Page 3 - Energize July 2021

FROM THE EDITOR:

How to avoid the devastation

Is climate change to blame for the devastating floods in Austria, Belgium and
Germany? The European authorities and scientific community are saying a
resounding “yes!”. How can we prevent the same scenes from being replayed here?

by Roger Lilley, Now Media

he dramatic visuals which played out on our TV screens they are unwittingly resorting to the age-old problem of short-
over the weekend demonstrate just how much damage term gains with long-term losses.
Tour industrialised era has done to the atmosphere. So why are Germany and her neighbours at risk of severe
There are still many nay-sayers regarding climate change. weather events as we witnessed in the middle of July? After
Some claim that we are experiencing a natural cycle which all, unlike London in 1952 and Pennsylvania in 1948, this event
is extremely long and would have brought the floods we see – which struck Austria, Belgium and Germany – occurred in
now, anyway. summer.
But we must reject that idea. Firstly, let’s look back just Firstly, it should be noted that the region has experienced
seventy years to 1952. For a few days in December of that severe heat waves, storms and droughts since the summer
year, London was covered in a dense fog. The airport was of 2018. So these floods are part of a developing problem.
closed, traffic ground to halt, people were injured by walking In fact, a recent report shows that Germany’s atmospheric
th
into “invisible” objects and stepping off the curb and falling temperature has increased by 1,5° since the late 19
into the street. Some died from accidents, while others simply century.
choked to death. The smog was so thick that it was literally The industrial revolution began in the mid-18 century and
th
impossible to see one’s hand in front of one’s face. History reached its peak in the mid-19 century. Germany became
th
records that 12 000 people died in that smog. highly industrialised between 1830 and 1873.The link between
the growth of industrialisation and the rise in atmospheric
What caused this phenomenon? temperature in the region is easy to see.
According to experts consulted at the time, the cause was Not that industry is a bad thing – far from it. But
man-made. That is, the problem was caused by pollution. The industrialisation without care for the environment is indeed a
event happened in winter when people burnt coal to warm bad thing.
their homes and businesses. The pollution from coal-fires
caused a chemical reaction which became an acidic cocktail What about South Africa?
with deadly consequences. South Africa’s highveld has very poor air quality. In fact, we
The 1952 smog led to the UK changing its air-quality laws. published an article in May this year regarding the “Deadly
But the London smog of 1952 was not unique. A similar air” court case. In that court case, the applicants claim that,
event occurred in Pennsylvania on 31 October 1948. It was by failing to improve the deadly levels of air pollution in the
the worst air pollution disaster in US history. It resulted in Highveld Priority Area (HPA), the South African government has
officials taking more interest in the environment and public violated the Constitutional right to a healthy environment for
health. It also drew attention to the need for industrial the people living and working in the HPA. They are asking the
regulation. court to order the government to take further steps to improve
Industrial regulation, to reduce industrial air pollution, was the air quality in the area.
very unpopular, as it made businesspeople spend money on The terrible scenes of devastation and loss of life in Austria,
“clean energy” which was more expensive than coal, wood Belgium and Germany are truly saddening. But the images
and oil. we saw should strengthen our resolve to make every effort to
The same resistance exists today. Some people refuse to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We can best do that by
accept that the energy transition will avert climatic change. rapidly decarbonising our methods of electricity generation.
They look for short-term economic interests, ignoring long- We must reduce the number of cars on the road by investing
term consequences. But they would never admit as much. heavily in a reliable, cost-effective, and efficient public
Rather, they claim to speak knowingly of the disadvantages of transport system. In time, we should rebuild our rail network to
the variability of wind and solar, claiming that industry needs transport containers and other large loads and thereby reduce
“base load” power and cannot manage with variances. When our reliance on diesel-powered freight trucks. n
faced with scientific and technical solutions, they immediately
start talking about the cost of energy storage. By so doing, Send your comments to rogerl@nowmedia.co.za

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