Category: PERFORMING ARTS TA_Individuals_MOREWAYS

Before you hit play on a new song, think about how many times you might listen to it. Believe it or not, this decision can have a small, but real impact on climate change — and the artist.

We’ve recycled in my household for years, so it was only natural that my daughter, Sofie, was exposed to the concept early on. With early exposure, recycling becomes as habitual as putting garbage in the trash can.

Here’s the thing: Small changes alone won’t save our planet. To keep the Earth from warming above the critical 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) limit, climate action needs to happen at an institutional level. The Washington Post has built a tracker to keep you up to date on all of President’s Biden’s environmental actions.

Veganuary, a campaign that started in the U.K. to get people to give up meat and dairy for the month, is in its third year in the U.S., where it’s catching on slowly.

Climate activism is what happens when people from all over the world come together to put pressure on national and business leaders to take action to safeguard a liveable future. Solving the climate crisis requires making rapid social and technological change for which “there is no documented historic precedent,” as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) put it.

A couple of months ago, the International Panel on Climate Change published their last report. It was awful. Carbon and methane emissions are killing everything. Not only us humans, literally, with all those fumes from cars, factories, and ships, but also the atmosphere, worsening the greenhouse effect and making the temperature rise, slow but steady.

BBC News recently ran a post titled, “Climate change quiz: How can you cut your carbon emissions?” In it, the quizmasters ask “how can you play your part at home, and what changes would have the most impact?” Having recently written a book about this very subject, I thought I would give it a shot and expected to ace it.

People who never considered themselves at risk from climate change are waking up to floods and fires. From June 2021 to August 2021, 1 in 3 Americans experienced a weather disaster. Preparing for the next one may be the thing that saves your life and maybe even some of your things.

As our planet faces the challenges of climate change, population growth, and dwindling natural resources, many people are looking for ways to take small steps to make a big difference. This can mean familiar measures like cutting back on your carbon footprint by using less electricity and fuel-based transportation methods.

We are often encouraged as individuals to reduce our personal impact on the climate, but the truth is some people’s actions have greater effect than others. The super-rich “polluter elite” immediately come to mind. But if, like us, you are college educated, have a white-collar job, live in a prosperous neighborhood or earn more than $38,000 (£28,000) a year, you are of “high socio-economic status” globally and you have disproportionate power and responsibility that will be critical for averting catastrophic climate change.