I want to start this offering with a correction. In my last column ('Our last chance to halt greenhouse gas emissions', Community Care Magazine, 28th May 09) I stated that CFC gases were 'nothing to do with... greenhouse gas emissions'. Well that is incorrect. Chlorofluorocarbons, once used as propellants in aerosol cans and still in many fridges and freezers, ARE greenhouse gases. They aren't as powerful as some, and their contribution to climate change is not nearly as much as the fossil CO2 were pumping out or the methane from cows and rice paddies, but they do add to the anthropogenic warming. I think it is important to get the science straight!
I found this out because I attended a workshop at the Transition Network Conference about how certain chemical/physical feedback mechanisms are accelerating climate change. These so-called 'positive' feedbacks (actually not very positive, and better known as accelerating feedbacks) include some which are quite easy to understand, for example: we all know that dark colours absorb more heat than lighter ones, so imagine the north pole of a planet covered in snow and ice. That reflects sunlight and heat and the area remains cold. Now warm it up a bit and melt some of the snow and ice, revealing dark rocks and dark sea water. This allows more heat to be absorbed, so the area warms up some more, and more ice melts. This is one simple accelerating feedback, and Earth has several, amplified by our CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions. Anyone interested in learning more about this could check out this 27 page pdf or other bits of the Apollo-Gaia website, such as the video resources. The main thing we must take from this is that we have no time to lose if we're to stop ourselves making ourselves, and most of the other species on Earth, extinct. We are on our way to making this planet uninhabitable.
I attended another Film Premiere last night, that of a very educational documentary called The End Of The Line which is about the situation facing our fisheries, and overfishing. This is a powerful film which anybody who eats seafood needs to see. I thought that by not eating seafood (I've been vegetarian for 25 years) I was doing enough to reduce my impact on the World's oceans, but I could be doing more. I firmly believe that we in the developed countries, with access to lots of fruit, vegetables, grains, seeds and beans, do not need to eat any animals, but I understand that the majority of people like eating fish, and for between 1 and 2 billion people, fish is a key part of their diet. So, if you want to be able to continue eating fish (and this film shows that there won't be any left by about 2048, as we will have eaten them all) you can do your bit by asking your supplier about where the fish came from, how they were caught and are they from sustainable sources? There is a great website called fishonline which has a list of fish which are not endangered (fish to eat) and those to avoid.
And don't think that eating farmed fish is the answer either, as one kilo of farmed salmon uses 5kg of anchovies as food. Far better to use the anchovies direct, if you eat fish at all, that is! Some fish farmers are exploring using vegetable protein to feed their fish, and this means soya beans, often planted where rainforest used to be. So your farmed fish might be responsible for destroying the oceans or the rianforests... which do you prefer? You might now understand why I don't eat fish!
The film is now on release and will probably be on our small screens soon. Well worth watching as it has lots of information which should help us to preserve fish stocks for future generations.
Those who have seen this film, or are trying to move towards a more ethical way of living will be considering their diet, as it makes up such a lot of their overall impact.
A vegetarian diet, which includes plants and some animal products like dairy, eggs and honey, is a lot lower carbon than one with meat. If you want tips on how to be vegetarian, you could start with the Vegetarian Society. They have lots of recipes and information.
More ethical still, with no animal use/abuse, and the lowest carbon footprint, is veganism. This diet just uses plant-based food, and vegans might also not wear leather. Advice and information from The Vegan Society.
If you don't want to commit to going vegetarian or vegan for 7 days a week, you could follow the example set in Ghent, Belgium, which has now set an example and is vegetarian for one day a week. See the BBC report, and the Guardian report.
I am approaching my last column and blog entry with Community Care, so if there is a subject you'd like me to cover in the next couple of weeks, please drop me a comment and I'll try to include it before I say goodbye.