The Willow Oil Project is run by ConocoPhillips and is a project to drill gas and oil in Alaska because it will bring them more money. It is said that it could produce up to 180,000 barrels of oil per day - that's 1.5% of the total oil production in the US alone. The project will run for 30 years and will produce more than 287 million tons of greenhouse gasses.
The project will not only harm the environment, it will harm the whole world. Especially the people living in the area, and it will destroy Indigenous Alaskan land. The project could would cause many humans to die as well. Animals such as polar bears, penguins, arctic foxes, whales, orcas, seals, and so many more will go extinct. Global warming would intensify drastically and ecosystems would collapse entirely. These animals and ecosystems are already in danger and the Willow Project would just add more fuel to the fire.
The Arctic is already warming four times faster than the rest of the world and we can't afford to go ahead with this project. We don't have long to stop this, but it's not too late.
Sign the petition below to stop this project, follow this account for more news, and please share this post to spread awareness.
i made a post a while back about climate change and how it is effecting people, but iād like to do so again in a better and more easily understood way. please, take the time to read and learn, and then take action in your life.
what is climate?
climate is defined as the weather conditions in an area over an allotted source of time (long periods).
greenhouse gases
greenhouse gases are gases that trap heat in our atmosphere and warm the planet. some greenhouse gases are naturally occurring like carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and water vapor, but humans contribute heavily to adding greenhouse gases by creating fluorinated gases which are synthetic.
naturally occurring greenhouse gases are often used in cycles which greatly minimizes their effects on the atmosphere (carbon dioxide is absorbed by plants), but fluorinated gases are only destroyed by sunlight in the far upper atmosphere.
the gas that humans emit into the air has heavily affected our climate and the ecosystems. the synthetic gas we create traps more than double the heat than any other greenhouse gas, and we heavily contribute to adding more naturally occurring gases into the atmosphere.
carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere when humans burn fossil fuels. fossil fuels are things like coal, natural gas, and oil. it is also released when we burn solid waste, trees, and other biological materials.
methane is released into the atmosphere during the production and transport of fossil fuels. agricultural practices also release methane into the atmosphere.
nitrous oxide is released during industrial activities, the explosion of fossil fuels and solid waste, or the treatment of water (treating sewer water to be clean).
according to the united stateās environmental protection agency (EPA), the united states alone totaled 5,222 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents.
right now, greenhouse gas concentrations are more abundant than they have been in the last 800,000 years.
not only do greenhouse gases pollute our air, but they are heavily contributing to climate change.
climate change
climate change is the change in our climate. itās in the name, guys. and before anyone starts saying it, climate change IS real. climate change can happen naturally, or it can be caused by humans. the current condition of our world isnāt a natural change in climate like the ice ages, itās caused by our contribution to pollution and greenhouse gases. other human activities also cause climate change.
conversion of land for forestry and agriculture, power plants, transportation, farming, permafrost, garbage, and volcanic eruptions are all big factors in climate change as well.
ābetween 1990 and 2021, the warming effect on our climate (known as radiative forcing) by long-lived greenhouse gases rose by nearly 50%, with carbon dioxide accounting for about 80% of this increase.ā
āthe years from 2015-2021 were the seven warmest to record.ā
āatmospheric carbon dioxide reached 149% of the pre-industrial in 2021ā¦ā
āof the total emissions from human activities during the 2011-2020 period, about 48% accumulated in the atmosphere, 26% in the ocean, and 29% on land.ā
āsea level, ocean heat content and acidification - are also at record observed highs. the rate of sea level rise has doubled since 1993.ā
ā2022 took an exceptionally heavy toll on glaciers in the european alps, with the initial indications of record-shattering melt. the greenland ice sheet lost mass for the 26th consecutive year and it rained (rather than snowed) on the summit for the first time in september.ā
(in 2022) āindia and pakistan saw record-breaking heat in march and april. china had the most extensive and long-lasting heatwave since national records began and the second-driest summer on record.Ā large parts of europe sweltered in repeated episodes of extreme heat. the united kingdom saw a new national record on 19 july, when the temperature topped more than 40Ā°CĀ for the first time. this was accompanied by persistent and damaging drought and wildfires.ā
(in 2022)ārecord breaking rain in july and august lead to extensive flooding in pakistan. there were at least 1,700 deaths and 33 million people affected. 7.9 million people were displaced.ā
(in 2022) ā
all of the above quotes are from multiple are reports from the world meteorological organization.
oil drilling
oil drilling is the process of a drill hole boring the earth to find oil wells. oil wells are shafts of oil hidden under rock.
for many years, oil drilling is a huge way weāve found ourselves getting resources. this process gives us the energy for our electricity, and honestly produces a lot of other things humans āneedā to live, but it has incredibly awful effects on our environment.
oil drilling creates enormous amounts of pollution, especially with how many oil drilling plants there are. in 2021, there were 1.2 million oil and gas production companies across the united states alone, this number had probably grown by now. the fossil fuels that this produces can lead to deadly diseases, and according the wilderness society, 13% of deaths in people 14 or older in the united states are due to this invisible killer. this may seem like a small number, but thatās approximately 43,145,700 people.
fossil fuels developments also commonly lead to oil leaks, which contaminates the water that we drink. this cause cause things like cancer, birth defects, and liver damage.
offshore drilling releases an average of 157,000 barrels of oil every year. on top of this, the drilling releases toxins into the air.
deforestation
trees, like many of the plants we see, are a huge helper to impacts on climates. they turn the carbon dioxide being released into oxygen, which we need, but due to deforestation we are losing large amounts of them.
deforestation is clearing a wide area of trees. this is done for many different reasons like housing, building roads, finding places to oil drill, etc etc.
according to national geographic, since 1990 weāve lost about a billion acres of forest. this is mainly focused in africa and south america. over the last 50 years, almost 17% of the amazonian rainforest has been lost.
