In partnership with Climate Change Newmarket-Aurora, NewmarketToday brings you a regular series of columns aimed at creating awareness and engaging our community to take action on climate change.
To paraphrase a song by the '80s band The Monks, “Canada is burning and I don’t know what to do about it.” This summer, Canada had massive forest fires burning in practically every province, and although we in Newmarket were not directly affected by the fires, we were seriously impacted by the smoke. The question we all have been asking is if this the next step in global warming and are we in a climate crisis? And if so, what can I do about it?
The answer to the first two questions is easy. Yes and yes. The answer to the third question is a little more complex. Organizations such as Climate Action Newmarket-Aurora exist to provide information about what we can do to avert disaster and keep the global average temperature from exceeding an increase of 1.5 C.
As we are witnessing, there are already impacts at the current increase of 1.1 C and we must look at this as a crisis so we can marshal the resources and political will to prevent any increase and hopefully lower the temperature. The primary cause of global warming is rising carbon and methane emissions. To fix it we need to reduce if not eliminate carbon and methane emissions.
There are three types of thought when it comes to the climate crisis. Those of us who are very aware and are actively trying to address the issue of reducing carbon/methane emissions. Those who are aware of global warming but are not quite sure what it means for the planet and how to fix it. And then the small few who don’t believe in global warming despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
Although Climate Action Newmarket-Aurora hopes to convince the non-believers, we would like to focus on the middle group by talking about how global warming is impacting the planet and what we can collectively do to reduce our carbon footprint.
The first question usually asked is why does Canada have to do anything when their contribution to global carbon emissions is only 1.5 per cent of the total. First, any reduction of carbon emissions is good for the planet. Second, although the big three, China (26 per cent), U.S. (12.5 per cent) and India (7.1 per cent) contribute 45 per cent, which leaves a lot of countries like Canada in the one to three per cent range and if these countries all chose to do nothing, we would not be addressing more than 50 per cent of the problem.
Canada is the ninth largest emitter and the 10th largest economy, so we have a big stake in the solution. Third, in terms of per capita emissions, Canada is near the top, which means individually our carbon footprint is bigger than practically every other person on the planet. So yes, we have an obligation to reduce our carbon emissions. So how do we do this?
It may seem overwhelming trying to determine where to start and what to do. A good way is to look at the breakdown of where carbon emissions come from (industry, transportation, buildings, agriculture) and start determining what strategies federal, provincial, municipal authorities need to employ for each of these sectors, as well as determining what you can do as individuals.
Joining a group such as Climate Action Newmarket-Aurora is a good way to start. Cleanairalliance.org provides an excellent introduction to the provincial perspective. Jump in and start learning. The sooner you do, the sooner we can impact future generations.
Inspired by the international organization Project Drawdown, Climate Action Newmarket-Aurora seeks to engage citizens, institutions, and policymakers in actionable and measurable solutions to stop catastrophic climate change as quickly, safely and equitably as possible. You can contact them at [email protected], and follow them on Facebook and Instagram.
