Lloyd Matema-Hazvineyi

THE rise of planetary temperatures began about the same time Europe transitioned from an agrarian society to an industrial one — this was in the late 18th century in Britain. It is known as the Industrial Revolution.

As it spread across Europe and the United States of America, it resulted in massive rural to urban migration. The cities offered lucrative employment opportunities in the booming manufacturing industry. The growth of cities in turn led to increased expenditure and consequently consumption levels boomed.

Well-fed populations copulated more, resulting in a massive population rise. Between 1800 and 2000 the global human population grew from one billion to six billion.

Lands were cleared to make way for new settlements. Cities and towns grew. Forests were decimated to make way for freeways, walkways and pavements. Trees were replaced with streetlights. In 1800, the entire population occupied only 10 percent of the entire land surface. This rose to between 25 percent and 35 percent in 2000.

In order to feed this population, industry had to cope. Industry had to find solutions to the British sweet tooth, which was fond of chocolate, sugar and coffee. Industry also had to meet the rising demands of the Americans, who loved smoking tobacco — the pipe was still novel. India was confronted with a huge global textile market that had developed a taste for luxurious fabrics. Europe and the US led this transition which shaped human history. Different inventions came to life as the transition occurred.

It was during this age when the steam engine was invented. This piece of science completely altered the face of everyday business in the manufacturing industry in Europe and beyond. It allowed goods to be transported from one city to another in a matter of hours — previously this took several days on horseback or ox-drawn carts.

The steam engine came with speed. It is also represented massive consumption of fossil fuels — because it was powered by coal. As it facilitated rapid transportation of people and goods, it also consumed more fuel. By their very nature, fossil fuels do not generate power for nothing. They leave behind an invoice in the form of carbon dioxide emissions — toxic gasses which are emitted into the air.

The very foundations of Europe and the US’s civilisations are built on fossil fuels which contributed immensely to the current climate crisis, in fact, these are the very roots of the current ecological crisis.

The end of the Second World War in 1945 saw the world enter an era of great acceleration. Population grew from three billion to six billion between 1945 and 2000. Increased mobility during the same period saw a surge in the number of cars from 40 million to 700 million.

The formation of the Bretton Woods institutions (the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund) meant for post-war reconstruction resulted in more capital being invested in in the current large scale extraction of fossil fuels. During the same age of acceleration, there was massive speed. Man even went to the moon for the first time.

Fossil fuels powered the world. In fact, carbon now plays an important role in energy generation and the functioning of the entire world — a carbon economy. Slowly, the world became addicted to fossil fuels.

The use of fossil fuels directly affected the very basis of human life, the earth itself. Now humans live in an era in which their actions directly affect the functioning of the earth, we are now a powerful geological force which rivals the forces of the sun and volcanoes combined.

Fossils fuels, which are the basis of our industries, transportation and day to day usage, have polluted the ozone layer. In fact, scientific evidence shows that pollution has been increasing since the 1830s when Europe went into full throttle industrialisation. Consequently, planetary temperatures also began to rise in the 1830s.

The claim that climate change was as a result of Western capitalism is indeed backed by scientific evidence. Scientists and climate historians agree that in the 19th century the world was 0,8°C cooler than early 21st century.

The impact of climate change began to be felt gradually — cyclones, hurricanes, heatwaves, droughts, floods, sea-level rise, locusts. These effects are with us today and we are heading towards extinction if the world continues on this carbon economy trajectory.

Southern Africa is now experiencing droughts regularly. Memories of Cyclone Idai are still fresh in our minds, more than 1000 lives lost. Heatwaves are now common in the region. In Zimbabwe, the rainfall patterns have drastically shifted and food security is no longer guaranteed. We no longer have enough sadza on the table, not even bread.

If capitalism is responsible for bringing the current climate crisis, do they have solutions? If they have solutions why are the leaders of the capitalist civilisation such as Donald Trump denying that climate change is a global crisis?

Well, if I manage to survive the heatwave, I will come back with answers next week.

Lloyd Matema-Hazvineyi is a PhD Research Fellow with the Emancipatory Futures Studies (EFS) Programme at Wits University in South Africa. This article was part of a paper he presented at the EFS seminar held on February 15 2020.