The Albedo effect and the climate crisis

What does the albedo effect have to do with climate change?

The Albedo effect simply put defines the reflectivity of an object.

Lower albedo -> more radiation from the sun gets absorbed, temperatures rise

Higher albedo -> earth reflects more radiation back into space and temperatures sink

An area covered with snow reflects a lot of radiation. When the snow covered area melts the albedo goes down.

If global warming would eventually cause the ice caps to melt the dark ocean would absorb sunlight even faster and in turn contribute even more to global warming.

So the more the global temperatures rise - the faster they will rise.

I think that these are exactly the types of things you read and then think to yourself: “Why in the world should I start composting and go vegan and who in the world is going to fix these problems?!”

There is no one answer. Never in time has humanity been faced with this magnitude of problems.

The fact of the matter is that there is not going to be one world leader or one environmental organization that is going to step up and fix this. There is not going to be that on movement or protest that will tip the scales and bring about a radical change in society.

71 % of all greenhouse gas emissions are coming from 100 companies in this world. Oil spills are an almost normal occurrence due to their frequency.

Babies are being born with plastic in their systems, the oceans are turning acidic, over 28 % of species are currently in critical risk of extinction and the scale goes up a bop every damn second as you can see with your own eyes when you click this link https://www.theworldcounts.com/challenges/planet-earth/forests-and-deserts/species-extinction-rate/story

and that number will rise to 50 percent by the end of the century if urgent action is not taken.

My father recently sent me an article by DW that read: “Germany: Coal tops wind as primary electricity source”

The weather partly is to blame, statistics say. The wind has not been accommodating to our windmills and electricity needs which is why - oh me oh my we must resort back to coal one of the biggest resources in Germany, heavily subsidized and a big, fat favorite of the rich and the dirty.

Or as Greta Thunberg would say: “Blah blah, blah blah blah blah, blah blah…”

When it comes down to it, at some point we are going to be forced by extreme circumstances to change our ways if we want to live in ways that are remotely healthy and safe on this planet in the near future.

There is no stop to this fight and this generation is the first that has to think about if it is responsible to bring children into this world.

If an explosion of the world was imminent and we had 40 days to turn off the tab on fossil fuels, create zero waste stores and ride our bikes or walk there, shut down all clothing factories and production, only use trains and public transport – we would. All hands on deck, helping each other out, forming ranks, giving clear orders.

Many, especially those in power consider this to be the time to stall, let the money continue to flow and ignore the biggest threats that mankind have ever faced and definitely not even dip a toe out of their comfort zone to make some radical changes.

Let’s get to some things you have in your power to change in your own life - leaving beside all the daily sustainability tips and switches you can find on any blog or Youtube video (go check some out cause that stuff is still important):

>JOIN PROTESTS AND CLIMATE STRIKES, join the fridaysforfuture movement and orgs like Greenpeace or Extinction Rebellion and get your move on to create PRESSURE

>SWITCH TO A GREEN AND RESPONSIBLE BANK – LEAVE THE POLLUTERS, these banks fund destruction and big projects like new coal mines with your money

>SHOP SECOND HAND ONLY – IT’S NOT HARD, there are no excuses and you have the power to stop giving money to fast fashion and isn’t vintage and thrifting all the rage?

>set up a compost! Works indoors and outdoors no matter where you live with no odor or inconvenience created. Let’s eliminate food waste landfills (responsible for 30 % of methane emissions which is 25 times more warming than CO2) >go vegan, livestock their feed and clearing spaces for that purpose is one of the biggest polluters - not to mention, let's leave the poor animals alone

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that is very much appreciated :)

Thank you for reading💚

Cheers,

Stella