Eco Blog - St. George's Berlin

The crisis in Ukraine is serious, but the climate crisis is at least as serious for the long-term survival of life on this planet. The news on the climate front is not good. Right now the earth is warming at both ends. "Startling heatwaves at both of Earth’s poles are causing alarm among climate scientists, who have warned the “unprecedented” events could signal faster and abrupt climate breakdown." (Harvey, Guardian, 20 March 2022)  ( LINK ) The concern is that this "unprecedented" double warming could lead to even more dramatic changes that are virtually irreversible in our lifetimes. The risk of an attack by a foreign tank army is easy to understand because it is physical, and has historical precedent, and can be seen in movies or in photographs in leading newspapers. The risks of climate change are virtually invisible,  except in the form of its consequences: flash floods or violent storms. Climate change kills by causing intolerable temperature rises that direc...

 War is no more climate-friendly than human-friendly. That is probably so obvious that it hardly needs saying. Tanks, missiles and planes carrying bombs are not fuel-efficient. Bombs pollute as well as kill. War can also distract people from important climate goals. Nonetheless there is some positive news.  "The climate crisis and where our energy comes from has been a major talking point of the war in Ukraine and our [the UK] government has started an urgent review of our reliance on Russian gas and energy. This is yet another sign that our over-reliance on fossil fuels is leading us to ruin. We must rapidly transition to clean, sustainable renewable energy so fossil fuels are no longer used as chess-pieces in war." ( Pat Venditti on behalf of Greenpeace UK, email 02 March 2022.)  At the pro-Ukrainian rally in the Berlin Tiergarten today, speakers talked about taking action  by efforts to insulate buildings, to reduce fuel consumption, and to act on the need es...