What if we could see what we’re doing? One of the challenges of climate change as a global problem is that the underlying cause—greenhouse gas emissions—is largely invisible. We associate “emissions” with “pollution”, which is correct in this case, but we’ve done a much better job of cleaning up the visible emissions (like the smog that blanketed Los Angeles starting in the 1950s) than we have with greenhouse gas emissions. And part of that may be the fact that it’s not in our faces like other emissions are. Richard Alley, a geoscientist at Penn State and an IPCC member, notes in this Marketplace story that in the 19th century we had much more visible “emissions” from our horse-based transportation system. If our roads were being covered in waste at the pace of about an inch per year, perhaps we’d feel a greater sense of urgency about cleaning it up.
And not only can we not see it, but it doesn’t stay in one place. Arguably Los Angeles was motivated to clean up its act because they could see the problem and it was clear that the source was local, so that local actions could help address a local problem. Greenhouse gases, on the other hand, don’t stay local; while particulate emissions like soot are heavy enough to fall out of the atmosphere within a few hundred miles of where they are emitted, CO2 stays in the atmosphere for hundreds of years. That means that it circles the globe in just a few weeks, and eventually mixes entirely into the global atmosphere within a year or so, which makes anyone’s local greenhouse gas emissions a global problem.
I was struck by this today when I saw the image above (in a display from the Korea Green Foundation, one of many organizations that are displaying their work here in the hall devoted to observer / NGO organizations) right after hearing President Obama call for “a strong system of transparency that gives all of us confidence that all of us are meeting our commitments.” Transparency, in this case, would be good, since in the context of these talks it means that countries would commit to some sort of accountability about the extent to which they are meeting their commitments to reduce their emissions. Exactly what form that takes, and how strong an obligation it will be, remains to be seen. That will be one of the negotiating points over the next two weeks. Let’s hope that it will indeed be strong, so that, counterintuitively, the increased transparency will help us see what we’re doing and work hard to fix it.
Really enjoying your reporting, Eric. I had never really thought about the fact that getting people to focus on the problem is very much complicated by the fact that today’s emissions are unseen; of course that c/would be a major deterrent. ‘Out of sight, out of mind.’ ‘A picture is worth a thousand words.’
Marlys, another side of the “invisible emissions” problem came up in a session I attended this evening – the fact that as consumers we have no information about how much energy was used or emissions were generated in producing the products we buy, which makes it hard to make informed choices. So for example, it’s hard to tell (or at least easy to ignore) how much extra emissions were generated in shipping that out-of-season apple from Chile to your local store. This is one reason that people argue for some kind of carbon emissions pricing as a necessary part of a solution. A higher price on that apple isn’t quite the same as a label with an emissions number, but (a) at least it’s sending you some kind of signal that it’s different, and (b) the price may well be more effective in changing behavior anyway.
Wow, that is an interesting idea and we should probably start some place. However, the logistics of putting something that was truly a good indicator could be a problem. for example, the Marine stewardship Council’s work has had “imitation” labeling or untrue labeling show up.
Is there any group that estimates or tracking the true carbon costs of produce and products used in non local areas? Are there people there thinking about how to “market” the issues to a public that remains convinced that nothing is really the matter?
Hello,
I am a Indy’s high school APES teacher from NC. I thought this was an interesting post–there is definitely an out of sight, out of mind mentality with all types of pollution. Do you think that there is a practical method to help people see how quick various gases mix in the atmosphere without creating another problem? Could you do something on a smaller scale that could help people understand the scale of the problem?
On another note, do you mind if I share this link with my current students and allow them to interact with you as you are all at the Paris conference? Is there an easy method to use to make their interaction with this blog more manageable and/or educational.
I am excited to hear what ideas and people you will be exposed to there. Thanks for going to make a difference.
Hi Nina,
Thanks for your comments. Regarding your second question, yes, please share this with whomever you’d like, and I’d be happy to engage with the students. You’ll be seeing some contributions here from Indy relatively soon as well.
As for seeing the emissions, this animation from NASA at least gives some sense that the CO2 doesn’t stay in one place:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1SgmFa0r04
though if using that for teaching it’s important also to emphasize (as I’m sure you know) that the yearly rise and fall of CO2 that’s seen there is superimposed on top of a long-term trend that is steadily rising:
https://www2.ucar.edu/climate/faq/how-much-carbon-dioxide-and-other-kinds-greenhouse-gas-already-atmosphere
The southern hemisphere shows the same trend, but with smaller seasonal fluctuations because it has less landmass:
http://scrippsco2.ucsd.edu/graphics_gallery/mauna_loa_and_south_pole/mauna_loa_and_south_pole
Thanks very much for the links. I am thinking that I may have them interact/respond in groups for the most part. the students who are more interested will probably respond on their own. I am hoping that they can see that climate change and other issues are dealt with by people just like them even if they are from a smaller town in North Carolina. Ultimately I am hoping to help many more of them consider what they can do to help solve the issues that are so clearly upon us at this time.
As if to underscore the point about visibility, the cover photo of the NYT today uses a photo of a cyclist in heavy fog in China to reference climate change discussions in Paris.
How do you plan on making this transparency possible?