In the future, we might not see glaciers anymore. All around the world, these impressive and majestic ranges of snow and ice are disappearing at a rapid pace due to the worsening climate crisis. In just the U.S. Western region alone,
more than 300 glaciers have melted and vanished, leaving mountaintops bare and exposed.
And yet, at the same time, we're seeing the uber-wealthy intensify their carbon emissions. Private jet use has increased dramatically, while the 20 top private equity firms have produced more greenhouse gas emissions than nearly every country in the world.
Don't let rich people steal our glaciers. Sign the petition to demand that governments around the world increase taxes on wealthy people and corporations, and ban further investments in Earth-killing industries!Glaciers are important for many reasons. They help support mountain ecosystems by dripping water down to form rivers, lakes, and streams. Around 50% of all biodiversity hotspots in the world are located in mountains - and they need glaciers to survive. Glaciers also help to fight climate change by reflecting sunlight off of its surface, sending solar radiation back into space and preventing heat from absorbing into the ground below. And, they prevent carbon that's been trapped in the Earth's soil from leaching back out.
So when we lose glaciers, we're losing a lot. Glacial loss is not only associated with habitat disruption, but it also leads to global sea level rises, which can cause flooding, coastal erosion, and worsening storms. With less ice to reflect sunlight back into space, the Earth heats up even faster. And as glaciers melt, they become destabilized - as we saw with the mudslide that killed more than 1,400 in Tibet and Nepal recently.
Meanwhile, the rich don't care. Greenhouse gas emissions worsen the climate crisis, and the transportation sector is one of the leading producers of greenhouse gasses. Out of all methods of transportation,
private flights are the worst and most-polluting. They pollute with 14x more emissions than general commercial flights. Yet rich people keep taking even more private flights.
The amount of greenhouse gas emissions from private jets has increased by 50% in the past several years. The median wealth of someone who owns a private jet? $190 million USD.
And
private equity firms, investment corporations that only focus on making ever-more profits, aren't any better than individual rich people. The top 20 such firms in the world manage around $7.3 trillion USD. They wield tremendous power and influence, and they could set an amazing example for the rest of the world by using their influence for good. Instead, these firms continue to invest heavily in fossil fuels. Each year, they generate around 1.5 billion tons of greenhouse gasses. That's more than every single country on the face of the planet, except for the US, China, India, and Russia.
If these wealthy, powerful corporations and people aren't going to care about the future of our planet, then we have to demand that our lawmakers take a stand. Our governments exist to benefit and protect the people and our collective future. They must increase taxes on these individuals and corporations and regulate their climate-killing activities!