Climate Change
The Atmosphere
The atmosphere of our planet is a very carefully balanced mixture of gases, the composition of which have a very real affect on the weather and average temperature of the planet. In the entire history of the Earth the surface temperature has varied, causing ice ages and deserts to move and spread and retreat again. Since the dawn of life our atmosphere has changed and developed into the state we know it to be in today. Throughout the 50,000 or so years since we humans migrated out of Africa up until the last couple of hundred years the atmosphere has only changed at its natural and gradual pace and has stayed relatively stable, with its gaseous composition remaining virtually the same for the entire period. That is not that unusual as even the 120,000 year time span since we were recognizable as the humans we are today is a very short time span in the life of a planet. The Earth is 4.5 billion years old. To think about that, if you took a plank of wood that stretches from here to the moon and painted the cross section at one end, Humans have only existed for as long as the paint that absorbs into the end of the plank, as a proportion of that plank! Not long at all really.
The Problem
In the last 200 years or so we as Human have drastically changed the balance of the atmosphere that normally changes over hundreds of thousands of years. There is now 150% more CO2 in the atmosphere than there was in 1800 (taken from the IPCC 2000 report), CO2 is a green house gas, that is a gas that goes into the upper atmosphere of our planet and traps heat in, just like a green house does. There are also many other gases that contribute to the green house effect. Below you can see how all of these have dramatically increased in the last 200 years as a direct result of human activity.
The green house effect creates increasing average temperatures as a direct result of the changing composition of the atmosphere. A different atmosphere holds in different levels of sunlight, and thus creates a different natural climate for our planet. The problem we have is that the world we know and have developed to live and survive and flourish in is one that stayed the same for all of our history as a species until now! With climate change it doesn't happen all immediately. So even though we started putting green house gases in the atmosphere 200 years ago, it takes time for the extra heat our planet can hold to build up, and as a result we are only just seeing the beginning of the global warming we have already lay in store, now. Over the last few decades the problem has really begun to come to light, and it is only going to get worse! Below you can see the dramatic change in temperature that has taken place already, and its only set to accelerate unless we do something about it, and fast! The bottom of the two shows the last 1000 years and the top one shows just the last 200 years.
What's The Answer?
It would be wrong of me to suggest there is one quick fix immediate answer. There isn't. But as a species we need to start acting, and the sooner the better. As individuals we need to start thinking about when we use our cars, how we can do more recycling, how we can make our homes more energy efficient and what kind of products we buy and use and the implications of them. We do not have to buy everything they tell us to on TV and we do not have to succumb to the advertising and mad consumerism that is pushed down our throats everywhere we look.
But on a higher level again, we can think about who we elect into power in main government and even in local government and councils. The Green Party are here to try and offer an alternative to the main traditional parties who are mainly concerned with profit and re-election! We have existed for over 30 years now and have built a political structure that if put in place would go a great deal further than any of the other parties to help stopping global warming. I urge everyone to think seriously about voting green in the next few years and decades. The young people now are the future of our planet and will be the one electing governments in the years to come. Having said that, there is nothing to stop older people also changing their vote to Green now and also helping the matter. Its no use saying that the green party are too small to make a real difference, because its that attitude that keeps us too small. Every person that changes their vote to green is helping persuade more people to do the same, and over the next few decades I believe we are all going to start wishing we had done so earlier.
And to all the politically minded people out there, the Green Party offers a great opportunity to make a real difference in the world. The Green Party is a political structure waiting to be filled, there are vacancies at all levels if you only went and found out about it. I am the Exeter Green Party Campaigns Manager and I was appointed after only attending 2 meetings! Find out about your local group and go along. Become a member. If you look at our calendar you will see the date of our next meeting and come along to that. Have an influence in how your area is run. The more people we get the more we can all do.