Η Ομάδα Συμμετοχικής δράσης της Βουλής των Εφήβων συμμετέχει και στο πρόγραμμα EcoProject του eTwinning μαζί με σχολεία από πολλές ευρωπαϊκές χώρες (Πορτογαλία, Ισπανία, Ιταλία, Πολωνία, Ρουμανία, Σερβία, Κροατία, Δημοκρατία της Βόρειας Μακεδονίας και Τουρκία). Σκοπός του προγράμματος είναι η ευαισθητοποίηση των συμμετεχόντων, η διάχυση γνώσης και η ανταλλαγή σκέψεων, πρακτικών και στρατηγικών πάνω σε περιβαλλοντικά ζητήματα. Στο πλαίσιο αυτής της επικοινωνίας παρατίθενται κείμενα μαθητών της Ομάδας στα αγγλικά.

We have little time left to stop irreversible and disastrous changes to Earth’s climate systems. But there is always hope.

EVIDENCE THAT IRREVERSIBLE changes in Earth’s climate systems are underway means we are in a state of planetary emergency, leading climate scientists warn. A cascade of tipping points could amount to a global tipping point, where multiple earth systems march past the point of no return, they say.

The Earth’s climate and ecological systems are deeply intertwined. Powered by heat energy from the sun, the atmosphere, oceans, ice sheets, living organisms like forests, and the soils all affect, to a greater or lesser extent, the movement of that heat around the Earth’s surface. The interactions among the elements of our global climate system mean a substantial change in one will affect others. As that 200-year-old tree falls after the 21st blow, it can crash into other trees, knocking them over in a domino-like effect.

“It’s a nasty shock that tipping points we thought might happen well into the future are already underway,” says Lenton in an interview.

Such a collapse of Earth’s systems could lead to “hothouse earth” conditions with a global temperature rise of 9 degrees F (5 degrees C), sea levels rising 20 to 30 feet, the complete loss of the world’s coral reefs and the Amazon forest, and with large parts of the planet uninhabitable.

It’s already too late to prevent some tipping points from happening, says Richardson in an interview since there is evidence that have already been breached, she said. The risk of those cascading into an irreversible global tipping point with tremendous impacts on human civilization warrants a declaration of a planetary climate emergency.

“I don’t think people realize how little time we have left,” said Owen Gaffney, a global sustainability analyst at the Stockholm Resilience Center at Stockholm University.

Without emergency action our children are likely to inherit a dangerously destabilized planet,” he said in an interview.

And what about economy?

The risks posed by climate tipping points are not part of any economic analysis of climate policies, acknowledges Geoffrey Heal, an economist at the Columbia Business School in New York City. “If they were included it would make a huge difference…suggesting that we strengthen our climate policies massively”

“Passing tipping points…entails a huge risk to financial assets, economic stability and life as we know it today,” says Stephanie Pfeifer, CEO of the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC), an investor group that manages over $30 trillion in assets. It is significantly cheaper to prevent additional global warming than it is to face its impacts, Pfeifer says in an email.

The health of the ecosystems on which we and other species depend is deteriorating more rapidly than ever. We are eroding the very foundations of economies, livelihoods, food security, health and quality of life worldwide,” said Robert Watson, the chair of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. “We have lost time. We must act now.”

There is a bright side

Global decarbonization has accelerated since 2010 and may be on course to keep global warming to 2 degrees C. While overall carbon emissions have increased, the decarbonization has kept the increase low and is ready to push emissions into a decline. Large decarbonization gains from energy efficiency and modern renewable heat, along with solar and wind, are making it possible. There are also social tipping points, says Gaffney, including an economic tipping point where the price of renewable energy is dropping below fossil fuels in market after market. “The prices for renewables keep falling and performance is improving. This is an unbeatable combination.”

Over the last 12 months a broad societal awareness tipping point appears to have been reached—the Greta Thunberg effect—with millions of young student strikers and many others demanding urgent climate action, he says. At the same time, more and more finance companies, businesses, and cities are adopting tough climate targets.

Ten Simple Things You Can Do to Help Protect the Earth

• Reduce, reuse, and recycle. Cut down on what you throw away. Follow the three “R’s” to conserve natural resources and landfill space.
• Volunteer. Volunteer for cleanups in your community. You can get involved in protecting your watershed, too.
• Educate. When you further your own education, you can help others understand the importance and value of our natural resources.
• Conserve water. The less water you use, the less runoff and wastewater that eventually end up in the ocean.
• Choose sustainable. Learn how to make smart seafood choices at fishwatch.gov.
• Shop wisely. Buy less plastic and bring a reusable shopping bag.
• Use long-lasting light bulbs. Energy efficient light bulbs reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Also flip the light switch off when you leave the room!
• Plant a tree. Trees provide food and oxygen. They help save energy, clean the air, and help combat climate change.
• Don’t send chemicals into our waterways. Choose non-toxic chemicals in the home and office.
• Bike more. Drive less.

Matina Dimitraki – Β1