Are we getting somewhere here?

I have dedicated a great part of my adult life to study climate change and I haven’t even experienced in my own body and mind any climate state of any region in the world. We are all fighting to stabilize the temperature somewhere around 2°C by 2100, and most of us won’t be even alive anymore to see if we accomplished it. Everything is abstract in this issue and that’s the main reason why taking action it’s so difficult, because we don’t perceive it and something inside us tell us it’s not real or somehow is inconceivable.

It would be amazing if we were able to see with our own eyes how a molecule of two Oxygen atoms attached to a Carbon interact with radiation generating motion and hence increasing temperature. Or what about buying a brand new pair of shoes accompanied by a huge box containing the real greenhouse gas emissions released during their production process. All of these would make us perceive and actually feel parts of the climate change.

The purpose of this blog is to shed light over tangible impacts of climate change and shift our way to visualize the problem. So by now, whenever we think about climate change we should not imagine complex graphs made by a group of scientist or a poor polar bear over a melting ice-block. We should start thinking about closed roads, empty coffee pots, our houses in danger or the decision about using public transport or an hybrid car to move around the city.

So yes, we are getting somewhere here. Keep sharing this thoughts and do your part in the climate action, you are the only one who knows what can you really do to contribute to the solution.

About the video: this is a fragment of an amazing movie called "Waking Life" which shows in the most mind-blowing way a lot of philosophical theories and their implications on the way we think as a society and as individuals.

Climate change is not letting you walk in peace

Climate change is slowly destroying our surroundings and you experiment it every day but you haven’t realized until now.

I am sure that on your daily way home you encounter with annoying diversions or constructions that block your safe path or your cool view of a nice old building (see the case of the incoming 32-year restoration of the Westminster Palace).

 That is an issue that we have assumed as normal since our invasion to nature with paved roads and steel structures is in constant fight with the natural forces such as thermal expansions, water erosion, chemical corrosion and more. And climate change is an amplifier of these destructive processes, so as a consequence we have experienced an increment of closed roads, diverted paths and construction platforms over our heads in recent years.

Road closed in London. Source: Flickr user asoria73

THE DAMAGING FACTORS

There are several factors that cause buildings and roads deterioration which eventually implies a restoration process and a road closed that could affect you directly. The three most important factors are:

Storms. A storm causes damage to buildings by the direct physical impact of the water that carries and the strong winds that could accompany it. A study says that a single storm over Northwest Europe could cause up to 7 billion US$, and with an increment of storm intensity by 2% the actual damage could be increased up to 80%. The climate change scenarios over Europe project around 1-9% increment of storm intensity, so the scenario is gloomy. 

Moisture. The combination of parameters as temperature and moisture of air parcels are factors that drive most of the damage on building facades by water penetration in the materials. Warmer parcels could retain more water vapor and according to Vahid and colleagues, we can expect an increment of water accumulation in facades up to 41%  in the near future under climate change scenarios. 

Temperature. Some materials have a large sensitivity to temperature changes, and in a warmer world the previous calculations that used to work well taking into account the normal thermal expansion will start to fail. This is particularly important in paved roads, where expansions tear apart the concrete due to the continuous exposure to radiation. Santillan, Salete and Toledo calculated a 100% increment in annual concrete displacement under the worst climate change scenario.

Div / ersion. Source: Flickr user Tamar Gewurts

ADAPTATION

We are fortunate to have a place to live and we should all look after its conservation in the future. Paint regularly the façade to avoid moisture penetration and use light colors to reflect as much radiation as possible, check for internal leaks and prepare yourself in case there are natural hazards that could possibly damage your house or the building where you live.

Moreover, in the international arena, there are already increasing regulations in building construction in order to adapt to the changing conditions of our environment and to mitigate the problem.

So next time you get diverted by a closed road think about how can you block the way to climate change. Read you in the next one!

The COP22 counts on you!

The greatest hope for climate change mitigation is the Paris Agreement, which entered into force on November 4th,2016. This means that every country that signed the agreement is committed now to cut their greenhouse gases emissions in order to keep the Earth average surface temperature well below 2ºC. 

The mechanisms and some instruments for the good implementation of the agreement are already set, but there is much more to do in order to accomplish the climate goals. That is the reason why governments are gathered together right now in Marrakech at the COP22,  where they will keep trying to find solutions and tie up all the loose ends left behind by the Paris fervor.

But let’s return to our bubble for a moment, what we can do inside here while some important persons shake their hands hundreds of kilometers away? The answer is: a lot!

It would be incorrect to think that the climate problem is already solved thanks to the Paris Agreement. The things that really matter are the national determined contributions (NDCs): national projections of future greenhouse gases emissions. And guess what… the NDCs lead directly to you! 

Whatever actions you do in your environment, decisions you make in consumption or demands that you make to your government will eventually build up your national emissions, which are the principal input not only of the Paris agreement but of the climate system itself!

So in the next days when you listen about this big international meetings just remember that the real change is on us. Here is a not-conventional list of super easy things you can do for fighting climate change and environmental degradation: http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/takeaction/

Read you later!