80% of earthās land animals and plants live in forests, and by removing the trees we are removing their homes. unlike humans, animals cannot just rehome themselves when theirs is destroyed, instead they will continue to slowly die out as we take away what belongs to them.
if killing these animals wasnāt enough for you, deforestation is helping to open to gate to zoonotic diseases (diseases passed from animals to humans). itās estimated that there are as many as 1.7 million undiscovered viruses in mammals and birds.
deforestation also causes shortages in water supplies, and large releases of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
affects
the ipcc assessment from 2021 showed that the earth has warmed nearly 2 F (1.1 C) since pre-industrial times.
the impact of this will be great on our earth.
its expected that by 2100 sea levels will rise as high as 8 ft (2.4 m). the rate of sea levels rising has doubled from 0.06 inches per year to 0.14 inches per year. high tides are becoming more frequent, being 300-900% more than 50 years ago. coastal areas will be threatened by these rising sea levels. these cities may eventually become like the sinking city of venice, italy. the high-tide flooding that will be caused will be expensive to repair the damages of. this issue is also creating stress on coastal ecosystems. by 2100, up to 410 million people could be at risk to the effects of rising sea levels.
hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, droughts, etc. are all going to get stronger, longer lasting, and more damage-inducing as climate change rises. all of these things are effected by the climate, and itās quite easy to see how they will effect humans. in the 2022 hurricane season alone there were 14 named storms and two intensified hurricanes.
many endangered animals will lose their homes, and likely go extinct. the following is a list of endangered and threatened species. african forest elephant, amur leopard, black rhino, bornean orangutan, cross river gorilla, eastern lowland gorilla, hawksbill turtle, javan rhino, orangutan, saola, sumatran elephant, sumatran rhino, sunda tiger, vaquita, western lowland gorilla, african savanna elephant, african wild dog, asian elephant, black-footed ferret, blue whale, bluefin tuna, bonobo, bornean elephant, chimpanzee, fin whale, galapagos penguin, ganges river dolphin, green turtle, hectorās dolphin, humphead wrasse, indian elephant, indus river dolphin, irrawaddy dolphin, monarch butterfly, mountain gorilla, north atlantic white whale, red panda, sea lions, sea turtle, sei whale, sri lankan elephant, tiger, whale shark, bigeye tuna, black spider monkey, dugong, giant panda, giant tortoise, great white shark, great one-horned rhino, hippopotamus, leatherback turtle, lion, loggerhead turtle, marine iguana, polar bear, snow leopard, beluga, jaguar, white rhino, plains bison, arctic fox, arctic wolf, bowhead whale, brown bear, common bottlenose dolphin, gray whale, macaw, narwhal, pronghorn, tree kangaroo, african elephant, fruit bat, grizzly bear, brown bear, bobcat, cheetah, chinchilla, arabian gazelle, mountain gazelle, koala, lemurs, snow leopard, clouded leopard, mantled howler monkey, field mice, ocelot, giant otter, marina otter, long-tailed otter, mountain lion, bearded seal, ringed seal, spotted seal, brazilian three-toed sloth, humpback whale, sperm whale, gray wolf, red wolf, yak, zebra, cockatoo, condor, crane, eagle, falcon, giant ibis, macaw, arabian ostrich, northern spotted owl, ground parrot, imperial parrot, white-flippered penguin, warbler, american alligator, jamaican boa, black caiman, nile crocodile, american crocodile, saltwater crocodile, gecko, iguana, indian python, giant garter snake, black soft shell turtle, austin blind salamander, california tiger salamander, cameroon toad, catfish, chub, desert dace, black side dace, salmon, sawfish, sturgeon, bumble bee, yellow-faced bee, american burying beetle, cassius blue butterfly, moose, giraffe
this isnāt even the full fucking list.
reading the full list made me genuinely cry. there are over 4,000 species endangered rn.
what can you do to help?
the things we can do to help are small, and unfortunately until the big corporations and governments start listening to us, it isnāt going to change much, but anything works.
petitions, protests, letters to the government, and spreading the word are the start. the bigger, more powerful voices have to be reached here.
reduce, reuse, recycle. quit shopping fast fashion, and instead shop for used clothes. recycle things like paper, cans, old cellphones, bottles, etc. cut down on energy consumption. this means turn off all your lights when you arenāt using them, donāt let water keep running, etc.
if you have the means to, use clean energy.
cut down on transportation pollution. start carpooling with friends, take a bus, ride a bike, walk, run, etc. if itās a two minute drive take a bike ride instead. it will take longer, but it helps to leave less of an impact.
shrink your digital footprint. the energy used to upkeep the internet is tremendous. start deleting old emails you donāt use, delete old conversations or messages, try to take up less space here.
research. donāt wait for posts like these to surface. look into our climate, our world, itās events, etc ON YOUR OWN. this applies to literally any situation. educating people can be difficult, and while there are people out there ready to help you understand, you should not be relying on others to teach you. do your own fucking research and come to your own fucking conclusions. the less filtered it is the better (meaning try to find og reputable sources for things).
our earth, itās animals, itās people, theyāre all screaming. they are screaming because we are destroying everything. i beg that you take some time to take action.
