House Finch
By Rick LoBello, Board Member
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A couple of years ago I drove out to Tom May’s Park in the Franklin Mountains and took some pictures of a common little bird living here in the Chihuahuan Desert called the House Finch. I have always loved watching little birds because of how they seem to live peacefully in a world so different from ours flying from one branch to the next looking for seeds. When I need to get away from it all and unwind birdwatching is very relaxing even when I am in the freezing cold watching Snow Geese at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge.
Climate Crisis Frustration
When I read all the frightening news about the climate crisis like so many I get very frustrated. I don’t worry about my children’s future because I don’t have any, but I wonder how many parents with children feel knowing more and more each day about the threat of climate change. Part of me feels a little guilty that as a young conservation educator I was not more involved when the threat of climate change first started to become a topic of concern. I guess I was like everyone else, I knew about climate change, but never imagined things would get so bad in my lifetime. But that was then and this is today and I have some good news and bad news.
The good news is how the world is making progress. In 2014, right before the Paris Climate Agreement the world was heading towards a 4 degree Celsius (7.2 degrees Fahrenheit) temperature increase by 2100. Today, thanks to the growth of clean energy, we are now heading towards a 3 degree C. increase. The bad news is how even though we are making progress in lowering our global carbon footprint, the progress we are seeing is not enough. As a result, even though I think of myself as an eternal optimist, I am starting to think that the way our world is going we don’t have much of a chance to make the drastic changes needed to lower our gas emissions so that we can hold the global temperature rise to a much safer limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius. I hope I am wrong.
A while ago I read Bill Gate’s new book How to Avoid A Climate Disaster. In his book he talks about how we should be investing in research to develop new technologies to lower our carbon output and reach net zero, but he says very little about some of the big changes that we need to make as a society if we are going to survive this threat to our future.
What changes can we make and how can we make them? Do we think that the changes will come naturally over time as the economy is impacted or do we need strong government regulation? What are we willing to do or are we just hoping that someone besides else will solve the problem.
For many of us it is possible that we will not have to live through the worst of what the future may bring. But what about the children?
How can you take action?
- Meatless Mondays- Livestock are responsible for nearly 15% of global greenhouse emissions. Cows’ digestive systems produce methane which is a greenhouse gas.
- Reduce your carbon footprint- Minimizing the amount of energy and fuel that you use on a daily basis will reduce the amount of harmful gases you emit. You can calculate this by visiting the Conservation International Carbon Footprint Calculator.
- Subscribe to the Zoo’s Climate Crisis blog.
- Reduce, reuse, recycle – Greenhouse gas emissions are produced in every step of a products life cycle which includes manufacturing to disposal. If you purchase less and throw away less, greenhouse gases are reduced.
- Plant trees- Trees absorb carbon dioxide and other pollutants through their process of photosynthesis.
- Use less plastic- Plastic releases methane and ethylene which are two greenhouse gases. Less plastic waste means less greenhouse gases. This can easily be done by using reusable shopping bags, water bottles and say “no” to plastic straws.
- Use less water- Cleaning and treating our water supplies uses lots of energy. Simple steps to take are turning off the water when brushing your teeth and taking shorter showers.
- Community cooperation and outreach- Talk about climate change with your friends and family and contact your elected representatives to find out what they are doing to help address this threat to our planet. We need environmental regulations that will have a measurable impact in lowering our community-wide carbon footprint. The benefits to be gained are vast. Carbon-free energy can be attained with solar panels, fuel-efficient fleets and electric vehicles that lower overhead costs. As a community working together we can make a significant impact in creating a sustainable future.
Photos by Rick LoBello