This post (un)inspired by – 2° Challenge: Try to Avoid Disastrous Climate Change , a quiz that allows you to choose from certain levels of action that are said to result in reducing climate change.
These people are misleading you, both in the effectiveness and relevance of the questions that they pose. There is no possible way to stop climate change anywhere near 2°C, especially the measures presented in this quiz.
We have already reached 1°C of warming and there is another 1-1.5°C already fixed in the pipeline from our past activity that has yet to arrive and the current proposals or government commitments at the Paris talks this month will only, it is estimated, bring about a limit of 2.7°C.
The quiz is skewed in the wrong direction (and whoever put it together must know that).
Let it be known that anything even close to a 2°C rise in world ambient average temperatures will result in a wild and uncomfortable future for every person, every being, and all life-forms, wherever they exist all around the planet on which we live. Upwards of 2°C rapidly increases from dangerous to unlivable.
None of the options that I list below are choices given in the quiz for you to choose and, by definition, only the first three question hold any relevance to the subject in any case.
Here are the only answer options to the quiz questions that might, in my opinion, limit temperature rises to perhaps 2.5°C. But only if they are implemented today and only if we are very lucky. The choices that I suggest here, are unpalatable and extreme, and will result in a total shutdown of modern society, but time will show, I believe, that anything less simply W-I-L-L – N-O-T – W-O-R-K.
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Would you use less electricity?
Burning dirty fossil fuels — coal, natural gas and oil — for electricity is the biggest contributor to climate change. One way to cut back on pollution would be simply to use less electricity. Would you like to see global per person electricity use decline by 2050? If so, by how much?
Only Viable Answer:
Stop all production and use of electricity other than from the renewable sources that we have currently in place or in the pipeline and as those sources deteriorate and break down we do not replace them. Result: No electricity in use in ~25-40 years time.
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What kind of electricity should we use?
Electricity from sources like wind, solar, hydro, and nuclear emit little or no greenhouse gases, meaning they don’t contribute much to climate change. Right now, about 30% of electricity comes from these cleaner sources. Would you like to see the world use more clean electricity by 2050? And how far would you like to see that transition go?
Only Viable Answer:
As for question 1, we produce no further questionably ‘renewable’ new electricity installations other than those in the process of being built, and allow all such installations to fulfill their useful life-cycle only, before being scrapped.
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Would you be willing to drive and fly less?
Transportation — mostly burning gas to drive cars — accounts for about 20% of global warming pollution. Would you be willing to travel less to reduce your contribution to climate change? The options below are shown as the average distance a person would travel and commute by car, plane, train and bus in 2050.
Only Viable Answer:
All personal, commercial, government and military motorised travel to cease immediately. All personal, commercial, government and military legal commitments cease with immediate effect, freeing everyone up to pursue worthwhile pursuits commensurate with living and producing locally all necessities to sustain life within the individual’s walking, cycling (pedal cycle), animal riding, rowing or sailing (wind driven) distance from their place of residence. Anyone who wishes to operate somewhere else in the world must travel using one of the methods listed above.
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What about advanced biofuels?
More than 95% of the stuff that powers cars and trucks today is oil, a fossil fuel that contributes to global warming. Would you like to see non-food biofuels — like those made from crop waste, grasses or algae, and which pollute significantly less than oil — replace the petroleum that we currently use to drive our cars?
Only Viable Answer:
This question is irrelevant. See Q3.
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And what type of vehicles do you want to drive?
From electric cars to hybrids to gas guzzlers, there are many types of vehicles on the road today. Cars that travel farther on a gallon of gasoline, of course, contribute less pollution to climate change. Electric cars, when powered with renewable energy, create almost zero climate pollution. And bikes, which don’t contribute to warming, are increasingly popular in many cities. What kinds of vehicles would you like to see on the road by 2050?
Only Viable Answer:
This question is irrelevant. See Q3 and Q4.
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What vehicles should we use to move stuff around the world?
Moving freight across the globe accounts for 40% of all climate change pollution associated with the transit sector. Trucks pollute about 13 times as much as trains. Which vehicles should we use for overland shipping of goods by 2050?
Only Viable Answer:
This question is irrelevant. See Q3 to Q5..
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What about heating buildings and running factories?
There are plenty of uses for fossil fuels aside from electricity production. These high-polluting fuels also are used to heat buildings and power industries. These sectors could use less energy, though. They might do so by adjusting their thermostats, making industrial processes more efficient, including more insulation or cutting back on construction and output. Would you like to see buildings and industries use less energy by 2050? If so, how much?
Only Viable Answer:
This question is irrelevant. See Q3, which puts the concept of industrial buildings, and therefore their heating, outside the scope of human activity. Everybody will be too busy sustaining themselves to perform any other ‘job’.
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What kind of energy should be used to heat buildings and run our factories?
The energy that heats our buildings and powers industry can come from fossil fuels, which contribute to climate change; or from cleaner, renewable energy sources, like geothermal heat, solar energy, or biomass. Would you like to see buildings and industry switch to less-polluting renewable energy sources by 2050? If so, to what degree?
Only Viable Answer:
This question is irrelevant. See Q3 and Q7.
Not Something Else 
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