scarce. Some species will also eat snails which they break open on rocks. Lark Song The lark is reputed for its song, especially when it is in flight. This is the reason that they are sometimes represented in poetry. I love poetry and I haven't read any Lark themed poetry yet but writing this has made me want to. However, the wi...

New IPCC Report 2022

Hi everyone, You've probably heard about the new IPCC report that was released earlier this year. In this post, we wanted to talk about what it is and how it could affect us. We haven't read the whole 3000+ page document, surprisingly, but people on the internet have so we have used information from reliable sources, including the IPCC website. What is the IPCC? IPCC stands for Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. It is governments and scientists from all over the world work together to produce reports about the effects of climate change. When did that new report come out? 4th April 2022 What does the new report say and what does it mean for us? The report states that average annual global greenhouse gas emissions were at their highest levels in human history between 2010 to 2019, but the rate of growth of emissions has since slowed. Emissions must peak by 2025 and then must fall drastically (43% by 2030) if we are to limit the d...

The life of ... an emperor penguin

Hello, Today, we're looking at the fascinating lives of emperor penguins. These incredible creatures have adapted to survive in the extreme conditions of Antarctica, and in this post, we'll explore their incredible lives. In late May to early June just before the Antarctic winter sets in, female emperor penguins lay a single egg. They then leave the colony and go on a two month hunt. The male rests the egg on his feet and covers it with warm, feathered skin called the brood pouch. He will eat nothing for these two months. The chick hatches in August and the female returned to take over. She has spent two months feeding and now regurgitates some food for the newly-hatched chick. The male leaves to feed himself as he has been living off his fat reserves for the past two months. The female keeps the chick in her brood pouch until the sea ice close to the breeding site breaks up as the temperatures warm. The chick is now strong eno...

Green World

Search This Blog