Food waste is a pervasive problem all around the world, not just among developed nations. Currently, over 800 million people are suffering from severe malnutrition, a shocking thought when one-third of all the food that is intended for human consumption is wasted or lost. Food waste negatively affects the environment, the economy, food security, and nutrition. Successfully dealing with the issue remains a great challenge in the coming years. Here are 25 shocking facts about food waste you need to know. 

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1. Roughly one-fifth of the food produced that is intended for human consumption every year – around 1.3 billion tons and valued at US$1 trillion – is wasted or lost. This is enough to feed 3 billion people. 

2. Food waste ends up wasting a quarter of our water supply in the form of uneaten food. That’s equated to US$172billion in wasted water.

3. Taking into account all the resources used to grow food, food waste uses up to 21% of freshwater, 19% of fertilisers, 18% of cropland, and 21% of landfill volume.

4. The water used to produce the food wasted could be used by 9 billion people at around 200 litres per person per day. 

5. The food currently wasted in Europe could feed 200 million people, in Latin America 300 million people, and in Africa 300 million people. 

6. Annual per capita waste by consumers is between 95-115 kilograms a year for Europeans and North Americans, while in South and Southeast Asia, it is 6-11kgs. 

7. Food loss and waste account for about 4.4 gigatonnes of greenhouse gas emissions annually. 

8. If food loss was a country, it would be the third-largest greenhouse gas emitter, behind China and the US.

9. Developed and developing countries waste or lose roughly the same amount of food every year, at 670 and 630 million tons respectively. Around 88 million tons of this is in the EU alone.

10. Breaking it down by food group, losses, and waste per year are roughly 30% for cereals, 40-50% for root crops and fruit and vegetables, 20% for oil seed and meat and dairy, and 35% for fish. 

11. If 25% of the food currently being lost or wasted globally was saved, it would be enough to feed 870 million people around the world. 

12. By the mid-century, the world population will hit 9 billion people. By then, food production must be increased by 70% from today’s levels to meet this demand. 

13. Food losses translate into lost income for farmers and higher prices for consumers, giving us an economic incentive to reduce food waste. 

14. In developing countries, 40% of losses occur at the post-harvest and processing stages, while more than 40% of losses in developed countries occur at the retail and consumer levels. 

15. At the retail level, large quantities of food are wasted because of an emphasis on appearance half of all produce is thrown away in the US because it is deemed too “ugly” to eat; this amounts to 60 million tons of fruits and vegetables. 

16. An area larger than China and 25% of the world’s freshwater supply is used to grow food that is never eaten.

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17. In China, more than 35 million tonnes of food – equivalent to about 6% of the country’s total food production – are lost or wasted in the country annually. Food loss primarily occurs in restaurants and households as Chinese culture sees hosts order more food rather than less to show hospitality to their guests.

18. The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals aim to halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer level and reduce food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses. 

19. Promotions in supermarkets may lead to more food waste; we may buy more food that we don’t necessarily need if we think we are getting more for our money. 

20. According to a survey conducted by Respect Food, 63% of people don’t know the difference between the “use by” and “best before” dates. Foods with “use by” dates are perishable and must be eaten before the given date. Foods with “best before” dates can be eaten after the given date, but they won’t be of the best quality. 

21. Because of quality standards that rely too much on appearance, crops are sometimes left unharvested and rot. 

22. In Europe, 40-60% of fish caught are discarded because they do not meet supermarket quality standards.

23. In the US, organic waste is the largest source of methane emissions, which is a greenhouse gas that has 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide.

24. Emerging new internet trends such as “Mukbang”, where personalities and social media influencers livestream videos of themselves binge-eating, are leading to excess food waste.

25. If we stopped throwing food away, we can save the equivalent of 17 metric tonnes of CO2, which can be the environmental equivalent of keeping five cars off the roads in the UK.

The post 25 Shocking Facts About Food Waste appeared first on Earth.Org.

Whether you are commuting to work or relaxing in the evening, podcasts are a great way to learn more about the world around you. These are 22 of the best environmental podcasts available in 2024, from environmental science podcasts to comedy podcasts about the climate crisis.

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23 Best Podcasts About the Environment

1. Outrage + Optimism

Co-hosted by Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac, who oversaw the landmark Paris Agreement on climate change, and CDP founder, Paul Dickinson, Outrage + Optimism explores the stories behind the headlines on climate change, talking to the change-makers turning challenges into opportunities. They delight in progress, question greenwash and get to grips with the difficult issues – sharing it all with their listeners along the way.

2. Sustainababble

A self-proclaimed comedy podcast about the environment for and by the confused, Sutainababble is a lighthearted weekly chat that aren’t afraid to tackle big environmental issues. Hosts Oliver Hayes and David Powell conduct in-depth yet entertaining interviews with interesting people to untangle confusing environmental concepts and policies, while exposing examples of greenwashing and the incompetents. It’s topical, funny and hopefully listeners will walk away learning something new.

3. Big Closets Small Planet: Michael Schragger

It’s a well-known fact that fast fashion and the fashion industry as a whole have a detrimental effect on the environment. This environmental podcast dives into the problems that the industry currently faces and examines the strategies and solutions that we need to take on to transform it. From business leaders and activists to innovators and entrepreneurs, hear from a whole hosts of inspiring people who are trying to implement more sustainable solutions in the fashion world.

4. A Matter of Degrees

In A Matter of Degrees, Dr. Leah Stokes and Dr. Katharine Wilkinson tell stories about the powerful forces behind climate change — and the tools we have to fix it. With the help of dozens of climate leaders, they tell stories of bold solutions and groundbreaking campaigns, stories of misdeeds and corruption and efforts to stop them, and stories of people doing their best to be a part of the solution. Join us as we make sense of big climate questions.

5. Sustainable(ish)

Hosted by Jen Gale, this podcast is for those who want to learn about the ways their actions affect the planet and how they can live more sustainable lives. Gale chats to inspiring people to talk about the changes they’re making and the businesses and campaigns that they’re running. In recent episodes, Gale offers advice on weird weather and our disappearing seasons, reducing plastic waste in the oceans and sustainable parenting.

6. The Wild

A podcast about celebrating the world we live in and finding a connection with it in order to protect it, hosts Andy McDonald and Jonathan Carson chat to guest sportspeople, creatives and leaders who talk about their adventures and conservation efforts. 

7. Wild Lens’ Eyes on Conservation

This podcast gives more information about global conservation efforts, more research about their impacts and more ways to be an advocate for the planet. An interview series, this podcast features top experts in conservation, wildlife and environmental justice. 

8. Jane Goodall: The Hopecast

The Jane Goodall Institute is currently working with Dr. Goodall to produce a podcast series which includes fireside chat conversations with influencers, leaders from business, policy and NGO industries with topics related to Jane’s vision for making the world a better place for all. Each episode breaks down systems, ideas, and barriers to open the ability for every individual to act. The podcast will also highlight the work of the Jane Goodall Institute, including its community-led conservation work, captive welfare, and science & technology for conservation and youth empowerment. 

You might also like: Top 20 Best Environmental Films of 2024

9. Think Sustainably

This environment podcast focuses on sustainability and the overall impact of consumption. While less of a story-driven podcast, there is a lot of information and recent research regarding environmental issues. At only 20-30 minutes, these episodes are perfect for those looking for bite-sized snippets of larger issues.

10. Global Goals Cast

This environmental podcast inspires and empowers listeners to make the world a better place by sharing the stories of individuals, companies and organisations working to achieve a more sustainable world. 

11. Climate Rising

Climate Rising is a podcast about the impact of climate change on business. It brings business and policy leaders and Harvard Business School faculty together to share insights about what businesses are doing, can do, and should do to confront climate change. It explores the many challenges and opportunities that climate change raises for managers, such as decisions about where they choose to locate, the technologies they develop and use, their strategies with respect to products, marketing, customer engagement, and policy – in other words, the full spectrum of business concerns.

12. The Mother Earth News and Friends

This podcast shares the stories of leaders in sustainable and rural living. Topics range from permaculture to waterfowl conservation to soil revival and building with natural materials. 

13. Yale Climate Connections

Hosted by Dr Anthony Leiserowitz of Yale University, this podcast is a daily 90-second investigative podcast detailing how the climate crisis is already shaping our lives and what we can do about it. From fossil fuels to extreme weather, clean energy to public health, and more, this is your daily dose of climate change reality- and hope. It seeks to help individuals, corporations, media, NGOs, government agencies, academics, artists, and more learn from each other about constructive “solutions” so many are undertaking to reduce climate-related risks and wasteful energy practices.

14. The Food Fight

In The Food Fight, one of the few food-related environmental podcasts on Earth.Org’s list, Matt Eastland and Lukxmi Balathasan examine the biggest challenges facing the food system, and the innovations and entrepreneurs looking to solve them. They ask some difficult questions including “Can we trust the food we eat?” and “Can we really feed 10 billion people by 2050?” 

15. The Nature Podcast

Produced by Nature Journal, the last of these environmental podcasts on our list brings listeners the best stories from the world of science each week. Topics range from astronomy to zoology and highlight the most exciting research from each issue of Nature Journal. Featuring interviews with the scientists behind the results, the podcasts provide in-depth analysis from Nature’s journalists and editors.

16. So Hot Right Now

Though this podcast haven’t updated since 2020, it’s still a fantastic resource in understanding how we can survive in the era of climate change. Environmental journalist Lucy Siegle and wildlife filmmaker Tom Mustill spoke to those who have made it their mission to be vocal about how we are laying waste to our beautiful planet, including David Attenborough, former president of Ireland Mary Robinson, UN climate negotiator Christiana Figueres and Native American Veteran and Organizer Krystal Two-Bulls. This podcast is informal, personal and passionate and will provide you with the tools to communicate about the climate crisis to anyone, be it your dad or the UN.

