During the lockdown, I used to work a morning shift in a butcher's shop which I hated. Every morning I would come into work and have to clean up the mess and do all the store corrections that my colleagues had left the day before. They did this because it was less work and it had no impact on them, despite knowing that it was wrong, they were alienated from the consequences and therefore didn't see it as their problem. Unfortunately, this is the harsh reality when it comes to climate change for our generation. It is not us who have made these mistakes but if we want to survive and for the sake of our children and their generation, we are the ones who must clean up the mistakes made over the past few centuries because it is us who will reap the consequences directly.
Never in the course of all human history has there been a cause that could unite us as a species, until now. Climate change affects us all and is one of the biggest issues facing our planet but affects some areas more than others.
The reality of living in the UK compared to elsewhere
Here in the UK, the weather each day is as random as the next and the weather in the UK is very changeable because it is affected by several different air masses. The UK is often associated with rain but we are lucky enough to experience a mixture of weather types, sometimes, all in one evening. Therefore, even we are sometimes alienated from the impacts of climate change because it is hard to see a change due to our climate being unpredictable. This is not the reality for countries in hotter climates.
Around 80 percent of the world’s population lives in Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia, where farming households are disproportionately poor and vulnerable. It is the regions that are hottest in the southern part of the globe that tends to face greater consequences to our planet becoming warmer as many are already less developed and therefore more vulnerable to the consequences that will arise. Hotter countries also have to adapt faster due to the growing concerns that climate change is bringing, the year 2022 was certainly one of the extremes when it comes to climate disasters. Record-breaking temperatures and shocking floods, droughts, and storms devastated many regions of the world. So just because it is not happening in the UK, does not mean it is not happening. We are very lucky and it is not often that we see major effects of climate change but people all over the world are suffering and so it is up to all of us to do our part because what you do, no matter how small, affects everyone.
Every little helps
Being part of a younger generation currently living in a recession, there are seemingly few ways in which we can contribute to preventing climate change however, that is not necessarily true and change starts with the individual. Everyone must play their part and while you may not be able to clear oceans of plastic right now you can still have a positive impact on preventing climate change from going past the point of return because we only have 11 years left to prevent irreversible damage from climate change. We must use this fear that things will soon become unfixable, to drive us to change now!
How to make a difference
It is important that we first educate ourselves and understand the issues we are dealing with, it is all well and good saying that we need change but failing to understand the issues at hand can be just as damaging if we do not put our minds to the task. Therefore, I implore young people to use social media to become more informed on growing trends with climate change and the different ways in which we are hurting this planet to help them become more sustainable and for them to understand that this is a growing issue that we must face together. Using social media also gives us the chance to let our voices be heard, gives us a platform to voice our concerns, and finds others actively engaged in trying to make a difference.
Being young gives you an advantage because you have your whole life to pick up good habits and change your lifestyle for the better. As a result, whatever you can do in your daily routine to help would make a difference, whether walking when you can, recycling, eating less meat, or even encouraging others to make a change too because setting an example for others is just as important. It is naïve to assume everyone will change or listen to these issues but if you can convince just one person to change their ways then you would have made a difference, no matter how small.