The Point of No Return !

It all started when James Watt invented the steam engine in 1712.  The world was no longer shackled to the energy provided by the horse and the coal fired steam engine started the industrial revolution. Transport developed around the creation of the locomotive and the mining of coal became the means of sustaining employment in manufacturing.

The age of the motor car blossomed in 1908 when Henry Ford introduced assembly line production to drop the price of his Model T to what ordinary people could afford.   The internal combustion engine ran on petrol and this was derived from oil.  Vast oilfields were discovered and wars have been fought to divide this treasure amongst the great powers of the world.

Science has been warning us for some time that the burning of both coal and oil is releasing growing amounts of carbon dioxide which is causing the planet to warm.  This warming should be apparent to those who care to see because we are experiencing hotter summers and the ice at both polar regions is melting away.   The world's glaciers are retreating and we are getting increased storm events and unexpected droughts.

So far planet Earth has warmed by just one degree but the rate of heat increase is accelerating dangerously fast.  Most nations have signed on to keeping global warming to no more than 1.5 degree but there are indications that it will reach 2 degrees between the middle and end of this century, and that will be catastrophic.   The melting of the polar ice will raise sea levels and flood most world cities.

We are fast reaching the point of no return.  That is the  balance when global warming is out of control and beyond the ability of humans to control.  That is likely to be reached a decade from now - or at the most two decades into the future.   We will then start the devolution process to where this planet can no longer provide a home for the human race.

World governments are paying lip service to global warming, but taking no constructive remedial action. The necessities are just too disruptive and the politicians fear the public reaction to a lowered standard of living.  Unfortunately, what we need to do in Australia will result in job losses and a lowering of our balance of trade figures.

We need to force the introduction of electric cars to eliminate the internal combustion engine and its thirst for petrol derived from oil.  A five year phase out of conventional cars would impose a financial hardship that would affect most families, but that is the price we would have to pay to save the planet.

We need to cease mining coal and exporting it to other countries to mill steel and generate electricity, and we need to stop burning coal to generate electricity here.   That means higher power prices in the short term, but hydro, wind and solar can eventually fill the gap.  Unfortunately, coal exports represent a big segment of our trading balance with other countries.   The loss of coal mining jobs will adversely affect our economy.

Basically, we need to decide whether we can afford to not make these changes.   The harsh realities that global warming will impose will fall on the lives of the children we are now bringing into this world.   This is not an outcome for centuries into the future.   This is the reality of life on Earth by the middle of this century.

Saving the planet comes at a price.  Not making the attempt comes at a much higher price which we will all have to pay.