17. The Climate Briefing

From the Energy, Environment and Resources Programme at Chatham House and hosted by Antony Froggatt and Anna Aberg, The Climate Briefing explores the major issues that shape UN climate negotiations and international climate politics, including the new Global Biodiversity Framework, the climate crisis in South Asia, and outcomes of UN conferences such as COP26 and COP27.

You might also like: Did COP27 Succeed or Fail?

18. Women Mind the Water

Hosted by Dr Pam Ferris-Olson and founder of Women Mind the Water, a platform that shares both issue-based stories and art related to ocean and conservation, the podcast sees Pam chat with varying activists and artists about their connection with the ocean and how it influences on their art. Often deeply personal, these engaging stories will inspire you and move you to take action to protect the ocean.

19. How to Save the Planet

The third of environmental podcasts on Earth.Org’s list is How to Save the Planet. Brought to you by environmental charity Friends of the Earth, this podcast discusses popular stories from the climate movement and breaks down often-complex issues, like environmental racism, eco-anxiety and fracking. Frank yet inspiring, the podcast explores solutions to the climate crisis, and how anyone can have an impact, big and small. 

20. What Could Go Right?

What if instead of being on the brink of disaster, we were on the cusp of a better world? No one can deny the challenges the world faces, from pandemics to climate change to authoritarianism. But pessimism and despair are too easy a response. Each week on What Could Go Right?, Progress Network Founder Zachary Karabell and Executive Director Emma Varvaloucas convene a diverse panel of experts to discuss the central issues of our era, including sustainability, polarisation, work, and the economy, and make the case for a brighter future. They emerge from their conversations with a counterintuitive but informed take: progress is on its way.

21. Climate One

Since 2007, Climate One has been the premier platform for empowering conversations about the climate emergency. Through a weekly podcast, radio show, and in-person events Climate One provides a trusted place for in-depth conversations that connect diverse perspectives from across the climate community. Reaching 170,000 listeners a week, Climate One can be found on 60 public radio stations across the US, creating opportunities for dialogue and inspiring a more complete understanding of the current crisis.

22. Forces For Nature

In Forces for Nature, eco-podcast producer and host Crystal DiMiceli interviews people working successfully to create a healthier and more humane world, from big-name scientists to a 10-year-old with his own recycling company. The show celebrates people who are doing great things in sustainability, conservation, and animal-related issues. Each episode presents an issue being faced but then quickly pivots from the problem to the effective solution that the guest has found. And, finally, they leave the listener with actionable tips that they can do to help.

23. NASA’s Curious Universe Podcast

Curious Universe – an official NASA podcast hosted by astrophysicist and head of NASA’s Exoplanets and Stellar Astrophysics Laboratory Padi Boyd and audio producer Jacob Pinter – brings you mind-blowing science and space adventures you won’t find anywhere else. Explore the cosmos alongside astronauts, scientists, engineers, and other top NASA experts who are achieving remarkable feats in science, space exploration, and aeronautics. Learn something new about the wild and wonderful universe we share. All you need to get started is a little curiosity.

You might also like: 23 Best Climate Change Books To Read in 2024

The post 23 Best Environmental Podcasts of 2024 appeared first on Earth.Org.

2023 has been a year of tremendous climate extremes. Humanity is learning the extent of the existential threats posed by climate change and ecological destruction the hard way. In a year of such tremendous transformation, leaders and innovators continuously come up with solutions and new ways of thinking that make us reflect and hope. In Earth.Org’s best climate change books to read in the new year, we see a world that is ambitious about humanity’s prospects, but humble about our place in nature. Extremely hopeful for our future, while realistic about what we might have to endure.

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2023 was the hottest year on record, supercharged by the return of El Niño, a weather phenomenon that has pushed temperatures off the charts around the world and that is expected to last well into 2024. As expected, the trend continued in the first few months of the new year, with March 2024 becoming the 10th consecutive month to break records, with temperatures at 1.77C above an estimate of the February average for 1850-1900.

In February 2024, the EU weather service Copernicus recently confirmed that the critical 1.5C global warming threshold set in the Paris Agreement was breached over a twelve-month period for the first time in history, with global temperatures at 1.58C above the 19th century benchmark. While this does not signal a permanent breach of the limit, which scientists say is measured over decades, it sends a clear warning to humanity that we are approaching the point of no return much faster than expected.

Books are some of the best tools to unpack this difficult information and make climate science accessible to all. They offer a platform for experts to share their knowledge, enabling readers to develop a well-rounded understanding of the current state of the environment and the urgent need for collective action.

It is precisely for this reason that Earth.Org revamped and significantly expanded its book review series to include regular talks with authors and more in-depth coverage of their books. But aside from the award-winning writers, world-leading climate scientists, and thought leaders paving the way toward humanity’s brighter future, here is our list of the best books on climate change that everyone should read. 

Best Climate Change Books To Read in 2024

1. The New Climate War, by Michael Mann

Michael Mann is arguably one of the closest things we have to a climate superhero. His story is certainly reminiscent of some cinematic superhero adventures. After hitting the climate science stage hard in 1999 when co-authoring the now-famous ‘hockey stick graph’ that demonstrates how human activity has contributed to average temperature rise, Michael Mann was lambasted, criticised and dismissed by a system perpetrated by our story’s villains, principally the fossil fuel industry and other actors with vested interests But our hero did not back down, and continued to push for the emerging field of climate science to be recognised.

In The New Climate War, Mann explains how the fossil fuel industry has adjusted its tactics, from outright climate denialism to obstruction and shifting the burden of responsibility to individuals, thereby delaying necessary action to push through systemic changes. The book is a fascinating untangling of the intricate web of misinformation, misdirection and deflection perpetuated by the fossil fuel industry since climate change became an incontrovertible reality. Cautiously optimistic, Mann argues that the fundamental challenges we still face today are not tied to a technological or intellectual inability to achieve systemic change, but in the lack of political will required to do so.

2. Supercharge Me: Net Zero Faster, by Eric Lonergan and Corinne Sawers

Supercharge Me (2022) takes a look at how governments, businesses and individuals behave and discuss what has (and hasn’t) worked so far in transitioning the global economy to net zero. Fund manager Eric Lonergan and sustainability adviser Corinne Sawers introduce practical ideas for change that will embolden people to reframe the climate crisis as an opportunity and suggest augmenting traditional economic solutions, such as carbon pricing, with EPICs: extreme, positive incentives for change that “supercharge” behavioural change.

3. Post Growth: Life After Capitalism, by Tim Jackson

For the economics-inclined, Post Growth may be our pick for the most accessible and inspiring technical environmental books of 2021. Professor Tim Jackson, a highly influential ecological economist, first gained fame for his 2009 book, Prosperity Without Growth, a highly researched deep dive into the economics and models that can bring us into a more sustainable and prosperous future.

Jackson’s 2021 foray is a romantic, passionate and highly readable book that illuminates what a future after capitalism, competition and egregious self-interest really looks like, largely doing away with much of the jargon and economics’ parlance used in Prosperity. Grounded in a deep understanding of ecological economics, Post Growth presents one of the most compelling arguments yet that the economy is not at all separate from the natural world, but an intrinsically embedded subsidiary of it. Under this worldview, it becomes clear that constant economic growth is simply untenable.

Whether or not you agree with Jackson’s more fundamental assertions on the nature of capitalism and its role in a prosperous society, this is a book that sheds light on a version of the future where having outright winners does not necessarily translate to having outright losers, where prosperity is not only linked to material wealth but to wellbeing, health and safety for all members of society. Post Growth does not necessarily offer the solutions and technical means that Prosperity does, but it does provide a way of thinking about the future that is hopeful, bright and entirely achievable. 

4. Under A White Sky, by Elizabeth Kolbert

For the more scientifically and solutions-inclined, this is the book pick for you. On a world-hopping adventure from one solution to the next, journalist and author Elizabeth Kolbert guides readers through the sheer madness of ‘fixes’ that humans have attempted to dominate the natural world. The bottom line is this: we like to think of ourselves as ingenious problem solvers, and we certainly can be, but more often than not, our actions have unforeseen and reverberating effects on ecosystems and human populations.

Under A White Sky immensely readable, vividly describing everything from the flooding marshlands of Louisiana to the mind-bogglingly exciting developments in genetic engineering. In each new location, Kolbert dives into the latest technological fix that is being attempted, often to cover up the unintended consequences of the last techno-fix humans tried out. This is a hugely entertaining book that accurately describes some of the most cutting-edge and complex solutions to the environmental crisis that humans have come up with. But it is also a cautionary tale that puts into perspective just how far we’ve gone, and what that has already done to the world.

5. This Changes Everything: Capitalism Vs The Climate, by Naomi Klein

Rob Nixon from The New York Times called it “the most momentous and contentious environmental book since Silent Spring”. Hard-hitting journalist Naomi Klein uncovers the myths clouding the climate debate, unearthing how powerful and well-financed right wing think tanks and lobby groups are at the source of the climate change denial.

This Changes Everything (2014) challenges the current “free market” ideology, which Klein argues is unable to solve the climate change crisis.

You might also like: 10 Climate Change Movies To Watch in 2022

6. Regenesis: Feeding the World Without Devouring the Planet, by George Monbiot 

7. The Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes Us Happier, Healthier and More Creative, by Florence Williams

From eucalyptus groves in California, forest trails in Korea, to islands in Finland, Florence Williams investigates the science behind nature’s positive effects on the brain. Delving into cutting-edge research, The Nature Fix (2017) exposes the powers of the natural world to improve health, strengthen our relationships and promote reflection and innovation.

8. Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming, by Paul Hawken

Drawdown (2017) gathers the 100 most effective solutions to halt global warming from leading scientists and policymakers, which if adopted, could even reduce the overall greenhouse gasses currently present in the atmosphere . Already firmly anchored in the New York Times bestseller list, Hawken ranks optimal solutions – like moderating the use of air-conditioners and refrigerators, or adopting a plant-rich diet – by the amount of potential greenhouse gases they can avoid or remove.

9. Half-Earth: Our Planet’s Fight for Life, by Edward O. Wilson

Half Earth (2016), written by one of the world’s greatest naturalists and a double Pulitzer Prize winner, proposes an realistic plan to save our imperilled biosphere: devote half the surface of the Earth to nature. In order to stave off the mass extinction of species including our own, we must move swiftly to preserve the biodiversity of our planet, Wilson urges in one of his most impassioned books about climate change to date. 

10. Natural Capital: Valuing the Planet, by Dieter Helm

The first real attempt to calibrate, measure and value natural capital from an economic perspective, Natural Capital (2015) shifts the parameters of the current environmental debate. Dieter Helm, Fellow of Economics at the University of Oxford, claims that refusing to place an economic value on nature risks an environmental meltdown. He proceeds to outline a new framework to couple economic growth with respect for our natural endowment without sacrificing the former.

11. Hot, Flat and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution – and How It Can Renew America, by Thomas Friedman

Given the recent buzz about the Green New Deal in American politics, we recommend this brilliant book by Pulitzer Prize-winning author who coined the term, Thomas L. Friedman. Hot, Flat and Crowded (2008) speaks to America’s urgent need to expand national renewables and how climate change presents a unique opportunity for the US – not only to transform its economy, but to lead the world in innovating toward cleaner energy.

12. The Big Fix: 7 Practical Steps to Save Our Planet, by Hal Harvey and Justin Gillis

While being a conscious and greener consumer helps, this won’t be enough to bring our greenhouse gas emissions to zero and save our planet. As energy policy advisor Hal Harvey and longtime New York Times reporter Justin Gillis argue in their book The Big Fix: 7 Practical Steps to Save Our Planet (2022), citizens must push for policies that can make a big difference in seven main areas: electricity production, transportation, buildings, industry, urbanisation, use of land, and investment in promising new green technologies.

13. Sustainable Nation: Urban Design Patterns for the Future, by Douglas Farr

An essential resource for urban designers, planners and architects, Sustainable Nation (2018) is an urgent call to action and a guidebook for change. An architect and urban planner, Douglas Farr details how designing cities and buildings with sustainable criteria can mitigate the humanitarian, population and climate crises.

14. The Uninhabitable Earth, by David Wallace-Wells

If you need to quickly get up to speed with the sheer scale of the climate emergency, journalist David Wallace-Wells’s succinct but brutal portrait of our future lives on earth may be for you. In 200 pages, it unpacks the different dimensions of our forecast future, from heat death to unbreathable air. As Wallace-Wells puts it in the book’s first line, “it is worse, much worse, than you think.” Even for those who feel they are well-versed on the issue, the endless stream of disasters that have or could be caused by global warming effectively shakes the reader out of any complacency. 

While the book does not offer solutions, it does make it clear that we already have all the tools we need to avoid the worst effects. But ultimately The Uninhabitable Earth seeks to make clear the horror of the emergency of the consequences before us. Unless we accept the urgency, how can we expect to get ourselves out of this mess?

15. The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History, by Elizabeth Kolbert

By 2050, the climate crisis will have driven the extinction of up to half the world’s species, according to this book that is written on the frontlines of environmental breakdown. We are in the midst of a sixth mass extinction event, which is set to be the fastest such event on record.

Kolbert outlines how humans have driven the extinction of biodiversity, or to the brink of extinction, from the Panamanian golden frog nearly completely wiped out in the wild by a fungal disease to the Maui, which is in peril due to deforestation. We are driving these species to extinction in many ways: some connected to the climate crisis through rising sea levels rising and deforestation, as well as by spreading disease-carrying species and poaching. By fundamentally altering earth’s delicately balanced ecosystems, we are risking our own future too. 

16. Losing Earth: The Decade We Could Have Stopped Climate Change, by Nathaniel Rich

We have known about the perils of climate change for decades and yet very little to nothing was done about it. This book details the decade from 1979 to 1989 when we were starting to have a broad understanding of the causes and dangers of climate change. Focussing mainly on the US’s response to the crisis, the book follows the scientists and activists who tried to sound the alarm, and the Reaganite politicians and businesses who worked to make sure that no meaningful action was taken.Rich says that the world came close to signing binding international treaties to mitigate the acceleration of global warming. However, by the start of the 90s, what was once regarded as a bipartisan issue came to be seen as a partisan one after the oil industry “descended and bared its fangs.”Since then, more carbon has been emitted into the atmosphere than in all the preceding years of history of civilisation. Losing Earth is an essential cautionary tale for facing the climate battles ahead.

17. Net Zero: How We Stop Causing Climate Change, by Dieter Helm

Another entry by Helm, Net Zero addresses the action we all need to take, whether personal, local, national or global, if we really want to stop climate change.

This book is a measured, balanced view of how we stop causing climate change by adopting a net zero strategy of reducing carbon emissions and increasing carbon absorption. It is a rational look at why the past 30 years’ efforts have failed and why and how the next 30 years can succeed. Like the other books on this list, it is a vital read for anyone who hears ecological activists fighting against climate change, but wonders what they can actually do.

18. Our Final Warning: Six Degrees of Climate Emergency, by Mark Lynas

This book delivers an account of the future of our earth, and our civilisation, if current rates of global warming persist.But how much worse could it get? Are we already past the point of no return? Cataloguing the very latest climate science, Lynas explores the course we have set for Earth over the next century and beyond. Degree by degree, he charts the likely impacts of global heating and the consequent climate catastrophe.  

At one degree – the world we are already living in – vast wildfires scorch California and Australia, while monster hurricanes devastate coastal cities. At two degrees the Arctic ice cap melts away, and coral reefs disappear from the tropics. At three, the world begins to run out of food, threatening millions with starvation. At four, large areas of the globe are too hot for human habitation, erasing entire nations and turning billions into climate refugees. At five, the planet is warmer than for 55 million years, while at six degrees a mass extinction of unparalleled proportions sweeps the planet, threatening to end all life on Earth. 

These escalating consequences can still be avoided, but time is running out. We must stop burning fossil fuels within a decade. If we fail, then we risk crossing tipping points that could push global climate chaos out of humanity’s control. 

19. On Fire: The (Burning) Case for a Green New Deal, by Naomi Klein 

This book gathers more than a decade of Klein’s writing, pairing it with new material on the staggeringly high stakes of our immediate political and economic choices.

These long-form essays investigate the climate crisis not only as a political challenge but as a spiritual and imaginative one as well. With reports spanning from the ghostly Great Barrier Reef, the annual smoke-choked skies of the Pacific Northwest, post-hurricane Puerto Rico, to a Vatican attempting an unprecedented “ecological conversion,” Klein makes the case that we will rise to the existential challenge of climate change only if we are willing to transform the systems that produced this crisis.

An expansive, far-ranging exploration that sees the battle for a greener world as indistinguishable from the fight for our lives, On Fire captures the burning urgency of the climate crisis, as well as the fiery energy of a rising political movement demanding a catalytic Green New Deal.

You might also like: 10 Must-See Environmental Films on Netflix

20. Climate Crisis and the Global Green New Deal: The Political Economy of Saving the Planet, by Noam Chomsky & Robert Pollin

The last on our list of books about climate change, Noam Chomsky, the world’s leading public intellectual, and Robert Pollin, a renowned progressive economist, map out the catastrophic consequences of unchecked climate change and present a realistic blueprint for change: the Green New Deal.

Chomsky and Pollin show the forecasts for a hotter planet: vast stretches of the Earth will become uninhabitable, plagued by extreme weather, drought, rising seas, and crop failure. Arguing against the fear of economic disaster and unemployment arising from the transition to a green economy, they show how this unfounded concern encourages climate denialism.

The authors show how ceasing to burn fossil fuels within the next 30 years is entirely feasible. Climate change is an emergency that cannot be ignored. This book shows how it can be overcome both politically and economically.

21. Ocean of Life: The Fate of Man and the Sea, by Callum Roberts

Callum Roberts’ 2013 book, Ocean of Life: The Fate of Man and the Sea, follows the fascinating relationship between man and water. A powerful warning to save our oceans before it is too late, this book does not hold back – it shows us just how much of an impact overfishing, pollution and climate change have had on marine life. 

Instead of speculating about what may happen in the future, Roberts sticks to proven facts and viable solutions. This makes his book stand out from other recent books on climate change and environmentalist works’ inability to offer solutions for the “doomsday scenarios” they present through their barrage of facts and statistics. The last quarter of Ocean of Life is packed with potential solutions that industries, companies, governments and ordinary people can adopt. 

22. All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis, edited by Ayana Johnson and Katharine K. Wilkinson

This book is a collection of essays and poetry by 60 leading women climate activists. It shows the power that women have in creating the solutions that we need to mitigate the climate crisis. 

23. Hurricane Lizards and Plastic Squid: How the Natural World is Adapting to Climate Change, by Thor Hanson

While humans wrestle with net-zero targets and greenwashing, other species have had to adapt to the impacts of climate change.  According to American biologist Thor Hanson, plants and animals have “a great deal to teach us about what comes next, because for many of them, and also for many of us, that world is already here.”

24. The Dolphin Among Orcas, by Tom Meinerz

This story brings to light a global problem that is right under our noses, but invisible to our eyes, which is Ocean pollution and its impact on all sea life. A dolphin pod has a rare occurrence; twin sister calves are born. This is then followed by another, even rarer occurrence, the birth of a malformed calf. Courage was born with a back and tail which were deformed, or malformed in dolphin speak. His birth brings first curiosity, but then ridicule, followed by bullying from other dolphins. He and his mother had to travel
behind the pod, most often alone. But Courage overcomes his limitations and instead, turns them into an advantage.

