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Questions/Réponses
- Is it serious?
- Is it irreversible?
- Can we contain warming?
- Is fighting against global warming compatible with the economy?
Is it serious?
The planet itself is not in danger: since its creation, more than four and a half billion years ago, it has been through numerous evolutions and geological, atmospheric and powerful climatic changes. The Earth will survive global warming and it will continue to turn around the sun until the sun dies a natural death in the distant future.
However, numerous plant and animal species will suffer the consequences of global warming. Some will disappear: such as the polar bear, whose biotope is literally melting. Others will move, adapt more or less happily, and will see their living conditions transform significantly or radically.
Amongst all these species, human beings play a special role: we depend closely on the nature that surrounds us. The disappearance of certain plants and animals, as well as the drastic modification in living conditions, is threatening human life.
Furthermore, political, social and economic consequences will result from this phenomenon: there is a risk of wars being declared, the struggle for the control of water could become crucial, and the displacing of climatic refugees could lead to numerous serious imbalances.
Health risks will also become noticeable: former diseases may return, and new ones may appear. It is currently difficult to define the forms that these pathologies will take and the extent of future potential epidemics. Human beings are the instigators of global warming and will significantly suffer from the consequences if they do not take measures to contain it.
Luckily, human beings have the ability to modify and significantly reduce the extent of global warming. If they do not, the price will be exorbitant, and the human race will risk a premature end.
The price to be paid to contain and stabilise global warming today is infinitely less than that required to deal with future problems if we do not take action.
TopIs it irreversible?
Warming has begun and it affects such enormous masses that its force of inertia renders it unavoidable. Nothing can stop it from happening: in order to avoid it, we would have had to modify our domestic and industrial behaviour half way through the 19th century.
Furthermore, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) confirms that the phenomenon will lead to temperature increases between 1.8°C and 3.4°C in the next 50 years.
However, there is still time to prevent it worsening and to contain it.
We all have to act now!
Can we contain warming?
Measures must be taken both on a collective and individual level. On a collective level, a certain number of governments met in Kyoto to define restrictive standards in terms of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
It is an important step but it must be accompanied by additional individual and collective steps. Numerous citizens are conscious of the danger and believe that they must act. However, they do not make any modifications as regards transport habits, insulating their houses, or in their consumption of everyday goods because they believe their contribution would be insignificant in relation to the CO2 emissions produced by the major industries.
However, this is not true. Every citizen on the planet has the means to contribute individually to this gigantic collective construction site.
Every contribution is important, and no one can say that their contribution is insignificant. It is the sum of individual and collective efforts that will allow us to limit and contain the effects of global warming in acceptable proportions.
TopIs fighting against global warming compatible with the economy?
It is said that respecting the environment is expensive and that this concern can only be met if the other needs are satisfied. We need to look at things from a broader angle: if we resolutely commit ourselves to alternative types of energy, different means of transport, and housing that respects the environment, we will see new technologies and new sectors of activity developing that generate new jobs and growth.
Furthermore, savings in energy mean less waste in terms of resources and money. The fight against global warming is therefore not the enemy of the economy, but its partner.
We must add to this reasoning the fact that, quite simply, if we do not act today to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, our planet and the human race will suffer such severe damage that the price will be exorbitant: we will have to erect sea walls, fight epidemics, provide for populations affected by famine and drought.
By moving towards a “carbon neutral” lifestyle today, we are preserving the heritage of our children.
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