Editor:
International climate crisis expert Jimena Eyzaguirre of Vancouver-based ESSA Technologies recently gave a stimulating presentation to a full house at the Nicholas Sonntag Marine Education Centre in Gibsons about the climate crisis and what each of us can do to help combat it.
The first part of Eyzaguirre’s talk was a highly informative account of the 30-year history of how the global scientific community, including several scientists from B.C. universities, came to consensus on the causes and effects of global heating. The second part was how we in B.C. and the Sunshine Coast are being increasingly impacted by climate hazards and what practical steps each of us can take to help fight them. In B.C., the pine-beetle infestation is a direct result of a warming climate, as is the ever-increasing forest fire threat, rising sea levels that impact our coastal communities, and noticeable changes in the growing season.
Many of us feel a sense of hopelessness in the face of the immensity of the global nature of the climate crisis. We often feel that our personal actions are meaningless in the big picture of the crisis. Yet Eyzaguirre presented data to show just the opposite is true. She presented convincing evidence that it is personal households in B.C. and around the world that in the aggregate contribute approximately 70 per cent of the build-up in greenhouse gases that are the principal causes of global heating. Household impacts include our transportation choices, our heating choices, our food choices, and basically all of our purchase decisions.
For climate success, we need to understand the impacts of our purchases and take steps to find alternate products with lower carbon footprints to satisfy our needs.
Brian Nattrass, Roberts Creek