This entertaining story helps middle school readers understand the worsening global pollution threat, for which the middle school generation is likely to find the solutions to clean it up. The tale also addresses what bullying is, and what may happen as a result. It tells the story of how perceived limitations can become unique talents, allowing for a successful life.

25. The Climate Book, by Greta Thunberg

The Climate Book (2022) by Greta Thunberg – the world-famous Swedish climate activist and founder of the global movement Fridays for Future – features essays of over one hundred thinkers and experts, from oceanographers and meteorologists to economists and geophysicists, to raise awareness about the climate crisis and equip us with the knowledge to fight climate disasters and halt global warming. Thunberg also shares her own stories of demonstrating and uncovering greenwashing around the world, revealing how much we have been kept in the dark. 

You might also like: 10 Inspiring and Educational Environmental Books for Kids

The post 25 Inspiring Climate Change Books To Read in 2024 appeared first on Earth.Org.

While the climate crisis has many factors that play a role in the exacerbation of the environment, some warrant more attention than others. Here are some of the biggest environmental problems of our lifetime, from deforestation and biodiversity loss to food waste and fast fashion.

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1. Global Warming From Fossil Fuels

2023 was the hottest year on record, with global average temperatures at 1.46C above pre-industrial levels and 0.13C higher than the eleven-month average for 2016, currently the warmest calendar year on record. The year was marked by six record-breaking months and two record-breaking seasons.

What’s more, carbon dioxide (CO2) levels have never been so high. After being consistently around 280 parts per million (ppm) for almost 6,000 years of human civilisation, CO2 levels in the atmosphere are now well above 420 ppm, more than double what they were before the onset of the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century. According to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Administrator Rick Spinrad, the steady annual increase is a “direct result of human activity,” mainly from the burning of fossil fuels for transportation and electricity generation but also from cement manufacturing, deforestation, and agriculture.

This is undoubtedly one of the biggest environmental problems of our lifetime: as greenhouse gas emissions blanket the Earth, they trap the sun’s heat, leading to global warming.

Increased emissions of greenhouse gases have led to a rapid and steady increase in global temperatures, which in turn is causing catastrophic events all over the world – from Australia and the US experiencing some of the most devastating bushfire seasons ever recorded, locusts swarming across parts of Africa, the Middle East and Asia, decimating crops, and a heatwave in Antarctica that saw temperatures rise above 20C for the first time. Scientists are constantly warning that the planet has crossed a series of tipping points that could have catastrophic consequences, such as advancing permafrost melt in Arctic regions, the Greenland ice sheet melting at an unprecedented rate, accelerating sixth mass extinction, and increasing deforestation in the Amazon rainforest, just to name a few.

The climate crisis is causing tropical storms and other weather events such as hurricanes, heatwaves and flooding to be more intense and frequent than seen before. However, even if all greenhouse gas emissions were halted immediately, global temperatures would continue to rise in the coming years. That is why it is absolutely imperative that we start now to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, invest in renewable energy sources, and phase our fossil fuels as fast as possible.

You might also like: The Tipping Points of Climate Change: How Will Our World Change?

2. Poor Governance

According to economists like Nicholas Stern, the climate crisis is a result of multiple market failures.

Economists and environmentalists have urged policymakers for years to increase the price of activities that emit greenhouse gases (one of our biggest environmental problems), the lack of which constitutes the largest market failure, for example through carbon taxes, which will stimulate innovations in low-carbon technologies.

To cut emissions quickly and effectively enough, governments must not only massively increase funding for green innovation to bring down the costs of low-carbon energy sources, but they also need to adopt a range of other policies that address each of the other market failures. 

A national carbon tax is currently implemented in 27 countries around the world, including various countries in the EU, Canada, Singapore, Japan, Ukraine and Argentina. However, according to the 2019 OECD Tax Energy Use report, current tax structures are not adequately aligned with the pollution profile of energy sources. For example, the OECD suggests that carbon taxes are not harsh enough on coal production, although it has proved to be effective for the electricity industry. A carbon tax has been effectively implemented in Sweden; the carbon tax is U$127 per tonne and has reduced emissions by 25% since 1995, while its economy has expanded 75% in the same time period. 

Further, organisations such as the United Nations are not fit to deal with the climate crisis: it was assembled to prevent another world war and is not fit for purpose. Anyway, members of the UN are not mandated to comply with any suggestions or recommendations made by the organisation. For example, the Paris Agreement, a historic deal within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), says that countries need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions significantly so that global temperature rise is below 2C by 2100, and ideally under 1.5C. But signing on to it is voluntary, and there are no real repercussions for non-compliance. Further, the issue of equity remains a contentious issue whereby developing countries are allowed to emit more in order to develop to the point where they can develop technologies to emit less, and it allows some countries, such as China, to exploit this. 

3. Food Waste

A third of the food intended for human consumption – around 1.3 billion tons – is wasted or lost. This is enough to feed 3 billion people. Food waste and loss account for approximately one-quarter of greenhouse gas emissions annually; if it was a country, food waste would be the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, behind China and the US. 

Food waste and loss occurs at different stages in developing and developed countries; in developing countries, 40% of food waste occurs at the post-harvest and processing levels, while in developed countries, 40% of food waste occurs at the retail and consumer levels. 

At the retail level, a shocking amount of food is wasted because of aesthetic reasons; in fact, in the US, more than 50% of all produce thrown away in the US is done so because it is deemed to be “too ugly” to be sold to consumers- this amounts to about 60 million tons of fruits and vegetables. This leads to food insecurity, another one of the biggest environmental problems on the list. 

You might also like: How Does Food Waste Affect the Environment?

4. Biodiversity Loss

The past 50 years have seen a rapid growth of human consumption, population, global trade and urbanisation, resulting in humanity using more of the Earth’s resources than it can replenish naturally. 

A 2020 WWF report found that the population sizes of mammals, fish, birds, reptiles and amphibians have experienced a decline of an average of 68% between 1970 and 2016. The report attributes this biodiversity loss to a variety of factors, but mainly land-use change, particularly the conversion of habitats, like forests, grasslands and mangroves, into agricultural systems. Animals such as pangolins, sharks and seahorses are significantly affected by the illegal wildlife trade, and pangolins are critically endangered because of it. 

More broadly, a recent analysis has found that the sixth mass extinction of wildlife on Earth is accelerating. More than 500 species of land animals are on the brink of extinction and are likely to be lost within 20 years; the same number were lost over the whole of the last century. The scientists say that without the human destruction of nature, this rate of loss would have taken thousands of years. 

In Antarctica, climate change-triggered melting of sea ice is taking a heavy toll on emperor penguins and could wipe out entire populations by as early as 2100, according to 2023 research.

You might also like: The Remarkable Benefits of Biodiversity

5. Plastic Pollution

In 1950, the world produced more than 2 million tons of plastic per year. By 2015, this annual production swelled to 419 million tons and exacerbating plastic waste in the environment. 

A report by science journal, Nature, determined that currently, roughly 14 million tons of plastic make their way into the oceans every year, harming wildlife habitats and the animals that live in them. The research found that if no action is taken, the plastic crisis will grow to 29 million metric tons per year by 2040. If we include microplastics into this, the cumulative amount of plastic in the ocean could reach 600 million tons by 2040.

Shockingly, National Geographic found that 91% of all plastic that has ever been made is not recycled, representing not only one of the biggest environmental problems of our lifetime, but another massive market failure. Considering that plastic takes 400 years to decompose, it will be many generations until it ceases to exist. There’s no telling what the irreversible effects of plastic pollution will have on the environment in the long run. 

You might also like: 8 Shocking Plastic Pollution Statistics to Know About

6. Deforestation

Every hour, forests the size of 300 football fields are cut down. By the year 2030, the planet might have only 10% of its forests; if deforestation isn’t stopped, they could all be gone in less than 100 years. 

The three countries experiencing the highest levels of deforestation are Brazil, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Indonesia. The Amazon, the world’s largest rainforest – spanning 6.9 million square kilometres (2.72 million square miles) and covering around 40% of the South American continent – is also one of the most biologically diverse ecosystems and is home to about three million species of plants and animals. Despite efforts to protect forest land, legal deforestation is still rampant, and about one-third of global tropical deforestation occurs in Brazil’s Amazon forest, amounting to 1.5 million hectares each year. 

Agriculture is the leading cause of deforestation, another one of the biggest environmental problems appearing on this list. Land is cleared to raise livestock or to plant other crops that are sold, such as sugar cane and palm oil. Besides for carbon sequestration, forests help to prevent soil erosion, because the tree roots bind the soil and prevent it from washing away, which also prevents landslides. 

You might also like: 10 Deforestation Facts You Should Know About

7. Air Pollution 

One of the biggest environmental problems today is outdoor air pollution.

Data from the World Health Organization (WHO) shows that an estimated 4.2 to 7 million people die from air pollution worldwide every year and that nine out of 10 people breathe air that contains high levels of pollutants. In Africa, 258,000 people died as a result of outdoor air pollution in 2017, up from 164,000 in 1990, according to UNICEF. Causes of air pollution mostly comes from industrial sources and motor vehicles, as well as emissions from burning biomass and poor air quality due to dust storms. 

According to a 2023 study, air pollution in South Asia – one of the most polluted areas in the world – cuts life expectancy by about 5 years. The study blames a series of factors, including a lack of adequate infrastructure and funding for the high levels of pollution in some countries. Most countries in Asia and Africa, which together contribute about 92.7% of life years lost globally due to air pollution, lack key air quality standards needed to develop adequate policies. Moreover, just 6.8% and 3.7% of governments in the two continents, respectively, provide their citizens with fully open-air quality data.

