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but whose problem? OUR PLANET
in our atmosphere; nowadays, estimates lie at over 400. As a result of this, the coal industry has been at the top of many environmental hit lists since before my generation was even toddling around. In Kentucky, Congressman Garland Barr has been robustly defending his coal communities from the threat of extinction and understandably so. The coal industry has historically been a key source of employment for the state, and people are anxious that a bastion of the 20th century might fall to the axe of an issue that barely affects their landlocked state. We can understand why communities like these are resistant to climate change issues, just as less economically developed nations such as Honduras and Nigeria, with some of the highest rates of deforestation in the world, have qualms about their logging industries being lost because of climate change activists. The truth is, many countries depend on industries that are deemed unsustainable in the light of increasing temperatures and CO2 emissions worldwide – just as we did when we were at their stage of development. So, what are we going to do about it? Can we give up, and skip to the sports section yet? No. We need to look back at the situation in Kentucky. Barr argues that communities will be hit hard by any changes made in order to meet emissions targets, but this could all supposedly be solved by the so-called Green New Deal. In its simplest form, the Green New Deal focuses on investment in deindustrialised areas like Kentucky, and more specifically in forms of industry that will not damage the environment. While it remains to be seen whether the Deal will make it past a president who has a tendency to shred every environmental regulation he gets his tiny hands on, I, for one, am very hopeful indeed. Arguably, the change the world needs is exactly this: a shift to favour industry that is not damaging to our environment. Sure, it will be difficult, but I would say it is worth it. Need I remind you of the facts? According to the November 2018 Fourth National Climate Assessment report, global warming beyond 2C of pre-industrialised levels will cause the following: more than $500,000,000,000 in economic output to be lost by 2100 in the United States alone; a loss of more than 99% of the world’s coral reefs; and a risk of damage to $1,000,000,000,000 of public infrastructure and coastal real estate in the United States. We cannot ignore this any longer. Sooner or later, this will be an issue that affects us all. What we need is legislation – like the Green New Deal – that stands as a firm commitment to sustainability. For this, we need to show our support: the sooner we make climate change a key issue for the world, the sooner we save our planet. We need to come together not only as a College, not only as a region, not even just as a country, but as a planet in order to solve this problem. The onus seems to be on my generation, the mop-up generation, if you will. But we’re ready to take on the challenge. Are you willing to help us preserve what really matters? Or are you going to tell your grandchildren you simply did not have the time to care?
Let me paint you a picture, a self-portrait to be exact: my lovely self, curled up on the sofa watching a new David Attenborough documentary. Calm and cosy. ‘In the space of one human lifetime, we’ve lost 60% of our wildlife.’ That cannot be right, can it? I pause and rewind it: 60%. Suddenly the April heat glows a little too harshly; I am reminded of the nervous sweats of the hottest February on record. I must say, I feel a little as if David is attacking me personally for this. Surely this isn’t my fault, right? I’m something of an established climate change activist myself – I went on a march a couple of weeks ago. Sure, I’m no Greta Thunberg, but I try my best, don’t I? What is my best, you ask? Well, although I haven’t shut down Waterloo Bridge or refused to attend school on Fridays on ethical grounds or even taken the effort to find out which plastics I can recycle, at least I am not like some people. I do not deny our planet is in danger and I do not blame it on other people. But I do not do much about it either. Oh. If, like me, you have come to this guilty little realisation and then tucked it away somewhere for a rainy day, you will probably agree that something must be done about climate change, but just not by you, and not affecting anything near you or denying you anything you want. Catchy manifesto, I must say. Now listen, unless sarcasm is a kettle of sustainably-sourced fish you do not fancy taking a look inside of, I think we both understand that this is not a way we can go on. Given that you are reading this, I can say with relative confidence that you are rich enough to make adjustments to stop the irresponsible and soon-to-be eradicable changes occurring as a result of human activity and its waste products. So why don’t you, and why don’t I? Speaking of waste products , we need to address the garbage used by many to deny climate change, be it the arguments of the swivel-eyed loons advocating ‘clean, clean coal’, or the rhetoric of people like ourselves, who awkwardly dance around the issue: our society is the sand, and we are the ostriches. The only thing I can say to all this, is simply that we cannot deny it. I appreciate that truth is such a 20th century thing, but I am a firm believer in its ripeness for coming back into fashion. Are we going to have the audacity to tell world experts they are wrong simply because we do not like to hear that we are on course to hit that 1.5C in a matter of decades? Are we going to jam our fingers in our ears and ignore how people across the developing world are suffering devastating floods, droughts and famines because we cannot be bothered to act? As Sunita Narain, Director General of the Centre for Science and Environment in India says ‘join the dots – it’s happening in your world, it’s happening in my world’. Charged rhetoric is not enough. For many people, a shift away from the fossil fuels, deforestation and overly intense agricultural practices that contribute so greatly to climate change is difficult, potentially disrupting their entire livelihoods and communities. Let’s look at the coal industry in the US state of Kentucky, an area arguably emblematic of the struggles a proposed shift to save our planet could cause. Before we began to use coal on an industrial level, there were 280 ppm of CO2
In the last few editions of the
Yearbook, we have taken articles from The Alleynian, the annual magazine recording the activities of the school year at Dulwich College and beyond. Issue 707 looks back on the extraordinary events of our quatercentenary year, as well as looking forward to the future for all those in our global community. Leading the team this year, Jack Probert (Year 13) views the student editor role as an opportunity to address what he says is ‘the issue none of us can afford to ignore’ - the climate change emergency. His article calls not
for words, but for action, following the lead of Greta Thunberg.
AFTER ALL, THERE IS NO PLANET B.
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