Priya: Hello, and welcome to Zed News YYC’ s podcast. We are members of the Alexandra Writers Centre Young Journalists program. As young journalists, we are passionate about creating balanced and engaging news that is relevant to us. We aim to keep the public informed, highlight solutions, keep the powerful in check, and give a voice to people who don't always get heard.
Today’s podcast is about Climate Change and its impacts specifically on Alberta, and what solutions are available. Climate Change refers to the long-term changes of weather patterns in an area, which in turn changes the area’s overall climate. More specifically climate change is the sustained temperature rise occurring globally during the 21st century. Climate Change doesn’t just mean warmer summers and winters through, it has many other damaging effects of civilization and our biosphere. Climate change has also been connected with other damaging weather events such as more frequent and more intense hurricanes, floods, downpours, winter storms, and wildfires. It also spells out catastrophe for polar regions and coastline cities, because as the ice sheets and glaciers melt sea levels rise on a global scale. Earth’s climate has constantly been changing since it’s creation 4.5 billion years ago. However, humans have accelerated earth’s natural climate cycle by burning fossil fuels and releasing carbon into our atmosphere creating a greenhouse effect. The greenhouse effect is the earth warming because of greenhouse gases, like carbon dioxide, water vapour, methane, ozone, nitrous oxide, and chlorofluorocarbons, becoming trapped in our atmosphere. According to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) if the earth warms above 1.5 to 2 degrees since pre-industrial levels at our current rate we will see massive amounts of glaciers melt, sea levels rise, permafrost melt, types of plants, animals, and insects will go extinct, and we are predicted to lose over 70% of our coral reefs, which will result in loss of ocean life and ecosystems. However, there is hope for us to stop climate change and reach a net zero emission world. But before we get into solutions I’m going to invite my co-host Lindsay to talk about how climate change is going to impact our health as a global community and as Albertans. Lindsay: Many people consider the impacts of climate change on our planet as a completely separate topic from human health, but in actuality, climate change and humanity’s well being are in fact directly correlated. A Canadian climate scientist, Dr. Katherine Hayhoe, says that one in six deaths worldwide are related or caused directly from pollution. This is a staggering number. An estimated 59 million people passed away in 2019, and out of those deaths, 9 million alone were caused from air pollution. This doesn’t even include climate related natural disasters or other issues related to early mortality because of climate change. On a recent CBC radio station talking about the ongoing pandemic COVID-19, Dr. Hayhoe said that because China went into a lockdown state, they decreased their carbon emissions drastically, which she claims might have actually saved more lives than COVID claimed in China. This is an interesting thing to consider because 4632 have died from COVID in China so far. She did state that human suffering is never a good thing and that we should not put this pandemic in a happy lighting for the planet, because we are losing people and that is not something to celebrate. However, with poorer air quality and pollution, there is a higher risk for people to get respiratory infections and diseases, like COVID-19. According to the United Nations, with pandemics like this, one will become increasingly more frequent and severe in correlation with our increasing climate. Another topic on people’s minds is how climate change is going to directly affect the health of Albertans. Obviously, with an increase in air pollution worldwide we stand a greater risk to respiratory diseases and infections. We also aren’t immune to climate related disasters, and these will become more frequent as the years of inaction progress. Climate related disasters range from wildfires to floods to hurricanes to droughts. A big climate change issue is when temperature increases and non- native animals and insects can start moving farther north and into typically colder climates. An example of this has been non-native ticks migrating from the south and west and entering Alberta’s borders and eco-systems. This may not seem like a big deal, but animals and insects that enter an ecosystem that they didn’t originate in can destroy the entire system. This affects our forests, parks, and natural spaces than Albertan’s rely on. Ticks are also known to carry lyme disease, which is an immunocompromising disease that can easily be transferred to humans with a single bite. Lyme disease has been an increasingly big issue among Canadians, and it is now starting to effect more Albertans. Lyme disease has wide ranging effects that can vary from individual to individual, and some symptoms include fatigue, fever, migraines, joint pain, neurological problems, heart issues, muscle spasms, inflammation in both the liver and eyes, and also even memory. Lyme disease can only be cured with antibiotics if found in its early stages. There are treatments to get rid of lyme disease but it can take months to years for it to disappear entirely. There are also some case studies that undetected lyme disease can be passed down maternally. So, Albertans may not feel the full impacts of rising sea levels, but climate change is going to affect us and many Albertans’ health. Priya: Thank you for that Lindsay, now let’s here from Kristina about how climate change will affect our summers and winters. Kristina: Well, one way that global warming can affect our seasons is through the Polar Front Jet Stream, a thermal wind that acts like a barrier between the cold polar air and the warmer air closer to the equator. The Polar Jet Stream migrates south, and with it comes the cold air. Because of this cold air suddenly migrating south, certain areas experience a cold snap or a significantly colder Winter than what people are accustomed to. One effect of climate change on Alberta’s summers include the combination of higher temperatures and lower precipitation. This leads to another effect - drastic dry and drought conditions. This can contribute to fires, such as the 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire, which has been proven to have been largely affected by climate change. This, for several reasons, was damaging to the economy and many people’s health. Not only this, but this trend of wildfires is beginning to start earlier and earlier in the year. Unfortunately, another effect of these drier conditions includes farmers struggling to grow their crops, which may also be a concern for the cattle industry. Cattle farmers may not be able to pay for crops as feed, which can possibly force them to sell their herds. Priya: With all this information about how climate change is going to affect us, Heather is going to talk about how Alberta can make it’s economy green and strong. Heather: We can make Alberta’s economy green and strong by using the GND deal. GND is the green new deal, it is a plan to help combat the social and ecological problems we are currently facing. GND uses timely, and active actions that were developed from many examples from all over the world. With these examples the Green New Deal has developed strategic plans for transportation, housing, energy, food, and security. We can improve the economy by using public