Climate catastrophe approaching

By Nicole Feriancek, Opinions Contributor

Climate change is no longer about energy saving light bulbs and reusable grocery bags. It’s the single biggest problem humanity has ever faced. Ever. It’s being called a climate catastrophe.
You might not believe me.
Climate change is a good thing, you might tell me. Hey, I wouldn’t mind Nova Scotia being a few degrees warmer either, but did you know that the sea ice in the Polar Regions has shrunk to its lowest level ever in known history?
Of course you did, intelligent readers.
Did you know that 80 per cent of the world’s forests are gone? That the remaining old growth forests are being chopped down as you read this, to make flyers that you immediately throw away?
By the way, when you throw something away, where is “away”, exactly?
Think about it.
OK, you’re getting the point – plastic bags are bad, pollution sucks, human beings are stupid.
But let’s talk about just how stupid we are. Canadians in particular.
Well, Canada is in the top 10 most polluting nations in the world. Canada is polluting more and faster than any other G8 country. Canada’s tarsands are the most destructive means of extracting oil on the planet. More carbon is released into the atmosphere by the tarsands than any other oil exporter.
You all know that carbon in our atmosphere is bad, and that it’s the cause of rising global temperatures.
Think of it like this: our Earth’s atmosphere can only hold so much carbon safely (350 parts per billion). Currently we are at 378.
“Carbon pollution is being trapped in our atmosphere, creating a heat trapping blanket that is smothering the earth,” says Tzeporah Berman, environmental activist.
The tipping point between safety and chaos is 350. At the rate our world is polluting, in eight years, we will have reached 450 parts per billion of carbon in our atmosphere. At this point, it will be out of our hands. Global warming will be on a downward spiral that can no longer be affected by human actions. Mass devastation will be inevitable. We have one last chance to fix the wrongs we have done to our environment.
This December, every world leader and country will get together in Copenhagen to talk about solutions to create a new Kyoto Protocol. Canada has no solidified plan for negotiations.
Our government is actively ignoring the issue, to the point of disrupting international discussions.
If any of this made you think, or made you feel any shame or negativity for Canada, you need to let our politicians know. Write a letter to your member of parliament. Call them. Leave a message saying you’re discouraged, that you expect better.
Stand up. Say something. Let’s all wake up and stop ignoring global warming and let our government know why.