You don’t have to be big or powerful to contribute to climate action.
Just think of zooplankton, tiny animals that are responsible for locking away as much planet-warming carbon as the annual emissions of roughly 55 million petrol cars (the equivalent of 65 million tonnes of carbon), according to new research.
How? First they feed, stuffing themselves to the point of bursting. Then they sink into the deep ocean in Antarctica, where they store carbon through their breathing and ultimate death. The University of Plymouth has a great explanation here.
It struck me that this is a great example of how we overlook the impact of small actions, taken by (many) small creatures.
Interestingly, when I talk about climate change and sustainability, there is often the sense that individuals are too small to make a difference.
What if that’s wrong? (Which, incidently, is what I believe.)
Perhaps small actions, taken by 7+ billion humans, can help to address global warming.
Maybe clusters of these actions can shake the foundations of well-established and seemingly powerful systems, changing the way how society works and how we humans can interact with the world.
So here’s a question for you: if tiny zooplankton can make such a big difference without doing so consciously, what might humans, with our self-awareness and big, beautiful brains, be capable of?