Tree by Tree - Plant-for-the-Planet

Methane and the cow
as the scapegoat
The bad news first: methane
is a greenhouse gas 25
times more powerful than
carbon dioxide. The good
news: methane is very
uncommon. The proportion
of carbon dioxide in
the atmosphere is almost
400 times larger than the
proportion of methane.
Therefore, despite its
strength, it ultimately
contributes less to global
warming than CO2.
Methane is released from
landfills, rice paddies,
swamps and from thawing
permafrost. Methane also
comes out of both the
front and rear ends of
animals – no joke! Every
time a cow belches
or farts, both of which
cows do very often, they
release methane into the
air. And because we people
(more specifically:
because more affluent
people) eat enormous
quantities of beef, there
are vast herds of cows,
belching and farting and
putting an even greater
strain on our atmosphere.
But actually the cows can
be forgiven, because it’s
really we who are to blame.
If cattle lived only
in Greenland as nature had
intended them to, rather
than being kept in stalls
and fattened up with soy
The concentration of CO2 and methane
and corn feed, then things
would look quite different
than they do today.
In fact, in order to make
room for their soybean
feed, much of the Earth’s
rainforests have been
cleared away. Because of
this our world’s green
‘lungs’ are disappearing
and thus are not able to
save as much CO2 as before.
These methods of slash and
burn have ultimately led
to a huge increase of CO2
emissions.
We end up feeding soybeans
to the cows, which belch
and fart methane all day
long so that we can eat
meat every day.
Do we really need to eat
that much meat?
has risen over 3 °C since the 1960s.
Antarctica are beginning to melt away
far too quickly.
Enormous amounts of the Earth’s water
is stacked and “stored away” in glaciers
and ice sheets in Antarctica and
Greenland and this water is melting and
quickly filling up the oceans.
With the melting, experts say that the
state of the world’s oceans will become
increasingly more hazardous during this
century. Islands in the Indian Ocean, like
the Maldives, will be almost completely
flooded; coastlines will be forever changed,
and nearby cities will be swallowed
up by rising water levels. As 40 percent
of all people live near the world’s coastal
areas, around 100 million people
are expected to lose their homes and
spread. Land where people
previously grew food will no
longer be fertile. Rainforests
with their unbelievable diversity
of plants and animals will dry
out and erode. Experts are debating
with each other about when
it will become too hot for even the
rainforests to survive – but they agree
that less rainfall will limit the rainforests’
ability to be the safe home of countless
plants and animals.
Many rivers and streams are facing a
similar threat. When rivers that depend
on water from glaciers to keep flowing
aren’t “fed” by melted snow and ice (i.e.
when the glaciers are gone), there won’t
be any giant rivers or even tiny streams
– because they will be “fed” only every
Felix and the other
Climate Justice
Ambassadors have
learned over the years
that it is not just
about saving the polar
bears, it is about the
future of humankind.
During a presentation
in Geneva, Felix had
the idea for a “cheeky”
sticker which his
friend Johann helped
to create. The idea
eventually found
its way to the World
Climate Summit in
Copenhagen. Adults
stood in front the
meeting-place between
“Climate Politicians,”
waving banners and
posters of these polar
bears saying “Save
in the air is higher than at any point The permafrost in Alaska and in Sibe-
become climate refugees.
now and then by rain. We can’t begin to
in the last 600,000 years. In the last ria is already beginning to thaw and
imagine, in our worst nightmares, what
1,000 years the world hasn’t been as because of this, the brittle streets and
Because of changing coastlines, lives this would mean. For example, for the
hot as it is today. The average tempe- buildings there are losing stable ground
will be permanently changed. Coral Ganges River in India and the millions
rature of the globe has risen 0.74 °C and starting to collapse.
reefs will not be able to bear the of people who live along its banks,
(1.33 degrees Fahrenheit), in the last
warmer temperatures, and billions of drinking water, which is provided by gla-
100 years alone. Three quarters of a We are alarmed because 0.74 degrees
animals living in reefs will die off, one ciers, would disappear, famines would
38
degree Celsius or more in just a single
century! Earlier that would have taken
is only the beginning. Scientists have
already determined that within the cen-
by one. Also, coral reefs are supposed
to be a form of natural protection; with-
occur and millions of people would have
to flee from drought and hunger, migra-
the Human.”
39
the Earth 2,000 years!
tury, Earth’s average temperature will
out them the forces of nature will have ting just to survive. The areas that will
continue to rise – in the worst case by
easier access to unprotected coasts, be less affected by climate change, rich
“Yeah, and...?” say many people. “That’s 4 °C (7.2 degrees Fahrenheit) –if we
meaning that storm surges and Tsu- countries – above all the United States
not even a single degree! What are you don’t start taking counter-measures,
namis* will lead to many more deaths and many European nations – would
all so alarmed about?!”
and fast.
than in the past. Coral reefs function in then quickly become overpopulated. * Tsunamis are
a way like tropical rain forests, as the
gigantic waves
which are triggered
We are alarmed because it’s only the
average temperature that has risen
We are alarmed because even the
small rise in temperature of 0.74 °C
habitat of the majority of the world’s biodiversity.
Therefore, if we lose the reefs
This is something we
really want to stop!
by earthquakes on
the ocean floor.
0.74 degrees. In some areas it’s chan- has already made huge impacts on our
we will also lose much of the diversity of
ged even faster. In Alaska, for example, planet by causing the sea levels to rise
life on Earth.
“And in order to stop all of these threat-
the temperature has risen between 3 over 15 centimeters (almost 6 inches)
ening developments, all you want to
and 4 °C (5.4 – 7.2 degrees Fahrenheit) in the last 100 years. This is because
While water is rising along the coasts, do is to plant trees?” people ask us.
since the 1950s and in West Siberia it the ice from glaciers on Greenland and
in other places deserts will begin to Yes! Because it’s not just about taking