Post IPCC thoughts

I originally posted this on social media. People seemed to be comforted by it.

breathe,
slow down,
appreciate and regenerate your local place,
start in your garden,
start on the sidewalk,
or at your parent's place,
start with yourself (mental health is vital!),
start in your window at home,
or start by helping someone else start,
start by finding out where your food comes from,
start with curiosity,
start knowing that you can ask for help when you do.

We are experiencing global feedback systems begging humans to consume magnitudes less of everything, particularly fossil fuels, but less of all natural resources. And we have to start consuming less now.

Without the Earth in good health there is no Us and there is none of the things which make life loveable and liveable. Trees, fresh air, clean water, birds, flowers, soil, homes, vegetables, wombats, fish, bees… Everything we have and everything we will ever need as a species depends on the health of this one blue dot.

Our Earth is damn resilient and regenerative by design, and there is a lot of damage which can be regenerated over time. But right now Governments are fairly intent on poking holes in our one life giving life support system for the next term’s GDP.

If humans stop consuming more raw materials than are naturally replenishable and stop producing more carbon than the Earth can use in a year, and we can do that, over decades the climate will stabilise to sustainable levels again - this can happen.

Carbon sequestration is embedded into every one of Earth’s bodily cycles, so by consuming less and regenerating natural sequesters, we’ll be on our way.

Aside from consuming less -

• A vote with your wallet is one way to respond, becoming aware of what you’re consuming and where it comes from.

• Buy every item like it needs to last you the rest of your life.

• Voting for a Government who believes in and will respond to the climate crisis with vision, ambition and urgency.