Coal has been experiencing a downward trend in recent years, which has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The lockdowns have caused a reduction in electricity demand and companies have spare energy to choose from. Of which, coal is normally the last picked because of its relatively expensive cost. See the full article here.
A new article shows the amount of impact different lifestyle changes can have on your carbon footprint. The author notes that the lifestyle changes that she has implemented have actually ‘enriched her life’, an important note because sometimes climate friendly lifestyle changes can be misconstrued as arduous. See the article here.
Some say that the 1.6% of total global emissions that Canada is responsible for is minuscule and that “we’re not the problem”. However, Canada is still ranked as the tenth largest emitter in the world and among the highest emitters per capita- more than China and India. The top 5 emitting countries only account for 56.6% of emissions. A global problem cannot be solved by 5 countries alone. See the full story here.
Humans are heavily influenced by the actions of their peers. Therefore, not shying away from having climate change conversations with your family and friends is very important in shifting thinking towards climate change as a society. This handbook goes over things to keep in mind while having these conversations.
The 1987 Montreal Protocol, an international agreement that successfully stopped chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) from destroying the ozone layer, has now been found to successfully slow the rate of climate change as well. This shows that international agreements can be successful in limiting greenhouse gas emissions. See story here.
In our last post, the term ‘Emissions Gap’ was introduced. For more background information on this term, click here.
Recently, The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) released its annual Emissions Gap Report. It’s stated that Earth is set to warm 3.2 C by 2100 unless efforts to cut emissions are tripled. Find the story here to see how G20 countries currently plan to reduce emissions (that must be tripled) vs. current levels, in other words, the Emissions Gap.
Hello! And welcome to the new Awareness of Climate Change through education and research (ACER) website. We will be using this site to showcase the work we do at Vancouver Island University (VIU) and bring exposure to some of the current news surrounding conservation and climate change.
To begin things, here’s an article on rising temperatures in Australia.
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