Actions for a Small Window: IPCC Climate Change Report

 Sheda Morshed  August 17, 2021

Resilient Palisades Clean Air and Water Team Leader

On August 9, 2021, eight-billion alarms were rung by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC): The window of opportunity for humanity to slow the rise of global temperatures and avert the worst consequences of climate change is quickly closing.

The report, prepared by 234 scientists from 66 countries, states unequivocally that humans are in fact the cause of climate change and we are speeding faster toward harrowing changes than originally estimated. This summer’s unprecedented heat waves in the United States and Canada, devastating floods in Germany and China, raging fires in Siberia, Turkey, Greece and the United States are just a glimmer of what’s to come. California’s ongoing Dixie Fire is the second largest wildlife ever recorded in our state’s history. We have warmed the planet by 2 degrees Fahrenheit since the 19^th century, mainly by burning coal, oil, and gas, and both governments and individuals (especially Americans and Chinese) need to start modifying their behaviors today.

The good news: We still have a small window of time to limit the extent of climate change. Every pound of reduced emissions will not only lessen the harm over the next few decades but resound for centuries and even millennia to come.

Since every pound of carbon, methane, HFC’s, and other global warming emissions can impact the future of climate change, each one of us can make a difference. Stay updated on climate (and ecological) conscious community events by joining the Resilient Palisades email list.

Here are a few examples of how you can curb your global warming emissions at home in the Palisades, today:

• Install solar and storage in your home (Palisades Microgrid program starts this fall, including information on third-party approved vendor lists and more)
• Support or initiate solar and storage at your children’s school. Palisades Charter High School’s Human Rights Student Task Force (HRWSTF) is working hard to make this happen! Please take a few minutes to also read their blog about the IPCC report.
• Eat lower on the food chain and choose organic and local as often as you can. Learn more or volunteer with our Plant-Based Solutions team
• Adopt a zero-waste lifestyle by ditching plastics and supporting reusables legislation and advocacy (and when impossible to avoid, opt for 100% post-consumer waste – PCW – products)
• Compost all of your food waste. Food waste in landfills are big emitters of methane. Our green bin materials are not composted, so compost at home home, drop off with Resilient Palisades volunteer Valeria in the Palisades (and receive free, organic fertilizer in return), or connect with others near you through ShareWaste or LACompost (including a pickup service for a small fee).
• Replace gas mowers, blowers, hedge trimmers with a combination of rakes and electric or battery equipment (one hour of a leaf blower pollutes as much as driving a 2017 Toyota sedan for 1100 miles, or from Los Angeles to Denver)
• If you are stopped in your vehicle for more than 10 seconds, shut off your engine. Idling of passenger cars is needlessly spewing 30 million tons of carbon dioxide annually in the U.S.
• Support and vote for climate-conscious politicians

Here is a selection of news reports that provide a digestible overview of the 2021 IPCC report.

• From the United Nations: “Code red” for human-driven global heating, warns UN chief
• NY Times: A hotter future is certain, climate panel warns. But how hot is up to us
• Quartz: The climate change crisis is already here, but there’s still a chance to prevent the worst
• Forbes: What the United Nations’ IPCC report means to business