From: mk_thisisit
Public Perception and Media Influence
Public discourse often frames concerns about climate change with skepticism, sometimes questioning the motives of those who raise the issue . The media is considered “terribly guilty” in shaping public perception, as its primary role is seen as making money rather than informing . This often leads to the spread of rumors and opinions over facts, and a focus on selling controversy to attract audiences . As a result, media, including social media, has largely ceased to be a reliable source of information about the world . This phenomenon significantly impacts how society understands and reacts to issues like climate change .
Current State of Climate Change
Professor Szymon Malinowski emphasizes that the climate crisis is worsening. A document titled “You Can Panic,” recorded in 2018, remains “much more relevant” today . The 2015 Paris Agreement goal of not exceeding a 1.5-degree Celsius temperature increase from pre-industrial times has already been reached in the short term, with the average global temperature for the last 12 months being 1.5 degrees higher . This milestone was initially projected for the end of the century .
Human Influence on Nature
The idea that human activity profoundly impacts the environment is often met with skepticism . However, it is argued that “practically everything around us is artificial, controlled by man” . This control extends to the entire landscape and surface of the Earth .
Current scientific understanding allows for the recreation of past temperatures and atmospheric conditions. For instance, atmospheric air samples from ice can reconstruct conditions from 800,000 years ago . Technologies like spectroscopy and mass spectroscopy enable the study of tiny amounts of chemical substances and atomic properties, such as the ratio of oxygen isotopes, to determine past temperatures and precipitation . Similarly, carbon isotopes help reconstruct the history of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, with reconstructions reaching back 65 million years .
These analyses indicate that the current concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere could lead to conditions similar to 47 million years ago, with sea levels seven meters higher and much smaller ice caps, if heating processes were not delayed .
Natural vs. Anthropogenic Factors
While climate has always changed due to natural factors such as orbital forcings, solar activity, and volcanic activity , current changes are primarily driven by human activity. The claim that volcanoes emit more CO2 than humans is described as “complete nonsense,” with industrial sites like Bełchatów emitting significantly more than active volcanoes like Etna .
Human activity impacts the climate in two main ways:
- Greenhouse Gas Emissions: These gases trap heat, leading to warming .
- Aerosol Emissions: Particles from burning processes, like sulfur from ship fuel, contribute to aerosols (e.g., PM 2.5, PM 10). These aerosols affect cloud structure and brightness, reflecting solar radiation and masking some of the warming effect of greenhouse gases . Regulations reducing sulfur in ship fuel, while positive for health, have led to less white clouds and a reflective surface, contributing to a temperature increase .
The planet’s temperature is regulated by two “valves”: how much solar radiation is reflected (inflow) and the greenhouse effect (outflow) . Currently, humans have increased the greenhouse effect (closing the output valve) while also, until recently, increasing aerosols (partially closing the input valve). Now, as pollution emissions are reduced, the input valve is opening, accelerating the warming effect from greenhouse gases .
Recycling and its Limitations
Recycling, as a method of waste management, is seen by some as a “limitation of our freedom” and does not bring significant quantitative or qualitative effects on the planet’s well-being . While it contributes to social awareness and the feeling that “we can do something,” this feeling can be illusory . Despite rapid growth in recirculation, it is at a “much slower rate than our production and environmental consumption” . The current approach is criticized for focusing on “small solutions at the output” rather than addressing the problem at the input .
“Consumption cannot exceed what the environment can renew itself and give us. This is a necessary condition.”
It is imperative for humanity to adapt to the physical and natural conditions of the planet, which means setting “absolutely impassable” boundaries for consumption . Exceeding these boundaries should incur significant penalties .
Hope for the Future
Despite the challenges, there are reasons for optimism:
- Public Awareness: Public opinion polls indicate that people increasingly understand that “something bad is happening to the world and that…we have an influence on it” .
- Social Change: Historical examples, such as the restriction of smoking in public places, demonstrate that significant shifts in social attitudes and behavior are possible, even when initially met with strong opposition .
- Local Initiatives: Changes in attitudes towards forests in Poland, driven by social activists, are leading to legislative efforts to stop damaging practices like wetland drainage and cutting down old trees .
- Species Recovery: The recovery of whale populations, once near extinction, serves as an example of successful renewal of parts of the planet .
While individual recycling efforts are important for shaping attitudes, their direct impact on the planet’s overall state is limited . The critical need is for decision-makers to understand the problem and for the public to be ready to support unpopular, short-term solutions that provide long-term stability and security .
The current era is often called the Anthropocene, recognizing the dominant influence of humanity on Earth’s geology and ecosystems . This also implies that humanity possesses not only freedom but also significant power over the natural world, including the composition of the atmosphere and oceans . The fundamental question is whether this power is being used wisely .
The world as we know it is constantly changing and ending, including the natural world and climate of previous decades . The goal now is to ensure the future remains “bearable” .