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Climate Brief: Let's make the effort to change as if our lives depended on it + calendar and poll [1]

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Date: 2022-07-01  

I just finished reading Being the Change by Peter Kalmus, a NASA engineer/ earth scientist, who studies global-warming. In this book, he shows how he changed his lifestyle to see whether he could do it, and to show others how it could be done. He gave up meat, driving his car locally (he now bikes long distances), and flying (he had to change his career to accomplish this). He addresses people’s indifference to making an effort to forestall global warming by stating,

Some people see no value in personal reductions. They haven’t cut their own emissions, and they justify their inaction by assuming individual-level reductions don’t make any difference. They assume that it requires too much sacrifice. None of this has been true in my experience.

Kalmus believes that “…humans aren’t the problem. A particular human culture is the problem.” And “I therefore suggest we mitigate as if our lives depend on it. I personally don’t think there’s anything more important for humanity to do at this time.”

He demonstrates how he acquires much of his food by gardening, beekeeping, planting an orchard and by dumpster diving. He composts waste including what he and his wife produce in their composting toilet.

Kalmus agrees that it’s difficult, but not impossible and encourages the reader to get on board now while we have a choice, as we’re all heading in the direction of being forced by global warming to give up fossil-fuel and change our lifestyles. He said,

But now the results are in. Humans: let’s stop burning fossil fuels. Let’s stop killing each other and our planet. Let’s stop merely talking about love; let’s start practicing it. We have nothing to lose but our misery,

which can easily be refunded if we do nothing. Kalmus encourages us to take action now. We already see evidence of the effects of climate change at the molecular level.

…, as CO2 concentrations increase, our food becomes less nutritious, as vitamin and protein contents decrease. This nutrition decrease affects the C3 photosynthetic plants—95% of the plant species on Earth. (The important agricultural exceptions are corn, millet, sorghum, and sugarcane; most other crops are affected.) And the effect is significant: for example, the protein content of goldenrod pollen has fallen by one-third since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.

I am nowhere near making the changes Kalmus advocates. Nevertheless, one by one, I’m ticking off the change that I can be by installing solar panels, cutting back on driving, eating vegetarian, gardening, planting fruit and nut trees, mowing less of the yard, using an electric-powered mower, composting, publishing these Climate Briefs and sending them to friends and family. With encouragement by Peter Kalmus’ Being the Change, I’m ready to do even more. I have nothing to lose and a lot, including my self-respect, to gain.

Here is your calendar for July. Let’s all make an effort to be the change that will reduce global warming and prove that we can be the change that will save our climate.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/7/1/2107227/-Climate-Brief-Let-s-make-the-effort-to-change-as-if-our-lives-depended-on-it-calendar-and-poll

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