In Europe, a recent report by the European Environment Agency (EEA) showed that more than half a million people living in the European Union died from health issues directly linked to toxic pollutants exposure in 2021.

More on the topic: Less Than 1% of Global Land Area Has Safe Air Pollution Levels: Study

8. Melting Ice Caps and Sea Level Rise

The climate crisis is warming the Arctic more than twice as fast as anywhere else on the planet. Today, sea levels are rising more than twice as quickly as they did for most of the 20th century as a result of increasing temperatures on Earth. Seas are now rising an average of 3.2 mm per year globally and they will continue to grow up to about 0.7 metres by the end of this century. In the Arctic, the Greenland Ice Sheet poses the greatest risk for sea levels because melting land ice is the main cause of rising sea levels.

Representing arguably the biggest of the environmental problems, this is made all the more concerning considering that last year’s summer triggered the loss of 60 billion tons of ice from Greenland, enough to raise global sea levels by 2.2mm in just two months. According to satellite data, the Greenland ice sheet lost a record amount of ice in 2019: an average of a million tons per minute throughout the year, one of the biggest environmental problems that has cascading effects. If the entire Greenland ice sheet melts, sea level would rise by six metres.

Meanwhile, the Antarctic continent contributes about 1 millimetre per year to sea level rise, which is one-third of the annual global increase. According to 2023 data, the continent has lost approximately 7.5 trillion tons of ice since 1997. Additionally, the last fully intact ice shelf in Canada in the Arctic recently collapsed, having lost about 80 square kilometres – or 40% – of its area over a two-day period in late July, according to the Canadian Ice Service. 

Sea level rise will have a devastating impact on those living in coastal regions: according to research and advocacy group Climate Central, sea level rise this century could flood coastal areas that are now home to 340 million to 480 million people, forcing them to migrate to safer areas and contributing to overpopulation and strain of resources in the areas they migrate to. Bangkok (Thailand), Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam), Manila (Philippines), and Dubai (United Arab Emirates) are among the cities most at risk of sea level rise and flooding.

You might also like: Two-Thirds of World’s Glaciers Set to Disappear by 2100 Under Current Global Warming Scenario

9. Ocean Acidification

Global temperature rise has not only affected the surface, but it is the main cause of ocean acidification. Our oceans absorb about 30% of carbon dioxide that is released into the Earth’s atmosphere. As higher concentrations of carbon emissions are released thanks to human activities such as burning fossil fuels as well as effects of global climate change such as increased rates of wildfires, so do the amount of carbon dioxide that is absorbed back into the sea. 

The smallest change in the pH scale can have a significant impact on the acidity of the ocean. Ocean acidification has devastating impacts on marine ecosystems and species, its food webs, and provoke irreversible changes in habitat quality. Once pH levels reach too low, marine organisms such as oysters, their shells and skeleton could even start to dissolve. 

However, one of the biggest environmental problems from ocean acidification is coral bleaching and subsequent coral reef loss. This is a phenomenon that occurs when rising ocean temperatures disrupt the symbiotic relationship between the reefs and algae that lives within it, driving away the algae and causing coral reefs to lose their natural vibrant colours. Some scientists have estimated coral reefs are at risk of being completely wiped by 2050. Higher acidity in the ocean would obstruct coral reef systems’ ability to rebuild their exoskeletons and recover from these coral bleaching events. 

Some studies have also found that ocean acidification can be linked as one of the effects of plastic pollution in the ocean. The accumulating bacteria and microorganisms derived from plastic garbage dumped in the ocean to damage marine ecosystems and contribute towards coral bleaching.

10. Agriculture 

Studies have shown that the global food system is responsible for up to one-third of all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions, of which 30% comes from livestock and fisheries. Crop production releases greenhouse gases such as nitrous oxide through the use of fertilisers. 

60% of the world’s agricultural area is dedicated to cattle ranching, although it only makes up 24% of global meat consumption. 

Agriculture not only covers a vast amount of land, but it also consumes a vast amount of freshwater, another one of the biggest environmental problems on this list. While arable lands and grazing pastures cover one-third of Earth’s land surfaces, they consume three-quarters of the world’s limited freshwater resources.

Scientists and environmentalists have continuously warned that we need to rethink our current food system; switching to a more plant-based diet would dramatically reduce the carbon footprint of the conventional agriculture industry. 

You might also like: The Future of Farming: Can We Feed the World Without Destroying It?

11. Food and Water Insecurity

Rising temperatures and unsustainable farming practices have resulted in increasing water and food insecurity.

Globally, more than 68 billion tonnes of top-soil is eroded every year at a rate 100 times faster than it can naturally be replenished. Laden with biocides and fertiliser, the soil ends up in waterways where it contaminates drinking water and protected areas downstream. 

Furthermore, exposed and lifeless soil is more vulnerable to wind and water erosion due to lack of root and mycelium systems that hold it together. A key contributor to soil erosion is over-tilling: although it increases productivity in the short-term by mixing in surface nutrients (e.g. fertiliser), tilling is physically destructive to the soil’s structure and in the long-term leads to soil compaction, loss of fertility and surface crust formation that worsens topsoil erosion.

With the global population expected to reach 9 billion people by mid-century, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) projects that global food demand may increase by 70% by 2050. Around the world, more than 820 million people do not get enough to eat. 

The UN secretary-general António Guterres says, “Unless immediate action is taken, it is increasingly clear that there is an impending global food security emergency that could have long term impacts on hundreds of millions of adults and children.” He urged for countries to rethink their food systems and encouraged more sustainable farming practices. 

In terms of water security, only 3% of the world’s water is freshwater, and two-thirds of that is tucked away in frozen glaciers or otherwise unavailable for our use. As a result, some 1.1 billion people worldwide lack access to water, and a total of 2.7 billion find water scarce for at least one month of the year. By 2025, two-thirds of the world’s population may face water shortages. 

You might also like: Global Food Security: Why It Matters in 2023

12. Fast Fashion and Textile Waste

The global demand for fashion and clothing has risen at an unprecedented rate that the fashion industry now accounts for 10% of global carbon emissions, becoming one of the biggest environmental problems of our time. Fashion alone produces more greenhouse gas emissions than both the aviation and shipping sectors combined, and nearly 20% of global wastewater, or around 93 billion cubic metres from textile dyeing, according to the UN Environment Programme.

What’s more, the world at least generated an estimated 92 million tonnes of textiles waste every year and that number is expected to soar up to 134 million tonnes a year by 2030. Discarded clothing and textile waste, most of which is non-biodegradable, ends up in landfills, while microplastics from clothing materials such as polyester, nylon, polyamide, acrylic and other synthetic materials, is leeched into soil and nearby water sources. Monumental amounts of clothing textile are also dumped in less developed countries as seen with Chile’s Atacama, the driest desert in the world, where at least 39,000 tonnes of textile waste from other nations are left there to rot.

This rapidly growing issue is only exacerbated by the ever-expanding fast fashion business model, in which companies relies on cheap and speedy production of low quality clothing to meet the latest and newest trends. While the United Nations Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action sees signatory fashion and textile companies to commit to achieving net zero emission by 2050, a majority of businesses around the world have yet to address their roles in climate change.

While these are some of the biggest environmental problems plaguing our planet, there are many more that have not been mentioned, including overfishing, urban sprawl, toxic superfund sites and land use changes. While there are many facets that need to be considered in formulating a response to the crisis, they must be coordinated, practical and far-reaching enough to make enough of a difference. 

You might also like: Fast Fashion and Its Environmental Impact

13. Overfishing

Over three billion people around the world rely on fish as their primary source of protein. About 12% of the world relies upon fisheries in some form or another, with 90% of these being small-scale fishermen – think a small crew in a boat, not a ship, using small nets or even rods and reels and lures not too different from the kind you probably use. Of the 18.9 million fishermen in the world, 90% of them fall under the latter category.

Most people consume approximately twice as much food as they did 50 years ago and there are four times as many people on earth as there were at the close of the 1960s. This is one driver of the 30% of commercially fished waters being classified as being ‘overfished’. This means that the stock of available fishing waters is being depleted faster than it can be replaced.

Overfishing comes with detrimental effects on the environment, including increased algae in the water, destruction of fishing communities, ocean littering as well as extremely high rates of biodiversity loss.

As part of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 14), the UN and FAO are working towards maintaining the proportion of fish stocks within biologically sustainable levels. This, however, requires much stricter regulations of the world’s oceans than the ones already in place. In July 2022, the WTO banned fishing subsidies to reduce global overfishing in a historic deal. Indeed, subsidies for fuel, fishing gear, and building new vessels, only incentivise overfishing and represent thus a huge problem. 

You might also like: 7 Solutions to Overfishing We Need Right Now

14. Cobalt Mining

Cobalt is quickly becoming the defining example of the mineral conundrum at the heart of the renewable energy transition. As a key component of battery materials that power electric vehicles (EVs), cobalt is facing a sustained surge in demand as decarbonisation efforts progress. The world’s largest cobalt supplier is the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where it is estimated that up to a fifth of the production is produced through artisanal miners.

Cobalt mining, however, is associated with dangerous workers’ exploitation and other serious environmental and social issues. The environmental costs of cobalt mining activities are also substantial. Southern regions of the DRC are not only home to cobalt and copper, but also large amounts of uranium. In mining regions, scientists have made note of high radioactivity levels. In addition, mineral mining, similar to other industrial mining efforts, often produces pollution that leaches into neighbouring rivers and water sources. Dust from pulverised rock is known to cause breathing problems for local communities as well.

