What is the first thing we need to do to address climate change?

Simple. We need to understand it. We ALL need to understand where we are, and based on the conversations I’m having, too many are not even thinking about it or have no idea how bad it’s getting.

The other thing that keeps coming up when I talk with people about climate change is the question: what can I do?

Here’s something you can do

Read, watch, and get absorbed in this information for a couple of days or more if you can do it.

I know you’re busy, I know you have a lot on your plate, but I believe the number one thing everyone needs to do is understand how bad it really is. We owe that to ourselves.

This is not a quick fix, although I’m making it as easy as possible by collating all of this information in one place. Something you can come back to when you have time.

But understanding this situation will require time and investment, and it is definitely worth that time. You may not feel great after doing it (it’s not happy reading and it had a big impact on me), but without knowledge and acceptance of where we are, we’re not going to do what needs to be done.

I believe we all need to know what we’re facing, because until we do, the push for the massive changes needed is not going to happen. It can’t, because it is only our united voice that can get governments, businesses, the media, and other important groups, on the bandwagon of big change. Without our collective will, we can’t succeed.

So I’m making it easy for you to learn

Everyone tells me they are overwhelmed by all of the information out there. I get it. I live in this world of information and while overwhelming, it doesn’t bother me so much. I’ve learnt how to navigate it and besides, I like it. Knowledge is such a gift.  

I’m also one of those weird excessive consumers of knowledge and have no problem navigating through it, so I realized this is a way I can take action, by packaging it up for you.

I can collate and share the information I find valuable; however, I’m also expecting you to see this long list of articles and think: CRIKEY, how am I going to get through all of that?

You don’t need to read it all. Read some or read the one’s where the headline captures your imagination. Agree to read five, 10 or 20. Even better, why not take a weekend off and read it all? Or take a couple of days off sick and invest in it?

The most important thing is don’t ignore it. We can’t keep ignoring it. We need to know so we can act, and we need to do it right now. Because what is more important than a future for all of us? Nothing else really matters right now. Truly.

Even if you read it and still don't think it's an issue, that's fine. At least you gave it some decent consideration!!

Is it all bad?

Of course not. Here’s some hopeful articles and research…

1. Massive restoration of world’s forests would cancel out a decade of CO2 emissions, analysis suggests
2. Youth climate strikers: 'We are going to change the fate of humanity'
3. EU's Juncker proposes billions of spending on climate change after a 16-year-old's speech 
4. French experts propose trillion-euro EU climate finance pact
5. Lockerbie plastic roads firm MacRebur opens first factory
6. Trader Joe's Phasing Out Single-Use Plastics Nationwide Following Customer Petition
7. UK shows how climate action done, with cuts to emissions for six years in a row
8. India and China are leading the greening of our planet
9. UK experiences hottest winter day ever as 21.2C is recorded in London
10. The rejuvenation of Maya Beach in Thailand
11. Beer rings that marine animals can eat
12. Climate strike: Schoolchildren protest over climate change – go kids!
13. Avoiding meat and dairy is ‘single biggest way’ to reduce your impact on Earth
14. 'We won': Landmark climate ruling as NSW court rejects coal mine - bravo
15. Grocery bags and takeout containers aren't enough. It's time to phase out all single-use plastic

