My Life as a Battery

I am either working or dead. And what happens to me from there is up to you. Am I a bright LED powering engine for light for a stable climate and life? Or am I a convenient toss in the trash with little concern for what happens to me after I am useful to you?

We can't use an old map to Xplore a new world. Projected sea-level rise in Miami in 2050 leaves the lower third of this beautiful American state underwater. Yes, that's right, vanished in two-and-a-half decades. That little toss of me makes that sad outcome more possible. I am connecting the dots between every little action we take and the unintended consequences it might take. We are currently headed to a 4-degree Centigrade rise in temperature! This means all of these will have happened at 1.5 degrees C rising sea levels displace 46 million people with a 48 CM rise. at 2.0 degrees C there is far less ability for infrastructure adaptation. at 3 degrees C Greenlands ice sheet is nearly completely melted and Earth will have a sea level rise of 21 feet. Where we are headed 4 degrees C 470-760 million humans are at risk of survival at a 27-foot seal level rise.

What does this mean for you if you live near a shore? Coral reefs will have disappeared along with their ability to minimize wave energy to protect the shore. Marine ecosystems may collapse-no fish! Half of all plant and animal species will face local Xtinction.

Impacts on water, you wonder? At 1.5 degrees C if you live in Mediterranean, Australia, Brazil, or Asia you will have water shortages. At 2 degrees C, nearly 8% of the world's humans will face severe shortages. At 3 degrees C, Almost half of the Himalayan high mountain glaciers will be lost.

The great news is that by being informed we get to choose. Did you know that every single day we make tens of thousands of decisions? When we are informed we can choose to contribute to the smallest possible carbon-polluting footprint yielding the highest possible quality of life for the greatest number for the longest period of time.

My life as a battery is starting to look a bit more significant. It may be a single thoughtless decision that is multiplied by more than 8 million a day in the USA. Climate change is not an "either/or". It is a "YES and" for each of us. We are all imperfect and living life together in Earth today. Making daily decisions with a concern for those living in Earth tomorrow may make us pause when making these seemingly unimportant daily decisions.