The Oceans and our Footprints

This article describes the current state of the oceans and a way to think about our carbon and ecological footprints.

We live on a beautiful blue water planet.
The oceans determine our climate, weather and future.
The oceans are absorbing about 90% of the excess heat generated by greenhouse gases (GHGs).
So far the oceans have acted as a buffer to climate change impacts.

The oceans are facing a terminal diagnosis.
They have:

  • A high fever – even the deepest ocean is absorbing heat, CO2 and warming
  • Osteoporosis – acidification, calcium deficiency and associated coral reef death
  • Breathing problems – dead, de-oxygenated zones are expanding
  • Circulation problems – the AMOC and other major ocean currents are slowing, becoming erratic and on the verge of shutting down
  • Digestion problems – the food chain is clogged by plastic pollution

Essentially the oceans are on the edge of a major heart attack.

Time is running out, every month we see new ocean temperature records and associated drought, flood and storms intensifying.
Every ton of CO2, methane and other GHGs matters.
As wealthy people we are responsible for high lifetime carbon and ecological footprints.
We can make a difference!

It’s easy to think that climate change has been caused by, and is, somebody else’s problem.
Here’s one way to think about it.

Imagine living in a three-story house.
We live on the top floor of the house and are among the wealthiest 10% of humans on the planet and are responsible for approximately 50% of GHGs produced. (10% means a net worth of $140,000 globally and $850,000 US).

On the second floor, below us, are the workshops of the world. The places where all the goods, and food, are made: China, USA, Vietnam, Germany, Mexico, India, etc.,

On the first floor of the house live the extractors; the places, people and companies that provide all the energy and materials to the workshops. The oil, gas, minerals, iron, coal, bauxite, lumber, meat, etc., everything that goes in today’s global economy.

The system works like this.

We, on the third floor, send our orders for all the things we want down to the workshop on the second floor via the companies that market and produce the goods. The workshops figure out what materials they need in order to make the stuff that will fill our orders. They send orders down to the extractors on the first floor and the extractor companies do whatever they need to do to provide the materials to the workshops.

Then the workshops ship all the stuff to us (usually in plastic) on the top floor.

All of this takes huge amounts of energy, produces massive amounts of GHGs and causes environmental destruction.

Once we get the stuff we have ordered, we use it – gas, diesel, LNG, cars, planes, appliances, electronics, food, etc. and in using it we produce even more GHGs.

At the same time as this is going on we are involved in the investment cycle. Those of us on the top floor hold most of the world’s capital (personal, corporate, pension funds, etc.) and we invest it in the workshop and extractor companies. In return for this investment, not only do we get our orders for stuff filled, but we also get financial returns on the capital. We benefit in two ways from the workshop and extractor company’s production of GHGs.

To fully assess our carbon and ecological footprints we need to consider our role in the entire cycle – on all the floors of the house.

It’s tempting to blame the workshops or the extractors for GHG production and not recognize the inter-connectedness of all the pieces. The people on the first and second floors of the house are striving to raise their standard of living closer to the one we enjoy, and the wealthiest people in the wealthiest countries want even more, and are thus driving the system.

We can make a difference – if we change.
And the larger our current carbon and ecological footprints the more difference we can make – if we change.