What is our influence on the climate and ecology, and how much can you and I do about it?

Often I hear: "one person doesn't make the difference anyway". Yet, a lot has changed in one lifetime. An ecological imbalance has arisen because the world population has more than tripled in the past 70 years from 2.5-billion to 7.8-billion.[1] While, during the same period, the amount of wildlife declined by more than 60%.[2]

The rate at which the amount of CO₂ increases, is higher than ever. The increase in CO₂ concentration in the atmosphere, per year, has increased by 471% from 1959 to 2016. [3] Over the past 70 years, one lifetime, the world annual CO₂ emissions increased a six-fold. From 6-billion tonnes, in 1950, to 36-billion tonnes, in 2020.[4] In 2017, we Dutchies emit per capita more than twice as much CO₂, 9,66 tonnes, than the world average, 4,73 tonnes.[5] This results, among other things, in a decrease of 12.85% in the volume of the polar caps per decade. Scientists project that if emissions continue to rise unchecked, the Arctic could be ice free in the summer as soon as the year 2040 as ocean and air temperatures continue to rise rapidly. Right now, the Greenland ice sheet is disappearing four times faster than in 2003 and already contributes 20% of current sea level rise.[6] In addition, the coral surface area of ​​The Great Barrier Reef decreased by 50.7% between 1985 and 2012.[7] Global temperatures have already risen by about 1 degree Celsius since pre-industrial times. Coral reefs are projected to decline by a further 70–90% at 1.5° Celsius, with larger losses (>99%) at 2° Celsius.[8]

The difference has been made over the past lifetime. We can make the same difference during our life. Let's act and think about solutions together!