Can individual actions have an impact on global warming? How do small changes in behaviour affect the environment?

The mighty ocean is composed of individual molecules of water, and yet it can form waves that will wear away a cliff over time and may be powerful enough to overturn a ship.

Many years ago, Edward Goldsmith wrote that a leader is someone who runs at the head of a crowd, shouting “Follow me!” If the crowd changes direction, the leader must, too, or become a loner.

Bill McKibben has shown the power of money for good. Research the behaviour of businesses providing a service you want, and choose the one with genuine environmental ethics (not greenwashing).

Mind you, this goes beyond the climate catastrophe. As bad, or perhaps even worse, is the fact that we live on Poison Planet. Agricultural chemicals, runoff from factory farms, discarded medicines, chemicals leached from microplastics including worn-off material from car tyres… the list goes on and on.

The combination of a toxic environment, climate change, replacing nature with farming and human infrastructure, destruction of topsoil, and overuse of water have combined to land us into the sixth major extinction level of earth.

There is still a small window of opportunity to save a future. Prominent climate scientists Joëlle Gergis and Michael Mann have both recently had a book published with that theme of optimism.

Joëlle’s is Humanity’s Moment. Michael’s is Our Fragile Moment.

They both answer your question, in greater detail than I can do in a post, but…

We can have a personal impact on two levels.
One is to live simply so we may simply live. This is the approach of “Degrowth.” Unless we systematically and compassionately reduce our impact on the planet, it will happen anyway as it is now: through terrible diseases like the unacknowledged epidemic of cancer, insane wars, droughts and floods and wildfires and tornados and cyclonic storms, and as I said, through poisoning everything.

The second is to become that molecule that joins with other molecules. Support Greenpeace, Sea Shepherd, WWF, Friends of the Earth, peace movements — any and all the action groups working for a fair, decent and survivable future.

Do visit my blog, Bobbing Around, where I have many resources you will find useful. Start by reading my essay, How to Change the World.