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As the century turns 21, I joined @nfergus @brianchristian @AHicksonLovence to offer some thoughts on #airpollution and #climatechange for @BBCRadio4’s Letters to 2021.
It’s time to get serious about the climate crisis – here’s why. THREAD.
Full talk: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000qy35
It’s time to get serious about the climate crisis – here’s why. THREAD.
Full talk: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000qy35
Twenty of the 21 warmest years ever recorded have all occurred since the year 2000 https://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/global-temperature/
This century, floods have affected more than one and a half billion people; wildfires have torn through dried-out forests, grasslands and peatlands, and crop failure has caused severe food insecurity. https://www.ipcc.ch/srccl/chapter/chapter-5/
Nature is suffering too. The oceans have absorbed a third of the carbon dioxide that we’re pumping into the atmosphere. That’s changing the chemistry of the oceans so they’re more acidic, which dissolves coral and makes it harder for fish to survive. https://www.ecowatch.com/oceans-absorb-co2-2631712140.html
The majority of people in countries surveyed by @pewresearch say that global climate change is a major threat to their nation. In fact, it’s seen as the top threat in half of the countries surveyed. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/04/18/a-look-at-how-people-around-the-world-view-climate-change/
It’s now – in this century and this decade – that we all need to get serious. To do that, we need leaders who’ll prioritise our planet in their decision making. But there are signs of hope.
Several major economies have adopted a #netzero target, including China, which represents more than a quarter of global emissions. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/oct/05/china-plan-net-zero-emissions-2060-clean-technology
Thirty four countries have so far signed up to phasing out coal – including countries like Israel, Ukraine and Germany that are still reliant on coal for almost third of their electricity generation. @PastCoal https://poweringpastcoal.org/members
As the century comes of age, the global pandemic threatens our health, our families and our economies. Climate change by contrast can seem to some more distant, less urgent, and less relatable. But that too is changing
On 15 Feb 2013, Ella Kissi-Debrah, a 9 year old girl from London, died from an asthma attack. Drs confirmed almost all of Ella’s severe asthma attacks coincided with local peaks in #airpollution, which will now be listed as a cause on her death certificate https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-55330945
Families like Ella’s are suffering in large numbers. The @WHO attributes 7 million deaths every year to air pollution. 7 million. That’s 15% of deaths, every year. https://www.who.int/airpollution/data/en/
The causes of air pollution are often the same as the causes of the climate emergency. Because the causes are largely the same, the solutions can also be the same: clean renewable energy, electric mobility, more walking and cycling. https://www.cleanairfund.org/publication/breathing-space/
We have everything we need to solve the challenge of the climate emergency. But we can’t wait until the end of the century. We can’t even wait until the end of the decade. We have to get serious. Now.
My letter to 2021: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000qy35
My letter to 2021: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000qy35