But here’s the not so positive – six months’ worth of collation

1. My deep investment in self education (even though I’ve always been interested) began in earnest with the release of the IPCC Report, October 2018 (FYI there’s a problem on the IPCC site, so here’s the Facebook page)
2. But this isn’t new. This piece was published in 1989 - U.N. Predicts Disaster if Global Warming Not Checked – no time to lose…. And then this story goes back to the 50s: Big Oil Knew: The Confusion Memo
3. One of the most alarming pieces this year so far!! Our planet just set a scary new carbon dioxide record
4. Microplastic pollution revealed ‘absolutely everywhere’ by new research
5. It’s raining on Greenland’s ice sheet. That’s a big problem.
6. Oceans Losing Oxygen
7. Is This the End of Recycling?
8. Airlines Were Supposed to Fix Their Pollution Problem. It’s Just Getting Worse
9. Best and worst airlines for tackling climate change
10. Climate Change Will Increase Violent Turbulence On Airline Flights
11. Climate Change Means More Extreme Weather – Here’s What to Expect If Emissions Keep Increasing
12. Don’t ignore military advice on climate change, Mr. President
13. Mosquito-Borne Disease Could Threaten Half the Globe by 2050
14. 'Whole thing is unravelling': climate change reshaping Australia's forests
15. Australia's changing climate – report by the CSIRO
16. We have to fix fashion if we want to survive the climate crisis
17. UN Says Climate Genocide Is Coming. It’s Actually Worse Than That – a must read
18. We've lost 60% of wildlife in less than 50 years
19. Scientists Are 99.9999 Percent Sure Humans Caused Climate Change – BTW this level of agreement between scientists is unheard of
20. Of the world’s 100 most polluted cities, 99 are in Asia
21. Rate of plastic pollution will double by 2030 as report calls for end to single-use plastics
22. We have to fix fashion if we want to survive the climate crisis
23. Rarest orangutans 'doomed' by Indonesia dam project
24. Heatwaves sweeping oceans ‘like wildfires’, scientists reveal
25. Scientists slap down Australia government over fake climate claims
26. Deal signed for huge coal-fired power plants in Hunter Valley, Hong Kong firm says
27. Europe’s renewable energy policy is built on burning American trees
28. Revealed: Glencore bankrolled covert campaign to prop up coal
29. Filmmakers “Stood There Crying” As They Helplessly Captured A Polar Bear Starving
30. ‘A Harbinger of Things to Come’: Farmers in Australia Struggle With Its Hottest Drought Ever.
31. Insects are dying off at record rates — an ominous sign we're in the middle of a 6th mass extinction
32. Is climate change far worse than we realise?
33. Water dangers loom for South Asia
34. Early spring rain boosts methane from thawing permafrost by 30 percent 
35. Europe's Populist Right Threatens to Erode Climate Consensus
36. A third of Himalayan ice cap doomed, finds report
37. Noam Chomsky: 'In a couple of generations, organized human society may not survive.' 
38. Iceberg twice the size of New York City is set to break away from Antarctica
39. Don't Save The Planet For The Planet. Do It For The Beer – maybe this is the inspiration needed?
40. In the world of sustainability, colonialism is not dead
41. How Quickly Climate Change Is Accelerating, In 167 Maps
42. ‘There Will Be An Increase In Deforestation’: Brazil’s New President Signs Order Endangering Amazon And Indigenous Rights
43. STOP THE BURNING - 30 global leaders send a collective message to end deforestation
44. Japan will start whaling What? Why?? Why now? And Iceland is in on it too - Iceland to keep hunting up to 2,130 whales over 5 years
45. UK experiences hottest winter day ever as 21.2C is recorded in London
46. Neoliberalism has conned us into fighting climate change as individuals
47. Why disaster capitalists are praying for a no-deal Brexit 
48. Great Barrier Reef: One million tonnes of sludge to be dumped
49. What happens if all the coral reefs die?
50. Iceberg twice the size of New York City is set to break away from Antarctica
51. Coles Releases New Plastic Collectables Despite Public Outrage
52. Tasmania is burning. The climate disaster future has arrived while those in power laugh at us
53. These are the economic, social and environmental impacts of fast fashion
54. The World Might Actually Run Out Of People
55. UN: Growing threat to food from decline in biodiversity
56. The Green New Deal Would Cost $93 Trillion, Ocasio-Cortez Critics Say
57. You do a bit of a search for the cost of inaction? Inaction on climate change risks leaving future generations $530 trillion in debt
58. James Downie: The fierce urgency of climate change
