iChesterfield Blog

Heading off to France and Germany is something that I look forward to every year. I grab my boots, my goggles and more importantly my skis and countdown the hours and minutes from when we leave home to when we finally pull up at our favoutite hotel in Strasbourg. When I finally got to the usual hotel room and opened the curtains, I was bitterly disappointed. Usually I am greeted to a view which would melt the hardest of hearts. However, this time I was shocked and stunned to be looking at the hills and see absolutely no snow. It was December and was bitterly cold in the mountains, but no snow.

Now this is merely an inconvenience compared to what it means for the French and also every other person in the entire world. The Earth is warming up and we have basically accepted that with open arms. Warmer summers and colder winters are something we have all longed for, but at what cost? In the next few years we will begin to loose so many things we have taken for granted.

Polar Bears will be killed off because they have nowhere to live because the ice caps are quickly melting and Harbour Porpoises in British waters are starving to death - because of the effects of global climate change. A study has found they are under threat because warmer seas are affecting the availability of sand eels, their staple food source.

Also it has been scientifically predicted that by the year 2100, dozens of the world’s cities, including London and New York, will be flooded. Also, research suggests that global warming will increase sea levels more rapidly than was previously thought. The first study to combine computer models of rising temperatures with records of the ancient climate has indicated that sea levels could rise by up to 20ft by 2100, placing millions of people at risk.

This is absolutely scary, but people really annoy me when they say, ‘Well it won’t be in my lifetime!’. “No but you selfish pigs, it’ll be in somebody else’s lifetime and what about them?”

We need to start doing something right now.

People may think that becoming green may be a costly affair, but it will become even more costly when rising sea levels and temperatures will leave millions of people homeless or dead.

We need to do basic things first. Things like turning off your TV and not on Standby either! When your phone is fully charged, unplug your charger. When you make a cuppa, fill the kettle with only what you need, not overflowing when you only need to make two cups of tea. Just buy energy saving light bulbs, yes they’re going to be more expensive to buy but they last for almost eight years!

We need to start saving money, saving energy and saving lives. Start slowly and simple and then work your way up.

Remember, every little helps.