Anxiety Disorder

 

 

Anxiety Disorder

 

Most, if not all, have felt anxiety at some point in our life. Anxiety in simple terms is a feeling of unease. It may occur before a test, when one is stuck in traffic, running late for a meeting, or when one’s flight is delayed. Being anxious in such situations is normal. As one grows older and wiser, one becomes anxious less frequently in these types of situations. Being anxious from time to time over unknown or stressful situations is not a disorder by itself. Anxiety becomes a problem or a mental disorder when a person suffers persistent fear or worry about situations that most take as normal or routine in everyday lives such as crossing the street, taking public transportation with strangers, or waiting for the bus late at night. Taken to the extreme, persistent feeling of anxiety can become debilitating, hindering normal day to day life activities. It can eventually lead to serious mental and physical health issues such as restlessness, shortness of breath, sweating, concentration problem, or inability to fall asleep (Cleveland Clinic 2022).

Anxiety can be categorized into these different types (Muskin 2023):

• Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

This is the most common type of anxiety disorder (Mental Health UK n.d.). People suffering from GAD face symptoms of extreme worry and anxiety about many activities that are routine to other people such as socializing, working, or traveling. They frequently have a sense of foreboding and feeling that something bad is about to happen to either them or a loved one (Mayo Clinic Staff 2017). They suffer from a wide range of symptoms such as restlessness, irritability, tiredness, or profuse sweating.
 

This image from Cleveland Clinic depicts common symptoms of GAD. 

• Panic Disorder

People who suffer from Panic Disorder experience unexpected episodes of panic attacks which can cause them a strong sense of discomfort and/or fear. Panic attacks can manifest with symptoms akin to those of a heart attack, such as rapid and irregular heartbeats, sweating, nausea, breath shortness, and trembling (Mayo Clinic Staff 2018).  Severe panic attacks can have debilitating effect on people, making them think that they are about to die.

This image depicts common symptoms of panic disorder

• Phobia

Phobia means fear. As a disorder, Phobia is a fear of an object, activity, situation, or people of certain characteristics. Some common phobias are, arachnophobia (fear of spiders), aviophobia (fear of flying), nyctophobia (fear of darkness), acrophobia (fear of heights), and claustrophobia (fear of tight spaces) (Depressionals n.d.). In extreme cases, people suffering from phobia will experience the same common symptoms of other anxiety disorders as depicted in the image below:

 

• Social Anxiety Disorder

This is a type of phobia which is also known as social phobia. Those who suffer from this disorder are fearful and apprehensive of social situations, especially if they think that they will be observed or scrutinized by those around them. In extreme situations, it can lead to social avoidance and isolation, which can lead to serious negative impacts on a person’s life and mental well-being.

 

 

• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) 

 

People who suffer from OCD suffer from unwanted thoughts and phobia that makes them do frequent and repetitive compulsive things. In extreme cases, they may suffer long lasting obsessions that could hinder their daily lives (Mayo Clinic Staff 2023). OCD usually has a thematic nature like obsession with symmetry, or cleanliness, or constant fear of contamination. We all have seen it among our friends or relatives, especially at the height of COVID pandemic, when people in restaurants would stay at the wash basin, washing their hands for a long time. 

 

• Separation anxiety

 

 

This type of anxiety mostly occurs in children. For some, it is a normal stage of development. It is associated with a feeling of unease or fear of being alone when a parent or caregiver leaves the child in the care of others with whom the child may not be very familiar (Mayo Clinic Staff 2021). Although, it is normal for many children to show signs of separation anxiety, most will grow out of it. For those who carry it into later stages of childhood, if left untreated, the child may develop more severe symptoms like a fear of future separations, difficulty sleeping, or frequent nightmares.

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Anxiety Disorder is a Condition not a Condemnation

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), one fourth of the global population suffers from some form of anxiety disorder (WHO 2023). Among different forms of anxiety disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is the most common as one fifth of the global population suffers from it (Mind Help n.d.). Social Anxiety Disorder is estimated between 5 and 10% of the global population (Cleveland Clinic medical professional 2022), lifetime phobia is estimated between 2.6% and 12.5% (National Library of Medicine 2017), and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is estimated at 2% (Sasson n.d.).

