Climate Change ☀ A Man-Made Disaster

Caoimhin O’Muraile ☭ Ever since life first emerged on Earth about 3.5 – 4 billion years ago as microscopic (Microbes) living orgasms nature has introduced climatic changes.

These climate changes have been hitherto a natural process to meet the changing conditions and life forms inhabiting the planet. The last Ice-Age ended between 11 and 10 thousand years ago when life, including modern humans emerged from the icy waste. It is the rapidity of these changes in our climate which is more concerning in relatively modern times, since the outset of industrialisation.

The first Industrial Revolution began around the mid to late 18th century and as it gathered momentum, harnessing the new machinery to motive power using coal as its driver thus spewing huge amounts of pollutants into the atmosphere climate changes have increased in both rapidity and severity. Karl Marx warned of flooding if the seas rose particularly for countries low lying like Ireland. Marx stated “of Irelands 32,509 English square miles, 13,243 lie between sea level and 250 feet”. Marx could see the pollutants being spewed out of factory chimneys and these increased with the introduction of capital goods industries like the Railways powered be coal. Along with the factories of industrial cities like Manchester and Birmingham these steam engines poured huge amounts of damaging pollutants through their smoke into the atmosphere. The new powered machinery advanced after about 1870 with Britain now exporting many new inventions and coal abroad, in what is often termed; ‘the second Industrial Revolution’ and with the First World War, which was an industrially powered conflict, in 1914 the amounts of damaging toxins, including Mustard Gas, were regularly pumped into our environment.

With the introduction of aviation and aviation travel the pollutant risk has increased ten-fold. Today air travel accounts for the lions’s share of travelling to foreign parts as people move to and from different countries either on business or pleasure. This naturally increases the volume of aircraft flying across our skies.

Perhaps the one educational aspect of the Covid Lockdown was the noticeable difference in the atmosphere. With less or even no air travel the skies did look much clearer than in normal times. Our politicians talk bull-shit and speak in contradictions when it comes to aviation and the effects the airplane has on our planet. One minute they speak of the need to clean up the planet and the atmosphere and the need to reduce the amount of air travel, then they speak of building a third runway at Dubin Airport. The British Government speak similar anomalies when they too voice concern about the amount of aviation travel and then speak of extending Heathrow Airport! Obviously with an increase in the size of airports an increase in capacity of travellers and, therefore, aircraft accompanies these extensions. This means more take offs and more high-octane aviation fuel emissions into the atmosphere. Michael O’Leary, the head of Ryan Air’, is demanding the yearly passenger seal at Dublin Airport be raised to allow more passengers and thus more of his aircraft and profit. So much for concern about the environment.

What happens down here on earth is regulated in many ways by what is happening hundreds of miles above our heads. The earth’s five atmospheric layers each has a specific purpose and governs much of what happens down here. Rainfall for example is to a great extent governed by the troposphere which contains about 85% of the atmospheres total mass. Tropospheric processes such as the water or hydrologic cycle – the formation of clouds and rain – have a great influence on meteorological (the weather) conditions on earth. In recent decades space travel has increased hugely, and today people like Elon Musk, Richard Branson and many others are in competition in the race to commercialise space travel for the very wealthy. Musk is even talking about “recolonising Mars” as if the planet has been colonised in previous times which is highly unlikely. This thinly veiled disguise is to cover up the real intentions of these damaging excursions into space. Those intentions being, apart from amassing even greater profits, are to find another compatible planet for a few of the world’s wealthiest to live on once this planet finally blows up or floods. Either way there may not be long left for the earth’s fauna, including humans, and flora if this sort of greedy behaviour continues, which I expect it will!

Each time one of these rocket powered space craft takes off it is the equivalent of 28 Jumbo Jets or 747s taking off simultaneously. As Musk, Branson and the other space cowboys increase the volume of space travel it could mean possibly twenty of these rocket powered machines taking off on a weekly basis. This would mean, on the craft’s present size, an increase of 560 Jumbo Jets taking off weekly simultaneously, which would be 29,129 per year. That is at the present size of the crafts which will increase in size, making that figure redundant in the near future. The amount of rocket fuel, even higher in octane than domestic aviation fuel, and emissions given off into the atmosphere, will increase greatly and with this increase the amount of damage to the climate will increase. As these huge projectiles blast through our very delicate atmospheres five layers each time causing some more damage how long can the delicate ecological balance be maintained? We must remember that people like Branson and Musk place profits over and above all other considerations including, it appears, the planet! What is more annoying is the amount of people applauding these space cadets for their brilliant minds. That is tantamount to an arsonist calling to your home with a gallon of unleaded, asking you to evacuate your home while they burn it down and you, the occupier applauding them for doing so!

The icecaps are melting at an alarming rate with chunks of ice the size of Wales falling away into the seas regularly. The sea levels are rising at an alarming rate and have been with global warming over the last 200 years or more. Take for example the North West Passage which is a sea lane linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans via the Arctic Ocean. During the 19th century this route was unnavigable due to thick ice packs but by 1903 a route had been found, albeit very difficult still to navigate. As the 20th century matured navigating this passage became increasingly possible due to the ice melting. Since 2009 this melting of the ice has increased dramatically making the North West Passage easily now navigable and these changes in the rapidity of the melting is down to global warming. Man made climate change! So much change in such a short space of time is alarming and should be of major concerns for governments around the globe. Unfortunately the likes of Musk and Branson have more economic power than all these so-called governments combined. This once again proves governments are not the real power, the international capitalist class is and it is in its interests which governments govern. As Ken Livingstone, the former Lord Mayor of London once said; “if voting changed anything they’d abolish it”. Very true Ken.

How much longer does our planet have left? The scientists, if they know, dare not tell us as such information would not be in the economic interests of the international bourgeoisie. My own unqualified estimation at the present rate, about 50-60 years of reasonably comfortable habitable conditions left. After then, I would not like to guess and what is more, I will be long gone and will be unaffected. It is not for my generation and those older we should be concerned for it is the younger layers of society who will suffer. Before the Covid crisis school students across the globe mobilised in large numbers around the world. The initiative was led by a Swedish school student, Greta Thunberg. Since the end of Covid restrictions these teen demonstrations are seldom heard of and as for Greta? Who knows, perhaps she has been bought off? One thing is for certain governments around the planet as a result of Covid banned public meetings and demonstrations such as those organised by the planet’s youth. I bet these governments breathed a sigh of relief especially when the protests did not reemerge!

Caoimhin O’Muraile is Independent Socialist Republican and Marxist.