At the end of Al Gore's film, An Inconvenient Truth, he exactly nailed how I felt about global warming. I was one of those people who had gone from a state of blissful ignorance about the subject to: "Oh fuck, we're completely doomed". Gore counters this by saying that if we can change a few things (e.g. CO2 emissions from cars, houses, etc) by a small percentage, this will add up to a big change.
He doesn't talk about it much in the film, but I think that new technology will play a huge part in the fight against climate change. Instinctively it feels like the technology we need to turn things around is too far away, but I read recently about the Law of Increasing Returns - the counter-intuitive theory that says:
"...we won't experience 100 years of progress in the 21st century -- it will be more like 20,000 years of progress (at today's rate). The "returns," such as chip speed and cost-effectiveness, also increase exponentially."
There is already some incredible stuff happening. Check out this blog - Meta Efficient. It's an inspiring guide to technology working to counter climate change. Things like zero emission houses; solar powered cities; and even an electric SUV are not far away, and the law states that the pace of technological advancement will only accelerate.
The thing that still bugs me though is dwindling natural resources. Where are we going to find the raw materials to make all of this great new stuff? Answers on a postcard, but let's keep believing and investing in the technology because it will play a big part.
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