 

Regardless of the type of the anxiety disorder, statistics show that women suffer more than men (National Library of Medicine 2011).

 

Statistics show that the onset of anxiety disorder is usually at a younger age. On the other hand, the prevalence rate of anxiety disorders among age groups appears to be more or less flat. One can conclude that, although anxiety disorders tend to start earlier in age, most people keep their anxiety as they age. The two charts below show these statistics (Javaid 2023).

In a study conducted among 617 Australians, aged 18 to 65, by the Australian National University, between 30 and 60 percent of respondents attached some sort of stigmatization to anxiety disorder (Australian National University n.d.).

 

 

Even 1% of people stigmatizing anxiety disorder is 1% too many let alone 30+ percent.

People with an anxiety disorder need help not blame or stigmatization. Unfortunately, they may experience discrimination or negative attitudes from others. This usually is because of society associating stigma to anxiety disorders. These are some common types of stigmatization associated with anxiety disorders.

• Dismissive attitudes and trivialization

 

 

Many people think that those with anxiety disorders are weak and cannot live or work independently. This is risky. It can lead to wrong ideas about anxiety disorders such as thinking that the symptoms of the disorder are due to some personal or physical deficiency on the part of the person who suffers from it. People who suffer from anxiety disorder need support and confidence. Belittling or stigmatizing them will not help the situation. Some do not take anxiety disorders seriously and think that people can just stop fussing about or stop being anxious for no reason (Australian National University n.d.). This ignores the difficulty faced by those who suffer from the disorder and robs them of the help and support they need to overcome their problems.

• Stereotyping

Stereotyping is a kind of generalization. It assigns a label to a person or a group of people. It can make the stereotyped person feel that they do not belong. It is not uncommon for people with anxiety disorders to be stereotyped and regarded as insane, retarded, weird, dangerous, or unpredictable (Griffiths n.d.). Stereotyped individuals may feel a sense of isolation or detachment from society and may grow reluctant to discuss their disorder and seek help (Beyond Blue n.d.). In extreme cases, victims of stereotyping may suffer from lack of self-worth, depression, or even suicidal thoughts.  

• The Blame Game

 

People with anxiety disorders may suffer blame by others who may think that they are responsible or have done something wrong to have the disorder (Phelan 2004). This attitude does not take into consideration the environmental or societal conditions that may have contributed to the disorder in a person. It may also exacerbate the magnitude of the syndrome in the person who suffers from it – simply put, it may make them more anxious as they may become hesitant of taking any action or being in any group for fear of being blamed for their anxiety.

• Cultural and Gender Expectations

In some cultures, men may be expected to be strong and not display emotions publicly. This may prevent them from sharing their anxiety disorder and seeking help. Women, on the other hand, may be regarded as the weaker sex being whiny and over dramatic if they talk about emotional problems such as anxiety disorders. This kind of expectations may unfairly stigmatize people and prevent them from seeking help when they need it.

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The Effect of Climate Change on the Region of My Choice

Located in Southeast Asia, Indonesia is a country of 180 million people living in coastal regions. The country is formed by a group of islands with vast tropical forests and marine habitats that provide a wealth of ecosystem services such as clean air, and water. Due to its geographic location, Indonesia has always been vulnerable to Southeast Asia’s tropical storms. During the past two decades, Indonesia has been suffering from an increase in climate-related natural disasters and threats such as frequent torrid rainfalls due to rising sea levels, and flooding. This has coincided with accelerated urbanization and expansion of agricultural land use that has come at the expense of forested areas. The rise of urbanization has pressured Indonesia’s sustainable resource management and made its carbon rich peatlands and mangroves more vulnerable to fires that release large amounts of carbon in the atmosphere (USAID, 2023). The rise in sea levels in recent years has submerged large areas of Indonesia’s coastal regions and has caused land loss, property loss, population displacement, and death.
 