15. Soil Degradation

Organic matter is a crucial component of soil as it allows it to absorb carbon from the atmosphere. Plants absorb CO2 from the air naturally and effectively through photosynthesis and part of this carbon is stored in the soil as soil organic carbon (SOC). Healthy soil has a minimum of 3-6% organic matter. However, almost everywhere in the world, the content is much lower than that.

According to the United Nations, about 40% of the planet’s soil is degraded. Soil degradation refers to the loss of organic matter, changes in its structural condition and/or decline in soil fertility and it is often the result of human activities, such as traditional farming practices including the use of toxic chemicals and pollutants. If business as usual continued through 2050, experts project additional degradation of an area almost the size of South America. But there is more to it. If we do not change our reckless practices and step up to preserve soil health, food security for billions of people around the world will be irreversibly compromised, with an estimated 40% less food expected to be produced in 20 years’ time despite the world’s population projected to reach 9.3 billion people.

Featured image by Earth.Org Photographer Roy Mangersnes

The post 15 Biggest Environmental Problems of 2024 appeared first on Earth.Org.

As people around the world become more aware of the importance of their daily choices and purchases, many businesses, too, are becoming more sustainable in how they operate to gain favour with consumers. In theory, this is a good thing, but many have simply put up a facade of sustainability while they continue to engage in activities that cause more waste or greenhouse gases. This is called ‘greenwashing’ – but what exactly is it and how can you avoid companies that engage in it?

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What Is Greenwashing?

Greenwashing is essentially when a company or organisation spends more time and money on marketing themselves as being sustainable than on actually minimising their environmental impact. It’s a deceitful advertising method to gain favour with consumers who choose to support businesses that care about bettering the planet. Greenwashing takes up valuable space in the fight against environmental issues, like climate change, plastic ocean pollution, air pollution and global species extinctions. 

The term “greenwashing” was coined by environmentalist Jay Westerveld in 1986 in an essay criticising the irony of the “save the towel” movement in hotels at the time. He noticed the vast amount of waste he had come across throughout the rest of the hotel, where there were no visible signs of efforts being made to become more sustainable. He said that instead, the hotel was simply trying to reduce costs by not having to wash towels as much but while trying to market it as being eco-friendly. 

Why Do Companies Engage in Greenwashing?

It’s simple – being seen as ethical drives profitability. A report by McKinsey found that Gen Z (people born roughly between 1996 and 2010) are more likely to spend money on companies and brands seen to be ethical. Another, Nielson’s Global Corporate Sustainability Report, found that 66% of consumers would spend more on a product if it comes from a sustainable brand, and that jumps to 73% among millennials. Therefore, companies have a financial incentive to be more socially conscious, or at least appear to. 

However, another reason that companies engage in greenwashing is far less insidious – they simply don’t know that they’re doing it. Many companies just don’t have the expertise to know what is truly environmentally beneficial, and what isn’t. In Australia, a company switched to using “biodegradable” plastic, which technically didn’t fully degrade, but instead just breaks down into smaller parts unless it’s processed in a digester specifically designed to create the conditions for biodegradation. What the company actually needed was a compostable bag, which is a different thing entirely. The consumer affairs watchdog in the country actually fined them to stop selling the product as it was completely false.

It is very likely that this company intended to be eco-friendly, but was caught out due to their lack of research on what actually constitutes as sustainable materials. This is why it’s so important for companies to do meaningful research on how to be sustainable and apply it to all stages of their operations, not only what consumers see. 

You might also like: 10 Companies Called Out For Greenwashing

What Are Some Examples of Greenwashing?

Unfortunately, there are many examples of organisations engaging in greenwashing. A classic example is Volkswagen, who admitted to cheating emissions tests by fitting various vehicles with a “defect” device, software which could detect when it was undergoing an emissions test and altering the performance to reduce the emissions level. All of this was while it was touting the low-emissions and eco-friendly features of its vehicles in marketing campaigns. In actuality, these engines were emitting up to 40 times the allowed limit for nitrogen oxide pollutants. 

Another is the fossil fuel giant BP, who changed their name to Beyond Petroleum and put solar panels on their gas stations, and then came under fire for their green misdirection. 

In 2018, Nestlé released a statement saying that it had “ambitions” for its packaging to be 100% recyclable or reusable by 2025. However, environmental groups were quick to point out that the company hadn’t released clear targets, a timeline to accompany its ambitions or additional efforts to help facilitate recycling by consumers. Greenpeace reacted to this by releasing its own searing statement, in which it said, “Nestlé’s statement on plastic packaging includes more of the same greenwashing baby steps to tackle a crisis it helped to create. It will not actually move the needle toward the reduction of single-use plastics in a meaningful way, and sets an incredibly low standard as the largest food and beverage company in the world.” In 2020, Nestlé, along with Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, were named the world’s top plastic polluters for the third year in a row. 

Finally, in 2017, Walmart paid USD$1 million to settle claims that it sold plastics misleadingly touted as being eco-friendly. In the US, California state law bans the sale of plastics labeled as “compostable” or “biodegradable,” as environmental officials have determined such claims are misleading without disclaimers about how quickly the product will biodegrade in landfill.

Half of the world’s disposable plastic has been produced in the last 16 years, and 91% of the plastic produced globally is not recycled. This is why companies making claims to be making “reusable plastic” are so harmful – we need to be creating less plastic. It’s all well and good to be creating plastic that is recyclable but the above statistics show that this is meaningless if this plastic is still going to end up in a landfill. Many types of plastic are difficult to recycle, either because countries don’t have the necessary machinery or because people simply don’t have the time/ will to recycle their goods. 

Fortunately, some countries are starting to crack down on marketing that greenwashes. In 2019, Norway’s Forbrukertilsynet (Consumer Authority) ruled last year that fast fashion brand H&M was under investigation for its supposedly ethical ‘Conscious’ collection. H&M and other fast fashion retailers are renowned for exploiting the vagueness of green terminology to appear more environmentally conscious and sell more clothes. This is a problem, because fast fashion is one of the biggest polluters on the planet, with more than £140 million worth of clothing ending up in UK landfills every year.

You might also like: Fast Fashion: Its Detrimental Effect on the Environment

How Can You Spot Greenwashing and Avoid It?

• Watch out for “fluffy language,” ie. words or terms with no clear meaning (eg “eco-friendly,” “produced sustainably,” etc)
• Declarations from a company that it is slightly greener than the rest, even if the rest are pretty terrible (eg. BP placing solar panels on its gas stations and saying that it is “working to be more sustainable”)
• “Greening” dangerous products to make it seem safe (eg, “eco-friendly” cigarettes)
• Using jargon or information that only a scientist could check or understand
• Providing no proof of a claim
• Presenting totally fabricated claims or data as fact
• Emphasising one tiny green attribute when everything else is dirty (eg again, BP and their solar panels)
• Companies that aren’t transparent or open, and don’t admit to making mistakes 

Besides watching out for this behaviour from companies, there are also some online tools and search engines, such as Project Cece and Ethical Made Easy, which can help you to find sustainable brands, and avoid ones that simply pretend to be sustainable. 

You might also like: ESG Investing in 2022: A Rising Trend Amid Greenwashing Concerns

The sustainable landscape today is not like in Jay Westerveld’s time in the 80s – we have the means to research brands we invest our time and money in. We have immense power as consumers; we create the landscape that businesses operate in, so where our money goes, their focus goes. We need to make sure that this focus goes towards sustainability. Businesses cannot get away with greenwashing anymore; as the climate crisis accelerates, we simply can’t waste any time in shifting to more eco-friendly practices.

The post Explainer: What Is Greenwashing and How to Avoid It? appeared first on Earth.Org.

Greenwashing can be as subtle as a misleading packaging choice all the way to fossil fuel companies touting themselves as being eco-champions. Either way, greenwashing is a harmful and deceitful way of advertising that a company is more sustainable than it actually is. Companies that make false claims should be held accountable. Here are 10 companies that have been caught greenwashing in various ways. 

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1. Volkswagen

A classic example of greenwashing is when Volkswagen admitted to cheating emissions tests by fitting various vehicles with a “defect” device,  with software that could detect when it was undergoing an emissions test and altering the performance to reduce the emissions level. 

This was going on while to the public the company was touting the low-emissions and eco-friendly features of its vehicles in marketing campaigns. In actuality, these engines were emitting up to 40 times the allowed limit for nitrogen oxide pollutants.

2. BP

Fossil fuel giant BP changed their name to Beyond Petroleum and publicly added solar panels on their gas stations. In December 2019, an environmental group called ClientEarth lodged a complaint against BP for misleading the public with its advertisements that focused on BP’s low-carbon energy products, when more than 96% of its annual spend is on oil and gas. 

3. ExxonMobil

Oil giant ExxonMobil has a long history of damaging the environment. In 1989, an Exxon oil tanker spilled 11 million gallons of crude oil into Alaska’s Prince William Sound, in what was the worst oil spill in US history until the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010. The Exxon oil spill covered 1,300 miles of coastline and killed hundreds of thousands of seabirds, otters, seals and whales. More than 30 years later, pockets of crude oil remain in some locations. 

Recently, ExxonMobil came under fire for advertising that suggested that its experimental algae biofuels could one day reduce transport emissions, while it has no company-wide net zero target and its 2025 emission reduction targets do not include the vast majority of emissions resulting from its products.

4. Nestlé

In 2018, Nestlé released a statement saying that it had “ambitions” for its packaging to be 100% recyclable or reusable by 2025. However, environmental groups and other critics pointed out that the company hadn’t released clear targets, a timeline to accompany its ambitions or additional efforts to help facilitate recycling by consumers. Greenpeace reacted to this by releasing its own statement, in which it said, “Nestlé’s statement on plastic packaging includes more of the same greenwashing baby steps to tackle a crisis it helped to create. It will not actually move the needle toward the reduction of single-use plastics in a meaningful way, and sets an incredibly low standard as the largest food and beverage company in the world.” In Break Free From Plastic’s 2020 annual report, Nestlé, along with Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, were named the world’s top plastic polluters for the third year in a row. 

