Climate Change and the Increasing Frequency of World Disasters, Part 3 of 3

With the average global temperature now standing at 1.1 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, many devastating weather-related events have been taking place around the globe, including floods, landslides, heat waves, and droughts. “The wildfires burning in Russia now are bigger than all the fires raging across the globe combined, bigger than those in the US, Canada, Turkey and Greece put together.” By mid-August 2021, the Dixie fire became the largest single wildfire in California history, having incinerated more than 200,000 hectares (500,000 acres), and destroying numerous structures. Across the Strait of Messina, in Sicily, as temperatures soared to 48.8°C (120°F), the highest ever recorded in Europe, fires burned mercilessly across the island.

“NASA and the European Space Agency have released satellite photos showing just how widespread forest fires are right now. As well as near record flames in California, this image shows heavy wildfires in South America and Africa. It's a warning from space: the planet is burning faster than many of us realize.” And humans were not the only ones affected. On the Kazakh steppe, many animals were left without food or water, and in Mangistau province, more than 1,000 horses, cattle and sheep perished.

The IPCC report concludes that the fastest way to save the planet from runaway global warming is to reduce methane gas emissions. The report states that, not only is methane many times “hotter” than CO2 in its warming potential, but cutting methane emissions gives much quicker results, because methane disappears from the atmosphere in only 20 years, compared to hundreds of years for CO2. One of the primary sources of methane gas is the raising of livestock.

Our most beloved Supreme Master Ching Hai similarly recommends that reducing methane gas emissions is the fastest way to halt global warming. “We don’t have time now. We don’t have other choices now. PLEASE BE VEGAN. PLEASE BE VEGAN, MAKE PEACE. The vegan diet will stop global warming. So cut the methane by implementing the vegan diet. Then our planet will cool quickly also, scientifically speaking.”