The weight of evidence strongly suggests that human activity has been a major contributor to global climate change. The graph below shows the changes in CO2 levels in correlation to temperature over 40 thousand years.  While there has been a natural cyclical rise and fall of CO2 levels, which are positively correlated to changes in temperature levels, we see that, in the current millennium, the CO2 and temperature levels are persisting at their highest cyclical point and have refused to descend in to their natural down cycles. The most recent peak coincides with the industrial revolution and industrial expansion. 

Historical data such as the above show that the recent rise of CO2 levels and persistence of maintaining the cycle high levels are not part of the natural cyclical movements CO2 and temperature levels. Evidence like this strongly indicates that the recent surge in CO2 and temperature levels is not part of normal variation, and point to increasing CO2 levels being associated with higher global temperatures. Many scientists believe that the recent persistence of CO2 and temperature at their cyclical high levels are due to global human activity (SNC2D, 2023).
 

Indonesia, the 16th largest economy in the world, is the 10th largest CO2 emitter in the world (USAID, 2023).

Despite being the 10th on the CO2 emission list, and not emitting as much as the top emitters, Indonesia has the misfortune of being in the relatively close proximity of the three of the top four emitters, china, India, and Russia (World Meter, 2023). It is not entirely in their control of how adversely they are affected by natural occurrences such as El Nino. Nor can they do much about rising sea levels caused by their vicinity to multiple top emitters. They, however, are in control of what they do internally about human activities by managing urbanization, curbing uncontrolled agricultural expansion, and reducing deforestation. In this report, will examine the effects of climate change, caused by multiple climate stressors (El Nino, human activity, and rising sea levels), on Indonesia’s coastal regions and ecosystem.
 

The image below shows the effect of different stressors (El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), Sea level Rise (SLR), and Manual Human Activity (MHA) (Anggi Hapsari, K., et al, 21 March 2022).

We can see that the combined effect of El Nino, sea level rise, and human activity have a far more devastating effect on the Indonesian coastline than just the El Nino and sea level rise combined together. Human activity adds dangers of fires in areas that have been degraded from coastal development, urbanization and land conversion, to the effects of El Nino and Sea level rise.
 

To see devastation caused by rising sea levels, one can easily find articles and images such as these:

Residents wade through a waterlogged area in Kampung Melayu, East Jakarta.

 Photo by Agung Fatma Putra/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

The picture above is from 2020 when many residents of Jakarta had to wade through flood water. Those who survived the flood were at the risk of diseases due to bacteria, and other infectious organisms carried by flood water. 

Yusuf, 20, stands in front of his home, which was destroyed by high waves due to rising
sea levels in Cemarajaya village, in Karawang regency, West Java, on January 5, 2023.
Credit: Garry Lotulung

The picture above depicts loss of property and livelihood suffered by Indonesians living in coastal regions due to flooding from rising sea levels. Experts predict that before 2050, thousands of small islands and millions of houses in coastal areas across Indonesia will be lost to rising sea levels caused by climate change. By that year, a third of Jakarta, which has been described as the world’s most rapidly sinking city, could be submerged (Lotulung, Garry, 2023).

The picture above is from Indonesia’s capital flooded in 2022 when 16 people died, and 1000s were affected by the flood (CTVNews, 2022). 

 

                                                    Jakarta is home to 10 million people or 30 million including those in its greater
                                                     metropolitan area. [Dasril Roszandi/AFP]

The picture above is from 2020 when television footage and photos showed dozens of cars floating in muddy waters of Jakarta while soldiers and rescuers in rubber boats were struggling to evacuate children and the elderly who were holding out on the roofs of their squalid houses (Widodo, Joko, 2020).
 

There is not much that Indonesia can do about El Nino or the global climate change that causes the rising sea levels. Since their CO2 levels is significantly lower than the top emitters, they need a reduction in the CO2 levels of the top emitters to help stall the rising or perhaps lower the sea levels. Domestically, Indonesia may better be served by educating their people about the causes and consequences of climate change, and curb and reduce the negative impacts of human activities.
 

