Steps on the way to a climate-positive future
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As early as the 1980s, scientists pointed out imminent climate change and developed models with various scenarios. At the beginning of the new millennium, it was already possible to observe how, for example, the ice on the polar caps was actually retreating more and more. This made the scientists' predictions visible to everyone for the first time. In the course of the following years up to the present day, however, it has become apparent that, unfortunately, even the predictions developed by the scientists at the time as the "worst case scenario" will still be exceeded if we continue as before. Climate change is already noticeable today - especially in areas of the world that are not responsible for it. In 2019, a UN report warned of accelerating mass extinctions of up to a million species. And in the same year, more than 11,000 scientists from all over the world signed an urgent appeal to counteract the impending climate catastrophe. In December 2020, UN Secretary-General Guterres called for a global climate emergency to be declared.
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The problem: climate change is still hardly noticeable or comprehensible for most of us in everyday life. At the moment, the main problems are being felt by people in places in the world that are not in our daily news - and that are very far away from us. Just as far away as our future and that of our children. But if we wait longer until we all literally feel the consequences in our everyday lives, they will already be irreversible - many species have become extinct, habitats have been destroyed, climate refugees as well as extreme weather are the order of the day, ... Because already today we can also in Germany We see the consequences when we look: non-stop heat records, accompanied by deaths from the heat, extreme drought in many areas of Germany, combined with crop failures and extreme forest damage (only every fourth tree in Germany is without recognizable damage), hurricanes and floods, .. Climate change has already started - but the question is to what degree we can still limit it.
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We will only be able to achieve the sustainability goals we have set ourselves if we finally understand the enormous dimensions of the problems. It is not enough just to fly less, eat less meat and use less plastic. We need major systematic changes, a binding political framework that enables a rapid change of course. But here, too, it is up to each of us: we have to signal to the politicians that we want this - this is the only way to make climate protection an election campaign issue, and this is the only way to stand up for it after the elections.
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We all have two tasks:
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1. Hold decision-makers accountable to put the future of our planet and the well-being of our children first in all their planning.
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2. Rethink our own lifestyle. We have to face the challenges that a low-carbon lifestyle poses to us. We can experience how much quality of life we can even gain as a result.
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Let's just start :)
Together we can take many small steps towards a beautiful future worth living in.
