We can get people to change behavior to mitigate climate change
Climate change is a major threat to us and our future generation. Changing behavior for climate change can save us from extreme disasters and losses.
How much do you know about the necessity of changing behavior for climate change? I guess you don’t even care about this term. We always talk about how modern inventions can improve our climate, but we never talk about how our behavior can do the same.
Now you might ask, "what is climate change? Is it completely different from world warming?" My answer is affirmative. Climate change refers to a semi-permanent shift in world or regional weather patterns. On the other hand, global warming is the warming of the earth’s atmosphere due to the increase in temperature.
You see, climate change is a long-term change relating to the earth's atmosphere. It includes precipitation, temperature, and wind patterns. But global warming is only the change of temperature.
Big businesses and governments are taking necessary actions against climate change. Instead of depending on them entirely, we must make contributions by changing our behavior for the climate change crisis.
Change behavior to mitigate climate change:
Our day-to-day lives have an enormous impact on the climate. Changing our behavior for climate change is the fundamental and easy way to tackle this challenge. It’s a natural tendency of humans to embrace the positive side of things and overlook the negative ones.
People these days are always underprepared when disasters happen. Research shows that even if we are fully aware of the dangers of climate change, we do not respond with the appropriate level of concern. We aren't concerned about the extreme weather events because of our distance from them. People living near melting glaciers know the pain, whereas we feel guilty about it for a while. We won't take the problem seriously unless it has an impact on our daily lives.
Studies show that people focus less on their future. Because of this, people detached from their future selves do not change their behavior. They do not believe that this change will benefit them in the future.
Dissonance is another reason for climate change-related to human behavior. Dissonance means the difference between what we know we should do and what we do. Indeed, we always blame other countries for the greenhouse gas emissions overlooking our own mistakes.
All of us have that doomsday-like image caused by climate change on our heads. And since we don't see that image in reality, we don't take proper actions. Such fear-inducing imagery builds fear and guilt in people and counteracts engagement.
The easiest way to inspire people to change their behavior is through education. Through education on behavioral change, people will learn to make decisions based on their best interests instead of being forced into it by others.
Psychologist George Marshall says that people believe the information that has a narratively satisfying presentation. Thus, we feel motivated to think about climate change in a more personal and relative way. We can bring the necessary changes in our behavior by cultivating positive emotions associated with climate actions instead of negative emotions caused by climate impacts or news.
Achieving sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions can lessen the climate impacts. We can achieve it by the transformation of our economy, systems of production, and consumption. To get people to change their everyday behavior, we need to make innovative policies that connect to them emotionally.
Scientists believe that humans are the primary cause of global warming, and it is happening at a fast pace. Change in human behavior can mitigate 19.9-36.8 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions(CNBC Report-2018). Adopting sustainable changes in behavior is the main component to solve the climate change challenge.
Our everyday lives depend on the consumption of natural resources. This consumption is more in developed countries compared to other countries. Changing consumption patterns can be a solution to the problem.
There are four main high areas of greenhouse gas emissions caused by humans. They are- transportation, food, and diet, agriculture and farming, energy use. Making necessary changes in these areas can significantly solve the climate change crisis.
Change in transportation:
It’s been a long while since we’ve been using fuelled vehicles as methods of our transportation. Nowadays, such vehicles are the largest source of greenhouse gas transmission in the UK. Using electric vehicles instead of conventional fuel-driven vehicles can reduce the emissions of CO2.
According to the Climate Institute, electric vehicles charged with electric motors and high-capacity batteries reduce emissions by 90-95%. Though the use of electric vehicles is highly encouraged, people don't use electric vehicles for a variety of reasons, such as high cost, unavailability of charging terminals in long drives, etc. If the government implements some policies to make the cost viable, then people will use electric vehicles.
Electric bicycles can also be an alternative to using vehicles. These bicycles have a small battery-powered motor. So, they are faster and manageable on longer trips.
A walkable city can reduce greenhouse gas emissions. CNBC Report of 2018, shows that we walk only 7 minutes per day. When the destination is near, and you have plenty of time in your hand, you should walk instead of using a vehicle. Walking can give you personal health benefits and save our climate at the same time.
Metrorail's can act as a method of transportation for covering shorter distances. The Climate Institute says that Germany invested $86 billion on the rail network to mitigate climate change.
Changing food and diet:
It might sound new to some of you, but food has a massive impact on global emissions. Choice of food, way of cooking, and disposal of food influence greenhouse gas emissions. Food systems contribute to one-quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions.
To reduce this effect, we must include more fruits and vegetables in our diet. We have to reduce the consumption of meat and dairy products. In this case, researchers suggest educating people about nutritional guidelines and the importance of plant-rich proteins.
Minimization of food loss and wastage is another necessary thing we can do. According to the estimation of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), one-third of the global food produced does not reach consumers. Throughout all phases of the supply chain, food wastage occurs. The solution to this problem is educating people on how their choice affects their health and the environment.
Food cannot decompose in oxygen-starved environments, which causes leakage of methane in the atmosphere. The easiest solution to this is not to overbuy, overcook, and reuse leftover foods. Using composters can also solve the problem.
Change in agriculture and farming:
Proven research shows that inefficient use of agricultural lands and unsustainable farming practices contribute to a quarter of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. Greenhouse gas emission occurs due to rice cultivation, livestock, deforestation, fertilizer application, etc.
Using leftover lands to plant trees and planting perennial tree crops can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions to a large scale. Degraded and abandoned lands can be restored and used to grow crops.
Rice cultivation causes the emission of methane gas. The World Resources Institute states that rice cultivation causes 10% of the total agricultural emissions. Cultivation methods that would cause fewer emissions of methane should be adopted.
According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 15% of greenhouse gas emissions occur because of livestock farming. Of the livestock sector's emissions, cows, pork, buffalo, and poultry represent 65%, 9%, 8%, and 8%, respectively, which is more than the emissions caused by the entire transportation sector. Dietary shifts can make a big difference to emissions caused by livestock production.
Change in energy use:
The use of energy in households causes a high rate of greenhouse gas emissions. Statistics show that burning fossil fuels to produce electricity, industrialization, and other purposes cause two-thirds of the total greenhouse gas emissions.
In the USA, 85% of the energy used is coming from the combustion of fossil fuels (Source: The Climate Institute). The burning of fossils causes 98% emissions of CO2 and 80% of greenhouse gas emissions in America (Source: The Climate Institute). Using rooftop solar panels, heating water with solar energy, LED lighting, recycling, and reusing paper can reduce energy consumption.
Wind energy and solar energy can easily replace the use of fossil fuels in energy production. Though these energies cost more than fossil fuel energy, we can avoid the high costs caused due to climate change by using these low-carbon emitting energies.
We can notice the impacts of the climate crisis all across the globe. If we don't take proper action to reduce global emissions, all of our lives will be under severe threat. The actions taken by the world's governments are nearly not enough to mitigate climate change.
Using social incentives and choice architecture can be a powerful way to influence behavior towards conservation goals. Scientists are researching pollution, energy use, deforestation, and eating less meat. Behavior change initiatives can have a significant impact on reductions of greenhouse gas emissions.
The climate change crisis depends on human behavior directly or indirectly. Even the solution to this crisis relies on the change of human behavior.
We are the changemakers. The changes we bring to our transport habits, food and diet, and energy use are enough to make a significant change. Even the smallest of our initiatives in these areas can motivate people at the government levels to take necessary actions.
Changing behavior for climate change can reduce greenhouse gas emissions to such an extent that we can't even imagine. It is our obligatory duty to think about our future generation. To help them lead a healthy life, we must change our behavior for the climate change crisis.