In an article for Columbia Climate School, Sharah Yunihar Saputra wrote that flooding is no longer an annual early year disaster in Indonesia. Indonesians can now expect monthly flooding. The article says that Indonesia ranks first in climate-change deniers. This is attributed to a lack of proper education and coverage by Indonesia’s government and media. Although the government has a number of programs on climate change, it still continues with increasing its coal production levels (Yunihar Saputra, Sharah, 2023). According to worldmeters.info, Indonesia is the 5th largest coal producer, and the 12th largest coal consumer in the world (worldometers.info, 2023).  Coal extraction in Indonesia is done with open-pit mining, which requires massive clearing of forests and creation of large holes that would dramatically change the makeup of the landscape (Bulolo, Caroline, 2023). In addition to mining, other human activities such as crop and livestock farming as well as urbanization have contributed to deforestation, giving Indonesia the unfortunate distinction of being the 2nd country with the highest deforestation rate, following Brazil (worldpopulationreview.com, 2023).

In recent years, Indonesia has participated in global climate negations that began in 1992. In 2022, Indonesia updated its previous climate plan to be in accord with the Paris agreement which commits to reduce Green House Gas (GHG) emission by 32 percent on its own or by 43 percent by international assistance, by 2030. Indonesia has committed to reach net zero emission level by 2060 or sooner. 

Indonesia has placed a moratorium on permits for clearing forest, established a peatland and mangrove restoration agency, and strengthened its forest fire fighting capabilities. On the energy production front, Indonesia has a plan to generate half of its power from renewable energy sources by 2030. Despite these plans, their deployment of renewable energy sources has been slow, with the country still relying heavily on coal for power generation (USAID, 2022).
 

Indonesia has sought help from international organizations such United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to help them implement and achieve their climate change policies and objectives.  USAID has helped Indonesia by providing tools and information needed to adapt to effects of climate change. It has also promoted the use of data-driven approach to implement their climate change policies in areas of water resource management and water sanitization, and increase the country’s capacity for disaster management.
 

USAID has helped fund over $2.4 billion dollars for climate change adaptation. It has trained and helped farmers implement climate-resilient agriculture practices such as crop diversification, and changing tree species composition, and has educated them to better identify disaster threats, and develop better preparedness plans. Since 2015, USAID has helped Indonesia install one-fifth of its newly created renewable energy, and has facilitated over $1.6 billion in renewable energy investments. There are plans for installation of 2000 megawatts of clean energy by 2026.
 

The partnership of Indonesia and USAID has helped reduce 76 million tonnes of GHG emissions from the land-use sector, planted over 920000 coastal plants in disaster prone coastal areas to protect people from storms and tsunamis, and introduced a pilot project to use rainfall and forecast data to predict areas with increased fire risk due to dry conditions, and use techniques such as blocking canals to increase moisture levels as a measure of reducing fire risks (USAID, 2022).
 

USAID is not the only international organization helping Indonesia with its climate action plans and policies. In 2022, Indonesia’s climate plan that was released before the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) still involved coal and did not indicate a pathway towards their contribution to keep global warming within target temperature of 1.5 degrees Celsius (Bulolo, Caroline, 2022), but a foreign investment deal with International Partners Group (IPG) secured financing to help reach climate action targets (Bulolo, Caroline, 2022, whitehouse.gov, 2022).  

The deal with IPG has the potential to accelerate the transition from coal if Indonesia’s government sets and implements appropriate policies to facilitate and, ideally, accelerate the transition to wean the country from its reliance on coal. Indonesia’s national global plan has been updated with a new nationally determined contribution (NDC) with a goal of becoming compliant with the global warming target of 1.5 degrees Celsius. In 2022, Indonesia’s minister of environment and forestry said: “We will submit our second NDC in 2024, and we will include a coal phase-down in it as part of our step-wise approach within the framework of a just energy transition”. But, as Adila Isfandiari of Greenpeace Indonesia pointed out, the updated NDC still allowed “coal to produce at least 30% of country’s electricity in 2025, and 25% in 2050”. This is contradictory to United Nation (UN)’s climate science body’s recommendation of reduction coal in the electricity sector by at least 80%, and a complete phase out of coal by 2040 (Bulolo, Caroline, 2022).
 

