Keeping global warming below 1.5 degrees…we can do it if we really want.
How do we know?
Because we did it before.
We did it with CFCs…
Who remembers Chlorofluorocarbons?
Chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs (much quicker to type, but not as fun to say), might not mean anything to anyone who wasn’t around in the 80s, and isn’t that just the best?! The fact that most people under 30 don’t know what CFC even stands for should give us so much hope! We can fix the climate crisis, we can keep global warming below 1.5 degrees because we have fixed this kind of disaster before. ALL of us. The whole world.
- 1930s: CFCs are invented and used for…correct 1980s child, for cooling systems in fridges, freezers, etc.
- 1970s: There is a hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica.
- 1985: We discover the hole in the ozone layer and we panic!
- 1987: 16th September, the Montreal Protocol is agreed to protect the ozone layer. That’s just 2 years after we discovered it, a worldwide agreement!
- 1989: 1st January the Montreal Protocol comes into effect.
- Today: the hole in the ozone layer is repairing. We succeeded. There is hope.
So what did we learn?
- We are capable of acting globally.
- We are capable of acting fast.
- We can save our planet. We can limit global warming to less than 1.5 degrees, we can stop biodiversity loss, and we can do everything we need to do. Thank goodness!
So let’s crack on with it.
Do what you can on the ground – reduce your personal contribution to climate change. Check out our other blogs for how to do this, sign up for our newsletter or one of our online courses.
And be loud. Demand change now. Contact your local and national Governments, and make it very clear that you want serious action now! Before it’s too late. This is the decade of choice. Let’s choose change.
Good luck eco-heroes, and remember, we are always here, how can we help?
(Photo Credit Renee Willmott, Levede Photography)