Epson has boosted its efforts to increase awareness of global warming with a campaign focused on Arctic greening.
The campaign also shows how businesses and consumers can take more action to reduce their environmental impact. Last year, the company won a Webby award for its campaign produced by National Geographic CreativeWorks.
Yasunori Ogawa, Epson global president, says, “We are delighted to work with National Geographic CreativeWorks for asecond year to raise awareness about the issue of Arctic greening. Sustainability is at the heart of everything we do, and we are committed to lowering our own environmental footprint and helping our customers to do so too.”
In this year’s campaign, National Geographic Explorer and ecologist Professor Isla Myers-Smith of University of Edinburgh details her research on how rising temperatures and warming seasons are leading to a phenomenon called ‘the greening of the Arctic’. For almost 20 years, she has studied the impact of climate change on the Arctic tundra. In recent years, she and her colleagues have noticed a distinct trend, with trees and shrubs growing more readily in the Arctic where permafrost is thawing.
As temperatures warm, permafrost thaws, releasing carbon stored in it, mostly in the form of partially decayed ancient plants and animals. And as the ground warms, plants grow taller and denser, capturing snow that works as a blanket to insulate the ground and further accelerate warming to release more carbon.
Scientists predict the world’s permafrost will thaw substantially by 2100. In January 2022, a study published in the scientific journal, Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, predicted thawing permafrost could release as much as 624 million tons of carbon dioxide per year into the atmosphere. Professor Myers-Smith and her collaborators published a separate study that found changing tundra vegetation including increasing shrubs could play an important role in the rate of permafrost thaw.
She believes it is critical that people understand the implications of Arctic greening and how making small changes in our daily lives can have a positive effect on the environment. She says, “From saving energy at home to biking to work and eating local, we can each make a difference. It is important for all of us to be aware of how our choices impact the environmen, in our own backyards and around the planet.”