On international and diplomatic fronts, Indonesia has not done enough to promote its climate change issues with other countries (Bulolo, Caroline, 2022). This is one area that the Indonesian government must actively pursue – especially since they are in relative proximity to three of the world’s largest CO2 emitters.

Because of its vast coastlines and tropical climate, Indonesia is venerable to torrid rains and climate-change induced rising sea levels. In recent years, Indonesia has been affected by frequent devastating floods in its coastal regions. The risks and magnitude of devastation has been amplified by human activities such as urban, agricultural, and industrial land conversion. In recent years, the Government of Indonesia has taken steps to establish climate change policies and has sought international help from organizations such as USAID to implement and achieve its policies and objectives. While some steps have been taken and data shows a positive trend towards their climate strategy objectives, more should be done domestically and internationally to increase installation and usage of renewable energy sources, control the scope and extent of forest fires, and reduce land conversion, deforestation, and coal production and usage.

 

Bibliography
 

Websites

Anggi Hapsari , K., Jennerjahn, Tim, Hari Nugroho, Septriono, Yulianto, Eko, Behling, Hermann, 21 March 2022, Global Change Biology, Sea level rise and climate change acting as interactive stressors on development and dynamics of tropical peatlands in coastal Sumatra and South Borneo since the Last Glacial Maximum, wiley.com, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/gcb.16131

Bulolo, Caroline, Dec 19, 2022, Indonesia’s new climate plan: Slow progress but change imminent, Chindiadialogue.net, https://chinadialogue.net/en/climate/indonesias-new-climate-plan-slow-progress-but-change-imminent/

Bulolo, Caroline, Jan 16, 2023, Coal extraction in Indonesia is driving deforestation, Chindiadialogue.net, https://chinadialogue.net/en/nature/coal-extraction-in-indonesia-is-driving-deforestation/

East-West Wire, May 19, 2022, Jakarta Flooding Prompts Plan to Relocate Indonesia’s Capital, East-West Center, https://www.insider.com/photos-of-devastating-floods-that-could-sink-jakarta-by-2050-2020-2

Karmini, Niniek, The Associated Press as reported  by CTVnews.ca, Jan 1, 2020, 16 dead, thousands caught in flooding in Indonesia's capital, https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/16-dead-thousands-caught-in-flooding-in-indonesia-s-capital-1.4749525?cache=yes%3FclipId%3D89530

Orecchio-Egresitz , Haven, Feb 25, 2020, Flooding in Jakarta is so bad the government is planning to move the city 100 miles away, Insider.com, https://www.insider.com/photos-of-devastating-floods-that-could-sink-jakarta-by-2050-2020-2

SNC2D, 2023, Learning activity 1.4: Understanding the causes and consequences of climate change, ILC, https://course.ilc.tvo.org/d2l/le/lessons/21526034/topics/182403347

USAID (United States Agency for International Development), Nov 8, 2022, Indonesia, Climate Change Country Profile, https://www.usaid.gov/climate/country-profiles/indonesia

Widodo, Joko, Jan 2, 2020, Several dead, thousands caught in flooding in Indonesian capital, Aljazeera.com, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/1/2/several-dead-thousands-caught-in-flooding-in-indonesian-capital

World meter, 2023, CO2 Emissions by Country, https://www.worldometers.info/co2-emissions/co2-emissions-by-country/

World meter, 2023, Indonesia Coal, https://www.worldometers.info/coal/indonesia-coal/

World Population Review, 2023, Deforestation Rates by Country 2023, https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/deforestation-rates-by-country

The White House, Nov 15, 2022, Indonesia and International Partners Secure Groundbreaking Climate Targets and Associated Financing, whitehouse.gov, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/11/15/indonesia-and-international-partners-secure-groundbreaking-climate-targets-and-associated-financing/

Yunihar Saputra, Sharah, March 3, 2023, Flooding in Jakarta: A Call to Increase Climate Change Awareness, Columbia Climate School, https://news.climate.columbia.edu/2023/03/03/flooding-in-jakarta-a-call-to-increase-climate-change-awareness/

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A Coal-Less Future for India and China

 At a global level, all ecosystems are adversely affected by CO2 emissions. It is the consensus of the scientific community that a reduction in the amount of CO2 emissions will help improves the current situation with our climate. Here in Canada, we are taxed on all sorts of carbon emissions. We are often reminded that we should reduce our carbon footprint. Some even say that we should even stop eating steaks – ludicrous isn’t it? But, a simple chart like the one below, from ourworldindata.org, shows that Canada is not among the largest CO2 problem countries in the planet. 

