PLANET ON RED ALERT- HOW WE CAN SURVIVE!
It was wonderful to read the Editors view on “An Inconvenient Truth” a powerful documentary showing at the Lilac City Cinema in Goulburn. I echo the Editor sentiments that this is a must see documentary! Al Gore the former US presidential Candidate presents the cold hard scientific data on why our planet is on red alert heading for an ice age and facing extinction in less than 50 -100 years, that is if we do not act now individually and globally to save our planet. 2005 was the world’s and Australia’s warmest year on record.An article in The Australian Financial Review published in October 2006 stated that based on the impact of Al Gore’s documentary John Howard is taking notice of the 87% of Australians wanting Australia’s top foreign policy goal to be improving the environment and of the 68% which is seriously concerned about global warming as a pressing problem. The article refers to John Howard reportedly asked the Office of National Assessments (ONA) to prepare a detailed report on global warming and its security implications.
Whilst this is a commendable step my personal response after viewing the documentary is to act and to act now. I asked myself what could I do to help save the planet? I started researching the acts, projects, campaigns and petitions of other individuals, organisations,countries and political parties involved in reducing and reversing the effects of global warming to ascertain where and how I could add my voice and actions.
I was pleasantly surprised by the numerous positive steps taken by countries,cities, organisations and individual’s world wide. See the list of recommended actions to help reduce global warming at the end of this article if you want to add your voice and actions to the growing list of people and communities saving our planet. Without a doubt the task in front of all of us is daunting and no longer the responsibility of one party or a government. A global effort is needed in order to stop the escalation of rising sea levels, drought, floods, hurricanes, scorching heat waves, poverty, pollution, water shortages and population increase to name a few.
How are we as a nation preparing for this challenge I wondered? Australia it seems is on the brink of innovation or destruction while we debate the wisdom of using nuclear power to generate electricity and reduce global warming. Using electricity as our form of fight against global warming would only account for about one third of greenhouse gases and not the best solution it seems. For instance experts claim that building about 25 nuclear reactors by 2050 would cut our country’s carbon emissions by only eight to eighteen per cent, whilst investing into renewable energy could cut emissions by 30 per cent by 2020. The choice seems very clear - Uranium is risky, reactors are time consuming to build- taking 10 years on average, irresponsible, expensive and not a solution to global warming. Renewable energy is the only solution. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology through their studies estimates “we need at least 1000 reactors worldwide for nuclear power to have any effect on global warming”.
The World Energy Council estimates that wave power alone could produce two terawatts of energy each year, twice the world’s current electricity production. It further explains that “the renewable energy within the world’s oceans if harnessed could satisfy the present world demand for energy more than 5000 times over.” That is just what one renewable energy source could do. China invested $9.2 billion in 2005 in clean energy markets with 40 million household with solar collectors and a market for renewable energy estimated to be US$200billion in the next 15 years.Today’s renewables technology could generate almost six times the current global energy demand (Source: ISES). Action is needed fast as the Federal Government’s mandatory renewable energy target (MRET) expires in 2007. The Climate Institute claims the Australia is missing out on enormous clean energy opportunities as investors move to overseas clean energy markets, they estimate the growth of the international market in clean energy to be worth “$74 billion in 2005 and the market for just fou r technologies is projected to be worth $226 billion pa in less than a decade- while Australia’s industry continues to decline due to a lack of National Government support. Policy instability presents a major risk in Australia with “greater uncertainty here over the future climate policy and regulation than perhaps any other OECD country” according to The Climate Institute. The Institute further extrapolates that: “The lack of a nationally consistent regulatory framework to respond to climate change is driving various levels of governments to pursue different and changing policies.”