5. Coca-Cola

In the annual report mentioned above by Break Free From Plastic, Coca-Cola was ranked as the world’s number 1 plastic polluter, it’s second consecutive year at the top. In 2020, the company came under fire when it announced that it would not abandon plastic bottles, saying that they were popular with customers. 

Despite this, the company is adamant that it is making progress in tackling packaging waste. At the time, a spokesperson said, “Globally, we have a commitment to get every bottle back by 2030, so that none of it ends up as litter or in the oceans, and the plastic can be recycled into new bottles. Bottles with 100% recycled plastic are now available in 18 markets around the world, and this is continually growing.”

Then, in June 2021, environmental organisation Earth Island Institute filed a lawsuit against the beverage giant for falsely advertising that it is sustainable and eco-friendly despite being the largest plastic polluter in the world. 

You might also like: Greenwashing: What is it, Why is it a Problem, and How to Avoid It

6. Starbucks

In 2018, Starbucks released a “straw-less lid,” as part of its sustainability drive, however this lid contained more plastic than the old lid and straw combination. The company didn’t dispute this, but claimed that it is made from polypropylene, a commonly-accepted recyclable plastic that “can be captured in recycling infrastructure.” Critics were quick to point out that only 9% of the world’s plastic is recycled, so the company shouldn’t assume all the lids would be recycled. Further, the US exports about one-third of its recycling to developing countries, so it is simply passing its responsibility to poorer countries.

7. IKEA

IKEA was considered a beacon of a major corporation being sustainable before June 2020 when the furniture retailer was linked with illegal logging in Ukraine. In a report by NGO Earthsight, the wood certification scheme IKEA uses, Forest Stewardship Council, was described as an organisation that greenwashes the timber industry. It was accused of failing to catch IKEA’s sourcing of conflict wood, and act on it. 

Further, when IKEA built its “most sustainable store” yet in London in 2019, it did so on top of another sustainable store that was demolished after just 17 years of use. 

8. Plastic Bottle Water Companies 

A more subtle form of greenwashing can be seen in plastic water bottle companies like Poland Spring, Evian and Deer Park, that all have nature on their labels. This is laughably ironic considering that plastic water bottles are designed to be single-use and are contributing to the massive plastic waste crisis around the world. 

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9. Major Banks

The past several years have seen major financial institutions talking a big game about combating climate change yet these are more examples of companies exercising greenwashing strategies. JP Morgan, Citibank and Bank of America have issued new “green investment” opportunities. However, a report released last year by the Rainforest Action Network showed that big banks – the ones mentioned above, but also including Wells Fargo, Barclays, Bank of China, HSBC, Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank – were still lending enormous sums to the industries that contribute the most to global warming, like fossil fuels and deforestations, while boasting that they’re the leaders of the green transition.

10. Fast Fashion Brands

H&M, Zara and Uniqlo are among the companies that were caught greenwashing over the years. These fashion brands contribute to the massive amounts of textile waste caused by the clothing industry. According to the fashion nonprofit ReMake, 80% of discarded textiles globally are incinerated or landfill-bound, with just 20% being reused or recycled.

Fast fashion brands also have a habit of advertising its green initiatives widely, despite it being a tiny part of its operations. For example, in 2019, H&M launched its own line of “green” clothing titled “Conscious.” The company claims to use “organic” cotton and recycled polyester. However, the line is nothing but a marketing tactic used to make themselves appear more environmentally friendly. When looking at H&M’s “Conscious” line, its mission states: “Shop our selection of sustainable fashion pieces that make you both look and feel good.” However, there is no single legal definition for marketing-friendly words such as “sustainable,” “green,” or “environmentally-friendly.” H&M was then criticised by the Norwegian Customer Authority for “misleading” marketing of their Conscious Collection because “the information given regarding sustainability was not sufficient, especially given that the Conscious Collection is advertised as a collection with environmental benefits.”

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Water pollution is putting our health at risk. Unsafe water kills more people each year than war and all other forms of violence combined. Meanwhile, less than 1% of the Earth’s freshwater is actually accessible to us and it’s in our best interest to protect what we have, especially considering that by 2050, global demand for freshwater is expected to be one-third greater than it is now. Here are six causes of water pollution, as well as what we can do to reduce it.

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Water is uniquely vulnerable to pollution because it’s able to dissolve more substances than any other liquid on Earth. Toxic substances from farms, towns, and factories readily dissolve into and mix with it, which causes water pollution as a result.

6 Most Common Causes of Water Pollution

1. Sewage and Wastewater 

According to the UN, more than 80% of the world’s wastewater flows back into the environment without being treated or reused; in some least-developed countries, this figure tops 95%. Harmful chemicals and bacteria can be found in sewage and wastewater even after it’s been treated. Households release sewage and wastewater, which makes its way to the ocean, mixing with freshwater and affecting the water quality and marine life. Also, the bacteria and pathogens found in wastewater breed disease, and cause health-related issues in humans and animals. 

2. Oil Spills

Large oil spills and leaks are some of most significant causes of water pollution. These are often caused by oil drilling operations in the ocean, but nearly half of the estimated 1 million tons of oil that makes its way into marine environments each year come not from oil tankers, but from land-based sources like factories, farms and cities. In England and Wales, there are about 3,000 pollution incidents involving oil and fuel each year. Oil makes drinking water unsafe and a substantial amount of oil released into oceans or become river water pollution, will destroy marine life and the ecosystems that support them. What’s more, oil reduces the oxygen supply within the water environment. Oil is also naturally released from under the ocean floor through fractures known as seeps.

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3. Industrial Waste

Industrial waste is one of the biggest sources of water contamination. Many industrial sites produce waste in the form of toxic chemicals and pollutants, and some don’t have proper waste management systems in place. Sometimes, industrial waste is dumped into nearby freshwater systems. The toxic chemicals leached from this waste can make the water unsafe for human consumption, and they can also cause the temperature in freshwater systems to change, making them dangerous for marine life. Finally, industrial waste can cause “dead zones,” which are areas of water that contain so little oxygen that marine life cannot survive in them.

4. Agricultural Runoff

To protect crops from pests, farmers use pesticides, however when these substances seep into the groundwater, they can harm animals, plants and humans. Additionally, when it rains, the chemicals mix with rainwater, which flows into waterways and creates further pollution. Other agricultural processes such as uncontrolled spreading of slurries and manures, tillage and ploughing the land can also cause water pollution.

5. Marine Dumping and Plastic Pollution in the Sea

Most items collected and dumped into oceans by many countries can take anywhere from two to 200 years to decompose completely! Other sources of waste at sea include plastic and other materials blown or washed from land. Currently, about 11 million metric tons of plastic make their way into the oceans each year. Research has found that should this rate of pollution continues, the amount of ocean plastics will grow to 29 million metric tons per year by 2040. The damage to wildlife habitats and to life on land is incalculable. 

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6. Radioactive Waste

Radioactive waste can persist in the environment for thousands of years, making disposal a major challenge and one of the most harmful water contaminants. Radioactive waste released from facilities that create nuclear energy can be extremely harmful to the environment and must be disposed of properly; uranium, the element used in the creation of nuclear energy, is a highly toxic chemical. Accidents occur at these facilities from time to time, and toxic waste is released into the environment.

In April 2021, Japan discharged contaminated water containing radioactive materials from the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea. Though the Japanese government claims potential health risks and damage to marine life to be minimal as the waste water have been treated, close monitoring is required to ensue there are no environment effects from the water pollution. 

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How Can You Reduce Water Pollution?

• Reduce your plastic consumption and reuse or recycle plastic when you can. 
• Properly dispose of chemical cleaners, oils and non-biodegradable items.
• Use phosphate-free detergents – phosphates lead to algae blooms and kill fish and other aquatic animals by reducing the oxygen in the water. 
• Dispose of medical waste properly.
• Eat more organic food, which is produced without the use of pesticides.
• Cut down on your meat consumption – raising animals for meat takes lots of water for the grains and other feed they need. Furthermore, the antibiotics and solid waste are both likely to end up in groundwater and rivers.

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According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), air pollution from coal, oil and gas burning sources kills nearly 9 million people worldwide every year. The same data shows that 99% of the world population currently live in places with air quality that exceeds WHO guideline limits, breathing in high levels of pollutants. These deaths occur as a result of increased mortality from stroke, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer, and acute respiratory infections. We know that air pollution is most prevalent in middle- to low-income countries as a result of poor pollution standards and industrial work and development, but which cities are the most polluted in the world? Earth.Org has gathered data to find the 15 most polluted cities in the world. 

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These results have been taken from IQAir’s 2021 World Air Quality Report which was compiled using data aggregated from over 80,000 data points. IQAir is a Swiss air quality technology company, specialising in protection against airborne pollutants, developing air quality monitoring and air cleaning products. 

Top 15 Most Polluted Cities in the World 2021

1. Bhiwadi, India – 106.2 (PM2.5 average)
2. Ghaziabad, India- 102
3. Hotan, China- 101.5
4. Delhi, India- 96.4
5. Jaunpur, India – 95.3
6. Faisalabad, Pakistan – 94.2
7. Noida, India- 91.4
8. Bahawalpur, India – 91
9. Peshawar, India – 89.6
10. Bagpat, India – 89.1
11. Hisar, India – 89
12. Faridabad, India – 88.9
13. Greater Noida, India – 87.5
14. Rohtak, India – 86.9
15. Lahore, Pakistan – 86.5

What Are the Causes and Effects of Air Pollution?

