Simon

Hello Carl and welcome to the community!

Famous climate activist Greta Thunberg adorns the front cover of the first Vogue Scandinavia magazine. And the uses the interview opportunity to reach a new audience and to criticize the environmental pollution of the fashion industry. In Vogue's interview, Thunberg said that that she hasn't bought any clothes in three years when she bought secondhand clothes. "I just borrow things from people I know," she explained. Thunberg has shared the interview herself on Instagram where she writes that the fashion industry is a big emitter and that it is not possible to mass-consume fashion in a sustainable way as the world looks today. "Many are making it look as if the fashion industry are starting to take responsibility, by spending fantasy amounts on campaigns where they portray themselves as ”sustainable”, ”ethical”, ”green”, ”climate neutral” and ”fair”. But let’s be clear: This is almost never anything but pure green washing," she writes. "You cannot mass produce fashion or consume ”sustainably” as the world is shaped today. That is one of the many reasons why we will need a system change." What are your thoughts about the fashion industry? Is it mostly just greenwashing like Thunberg says, or is it possible to shop green and sustainable clothes? And have you also reduced your consumption of clothes and other fashion items? Are you shopping secondhand clothes? Let us know how you are making your wardrobe greener!

Hello and welcome to the community!

This is true, we spend most of our life at work and then you shouldn't feel miserable or discomfort from your actual job - it's just too bad that it's not that easy to just switch to another job.

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Hello @arkron fletcher and welcome to Green Blog.

Hello @cyndicato and welcome to Green Blog!

Last year we could see how the global coronavirus pandemic led to huge drops in air pollution around the world. The coronavirus had such massive effect on slowing down human activity and the global economy that even Earth Overshoot Day was slightly delayed compared to previous years. But even with all of this, the climate crisis remained relentless in 2020 and continued seemingly unabashed by the economic effects of the pandemic. So how did the coronavirus pandemic affect climate change and global greenhouse gas emissions? According to IEA data, global energy-related CO2 emissions fell by 5.8 percent - which is the largest annual percentage decline since World War II. But despite this, a UN report released last month said that the global coronavirus pandemic had no effects on atmospheric CO2 levels. In fact, according to the report the pandemic was a "double blow" as the various lockdown restrictions made the impacts of global warming even worse for millions of already vulnerable people. "This is a frightening report," UN Secretary-General António Guterres said at the press conference where it was published. "We are on the verge of the abyss... We are seeing record levels in tropical storms, in the melting of ice sheets or glaciers, in relation to drought, heat waves and wildfires," U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told Reuters. Despite La Niña cooling down large parts of the world last year, 2020 was still ranked among the hottest years on record with experts warning that "we can expect more of the same" as rising global greenhouse gas emissions have caused the warmest six years in recorded history to take place since 2015. "We have been saying this for decades – more and more greenhouse gases will lead to more and more warming," Ed Hawkins, from Reading University, told BBC News. "One degree of heating is dangerous for some people, as we've seen," Hawkins said last year while presenting new data that showed that September of 2020 was the hottest ever recorded globally since the 19th century. "Two degrees is more dangerous still, and three degrees even more dangerous. We really don’t want to find out what that’ll be like." According to analysis and projections, total energy emissions for 2021 is expected to be slightly lower than in 2019. But as pandemic-induced restrictions have been loosened, global CO2 emissions has had a roaring comeback. More worryingly still, emissions are expected to increase sharply after the pandemic. According to a recently released report from the International Energy Council, IEA, emissions are expected to reach the second highest levels ever historically as the world economy recovers after the coronavirus pandemic. "This is a dire warning that the economic recovery from the Covid crisis is currently anything but sustainable for our climate," Fatih Birol, executive director of the IEA, said in the report. "Unless governments around the world move rapidly to start cutting emissions, we are likely to face an even worse situation in 2022," he added. And just last month a gloomy symbolic milestone was achieved as atmospheric CO2 levels exceeded a daily average of 420 parts per million (ppm) – which is halfway to a doubling compared to pre-industrial times. When the measurements began in 1958, the level was just over 315 ppm. The pre-industrial level, before humans began to burn fossil fuels, has been calculated to slightly below 280 ppm. When it comes to climate change, 2021 is looking just as bleak as 2020 and previous years. But like the famous climate activist Greta Thunberg have said: we have not yet failed, but we must now do the seemingly impossible. Photo by Maxim Tolchinskiy.

Ingka Group, which is the largest franchise owner of Ikea, has announced that they will invest four billion euros in renewable energy to reduce the company’s climate footprint and reach 100% renewable energy across the company’s whole business chain. The new investments will include a solar energy plant in Russia that will produce enough energy for all 17 Ikea department stores in the country. "We are in the most important decade in the history of humankind – climate change is no longer a distant threat, and we must all do our part to limit global warming to 1.5°C. The cost of inaction is just too high and brings substantial risks to our business and humanity," said Jesper Brodin, CEO of Ingka Group, in a comment. Ingka Group has previously invested around 2,5 billion euros in renewable energy, and they currently own and operate 547 wind turbines and ten solar parks in 15 different countries. And several Ikea department stores and warehouses are also equipped with solar panels on the roofs. In total, its installed renewable energy power accounts for more than 1.7 Gigawatt. According to Brodin, the renewable energy investments are in alignment with the Paris Agreement and they will also help future proof their business. "For us, it is good business to be a good business," Brodin said. Photo credit: IKEA

Hello Mark and welcome to Green Blog.

Hello @KalibStorezand welcome to Green Blog.

Welcome to green blog and our community!

Yes, but that's the hard part. We have waited so long to take proper climate action that ANY meaningful action we take now will have severe short-term economic effects.

Yeah, but it won't be long until a new pandemic comes crashing. We'll never learn.

Oh my, that's extreme! I can barely function when the temperatures rise to 30 degrees Celsius. 🥵

Thank you!

The Kauai 'O'o (Kauaʻi ʻōʻō) was a bird species that lived on the islands of Hawaii. Due to habitat destruction by human activities and exploitation, and after humans introduced invasive species to the islands, this bird species went extinct in the late 1980’s. The Kauai 'O'o mated for life and both the male and the female had a distinct mating call. Wikipedia describes it as a very vocal, making hollow, erratic, flute-like calls. The bird was last sighted in 1985, and the last sound recording was made in 1987. Listen to the last bird of his kind singing a mating call, to a female that would never come. Truly heart-breaking.

Here is a list of plants that will help keep the air in your home clean and free from pollutants: And I agree with you, you can't have a cozy home without any plants.

It's winter so it's pretty cold right now. But overall, our winter has been unusually warm, and it was only quite recently it started to get colder.

Hello @Squaroe and welcome to Green Blog!

And don't forget that the use of GMOs will lead to corporations, like Monsanto, to own and claim patent on the very seeds of life.

Yeah, I really miss our four seasons. It was decades since we had a proper winter. Now it's mostly a short spring, and then a long and sweltering summer that ends with a dark and wet autumn.

Climate science has always been conservative in its estimates. The scary thing about climate change is that it's moving much, much faster than what our calculations and projections predicted. It's scary. Because we are quickly moving into unknown territories with unpredictable outcomes - especially the human and political reaction that will follow the untold global climate catastrophes.

I don't really do any regular exercising. But I try to eat healthy and use my bike or walk whenever I can.