I live in England, which is one of the reasons why why I write about English politics reasonably often. This blog being about wildlife, the only politics that concern me is is environmental and science based.
I realize that some of my readers have from other countries in the world, an England is a small country in a large world. Indeed England only has around 1% of the world’s population-and while we emit far more carbon dioxide in the average, we are far less bad on this front than many other countries. However there have been some very stupid decisions made in recent years, particularly in areas such as as a rooftop solar.
Generally the only other countries that I write regularly about the politics, are Brazil and the USA. This is for a very serious reason, something that I hope to cease to be in the near future. These two countries have presidents who have proved to be totally anti-science, and against trying to fight climate change. In Brazil’s case, this is largely due to the destruction of the rain forest.
However in America, it is because of climate science denialism amongst the republicans who currently control both the presidency and the senate.
It will be a few years before Brazil can course correct and unfortunately despite a recent study working out that Brazil and the USA join only India in the top 3 countries in terms of financial impact from global warming. It is hard to tell what is going on in Brazil as bolsonaro does a good job of drowning out other voices.
Thankfully that is not the case in America. As things currently stand Biden is thought to be around 14 send ahead. Even ways the advantage that the the electoral college gives republicans, this is likely to lead to a huge advantage to democrats, which hopefully will give them the ability to course correct,and move the USA from being a climate change pariah back to a country fighting for the future of humanity.
So why do I look at these countries when thinking about the survival of wildlife? Unfortunately it is a simple fact that in jungles around the world can only exist in a relatively stable environment. As we heat the atmosphere these jungles dry out, which unfortunately leads to them being far more flammable.
What is foolish is that while making these adjustments to fight climate change is expensive they’re likely to lead to a better world for us (particularly in healthy breathing air) as well.
It is a simple fact that because countries of the world the run by governments politics is always going to come in to the preservation of wilderness and wildlife and saving endangered species. This means that we must be up on our information, about what is happening in-country governments far from our own. I will endeavour to fill you in on occasions when something is particularly concerning me. I hope that this concern is is shared and that therefore these articles are of use to my readers in the UK and around the world.
For now most of us can simply hope that sense will prevail in the States. There are many people who love Trump, there are many people who hate Trump. While there are indeed many decisions he’s made strike me as illogical, my biggest concern if he got a second term, would be that America joining the fight against global warming would be pushed off for a further 4 years (a timescale that may well make stopping the damage almost impossible), as well as a disgusting disregard for the the critically endangered status they are pushing many animals into.
I will continue to write about politics in countries which emit significant quantities of carbon for two reasons. the first group are countries in the west such as the USA which emit far more carbon per person than any other country on earth, and countries such as china whose emissions are catching up fast. The other group of countries whose politics should concern us is those who currently have large areas of rain forests- supporting these countries and assisting in not deforesting are essential if we are to not face run away global warming.