It is obvious that Canada is not one of the main contributors to global CO2 emission levels. China and India are two of the largest industrial countries in the world that rank high on the chart above. One major contributor is the reliance of their industries on power generation from coal as seen in the chart below from ourworldindata.org.

As we can see from the chart below, from chinadialogue.net, Majority of electricity generation of both countries comes from coal.

If I had the money, time, power, and resources, I would invest my time and resources to wean India and China from coal and move them towards cleaner renewable energy sources. I know that both countered have a lot of manufacturing and need massive amounts of energy, but the needs of the Earth is more important than theirs. Both countries are vast and have large areas with an abundance of sunshine during the year. Solar panels can be installed to generate electricity from the sun. Both countries have large areas of flat lands and large coastal areas.  These areas can be used for installation of wind turbines to generate electricity from the wind. Both countries also have plenty of rivers and waterfalls that may be used for hydro-electrical power generation.

India and China may argue that these initiatives will be very expansive. Since I have the money I will help them financially. The two countries may argue that many of their citizens are employed by the coal industry and move from that to other methods of power generation will put many people out of work. Since I have the money and the resources, I will help them plan and provide training for their coal workers so that they can be employed in other industries.

They may still be reluctant to make the changes to reduce their coal consumption. Since I have the power, I will force them to do so.

But realistically, if we believe that we are at a crucial stage with global CO2 emissions, it will benefit all of us for these two countries, to move away from coal as fast as possible. If I had the power, I would establish a global initiative to help India and China with the finances and logistics of moving away from coal.

References:

-    Hannah Ritchie, Max Roser and Pablo Rosado (August 2020), CO₂ and Greenhouse Gas Emissions, ourworldindata.org,  https://ourworldindata.org/co2-and-other-greenhouse-gas-emissions
-    Hannah Ritchie, Max Roser and Pablo Rosado, Energy Mix, ourworldindata.org , https://ourworldindata.org/energy-mix#coal-what-share-of-energy-comes-from-coal
-    Whose power plans are greener: China or India?, chinadialogue.net, https://chinadialogue.net/en/energy/9770-whose-power-plans-are-greener-china-or-india/

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Switching to a Bee-Friendly Source of Energy

 I have been asked to publish a post to discuss energy creation and its potential impact on an ecological issue of my concern.  In previous posts, I have written about the decline in bee population and the effects of human activity that contribute to their decline.  In this post, I will discuss how the use of fossil fuels negatively impacts the environment, and how increase use of renewable sources of energy can reduce negative effects on the bee’s habitat. I will also discuss how solar energy can be a viable source of renewable energy that can help with improving the health of the bee’s habitat. 

A high percentage of electricity is created from non-renewable energy sources such as coal, and natural gas. Globally we get the largest amount of our energy from oil, followed by coal, and gas. Then, in the 4th place is the, hydroelectric power. According to post titled Energy mix by ourworldindata, the global energy mix is dominated by fossil fuels, accounting for more than 80% of energy consumption. 

The chart below, from ourworldindata, shows that in many places there is a high percentage of electricity produced from high carbon sources

As you can see, there are many places around the world, some even among the so-called developed countries, with more than 40% share of high carbon sources of energy. Even in this country, Canada, there is still 20% of electricity production from fossil fuels.

 The adverse of burning fossil fuels on the climate, has been studied, researched and documented for many years. When you burn fossil fuels, large amounts of carbon dioxide, which is a greenhouse gas, are released into air. This can lead to a heat up in our atmosphere and put stress on the natural flora of the bee’s habitat.  Bees, especially bumblebees, are very sensitive to changes in temperature and can be negatively impacted by it. According to an article by Simon Fraser University, “temperature and precipitation both increased, on average, between 1900 and 2020 in the post-industrial revolution period. Temperature changes had primarily negative impacts on bumble bees, with 37 of the 46 species exhibiting greater declines or less positive increases in occupancy under observed temperature changes compared to if the temperature had remained constant.”

