Nicky Rennie: Cyclone Gabrielle prompts a look at individual actions affecting climate change

Esk Valley properties were devastated in Cyclone Gabrielle. Photo / Warren Buckland

OPINION

I have watched, along with the rest of the country, the devastation Cyclone Gabrielle unleashed on the East Coast.

Prior to that, there was the torrential rain in Auckland that caused massive slips and flooding and, if the forecast is anything to go by, there is yet more inclement weather to come. I have never seen anything like what has happened in Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne and the overwhelming feeling of powerlessness is palpable. But are we powerless?

The term “climate change” has been bandied around for years now and, to be perfectly honest, whilst I haven’t put my head in the sand, I have been of the opinion that nothing I do will really make that much difference one way or another. I am just one person.

More for my own learnings than anything, in layman’s terms (and with thanks to Aunty Google) the actual definition of climate change is: As greenhouse gas emissions blanket the Earth, they trap the sun’s heat. This leads to global warming and climate change.

The other thing that I learned is the world is now warming faster than at any point in recorded history. It feels like the planet has had enough of warning us and is now unleashing all that has been promised. Silly humans. We should have listened.

Progress is a great thing, but that very progress means our planet requires a very big sticking plaster. Generating electricity for our homes and workplaces, manufacturing and industry, food production, cars, boats, ships and planes and the very clothes we stand up in are all responsible for the state we are now in.

My fifth form Social Studies teacher Miss Tilley gave the class an astounding statistic 35 years ago: 15 per cent of the world’s population consumes 85 per cent of the resources. I’m not sure what that figure looks like now but, for my part, I would like to say sorry to planet Earth.

I’m sorry for the crappy Mini I drove when I was 18 that leaked oil and sounded like a tank. I’m particularly sorry for the 80s and the amount of hairspray that was required to look as bad as we all did and, whilst I’m not a cow (most of the time), I’m very sorry for any “tooting” where my methane has contributed to Earth’s demise. I may sound like I’m being flippant but I’m not. It has taken this disaster for me to actually think about changes that I can make in my daily life, if it isn’t already too late.

The word “apocalyptic” has been used to describe the dire state of affairs on the East Coast. Some people in my workplace have made casual comments that it’s autumn now and “what a terrible summer we have had”. Well, at least here in Whanganui, we can walk in our front door and our house isn’t floating down the road. We have been so very lucky here. One of the only casualties that I’m aware of is the digital billboard on the corner of Whanganui Intermediate School that blew down.

With the rain and devastation in Auckland, poor Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne, the earthquake in Turkey, the war in Ukraine and any number of terrible things happening in the world, I have felt an emotional overwhelm.

Rather than watch a dedicated programme about the cyclone, I flicked through the channels and accidentally stumbled across David Attenborough’s A Perfect Planet. As it turns out, it’s not perfect. It’s melting, animals have no homes now and the land we live on is falling into the sea.

There is nowhere to hide, the bang on the climate change drum is getting louder by the day, rather than just being warned, we are now living it.

I may just be one person, but I feel we owe it to all our displaced neighbours on the East Coast to at least try to make some change.