How to eat, dress, live and work in a changing climate landscape

Life is choice. Getting out of bed, to deciding when to go to sleep and everything in between is about navigating a series of choices. We make these choices when our needs / desires /values grapple with our circumstances. The problem is that our collective and cumulative (lifestyle, social and economic) choices have changed the very climate itself.

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Until recently, most of us considered the climate as a given. We expected winter to be cold, the rains to come when they always did, drought to be occasional, and flooding, rare. It doesn't work that way anymore. Part of this change in climate is irreversible, meaning we will not return to normal climate even if we cut global greenhouse gas emissions to zero. That is because greenhouse gases stay up in the air for a long time after they have been emitted, where they continue to warm our planet.

Take carbon dioxide-a large fraction of CO2 emissions is removed from the air when plants photosynthesise, and by the oceans and soil. This happens relatively quickly, in a matter of months or years. But most of the carbon humanity has added to the air must be absorbed by the weathering of rocks and the churning of the ocean processes that can take thousands of years.

So, what goes in quickly takes a long time to take out, much like a slice of decadent chocolate cake - easy to eat but adds inches to the midriff that take some burning.

Our recent efforts to reduce our emissions quickly have changed the operating environment of the world. Carbon has become pri(z)ced and climate virtue-signalling, common. Meanwhile, in a changed climate, flooding and drought have become commonplace, and August feels like May.

Which brings me to this column and what it aims to do. My goal is to contextualise everyday decisions - what to eat, how to move, where to travel, how to manage our (mental) health, what to consider while framing a trade agreement, which supplier to buy packaging from, which sectors to invest in over the next couple of years, even whom to vote for-all within the changing climate landscape.