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We will need to adapt how we generate and consume energy, transport people, goods, and design buildings and food.
Photo: Pixabay/stuarthampton
It’s easy to feel pessimistic when scientists around the world are warning that climate change has advanced so far, it’s now inevitable that societies will either Transform yourself or become transformed. But as Two of the Authors of a recent International climate reportWe also see reason to be optimistic.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has released the latest reports. They discuss future changes, but also explain how existing solutions can be applied. reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help people adjust to impacts of climate change that can’t be avoided.
The problem is that these solutions aren’t being deployed fast enough. In addition to push-back from industries, people’s fear of change has helped maintain the status quo.
To slow climate changeAnd adapt to the damage already underway, the world will have to shift how it generates and uses energy, transports people and goods, designs buildings and grows food. It all starts with accepting innovation and changing.
Fear of change can lead you to a worsening of change
Social media and the industrial revolution have wrought fundamental changes in society’s understanding of their place in the world.
Some transformations are generally regarded as negative, including those related to climate change. For example, about half the world’s coral reef Ecosystems have died because of Oceans are becoming more acidic and hot.. . Losing land to rising seas.
Other transformations also had positive and negative outcomes. The industrial revolution vastly raised standards of living for many people, but it spawned inequality, social disruption and environmental destruction.
People resist transformation because they fear losing what is important to them. Wanting to retain things as they are – known as status quo bias – explains all sorts of individual decisions, from sticking with incumbent politicians to Not enrolling in retirement and health plans even when the alternatives may be rationally better.
This effect may be more apparent for larger changes. In the past, putting off inevitable change has led some transformations to be unnecessarily drastic, such as this. Collapse of some 13th century civilizations in what is now the U.S. Southwest. As more people Witness the impacts of climate change in actionThey might begin to see that change is inevitable, and may embrace new solutions.
Mixture of good and evil
The IPCC reports show that climate-related changes will continue to grow in the future. It is not clear what the mix will be of good and evil in these transformations.
If countries allow greenhouse gas emissions at a high level and communities only adapt slowly to the resulting climate changes, then the transformations will be largely forced. Most people find it very difficult to believe..
A riverside town might, for example, raise its levees to cope with rising flooding. As the flooding grows, such adaptations reach their limits. The cost of levees to keep water out may be too high or too intrusive, which could make it difficult for people to live near the river. The community could become suffocating.
Riverside communities could also consider a more proactive and anticipatory approach. It could shift to higher ground, transform its riverfront into parkland, provide affordable housing for those who are displaced, and work with upstream communities in order to expand floodwater-capturing landscapes.
The community can simultaneously shift to electrified transportation and renewable energy to slow down global warming.
Optimism resides in deliberate action
Numerous examples can be found in the IPCC reports that can be used to guide such positive transformation.
Renewable energy, for example, is now available. Generally, less expensive than fossil fuelsSo, a shift towards clean energy can often be a cost-saving move. Redesigning communities can help improve the resilience to natural hazards. Steps such as maintaining natural wildfire breaks and building homes to be less susceptible to burning.
Land use and the Design of infrastructure such as roads and bridges, can be based on forward-looking climate information. Pricing of insurance and corporate climate risk disclosures can help the public recognize hazards in the products they buyAnd companies they support as investors.
These changes cannot be achieved by one group alone. Everyone must participate, Governments that can Mandate and incentivize positive changesBusinesses that control decisions about greenhouse gas emission reductions, and citizens who can increase the pressure on both.
Transformation is inevitable
Efforts to both Adapt to and mitigate climate change have advanced substantially in the last five years, but not fast enough to prevent the transformations already underway.
Doing more to disrupt the status quo with proven solutions can help smooth these transformationsAnd create a better future in the process.
This article was written and edited by Pardee RAND Graduate School is a professor of Policy Analysis Carleton University associate professor of Climate Change, Technology and Policy. It is republished under Creative Commons license from The Conversation. Read the Original article.
