Six Feet Under – And Climbing!

Have Your Snorkels Ready . . 

Because Six Feet is what scientists reported last week as the projected sea level rise in the next 85 years, if we don’t stall the current levels of runaway climate change. Under this scenario, “the 22nd century would be the century of hell,” according to Ben Strauss, director of the program on sea level rise at Climate Central, an independent organization of scientists based in New Jersey.

https://youtu.be/G4cmMCAzs80

Scare mongering?

If only . . Let’s get real. As Eric Rignot, an expert on Antarctica’s ice sheet and an earth sciences professor at the University of California, Irvine, puts it:

People should not look at this as a futuristic scenario of things that may or may not happen. They should look at it as the tragic story we are following right now . . .  We are not there yet . . . [But] with the current rate of emissions, we are heading that way.

On April 22, world leaders convened at the UN in New York to sign the Paris Climate Agreement. Experts worldwide ardently agree that this is a step in the right direction  – but that more stringent measures are needed.

Some particularly vulnerable countries, sensing the urgency, have already taken action, including Fiji, Palau, and the Marshall Islands. The world’s two largest emitters, the US and China, have agreed to sign the agreement in New York.

Thanks lads, and a big “phew!” on that one . .

But we need every country to sign, ratify and put the Agreement into action  . .

So get on board and Urge world leaders to sign the Paris Agreement and commit to further action.

On April 18, just a few days before the UN ceremony, Green Faith (interfaith partners for the environment) handed over a historic climate statement signed by over 100 high-level faith leaders from around the world to the President of the UN General Assembly. The statement calls on countries to sign & ratify the Paris Agreement, and to commit to further action. What amazing religiously diverse faith in action!

Thousands of others have added their names, representing congregations and people of diverse faiths from across the globe. People who care just like you and me.

CLICK HERE TO JOIN FAITH LEADERS AND SIGN THE STATEMENT

And just so you know what you’r signing. Here are the six key points within the Interfaith Climate Change Statement:

1. Urge governments to rapidly sign, ratify and implement the Paris Agreement, and to increase pledges to reduce emissions in line with keeping the global temperature rise to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels;
2. Insist on rapid emissions reduction and peaking by 2020, in order to keep the 1.5C goal within reach;
3. Strongly advocate for greater flows of finance, especially for adaptation and loss and damage;
4. Urge the swift phase out of all fossil fuel subsidies and a transition to 100% renewable energy by 2050;
5. Encourage faith communities to reduce emissions in their homes, workplaces and centres of worship and to support and stand in solidarity with communities already impacted by climate change; and
6. Call for fossil fuel divestment and reinvestment in renewables and low carbon solutions, including within our own communities, and/or by engaging companies on climate change.

It’s time to hail the demise of fossil fuel earth contamination; and usher in a new era of clean, renewable, and storable energy. There are a zillion examples of where this is already underway around the world. The most recent one that hit my orbit is the company SolarReserve. They have found a solution to the conundrum of storing the sun’s energy by building a large solar plant in the Nevada desert that can store heat from the sun and generate electricity for up to 10 hours even after sundown.

According to SolarReserve CEO, Kevin Smith, “This is really the first utility-size project of this type in the world.” He says the key to the plant’s ability to store energy is molten salt. You can’t see this special kind of salt because it’s contained in a network of pipes and insulated storage tanks . . . The molten salt converts to steam to power a generator. The facility can continue to produce electricity for up to 10 hours after the sun goes down.

How cool (nice pun) is that?

“That’s the whole concept here is that this facility would operate just like a natural gas, or a coal or nuclear facility — turn us on and off when they want,” he says. “We have energy in storage so that we can generate at night.”

At full capacity, he says, the $997 million plant generates enough electricity to power 75,000 Nevada homes.

Hope Filled Future

And it is these kinds of visionary, innovative projects from around the globe that give me so much hope for a healthier, more vibrant, planetary home for generations to come.

So join me in signing the above petitions, put your snorkels away, and grab a nice cool Mojito as the sun goes down on Galway Bay . .

Comments welcome!

Cover Photo: tourismbonaire.com