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by Egor Fiodarau
We live in turbulent times; the rushes, the tempo, the rhythm; the grand pivot of the 21st century. While chasing our dreams and goals, we set up new aims for us to hit. In this head-spinning sprint to the profits, we often forget the most important factor: our habitat. The Earth. It raised humanity, mankind. It is the only mother of ours. She nurtured us and gave us all the means to become a civilization in the first place. Unfortunately, as she gets sicker and sicker, she stays quiet, while the storms of nature wipe her children from existence. As the Earth dies, the mother will bring her children with her. She will not judge us for killing her. She just would get slightly disappointed that whole this time we were killing ourselves.
Global warming is a rampant problem in this century. It is depressingly bad and here is why. Global warming occurs as more and more carbon dioxide, pollutants, and other gases enter the Earth’s atmosphere. They absorb sunlight and radiation emitted from the Sun instead of letting the atmosphere disperse it. Therefore, as it absorbs more and more “power,” it traps the heat which causes the planet to get hotter. It is known as a greenhouse effect. Do not underestimate it. Throughout history, there has been a balance between CO2 production and its absorption. Unfortunately, as mankind progresses and utilizes its time of being here on this planet to maximize pleasures and profit it created an uneven playing ground for this balance.
The battle is going strong and we as humanity are trying to do our best to eliminate global warming. Do we, though? According to several sources including Forbes and Bloomberg, such companies as Panasonic Corp., Rohm Co., Bloom Energy Corp., Neste Corp., and 29 more, might very well make huge profits from the upcoming apocalypse. While activists and NGOs fight for the cause, there are a bunch of players on the board who think that it is not that bad. Yet, it is terrifically bad. A simple tragedy of the commons is leading us to doomsday. Moreover, you can’t accuse someone of doing something, if he/she does nothing, right?
Let’s elaborate on the cost that is in the header of this article. Maybe, you are a big business boy whose only interest is in numbers and you do not really care about the gist of it. Therefore, let’s dive in and see a breakdown presented by Morgan Stanley:
- Renewable power generation will require $14 trillion by 2050, including investments in energy storage.
- With passenger cars currently pumping out about 7 % of greenhouse gas emissions, some $11 trillion will be needed to build factories, expand power capacity and develop the batteries and infrastructure needed to switch to electric vehicles.
- Almost $2.5 trillion would be needed for technologies that capture carbon and store it.
- About $5.4 trillion is needed for electrolyzers to make the gas, which can help provide clean fuel for power generation, industrial processes, vehicles, and heating. Besides, $14 trillion would be required to increase renewable energy capacity to power plants, transportation, and storage.
- Almost $2.7 trillion should go into biofuels like ethanol, which are currently mixed with petroleum products but will spread eventually to areas such as aviation.
And it seems like it is only the tip of the iceberg. Sadly, unlike actual icebergs, this one won’t melt that easily. It is discussed by the experts that it can get exponentially worse with every upcoming year. Therefore, organizations like NRDC and UNEP are trying their hardest to prevent tragedy. Yet, it will not be enough, especially with corporations doing the Devil’s work. I wish there would be a way to help fight global warming right now…
Truly speaking, there is one! As of now, there is a campaign running by Mr. Beast‘s #TeamTrees in association with Arbor Day Foundation and U.S. Forest Service. Its goal is to raise global warming awareness and to actually stand up and do something about us killing the planet. According to the study published by #TeamTrees, there indeed are natural climate solutions as long as we take action. Therefore, they are gathering a whopping $20 million to plant 20 million trees by 2022.
All in all, climate change is terrifying, abysmal, alarming, grim, and… unstoppable? We will not make our mother Earth cry. We will save it. We will save ourselves.
If you enjoyed this article and willing to do your part in saving the planet, you can donate here.
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