What is decarbonization?

Welcome to the One Dish One Spoon series. The Dish with One Spoon refers to a peace agreement between the Ashinaabe Three Fires Confederacy and the Haudenosaunee Confederacies about sharing hunting territory in the area around the Great Lakes and along the St. Lawrence River (Facing History and Ourselves). This agreement is emblematic of “the Indigenous worldview in which the earth exists not as private property, but as a commons, to be tended with respect and reciprocity for the benefit of all” (Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer). While some environmental activists assert that humans are the problem because of our destruction of the earth, Indigenous wisdom tells us that humans are a vital part of the natural world and its cycles.

Earth has many cycles. Since matter cannot be created or destroyed in a closed system (this is true for the most part without getting into quantum physics!), what we have on planet Earth is what we got. So how do we take care of the resources we have? This first article in the series will talk about the carbon cycle.

The Carbon Cycle

The carbon cycle describes the movement of carbon through and between plants, animals, microbes, the soil, the ocean, and the atmosphere. Carbon is the basic building block of life on Earth. This interactive page explains the natural and human-made flows of carbon throughout the cycle (Office for Climate Education).

Figure 1. Carbon Cycle (NOAA)

The earth’s climate is shaped by where carbon is in the cycle. Carbon is constantly moving between the ocean and the atmosphere, and through plants, animals, and minerals. It is the exchange of oxygen into carbon dioxide through our respiratory system that allows us to exist on planet Earth. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a greenhouse gas, as are methane (CH4), ozone (O3), and nitrous oxide (N2O). Greenhouse gases contribute to the greenhouse effect: greenhouse gases trap heat near the Earth’s surface and help control the planet’s temperature. Earth is often called the Goldilocks planet because it’s not too cold and not too hot to support life. However, human activity has increased the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere resulting in rising global temperatures.

The balance of where carbon is in the carbon cycle began to shift with the Industrial Revolution. Manufacturing—which had previously relied on water mills, windmills, wood, and the strength of humans and animals—became bigger and faster. In order to power the heavy industrial machinery in factories, humans burned coal, which was cheaper and produced more energy than the previously relied-upon resources. As a result, carbon previously stored in the Earth’s crust in the form of coal was extracted, burned, and released into the atmosphere in the form of carbon dioxide. While there is evidence of the use of coal by early humans, the Romans, and the Hopi in North America, rapid industrial growth, which became concentrated in urban centers, prompted the use of coal on an unprecedented scale.  Furthermore, industrialization led to air pollution, water pollution, the depletion of natural resources, and the loss of biodiversity, as well as extremely poor living conditions for people in cities (we’ll do a deeper dive into industrialization in future posts).

It’s no wonder, then, that so many environmental efforts are aimed at decarbonization. Decarbonization refers to all of the ways in which companies, organizations, and governments work to: (1) reduce carbon emissions into the atmosphere, and (2) absorb carbon dioxide that is already in the atmosphere, also called carbon sequestration.

Later in this series, I’ll talk more in depth about methods for reducing emissions:

• Transitioning to renewable energy like solar and wind

• Improving energy efficiency

• Investing in green transportation

• Minimizing waste generation

• Working with industries to prioritize sustainability

and methods for carbon sequestration:

• Afforestation and reforestation

• Protecting and restoring wetlands

• Protecting and restoring marine ecosystems

• Engaging in sustainable agriculture practices

Decarbonization and Rising Temperatures

In December 2015, world leaders at the United Nations Climate Change Conference set forth the Paris Agreement, which aims to limit global temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels (UN Climate Change). Unfortunately, Trump has withdrawn from the Paris Agreement—again. There is much grief in this lack of commitment from our federal administration to protect the One Dish we all share. To fight despair and inaction, Robin Wall Kimmerer reminds us that this work goes beyond laws and treaties:

“[W]hile creating an alternative to destructive economic structures is imperative, it is not enough. It is not just changes in policies that we need, but also changes to the heart. Scarcity and plenty are as much qualities of the mind and spirit as they are of the economy… A deep awareness of the gifts of the earth and of each other is medicine. [The practice of gratitude] celebrates cultures of regenerative reciprocity, where wealth is understood to be having enough to share and riches are counted in mutually beneficial relationships.”

What about your community brings you a sense of regeneration and abundance? Share in the comments below.