And what's a SUP, anyway?
My two children (14 and 11) went back to school this week and it felt, after a long, HOT summer, like this was a watershed.
They are both at secondary school now; adults-in-waiting, getting ready to take up their place in the world, later this decade.
But unless we start to take action as a society - a global society - the world they finally enter might not be a very stable or hospitable place. Or at least not for very much longer.
I will try to go into more detail about my understanding of the science behind the climate emergency - and its potential consequences - in a different post, but I've never before felt so aware of how little time we have to prevent dire future repercussions. The climate emergency is now.
There are still dissenting voices, of course, many swayed by the determination of lobbyists in industries reliant on fossil fuel to minimise or undermine research and campaigns on green issues. But nearly all scientists agree: act now, or the world could become completely inhospitable for us and most other species. Permanently.
The evidence is overwhelming and the science points in only one direction. The Wikipedia entry for climate change pulls no punches:
Due to climate change, deserts are expanding, while heat waves and wildfires are becoming more common. Increased warming in the Arctic has contributed to melting permafrost, glacial retreat and sea ice loss. Higher temperatures are also causing more intense storms, droughts, and other weather extremes. Rapid environmental change in mountains, coral reefs, and the Arctic is forcing many species to relocate or become extinct. Climate change threatens people with food and water scarcity, increased flooding, extreme heat, more disease, and economic loss. Human migration and conflict can also be a result. The World Health Organization (WHO) calls climate change the greatest threat to global health in the 21st century.
As things stand, human impact on the environment has already raised global temperatures by an average of 1.2°C (compared to the pre-industrial baseline). Under the 2015 Paris Agreement, countries pledged to keep warming 'well under' 2°C; however, hitting this target will require real and immediate action. Limiting warming to 1.5°C, for example, would require halving emissions by 2030 and achieving 'net-zero' by 2050. Otherwise, we could be looking at 2.7°C by 2100, which would be, almost certainly, catastrophic.
Climate emergency
Action on the climate emergency can be tiny - putting out the recycling each week or taking the train to work instead of driving a couple of days a week - or it can be bigger: installing a ground heat pump and solar panels or investing in a green-tech start-up. But unless a critical mass of people start to take action, it probably won't amount to much.
At a societal level, deeper cuts to emissions will require transition away from burning fossil fuels and towards electricity generated in low-carbon ways. This has to be a priority; although it is worrying that in response to the energy crisis forecast for the coming winter, our new Prime Minister, Liz Truss, has opted, instead, to focus on lifting the ban on fracking rather than investment in renewables, nuclear power or technology to either boost clean energy production or capture the carbon that is already in the atmosphere.
Given that this decade is crucial in the drive to limit warming by 2100, carbon has to be the focus of most energy in this debate (pardon the pun). But human environmental impact and despoliation goes beyond emissions and we need to keep that in mind as well.
Plastics are now everywhere: microplastics are a threat to marine life and can be found in Arctic snowfall. It is claimed that we each eat the equivalent of a credit card per week and that it can cross the placenta! Our seas are becoming more acidic (and, in the UK, increasingly polluted by raw sewage, as water companies fail to invest in better infrastructure). Biodiversity is threatened by over-population and over-fishing, the Ozone layer has still not recovered from the use of CFCs in common household goods and heavy industry (mining, fracking, etc.) cause erosion, soil and groundwater contamination and can even lead to earthquakes and the appearance of sinkholes.
Underlying most of this, is the economic necessity to make ourselves slaves to continual growth and profit. This mindset will have to change if progress on warming is to be meaningful or sustained.
And whilst a few are already committed climate campaigners, winning over the apathetic, as well as the outright doubters, will mean finding ways to make it easier than ever for people to choose the 'green' option over the current norm.
Ultimately, combatting a crisis of this magnitude will require nothing less than the complete overhaul of our society's outlook and operation.
What needs to happen next?
Just because the challenges are huge, there is no excuse for giving in. Every saved car journey, recycled plastic bottle and newly planted tree can make a positive difference.
All that's really required is determination. If you look hard enough, anyone can find ways to reduce (or completely avoid) their contribution to carbon emissions. It may not be easy, but it can often also save you money and make you fitter and happier.
SUP (Stand Up Paddle) boarding may not (quite) be a viable option for commuting, but it's certainly a much kinder way to while away an hour at the weekend than taking an SUV off-road (or just driving it on the road).
What the world needs is more SUPs, not SUVs.
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