The Poles are melting, the wealthy are… still wealthy

High carbon lifestyles are threatening this big guy’s habitat. (Photo: Pixabay)

Heat waves in Polar regions?

The Concordia research station in the Antarctic Plateau is one of the coldest places on earth. The temperature there averages at -80°C in winter, and rarely goes above -25°C in summer. But on March 19th, a heat wave struck, bumping the temperature up to 40°C higher than the average for this time of year.

Extreme weather events are becoming more and more common over the past 65 years, but with the ice sheets intact and only a few dips in temperature here and there, most parts of Antarctica remain unaffected by global warming. Right now, climate change experts are more concerned about changes in temperature on the opposite pole.

The Arctic is experiencing a similar heat wave, with stations recording temperatures hitting 30°C above normal. While the rise in temperature is not as big as in the Antarctic region, this heat wave poses a much larger threat, since the ice caps there are melting at an alarming rate. 

The Arctic region is warming three to four times faster than the global average. The depleting ice caps mean rising sea levels, changing weather patterns, less protection from the sun’s harsh rays, and habitat loss for vulnerable animals like cute polar bears.

Climate scientists have been warning us about this for years, and world leaders and governments have made efforts to impart national level changes to address global warming. But recent research is showing that perhaps we should be shifting our focus not on the carbon emissions of individual countries– but of individual people.

With wealth comes warmth

In a visual essay highlighting data from the World Inequality Lab, Bloomberg Graphics discusses how wealth inequality is inherently linked to global warming.

The 2022 Inequality Report that showed that the richest 1% (60 million people who earn $109,000 a year) are the fastest-growing source of carbon emissions. This same 1% of people emit about 70 times as much carbon as the bottom 50%.

Generally, the richer a person gets, the bigger their carbon footprint becomes. Meat consumption, car ownership, and luxury travel are some of the ways they drive up carbon emissions. And these are also the same people that have the most power and resources to make systemic changes happen, but they don’t, because their high carbon lifestyle does not stand to benefit from it.

Carbon inequality is a new concept that climate scientists and policy makers are now having to grapple with. As consumption and emissions continue to skyrocket, whether or not we can get the rich to reduce their emissions is going to be a central factor in the fight against global warming– and also, in saving the polar bears.