Deal With IT's Secretary Victoria Nicholls writes a regular column in the East Kent Mercury :A recent report from meteorologists has informed us that there are more greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere now than at any time in the past. Despite many countries trying to de-carbonise their power production, many more are going all out for industrial growth with fossil fuels as a base. It is difficult to expect developing countries, who want to follow our example and have all the amenities that we have, to slow their development to take into consideration climate change. Many countries, however, do have a much more sustainable lifestyle than us because they are not as industrialised and they are also likely to suffer the more serious effects of a warming planet. The oceans are becoming far more acidic with the absorption of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This has a catastrophic effect on the food chain and this has consequences for many species around the world.
We have all enjoyed a very long summer here this year that has also given us sufficient rain to keep our gardens looking good. What if future years give us much more heat but no rain? This is always a possibility as the climate warms. We do not know what kind of winter we will have as yet and dread the thought of another winter of torrential rain and awful flooding.
The world is becoming perilously close to leaving it too late to tackle the problems of excessive carbon emissions – let us hope that nations will work together for a low carbon future. Victoria Nicholls. Transition Deal.
