A Trip To Heron Island, Seminar With Climate Council
The climate is always been gradually changing.
However, the climate has changed 170x faster between the industrial revolution and now, than in the 7000 years before that...
Natural disasters are becoming more intense on a world scale.
Droughts, uncontrollable fires, unpredictable floods and extreme weather conditions are a reality for us all, NOW.
In 2019 I was offered the incredible opportunity to visit Heron Island with the Climate Council for a weekend seminar, amongst one of Australia's most incredibly stunning yet volatile natural wonders,
-The Great Barrier Reef.
Facts
1. In 2015, 19 million people were displaced due toe climates related factors.
2. 20 of the hottest days on record were in the last 22 years.
3. Australia has experiences 9 out or 10 of the hottest days recorded since 2005-present
4. Our oceans are absorbing excess heat and co2, causing rising temperatures and increased acidity which is threatening to all sea life.
However, it is not all doom and gloom.
Positive action can be made my preventing the rise in the worlds overall temperature... We can prevent the rise of CO2 emissions entering our atmosphere by reducing the burning of fossil fuels for energy and fuel. There are some incredible innovative ideas and technologies already developed for to actively remove CO2 from the atmosphere and store it. Some examples are Renewable energy, Regenerative marine agriculture which is - growing seaweed which can absorb carbon and provide food for humans and animals)
We can also make individual choices to not destroy the environment with out dollar - not investing our money in banks or companies who actively participate in deforestation, large scale meat agriculture, mining of fossil fuels and the list goes on. I have attached a graph for the major contributors of Climate Change.
It's not black and white, climate change is complex and it can be overwhelmed to delve into the many causes and effects. It can make you feel small, like your keep-cup just wont make a different in the long run. but revery little change helps.
The biggest and perhaps most important questions to ask -
How can we have open conversations about how we feel?
How can we take action as individuals
What flow on effect can we have in our circles of friends and communities?
How do we transform Individual change into Systemic change?