transit, which reduces vehicle emissions which is one of the causes of global warming. Taking public transit also increases the chances of workers staying employed and transit systems are also safer to travel than using a privately owned car. Another way we can improve Alberta’s green economy is carpooling, which reduces the amount of fuel being used, and also by walking. Did you know that housing accounts for 40% of carbon emissions from urban consumption. The GND proposes incorporating renewable energy designs like solar and geothermal technology into the early development and construction of buildings and homes to reduce these emissions. The Deal also proposes switching all lights to LED, using green materials such as hempcrete and recycled materials in the construction, and developing green roofs on top of the buildings. Moving towards a greener economy means looking for how to incorporate renewable energy into our world and GND proposes creating cooperative trusts to develop renewable energy projects, offering tax deductions for new buildings with microgrid solar capability and rebates and grants for retrofitting old buildings with solar, cutting back on subsidies for fossil fuel projects, offering training for those starting in the renewable energy sector, and allocating funding to communities that heavily rely on the fossil fuel industry to help them establish other economic opportunities such as green energy or agriculture. The GND has many more proposals for energy maintenance and usage and you can find them all on their website (www.calgarygreennewdeal.ca) Finally food and security, with food security becoming one of the world’s largest issues GND has proposed these ideas to develop Calgary as a food secure city by, creating local produce distribution through community centres, expanding our compost facilities, converting existing green spaces into areas that produce greens and herbs, pushing usage of community gardens, abolishing use of pesticides, promoting the planting of native plants, encouraging the development of aquaponic farms, green walls, and rooftop gardens, lifting restrictions of urban chicken keeping, and including plant based alternatives to school children and those in hospitals. Priya: Thank you Heather. Now Hari is going to talk about how we can slow climate change without making massive changes to how our society functions. Hari: How can we slow this warming down without freaking out? We can slow this warming without freaking out by doing 6 major things: restore ecosystems, promote regenerative agriculture, achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions, make the switch to 100% renewable energy sources, improve energy efficiency, and switch to a plant based diet. Restoring damaged ecosystems is essential to slow down warming. Fossil fuel emissions reduction will reduce C02 significantly and greatly improve our atmosphere. Industrial agriculture or factory farming is a major contributor to global warming, emitting up to six billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions per year. That’s a lot! A simple solution, transition from factory farming to carbon farming, would help reduce global warming. Carbon farming means switching to practices that are known to improve the rate at which CO2 is removed from the atmosphere and converted to plant material and/or soil organic matter. Finally, removing meat from our diet can make a difference because raising animals puts a lot of unnecessary stress on us, using our natural resources and producing methane, according to a recent U.N. report. But giving up driving our own cars, going vegan or ending the oil economy - and the jobs that come with it - can feel impossible on a personal or even global scale. Chad Frischmann with Project Drawdown has crunched the numbers and done the research and says that the real solution to reversing global warming is “drawdown” which means the levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere need to stop climbing and start to steadily decline immediately. His organization has made a list of 100 solutions the world can embrace to reach this point and reverse global warming. Some are about reducing emissions and others are about supporting carbon sinks and creating a more equitable society. The top 20 things on the list will greatly surprise you because only five have anything to do with green energy, including more wind energy, solar energy, and geothermal energy. Eight are about changing our food systems, like reducing food waste. The top one is about avoiding the greenhouse gasses created by air conditioning and refrigeration. Educating girls and making family planning possible for women also tops the list. If we follow the list, the world can start reversing climate change by 2050 but we got to do all those steps - according to Project Drawdown - and create a much cleaner and just world. Priya: Now we are going to talk about how if we react efficiently and effectively what opportunities can come from these solutions. Money to spend on things other than crisis and rebuilding: Avoiding the never ending costs of increased crisis situations like mega storms, giant hurricanes, drought, famine, and loss of habitable land leading to refugee crises would bring Alberta and Canada more prosperity in the long run. Instead the money saved could be used to create a strengthened education system, better infrastructure, and a more equal society that looks out for our most vulnerable members. With less money spent on crises, our province and country can invest money in their people and society. Lindsay: According to Silvio Marcacci in his Forbes Magazine Article, “by 2025, almost every existing coal plant in the United States will cost more to operate than building replacement wind and solar plants within 35 miles.” Solar, wind, geothermal, and other yet to be discovered sources of energy could launch Alberta into the new energy future and keep us as the number one province in energy creation. The Union of Concerned Scientists state, “25 percent of all electricity from renewable sources by 2025 would create nearly 300,000 new U.S. jobs.” Think of what that could bring to Alberta and all the jobs which could be created when we stop chasing the collapsing oil and gas industry which could launch us onto the world stage as Global leaders and big players in energy production. Kristina: Saving money on everything! Okay, maybe not everything, but with less pollution, cleaner water, and a more stable environment healthcare costs will drop. Also, environmentally friendly sources of energy are generally much less expensive, making the cost of installation of the infrastructure pay for itself quicker. Heather: Even more jobs! Did I mention jobs? Well there are more than just the jobs in the energy sector to consider. Agriculture, maintenance of the technology, conservation as we save more animal species than we kill, and tourism - because there’s no skiing if the Earth warms up and planes use more fuel in warmer air. Priya: Safety. If climate change is solved then large groups of vulnerable people won’t be migrating due to climate destruction. This will cause less unrest and therefore less need of military might. Thank you to all my co-hosts who helped me develop and produce this podcast. Hopefully this podcast helped educate you more on what climate change is and how we as Albertans can react and adapt to fight it. This podcast was produced by Hari, Kristina, Lindsay, Heather, and Priya. For more news from Zed News YYC please visit our website zednewsyyc.weebly.com Thank you.
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