Reports in the media have been saying that there’s been unprecedented warming of the oceans over the past year, which means Earth is on course for global warming by at least 2.5 degrees. It’s going to get rough for humanity. This year, 2024, could exceed the all important 1.5 degrees temperature rise, the point at which reversing the effects of global warming becomes extremely difficult, if it is indeed possible at all.
Where we can go from here to reduce the effects? History is history, which will not change and cannot be changed. In fact we cannot change the present moment either. We can only impact the future.
Global warming is what it says on the label. GLOBAL. That means the solution to the warming has to be worldwide in its impact. Governments have to work together on this. Attempts have been made over the years to reduce the emissions of various greenhouse gases, but at the end of the day it comes down to what individual countries are willing to promise and eventually deliver.
One emphasis has been on reducing fossil fuel burning, a manmade process used throughout the vast majority of the world. It is being replaced by natural energy generation such as hydro, wind, solar and geo-thermal power. Without these initiatives, we would be a warmer world today than we are. However, China, India, Nigeria, Laos, Pakistan and Russia continue to build coal-fired power generating plants. So, while some countries are reducing their global warming gas emissions, others are increasing theirs. See what I mean about a global solution being needed?
Another emphasis has been on reducing the power needed by various machines, which in turn means less energy is needed to be produced to get the same job done. We have seen energy saving light bulbs replaced the old-fashioned ones, vacuum cleaner suction power being limited in the newer machines, eco-cycling washing machines, to name but a few gadgets in the home. Similar things are happening in some of the workplaces around the world. Except we keep on coming up with new gadgets and workplace processes that in themselves demand energy be produced. There clearly needs to a strategy of what types of gadgets can be introduced into the market place – not an easy one to come up with because it’ll have be divided into categories of use. For this to work, it needs to be agreed globally.
There are other initiatives like carbon dioxide capture and storage, recycling to stop deforestation that absorbs carbon dioxide, finding ways to absorb methane from the air (the adding of copper to zeolite sounds promising)… the list goes on. It’s enough to make most people’s heads spin.
There are a lot of them trying to do their small bit to reduce their warming gas emissions with small actions, like ensuring recycling of various materials, so more will not have to manufactured. They wonder if they’re doing any good. As noted above, such actions reduce the amount emitted, but we’re fighting global warming enhancing initiatives such as building new coal-fired power plants elsewhere in the world. At some point people are going to get fed up of subsidising the global warming gases budgets of other people and other countries. To stop this happening a global agreement has to reached between all governments. Except it won’t be until it has become too late. That point is going to be reached very soon.
There is one alternative, one that has not been thought about partly because it seems unworkable. But let’s take a science fictional spin at it.
What if a country, the UK say, came up with a plan to clean its own air, water and ground and keep them clean? It would mean people living here would have the fresh air, cleaner water and not worry about the food grown here containing chemicals poisonous to the humans. If it could be done, other nations and people would look on the improved lifestyle and consequential increased life expectancy with envy. They would want to follow suit. Yes, there would be consequential issues of people wanting to come to this country, but there are ways and means of dealing with that. The point is that other nations would follow suit because their people would want the same lifestyle.
Can it be done? This is a far more difficult question to answer. It would effectively mean somehow placing an invisible barrier around the country’s borders that would sift out the global warming gases coming from outside. This is on top of ensuring that the correct balance of gases of the air are maintained inside the border.
Clearly setting up a physical wall that sieves out the gases is totally impractical. But we are already taking steps towards it with natural power generation and reducing the number of global warming gases gadgets. So what about making more steps? What about building ways to take out the global warming gases such as carbon dioxide and methane and only operating them when the winds are blowing into the country from the outside. That would need some kind of automatic control. Hm… there are a whole load of potential solutions here that start bubbling away in my mind. What about a methane measuring device that triggers the copper-included zeolite to absorb methane once it goes above a certain level in the air… to how about triggering carbon dioxide capture once that reaches a certain level in the air….
These will be localised equipment and processes dotted around the country. They have to placed in such a way to useful, without interfering with the benefits of the other ones. This requires modelling and various assessments – it means a country-wide planning authority for clean air needs to be in place.
These are the first steps in making a country better. I’m sure more will occur to the cognoscenti of global warming issues… but it is the kind of thing science fiction could be useful in giving useful pointers to…
Rosie Oliver 