 Since the use of carbon-rich sources of energy contribute to a raise in temperatures, and have negative impacts  on the bee population, it is logical that a move away from fossil fuels and towards renewable and cleaner sources of energy can help counteract the negative climate impacts of the fossil fuels, and help with the population of the bees. 

Solar energy is a clean and renewable source of energy with no carbon footprints. With prices of solar panels and installations coming down in recent years, it makes installation of solar panels in rural areas and increasingly attractive proposition. Studies have shown a growth of pollinator-friendly flora under and around the solar panels in solar farms. 

Owners of Solar projects may be encouraged to plant pollinator-friendly flora in addition to the naturally growing plants. This would help with preservation the natural habitat of the bees. Owners of solar projects may plant wildflowers to attract multiple insects which include pollinators,  move their solar panels farther away from agricultural that may not have good biodiversity, and install the panels close to the existing semi-natural habitat with better biodiversity.  

According to an article by energymatters, moving panels away from “intensively managed agricultural landscapes would enable biodiversity to thrive underneath the panels”.

 

In an article of January 14, 2019, Scientific American wrote: "A trend of planting wildflowers on solar sites could maintain habitat for disappearing bees and butterflies". The article writes that "Minnesota-based Great River Energy has introduced pollinator-supporting plants—such as purple prairie clover and wild lupine—at several of its solar sites, as has SoCore Energy at some of its outfits in Wisconsin.", The article continues that "in Minnesota, it is estimated that half of the 4,000 acres of commercial solar projects installed in 2016 and 2017 included pollinator habitat.". The article mentions that there "is some limited evidence (pdf) solar farms with mixed plant life can support a wider array of bee and butterfly communities than those with grass or gravel beds can, but researchers are still investigating just how much this can affect the insects’ long-term survival."

According to an article by beeculture.com, “sites with pollinator habitat have a statistically significant increase in abundance of bees and butterflies (The Effects of Solar Farms on Local Biodiversity, “

 

We know the adverse affects of the burning of fossil fuels on the climate in general and on the bees and their habitat in particular. Solar projects provide an attractive alternative for a clean and renewable energy source. These projects have been proven to help with natural growth of pollinator-friendly flora. Many governments claim to be concerned about the effects of fossil-fuels and climate change. Governments may look into educational and financial ways of encouraging rural landowners to install and maintain solar projects on their land.

 

Sources and References:

-    clientearth.org, (2022, Feb 18) Fossil fuels and climate change: the facts (https://www.clientearth.org/latest/latest-updates/stories/fossil-fuels-and-climate-change-the-facts/)

-    energymatters.com.au (2021, April 27), How bees will benefit from the solar power boom, energymatters.com.au (https://www.energymatters.com.au/renewable-news/how-bees-will-benefit-from-the-solar-power-boom/)

-    energyrates.ca, The Main Electricity Sources in Canada by Province, energyrates.ca (https://energyrates.ca/the-main-electricity-sources-in-canada-by-province/)

- Jodi Helmer (Jan 14, 2019), Solar Farms Shine a Ray of Hope on Bees and Butterflies,  https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/solar-farms-shine-a-ray-of-hope-on-bees-and-butterflies/

-    Hannah Ritchie and Max Roser, Energy mix, ourworldindata.org (https://ourworldindata.org/energy-mix)

-    Rob Davis (2016, July 25), Can Solar Sites Help Save The Bees?, beeculture.com, https://www.beeculture.com/can-solar-sites-help-save-bees)

-    sfu.ca (2022, June 24), Climate change negatively impacting bumble bees: Study, sfu.ca, (https://www.sfu.ca/sfunews/stories/2022/06/climate-change-negatively-impacting-bumble-bees--study.html)

-    Which countries get the most energy from low-carbon sources?, ourworldindata.org, (https://ourworldindata.org/energy-mix#which-countries-get-the-most-energy-from-low-carbon-sources)

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