Good news but...
At the United
Nations climate conference (COP 21) in
Paris on 12 December 2015, the world's
nations made history. At long last, they
had reached a fair deal
to limit climate change. Things were
looking good, at last. But
in June 2017, the USA — the world's second
biggest polluter
— vowed to pull
out of the deal now agreed between
every single one of the world's other 197
countries. Other world leaders were horrified
but now, led by China and the European
Union, they seem more than ever determined
to stick to the 2015 deal. It looks like
the USA, under President Donald Trump's
leadership, will lurch backwards by supporting
polluting fossil fuels for short-term gain.
Sadly, this not only makes the future look
more difficult for today's
kids. It also means
that the USA will likely lose its lead
in
renewable energy technologies. These
are the future.
The USA spews out about 18 per cent of the world's carbon pollution,
second only to China, which emits about 20 per cent, but is home to around three times as many people.
These
are ways of making, mostly, electric
energy using the sun's power directly
(as in solar panels, also called
PV or photovoltaic panels) or indirectly
using wind power. There are other
methods for making and storing energy
too and they are all renewable – which
means they can be used for ever without
the global warming-causing pollution
you get from fossil fuels. What are
fossil fuels? These are coal, oil
and natural gas, all of which will
run out... but not before the pollution
they create fries the planet if humans
are stupid enough to continue using
them!
Today's
kids — you! – will be tomorrow's
adults. It is you who will have to
sort out the terrible mess left to
you by your parents' and grandparents'
generations.
|