Can Climate Change be Stopped?

This week the report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was published, warning about the irreversible consequences that climate change brings . Based on this, the whole world has set its sights on the possibilities that exist to curb those consequences that we can still avoid and that, according to the experts, must be addressed with the greatest possible urgency.

Also read: Infographic: Climate change is irreversible

Why should we focus on betting on the environment?

In the last 400 years the planet has increased its temperature due to a very clear responsible: the human being . The industrial revolution and, more specifically, the creation of the steam engine, was a step that radically defined the relationship between human beings and the ecosystems that we inhabit. It is enough to see the invasive spirit that already existed in humanity since its inception to realize that the industrial revolution was the piece that was missing in this puzzle to make it deadly for planet Earth.

And of course, we could say that if it weren't for that spirit and those inventions, we would not be where we are today at the level of technology. But that advance has had a clear cost: the biological resources that our planet has . These have been worn out abruptly and we have reached a point where most are threatened. We could run out of some as basic as clean water and air.

In that vein, our survival is at stake. Many climate change deniers argue that changing our economic system for a circular and sustainable one is costly and would imply a delay in production , in addition to the fact that it would be necessary to put aside certain types of materials such as plastic or certain types of products such as meats, at least massively. But it is only enough to realize that if we do not immediately change the way in which we industrially relate to the environment, we will not even have a place to continue consuming excessively.

The benefits of mitigating climate and environmental emergencies

It is not all bad news. Focusing individually on changing our consumption habits can create industrial pressure. Our duty as ordinary people is to make large industries understand that, if they do not change their production methods for a more sustainable one, their products will have no market value .

If this is achieved, companies and governments will be obliged to regularize the use and consumption of biological resources . Also, new jobs will be created. A One Earth report affirms that if the Sustainable Development Goals of the Paris Agreements can be put into action, the wind and solar energy industry could generate more than 8 million jobs by 2050 .

We are on red alert and we have no turning back for some effects of climate change. But if we open our eyes and demand greater attention from our governments on this issue as citizens, we can stop catastrophes, deaths and economic losses that will eventually have no turning back.