The biggest sources of air pollution around the world are from burning fossil fuels in power plants to generate electricity, including coal, oil and natural gas, as well to power fossil fuel-based vehicles and other modes of transportation. The burning process releases significant amounts of air pollutants, emissions and chemicals into the air and atmosphere. These air pollutants, namely nitrogen oxides, would often react to ultraviolet radiation (UV rays) from the sun and forms into smog, which poses higher risks of respiratory illnesses.

Aside from deeply harmful effects to the human body, air pollution can impact the environment too, causing phenomenas such as acid rain and reduced crop yields to to reproductive failure and diseases in wildlife animals.

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Air Pollution in India

Shockingly, 12 of the world’s 15 most polluted cities are in India. What’s more, the country is also home to 63 of 100 of the most polluted places. 

The Lancet estimates that air pollution kills more than 1 million people in the country every year. The IQAir report says that on average, India’s cities exceed WHO guidelines for the amount of PM2.5 in the atmosphere by 10 times.  Following the updated air pollution guidelines adopted the WHO and based on air quality data for PM2.5 in 2021, people in New Delhi, which was ranked as the capital with the worst air quality in the world, are breathing air 13.2 times higher than the new limit.

Air pollution in India are caused by fumes from vehicular traffic and exacerbated by diesel generators and the burning of fossil fuels in cooking by poorer families. This is in addition to industry as well as the burning of waste and farmers setting fields alight after crops are harvested.

The country is making progress, thanks to its National Clean Air Programme which aims to reduce air pollution levels by up to 30% by 2024. India is also planning the world’s largest expansion of renewable energy by 2022. 

Air Pollution in China

Despite 1.25 million Chinese people dying early each year from air pollution, a study has shown that annual deaths peaked in 2013 and are now below 1990 levels, owing to concerted efforts by major cities to reduce particle pollution. Industry and traffic were cleaned up as well as tackling fuels used at home; in 2005, 61% of Chinese homes cooked using coal or wood, which was reduced to 32% in 2017. In Beijing, coal heating was banned in favour of natural gas and clean energy has been promoted countrywide. 

China is investing more in solar energy than any other nation, representing 45% of all global investment in solar. By 2024, it is expected that China will be generating twice as much power from solar as the US. However, 98% of the nation’s urban areas still exceed previous WHO guidelines and 53% exceed China’s own less stringent national standards. But there has been some promising progress: Chinese officials have announced in 2021 that Beijing has met state air quality standards for the first time in 2020, hitting the goal almost a decade earlier than expected. The 2021 IQAir report also found that air quality in the country has vastly improved where more than half its cities saw lower levels of air pollution in 2021 compared to the previous year. The improvement can be attributed to stringent measures in recent years to reduce national coal consumption, emissions from transportation and relocating polluting heavy industries.

In a surprise move, the country pledged in 2020 to be carbon neutral by 2060 – a massive task for the world’s largest polluter that will no doubt come with challenges – the country will need to cease its investments in coal and ramp up its already-rigorous investments in renewable energy. It will also need to invest in carbon capture and storage technologies. 

How Can We Tackle Air Pollution?

Most importantly, countries need to be able to access real-time pollution data; many countries, especially within Africa and the Middle East, lack this data. To address this issue, IQAir claims that a range of global citizens and NGOs are attempting to fill in data gaps with their own data sensors. 

The post 15 Most Polluted Cities in the World appeared first on Earth.Org.

The European Union’s Green Deal lays out the steps to help the bloc achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 and is one of the most ambitious government plans ever put forward to tackle climate change. One of its policies is the Europe Union carbon border tax or the carbon border adjustment mechanism. Just what is this and how can it be used to tackle climate change? We take a closer look.

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To begin with, goods produced in the European Union (EU) will be more expensive than those that aren’t subject to emissions-reducing regulations, which will make local businesses less competitive against global businesses. However, to keep companies from leaving the bloc, EU policymakers are figuring out how to penalise imports of carbon-intensive goods.

The idea of a carbon border tax for Europe was first given in July 2019, and is today called a carbon border adjustment mechanism. The World Trade Organization doesn’t like protectionism, so this mechanism could spare countries that already put a price on carbon emissions. According to the World Bank, only 27 countries have implemented some form of carbon tax, and 13% of global emissions are subject to carbon pricing. 

How Will it Work?

According to Bloomberg, the carbon border adjustment mechanism will function similarly to the EU Emissions Trading System, one of the world’s biggest carbon market – China currently claims the title. In such a system, importers of emissions-intensive goods pay a charge linked to what they would’ve had to pay if they’d been covered by Europe’s carbon-reduction laws in the first place. This is all to prevent and reduce the risk of ‘carbon leakage’. The price of carbon in the programme is at about 90 Euros per tonne, the highest point it’s ever been and markedly so following the recent UN climate summit where nearly 200 nations agreed to reduce the use of fossil fuels and to “phase down” coal. 

Challenges

There are challenges that Europe needs to address to implement the mechanism, ranging from political issues to technical factors such as how to determine the amount of carbon embedded in a product and how to credit countries outside the bloc. What’s more, a penalty system has yet to be determined. 

In July 2021, the European Commission, EU’s executive branch, announced a raft of new policies to meet the ambitious targets set out in the EU Green Deal, and confirmed that the carbon border tax will not be fully implemented until January 2026. This means that significant carbon emissions continue to be unregulated and released into the atmosphere during trading and transportation in the next few years.

One of the biggest sticking points of the mechanism is whether the free carbon allowances currently given to businesses seen as most likely to leave the EU will continue. However, keeping these allowances would make the mechanism incompatible with World Trade Organization rules. 

Further, the mechanism could cause diplomatic unease and potential international trading tensions with countries Russia, China and even the US. Many EU trading partners including Russia criticised the proposal, have claimed that they could potentially lose up to US$7.6 billion from the carbon border tax.

What Industries Will it Include?

It will be limited to a few sectors, with power, cement, steel, aluminium, and fertilisers the likeliest candidates, mostly involving Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and China. It will be designed to enable a gradual extension into other industries over the coming years. 

How Much Money Will the Mechanism Bring in?

The commission estimates that the mechanism could raise anything from US$6billion to $16billion per year. However, this will depend on which industries are included in the scheme. Commission officials, in a policy brief in December 2020, said, “Any revenues should rather be channelled towards developing countries for climate purposes, or towards helping global industry decarbonise.”

However, the mechanism has faced charges of being unfair, with emerging economies like South Africa, India, Brazil and China calling the policy “discriminatory.” In a joint statement, the four countries “expressed grave concern regarding the proposal for introducing trade barriers such as unilateral carbon border adjustment”. They described the proposal as “discriminatory and against the principles of equity and [common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities].”

Featured image by: Max Pixel

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Climate feedback loops are processes that either amplify or diminish the effects of climate factors. Essentially, they make the impacts of key climate factors stronger or weaker, starting a chain reaction that repeats again and again.

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What is a Feedback Loop?

There are negative and positive climate feedback loops. A positive feedback loop accelerates a temperature rise, while a negative feedback loop decelerates it. 

There are a number of positive feedback loops in the climate system. An example is melting ice. Because ice is light-coloured and reflective, much of the sunlight that hits it bounces back into space, which limits the amount of warming it causes. However, as the planet gets hotter, ice melts, revealing the darker-coloured land or water below. This results in more of the sun’s energy being absorbed, leading to more warming, which leads to more ice melting- and so on. 

An example of a negative feedback loop is if the increase in temperature increases the amount of cloud cover. The increased cloud thickness or amount could reduce incoming solar radiation and limit warming. However, it is not clear, if additional cloud cover occurs, at what latitudes and at what times it might occur. It’s also not clear what types of clouds might be created- thick low clouds would have a stronger ability to block sunlight than extensive high (cirrus) type clouds.

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Earth’s Own Feedback Loop

Other climate feedback loops are discussed below: 

• Clouds– clouds reflect about one-third of the total amount of sunlight that hits the Earth’s atmosphere back into space. Even small changes in cloud amount, location and type could have negative consequences. As mentioned above, a warmer climate could cause more water to be held in the atmosphere, leading to an increase in cloudiness and altering the amount of sunlight that reaches the surface of the Earth. Less heat would get absorbed, which could slow the increased warming.
• Precipitation– precipitation will generally increase due to the increased amount of water held in a warmer atmosphere, but not everywhere- some regions may dry out instead. Changes in precipitation patterns, such as increased water availability, may cause an increase in plant growth, which in turn could potentially remove more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
• Greening of the forests– natural processes like tree growth, remove about half of human carbon dioxide emissions from the atmosphere each year. However, the ability of the oceans or forests to continue absorbing carbon dioxide may decline as the world warms, leading to faster accumulation in the atmosphere.

Negative feedback loops are vital in the global climate system. Without the regulating action of the negative feedback loop, a positive loop can spiral out of control, creating irreversible changes in the climate system. This is called a “tipping point.” 

Some examples of tipping points are discussed below:

• Ocean circulation– As Arctic sea ice and the Greenland ice sheet melt, ocean circulation in the Atlantic may divert the Gulf Stream, which would significantly change regional weather patterns. A change in the Gulf Stream could lead to a significant cooling in Western Europe. 
• Ice loss– If enough ice melts, causing Earth’s surface to absorb more and more heat, then we may hit a point of no return as shrinking ice sheets contribute to sea level rise. 
• Methane release– Frozen methane and carbon dioxide lie beneath permafrost in Arctic regions. About a quarter of the Northern hemisphere is covered by permafrost. As the environment warms and the permafrost thaws, these deposits can be released into the atmosphere and present a risk of enhanced warming.

Feedback loops such as these are complex in themselves and even more complex when considered as part of an integrated global climate system. Some are already at work, while others have yet to kick in. Others still – both positive and negative – may yet be discovered. 

Featured image by: Sravanthi Simhadri

The post What are Feedback Loops? appeared first on Earth.Org.