Climate Change - Adapt or die:
I am a sceptic; not of Climate Change, but of the methods being presented and the way it is handled. Carbon is not king, it is but a pawn in the machinations of politics and industry as they commercialise and privatise Climate Change just as any other commodity. Data from computer models is not certain enough and interpretations about future warming and damage can be very misleading with the media reporting the worst results.
We have to really start adapting our strategies toward Climate Change away from politics and industry or nothing will be done, due to the short-term interests of government and profiteering commercial interests. We vote for change and nothing happens, we consume out of loyalty and get nothing in return. It's time we re-negotiated our asymmetrical pact with these over-arching institutions and established micro-community projects.
Micro-community projects would involve independent areas or the community getting together and deciding what energy needs they desire and how to accomplish this. There are growing numbers of people going off-grid and producing their own power, sourcing their own water, and managing their own waste. However, this self-sufficiency and 'free' energy will surely not go unnoticed and could one day be subject to some kind of off-grid taxing. Authorities would soon find themselves out of work if people weren't subject to them, but some kind of post-deregulation of the energy industry will be needed to free the consumer from prohibitive bills and unreliable energy sources. The energy industry, even a green one, are there to make a profit and as long as Climate Change has been privatised and commercialised, there will be no forthcoming New Energy Age for the foreseeable future, so people will have to motivate and demonstrate their commitment in wanting change with or without the government's help or permission
All our eggs are in one basket in dealing with carbon alone in trading and taxes and not thinking about some kind of adaptation to climate change. The tipping point has probably already arrived as the Earth will continue to warm no matter what we do now. If we do not have a multi-pronged approach, our eggs will literally be scrambled. Adapting is not about giving in to sceptics or to inevitable climate changes. We have to be realistic. We have not learned from the past and seen how many ancient Empires have fallen because of environmental disasters, some caused by human hands. Why can we never learn from past events? Our modern civilisations have never learned from the past whether it is about over-logging/bush clearing/forest fires, flood plain building/coastal erosion/reef destruction allowing more hurricane damage, pollution, over-mining, etc. You name it, we have not learned, so relying on some new technology or tax to save us will not happen in time.
This is not just about energy and resource efficiency, but also about societal changes and the way our society is structured to deal with energy. The public needs a free reign in energy decisions. Environmentalists, protestors and the media have a lot to answer for in over-playing climate change as the ultimate disaster. It turns people off. It is far more appreciable if you do not bang people over the heads with constant dire messages, otherwise people will choose not to hear and care. Climate Change issues have to be re-booted as New Energy Age issues, to highlight green progress in technology and a more efficient society. Instead of setting targets for some far off Climate Change event, implementing a New Energy Age including solar, wind, tidal, hydrothermal programmes with cheaper, smarter recycling and manufacturing projects will naturally bring about a cooler, cleaner environment. Climate Change, like other issues in resources, health, protection, food, education, and production, is in the hands of the rich. Like life-saving drugs that rich corporations won't let poorer nations copy, Climate Change will become a fight between the rich and the poor, the haves and the have-nots, unless we adapt to a more sustainable mindset, energy base, and society.
Climate Change is unavoidable and will continue nonetheless even with lower carbon levels. Carbon will always be in the system. It just seems Mother Nature is winning out over Human Nature, but our second nature to defer to the powers-that-be even when they procrastinate has to stop. It is not just about physically adapting to Climate Change, but also adapting our projects, politics, economics, education, and society. Nothing so far has convinced me that we will come out of this unscathed. There are no contingency plans for failure. Our leaders will fail us, whether Kyoto
and its successors get ratified or not, because too much time and money has been wasted trying to satisfy industries at the expense of ordinary people. There is no future thinking on the failure of the Carbon economy, based as it is on an capitalist economy that has just gone bust worldwide. How can politicians not see that?
By 2050, we can expect another 2 billion souls on this world. Where are they in the plans for future climate change? Climate Change models do not account for people, only land and they are only as predictable as the data put in and cannot foresee the future with certainty. Working off models will give a false sense of security and when they go wrong will give sceptics a chance to trash the models leading to more uncertainty. There is a moral imperative here that politicians are failing to address; they have put their faith in industry and technology; a business as usual model, which will be unanswerable to their countries and people around them. Yes, economies have to grow, businesses have to be successful, and people have to work, but each of them can adapt in whatever way to Climate Change, or more people will die in vain.
We need to adapt and get away from twentieth century models of linking Climate Change to economics, politics and industry. It's about people. The Earth, its land and seas will survive, but it is the life on this world that is in danger. And the way we are still arguing over carbon trading and treaties and cost benefits and data models, we might as well be talking ourselves into extinction.