The Other Side of the Story

By: Shreeya Indap

Although we here at Dandilyonn pride ourselves in the steps we have taken to raise community awareness about climate change, we are guilty of one thing: we’ve only shared one side of this dreadful story with you all, from the loss of many plants and animals to the possibility of deadly diseases resurfacing. While some of these problems may be irreversible, there are actually many successful things being done to slow down and even stop climate change.

The most widely known solution is arguably the Paris agreement, where more than 190 countries came together in an effort to stop climate change. You probably know all about it so I’ll spare you the details, but the gist of it is that the parties who signed pledged to stop the increase in the average global temperature to below 2 degrees Celsius and fund programs toward lowering greenhouse gas emissions.

And that’s not the only agreement that numerous countries have signed to cut back their emissions. Just last month in Rwanda, President Obama along with more than 170 other countries agreed to a treaty that would completely eliminate hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) in air conditioners and refrigerators. Although HFCs aren’t very common as compared to other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, they act as a “supercharged greenhouse gas” and trap heat 1000x more efficiently than carbon dioxide. As the New York Times explains, the Kigali deal will replace HFCs with more planet-friendly alternatives, and have richer countries help finance the transition of poor countries. In fact, scientists think the deal will stop a nearly 1 degree Fahrenheit increase in Earth’s average temperature!

Finally, if you haven’t heard already, the International Energy Agency found that last year, renewable sources surpassed coal as the main source of energy around the world. As they explain on their website, it reached a new record of 153 gigawatts (which is still rising today) with 2.5 wind turbines and 30,000 solar panels being installed every hour! And, renewables will remain the fastest-growing source of electricity generation, from 23% in 2015 to 28% in 2021.

So instead of being bummed out because of climate change and our new president who doesn’t believe in it, we need to keep fighting back and focus on the good things we have achieved. Try your absolute hardest to cut down on your emissions, especially these next 4 years!