Heatwaves will make city life unbearable, permafrost accumulated over thousands of years will thaw, releasing microorganisms, bacteria, and viruses that could lead to unknown diseases. A million animal species will disappear completely, and floods and landslides will become more frequent, claiming more lives, as will fires. Some will try to flee to safer places around the globe and become refugees, while others will feel encroached upon.
It will become increasingly difficult to grow fruits and vegetables because the land will no longer be fertile. We will fight over food, water, and resources, because we are currently using them at a pace too rapid for Earth's regeneration. There will be civil wars, exacerbating existing conflicts.
So, it's not just about saving the planet, but about saving ourselves. What is to be done?
We have only one chance: to slow down the pace. The pace at which we live, consume, and heat the planet. How? By reducing the greenhouse gases we release into the atmosphere: carbon dioxide, methane, nitrogen, fluorine.
The largest amount of carbon dioxide comes from burning fossil fuels—coal, oil, and natural gas—which formed over millions of years from plant and animal remains deep within the Earth.
Because one aspect has already been unequivocally established by the scientific community: the main reason we have reached this level of global warming is us, humans, and our activities. These activities are almost exclusively carried out by burning fossil fuels and polluting excessively. The way we've come to agriculture, transport goods and ourselves, produce energy, build, live, heat and cool our homes, simply exist. Everything must change.
If we want to give life, as we know it today, a chance.
How much time do we have?
Climate experts say that by 2030, we must halve the amount of carbon dioxide we release into the air. And by 2050, we must reach zero. Zero greenhouse gas emissions.
The effort is colossal. And it must be a common one, involving individuals, organizations of all kinds, and governments.
It is imperative that we reset, transitioning from our current way of life to what is called sustainable development. Or sustainability. With greater care for resources, less waste, and fewer greenhouse gases.
Change will come upon us regardless. That is already clear. What matters is how it finds us. Already prepared or taken by surprise.
The Power of Community
This is the purpose of this space, eEco.ro. To help us make the change as easily as possible, given the circumstances. To bring together for everyone, people and companies, all existing resources and all the information we need. To work together. To form partnerships, to learn from each other, to all re-learn to collaborate. Only then will we succeed.