10 Most Notable Environmental Moments of the Decade
February 22nd, 2010 / 4 Comments
The last ten years have been rife with concerns about global warming, water conservation, the lack of sustainable or renewable energy sources, and many more “going green” issues. Significant advancements have been made in energy conservation, as well as future climate control solutions. We’ve listed the 10 most notable environmental moments of the decade, as summarized below.
1. Toyota Prius: In 2001
Toyota Motors released the first ever mass-produced hybrid vehicle to worldwide sales. While pricing was expected to be an issue, the success of the first generation Prius showed that there was certainly a market for hybrid and electric only cars. According to many sources, the Prius is the most fuel-efficient car sold in the U.S., and according to California, it is also the cleanest in terms of smog and toxic emissions. In May of 2008, the Prius hit the 1 million mark worldwide, and the United States made up almost half of total sales.
2. Global Summit: COP15
The fifteenth Conference of Parties met in December of last year, hoping to find a definitive solution for future emission cuts across the globe. While many different parties seemed to be on the same page, and working very well together, the meeting was a slight disappointment as no specific plans were put in action.
3. Al Gore’s “Inconvenient Truth”
In 2006, Al Gore released a simple documentary discussing the hard facts of global warming and climate change. The movie itself was not exactly Academy Award-worthy, as the premise was based on a PowerPoint presentation, but it provided information to the masses that was otherwise unavailable. It is currently one of the highest grossing documentaries of all time, ranked at either 4th or 5th, depending on the source. It led to an unanticipated Nobel Peace Prize for Al Gore in 2007.
4. Company Fluorescent Light bulbs
Energy-efficient lighting techniques made a big spark in 2007 when CFL sales reached record heights worldwide. There were initial usage concerns to these bulbs, but many people chose them over other options because of their energy efficiency According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, CFL’s use 75% less energy than their incandescent friends. As a result, Australia has already banned incandescent bulbs, and the E.U. as well as Canada are making similar changes for a brighter future.
5. Extreme Weather
Between the string of earthquakes across Haiti in 2008, an unprecedented heat wave in Europe in 2003 and the devastating hurricane Katrina of 2005, this decade has had some of the wildest weather ever seen. There is still no specifically scientific evidence that man-made climate change is causing extreme weather, this decade’s fluctuations have provided ample evidence of severe climate issues to come.
6. OED’s New Lexicon
In 2007, the Oxford English Dictionary added green related terms to its pages such as carbon footprint, greenwashing, and carbon neutral. It generally takes quite a few years for colloquial terms to make their way into reputable sources such as the OED, but the speed at which these expressions made their way into usage with official definitions shows the rapid evolution of going green.
7. Cap & Trade Carbon Trading
Carbon trading, also known as cap and trade, has been a hotly debated policy with has big plans. The business solutions to counter climate change include free market principles coupled with government regulations. The details are not quite set in stone, but accounting for pollution offsets and creating official emissions trading markets are among the small steps.
8. Renewable Energy
Renewable energy sources and advancements have grown exponentially since the turn of the century. While there is no cure-all solution for the lack of renewable and sustainable energy sources, many experts have stated that a combination of many standing renewable technologies has great promise for our future. By simply expanding the renewable energy sector, such as wind, solar, and hydro solutions, we can significantly cut emissions while finding long-term solutions.
9. IPCC Report
In 2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change met in Paris to compile all existing information regarding climate change. This was the first significant attempt to combine data from around the world for a solution when moving forward. It was deemed “very likely” that climate change was caused by human activity, and that these errors began centuries ago. For the first time, there was a scientific consensus regarding climate change.
10. Price of Climate Change
British economist Sir Nicholas Stern says that climate change will cost the world more than just a little chunk of change. In a 700-page report, he issued a wake-up call to environmentalists, economists, and people in general by providing the first concrete financial numbers regarding the impact of climate change. In short, climate change will cost 5% of global GDP each year from now until forever.