59. Don’t look now, but the House just woke up to the cost of climate inaction
60. We can pay for pollution now or later—and the price is lower now
61. Year Zero: The Year When Wild Animals Are Gone
62. The Countries Polluting The Oceans The Most
63. Billionaires Are the Leading Cause of Climate Change
64. 'It'll change back': Trump says climate change not a hoax, but denies lasting impact
65. Humanity is ‘cutting down the tree of life’, warn scientists
66. U.S. Climate Report Warns of Damaged Environment and Shrinking Economy
67. The unbelievably simple way to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half – the maths doesn’t add up, but it makes a point
68. How to stop plastic pollution at source
69. Be afraid—11 scary facts, stats and lies about our planet this Halloween
70. Where will you be when the sea rises?
71. This is how long everyday plastic items last in the ocean
72. The plastic backlash: what's behind our sudden rage – and will it make a difference?
73. Global waste generation will nearly double by 2050
74. Small Nuclear War Could Reverse Global Warming for Years – headline is reverse of the truth in the article
75. New report finds Cadbury has destroyed over 25,000 hectares of Orangutan habitat
76. 'Time is Running Out,' American Petroleum Institute Chief Said in 1965 Speech on Climate Change
77. Drone Footage Exposes Hundreds Of Whales Trapped In Secret Underwater Jails
78. How Extreme Weather Is Shrinking the Planet
79. Has this Singapore-listed palm oil firm been concession laundering?
80. Climate change: Warming gas concentrations at new record high
81. Climate change: Concerns over report on ocean heating
82. Just 100 companies responsible for 71% of global emissions, study says
83. What's Not in the Latest Terrifying IPCC Report? The "Much, Much, Much More Terrifying" New Research on Climate Tipping Points
84. Final call to save the world from 'climate catastrophe'
85. Slow Arctic freeze raises risk of polar bear extinction, say scientists
86. Everyone is Celebrating Congo’s Massive New Park Since Similar Preserve Saved Gorillas From Extinction
87. Extinction Rebellion protests block London bridges
88. Animals Are Riding an Escalator to Extinction
89. The Extinction of Wilderness
90. Only drastic action can save us from the sixth mass extinction
91. “The Last Animals”: a journey to the frontlines of extinction
92. Materialism: a system that eats us from the inside out
93. Climate change: CO2 emissions rising for first time in four years
94. French Government Starts Phase-Out of Glyphosate with Online Farmer Platform and Herbicide Tax
95. Sperm whale found dead with 13 pounds of plastic in its stomach
96. French Government Starts Phase-Out of Glyphosate with Online Farmer Platform and Herbicide Tax
97. The Insect Apocalypse Is Here
98. 19 of 20 World Leaders Just Pledged to Fight Climate Change. Trump Was the Lone Holdout.
99. A government report outlines what a warmer world means for America
100. Climate change: Where we are in seven charts and what you can do to help

Useful sites to follow

Follow the World Economic Forum. Check out Prevent Year Zero. Understand Ecological economics. Check out End Plastic Waste.  Also CO2.Earth where they have weekly updates on emissions.

If you are not a believer in climate change or global warming, that’s fine. I really don’t care. Hopefully you are a believer it’s time to stop drowning our planet in rubbish?? I hope so. That’s revolting for all of us.

The reality is, no matter where you stand right now, just invest in reading what I’ve shared here. What matters is knowing we’re up against a huge challenge – one we must overcome.

If we all know and start taking this seriously, we can start making change.

I believe we are on the cusp of catastrophe, so I am driven to share this knowledge, because with what I’ve learnt, I know it doesn’t matter what changes I make. It doesn’t matter what changes my small community makes either. We need everyone on board, working together as a global community, and we need it right now.

Thanks for taking this seriously. And please, let me know if this information is of value to you? Let me know what you think we need to do? Let me know if you think we’ve hit the tipping point towards change? Let me know if you think your community is asleep? Let me know if you were asleep and this knowledge has woken you up? Let me know that you are ready to join the global challenge we’re all facing with climate change?

Sharing this with love and hope in my heart. I will also start sharing actions we can all take as follow-on.

Cheers

Andrea

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