Pollution is killing us

Arnold Schwarzenegger says that, when it comes to climate change, we have a fundamental communication problem.

That’s because most people don’t give a shit about climate change.

But they do care about pollution – and the fact that it’s killing us.

So, Arnie says we should stop talking climate and start talking pollution.

Like the Standford researchers, who conducted experiments to prove that gas stoves were polluting our homes with nitrogen oxide levels at five times the safe limit.

I’ve written before about the importance of language and using abstract vs concrete words when talking about climate change and sustainability.

Climate change = abstract.

Pollution = concrete.

It’s the difference between “Your gas stove is contributing to climate change” and “Your gas stove is polluting your children’s lungs.”

It’s all about semantics.

So, if most people don’t care about climate change, then most won’t care that human activities have pushed seven out of eight planetary boundaries beyond their “safe and just limit” into risk zones that indicate a huge threat to the planet and human health.

The seven boundaries that we’ve overshot are climate, phosphorus and nitrogen contamination, groundwater supplies, fresh surface water, the unbuilt natural environment, and the overall natural and human-built environment.

Meh 🤷🏻‍♀️

Maybe they should put it this way:

Our surface water is polluted.
Our groundwater is polluted.
Our soil is polluted.
Our natural ecosystems are polluted.
Our buildings are polluted.
Our air is polluted (although the oil and gas companies will be happy to know that there’s still wiggle room on this one.)

Everything is polluted and everything is killing us.

THAT’S IF AI DOESN’T KILL US FIRST.

As if I weren’t already suffering an existential crisis, top AI scientists and researchers said they were “deeply concerned” for the future of humanity in a one-sentence open letter to the public that said: “Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war."

But not as serious as climate change? 🤔

Humans will wipe themselves out one way or the other.

The race is on. What will kill us first? Climate change or AI?

I need to lie down.

— Tarryn ✌️

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This week's climate and sustainability news worth noting

🪸 Dubai plans to build the world’s largest ocean restoration project. Dubai Reefs will feature 77 square miles of artificial reef that will create a home for more than one billion corals and 100 million mangrove trees.

❎ Sultan Al Jaber, the COP28 president and the UAE's minister for industry and advanced technology, has been accused of attempting to “greenwash” his image after members of his team edited Wikipedia pages that highlighted his role as CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc). They added a quote that said Al Jaber was “precisely the kind of ally the climate movement needs” (🤮), and suggested that editors remove reference to a multibillion-dollar oil pipeline deal he signed in 2019.

🌊 Countries across Africa, the Asia-Pacific region, Europe, and South and Central America can now use Google's AI-enabled platform that displays flood forecasts. Users will be able to access flood prediction information on Flood Hub up to seven days in advance of an incoming flood.

😷 A team of Stanford scientists embarked on a testing tour of New York City apartments to better understand the extent of pollution caused by gas stoves and how it flows from room to room in people’s homes. The results weren't good. In one home, concentrations of nitrogen dioxide, which contributes to asthma, climbed to 500 parts per billion, five times the safety benchmark for one-hour exposures set by the Environmental Protection Agency. Concentrations of benzene, a human carcinogen that is present in cigarette smoke and car emissions, also tripled. The pollutants also quickly spread around the home, despite ventilation.

😢 Three cheetah cubs that were among the first to be born in India in more than seven decades have died in a heatwave.

🌊 Between 25% and 70% of California beaches might be washed away by the end of the century, leaving only cliffs or coastal infrastructure in their wake. Researchers from the US Geological Survey used satellite images, combined with models of climate crisis-driven sea level rise ranging from 1.6 to 10 feet, to estimate the shape and position of the state’s coastline by 2100. The amount of sea level rise will depend on how much carbon is pumped into the atmosphere now and in the future.

🌀 Wild weather. Floods force 250,000 to flee their homes in Somalia. Wildfires force 16,000 to flee their homes in Nova Scotia. Temperatures break 100-year records in Shanghai.

And in business news

🪧 Some Amazon employees staged a walkout last week in protest of the e-commerce giant's changes to its climate policy, layoffs, and a return-to-office mandate. Protesters chanted outside Amazon headquarters, shouting: "Emissions climbing. Time to act! Stand together; don't turn back!" The company recently eliminated a goal to make all Amazon shipments net zero for carbon emissions by 2030, although it “remains on track” to get to 100% renewable energy by 2025.

♼ Absolut has launched a "world-first": Vodka in a paper bottle. But before you get too excited, the bottle is only 57% paper. The rest is plastic. Still, it's progress, I guess.

Politicians will never prioritise the planet

It was an annoying week in politics, with the environment losing on all fronts. There was so much pushback against climate policies that it warranted an entire section in this newsletter 😒

🇺🇸 The US Supreme Court has constrained the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA's) regulatory powers over protected wetlands and the emissions of greenhouse gases from power plants. Environmental groups said the decisions put the interests of polluting industries and landowners ahead of public health and the environment. Meanwhile, Republicans and conservatives lauded the rulings as “necessary checks” on the power of federal agencies and unelected officials.

🇪🇺 The centre-right European People's Party (EPP), the party behind the European Parliament's biggest lawmaker group, opposed two of the EU's main policies to protect the environment, threatening to block the laws which the group says would hurt European farmers. The EPP rejected a proposed EU law requiring countries to restore damaged natural ecosystems and another to halve chemical pesticide use by 2030, saying the targets are "simply not feasible" for farmers.

🇪🇺 Lawmakers are also pushing back on proposed European Union rules that would require large companies to check whether their suppliers abuse human rights or damage the environment. Under the rules, companies would also have to publish plans showing how they would transition to a net zero economy. But lawmakers from centre-right and right-wing parties said the rules would impose red tape on companies and harm their competitiveness as they face increased competition from China, and that companies cannot be held responsible for everything their suppliers do. My heart pumps custard.

🇧🇷 Meanwhile, in Brazil, lawmakers voted to pass a bill that would limit the recognition of new Indigenous reservations, a decision seen by environmentalists and human rights advocates as a setback and a major blow to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's commitment to protecting the Amazon rainforest and the Indigenous people who live in it. Lawmakers also removed land decisions from the Indigenous affairs ministry, while the registry of rural land, a vital tool to stop deforestation, will be managed by the agriculture and not the environment ministry.

What bullshit.

One small thing you can do.

Because lots of little actions combined can add up to something remarkable.

Wrap gifts in tea towels.

Most wrapping paper can’t be recycled. And tea towels are handy.

I'll leave you on this happy note...

Parrots learn how to video call their friends.

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