How Hemp Can Help Stop Global Warming Before It Is Too Late

Global warming is a battle that we have been losing, and somehow it has taken a back seat lately, this is terrifying! We are so much closer to experiencing a fiery end, and no one seems to be concerned. It seems that we have given up the battle. In my article, I will explain how Hemp can help stop global warming before it is too late.

It is not too late, there is plenty of life in and on this planet to fight for.

The old saying “knowledge is power” has always stuck in my head.  So I began researching Global Warming and its causes and of course effects. I then began thinking is there any possible way to stall or stop the crisis we are battling so poorly right now? No one can make any promises on the turnaround of this disaster, as it requires teamwork on a global level. We can at least try versus not trying at all.

From what I found,  all fingers pointed in the direction of Industrial Hemp, and not by using CBD by any means. However, the legalization of marijuana and hemp is definitely what brought hemp back into our everyday lives. If we manage to pull it together and save the planet from Global Warming with hemp, we can definitely thank every single one of our “potheads” for pushing for legalization. 

Maybe we pot smokers are not as lame-brained as assumed.

Before being illegalized in the early 1900s, hemp was used worldwide for many products, some have remained over time, and others are being rejuvenated currently.

Industrial hemp has a few different strains that are grown for different purposes. There are strains grown for fiber, oil, and seed, and each field of hemp is planted differently for each product. Each field regardless of how it is planted, will prove to be crucial to our future.

When growing for fiber, the seeds are grouped with many in each seed slot. Growing for fiber, you do not want a lot of branches sprouting from the stem, we are looking for a long pole-type stalk that will flower at the top.

When growing hemp for seeds and oil, the seeds may be planted with one or 2 seeds per seed slot and the seed slots will be slightly farther apart than we see for fiber growth. Therefore, allowing for more branches to grow from the stem for the buds to grow and produce seeds. 

Medicinal hemp will be grown with the plants much farther apart for more branching and budding like the marijuana plants. These hemp plants will also require a bit more care than the other methods of growing hemp, they will be tended to just as a marijuana plant is tended to, all the way to harvest, curing, and processing.

The hemp plant is a very amazing plant, to say the least. It is not just what can be made from the hemp that will help turn around Global Warming, it is the very act of growing hemp that will turn around Global Warming. What hemp does for the ground and air is amazing, and what hemp products over time do for the environment is also stunning.  This is an overlooked renewable resource that we need to start utilizing.

The growth and use of Industrial Hemp is an essential key to reversing global warming. If we stop drilling for oil today, we have over 400 million gallons of crude oil in storage. This surely is enough to hold us over while we grow and harvest large amounts of hemp to create the type of fuel we should have been using all along. 

Drilling for oil and mining other fossil fuels has proven to be a VERY poor decision. So why not start using hemp and algae which are very renewable resources, versus a resource that will never renew in our lifetime or even over several generations?

These poor decisions have led us straight into Global Warming.

What Is Global Warming?

Global warming occurs when a planet’s overall temperature steadily increases over a long period of time. Earth, our home, has been in a warming trend for a long time, but over the past hundred years, we have seen a significant increase in temperatures globally. This is due to the large amount of fossil fuels being drilled and burned at higher and higher rates with each year’s population and demand growth.

Our Fossil fuels include coal, oil, and natural gas, and burning them creates what is commonly known as the “greenhouse effect” in Earth’s atmosphere. Which is trapping the sun’s rays in our atmosphere with gases. These greenhouse gasses are carbon dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons, water vapor, methane, and nitrous oxide. 

The extra heat in the atmosphere, from the greenhouse effect, causes the average global temperature to rise over time, also known as global warming. This has brought about another issue called climate change. While these phrases can be used interchangeably, they are different. 

Climate change is when changes in weather patterns and growing seasons occur around the world. It also refers to the sea level rising due to the expanding warmer sea water and melting ice sheets and glaciers. Global warming brings about climate change, and this is a serious threat to life on Earth. The threat is in the form of mass flooding and extreme weather. 

So, the start of the mass oil, coal, and natural gas removal from our home’s (Earth) crust was definitely the gateway to global warming. Mass cutting of our forests also helped to push us into the mess we are currently in as well.

Could this have been avoided? Oh by all means it surely could have. 

We already had Industrial Hemp leading the world and were on the verge of opening up an entirely safer industrial age with it. But then some guys with some not-so-great ideas for the new-age technology stepped in and had to get rid of good old trustworthy hemp.

These guys were the heads of the oil industry and logging industry. As much as I hate to throw cotton in here, I have to. The cotton industry could have partnered with the hemp industry and still can, but when it counted the most, they were on opposing teams. So, these three industries had to shut hemp down as Industrial Hemp was a threat to all of them. 

Big Pharma was not in the picture at that time or they would have made the cut as well. Between the mass cutting of trees, stripping the fossil fuels from the Earth, and outlawing the growth of Industrial Hemp, they sure put us in a bind.

Pointing fingers of blame will not help us now, so let’s just move forward and make the necessary changes.

It is not too late to repair the damage or is it? This really all depends on the immediate actions of many. This is not the time to be selfish or greedy.  We will need to drastically cut the use of fossil fuels to 2/3rds by 2035, and by 2040 all oil-rich nations must stop new exploration and extraction of coal, gas, and oil.

Even better, we MUST stop clear-cutting forests and drilling for oil NOW or face certain planetary rejection in the near future. We are on some really thin ice and that ice is melting more rapidly daily. These money-hungry nations could make more money off hemp than they ever could from oil, and that’s a fact!

It is clear that global warming is a serious threat to our planet and our way of life. We must take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate the effects of climate change. We have access to some great options and a will to live like no other being on this planet. We can do this, I have faith in us.

How Growing And Using Hemp Will Help Curb Global Warming

With the need to cut the use of fossil fuels by nearly 2/3rds of what is currently being used, Industrial Hemp is one of the best crutches at our disposal. Possibly one of the only plants that could solely bring us out of this turmoil. Thank heavens Hemp is so greatly versatile and easily grown, and has been legalized.

I can already hear the outlandish cries, How can plants replace nearly all petroleum products? 

The potential economic and environmental benefits of growing hemp are significant. Hemp is a renewable resource that can be used to produce a variety of products. It is also a sustainable crop that can help to improve soil health and reduce erosion. It is a valuable addition to any agricultural system and can help to improve the environment and the economy.

You may be shocked to find out that Industrial Hemp, alone, could replace all petroleum products. And since we are in such a squeeze for time, I think it best to get to planting and harvesting as much hemp as possible today. 

How growing hemp helps to rejuvenate the air and soil and sequester carbon: 

Growing hemp sequesters carbon in the soil.  Sequestering carbon is a huge deal, let me explain. Sequestering carbon is the act of trapping carbon in the soil and keeping it out of the atmosphere, this is helpful as carbon aids in heating the atmosphere. For Earth’s atmosphere, this is not only helpful at this time, but crucial as well. This sequestering also feeds the soil in return, the soil loves to eat what the plants filter out of the air, and it gets healthier as a result.

The goal as you can see is to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere which in turn reduces global climate change. The excess amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere can be catastrophic, but in soil, it is an asset to our farmers. While all plants sequester carbon, hemp just so happens to sequester at much higher rates than most.

Ben Dobson is an organic farmer, he does not look at “organic” the same as the FDA, they have “do’s and don’ts” that do not solve the root issue. His goal is to build organic matter in the soil and not need to use the harmful chemicals and pesticides that many farmers are reduced to using to save their crops from unwanted pests and plant-to-plant illnesses. Growing hemp is a key element in his goal to rebuild the life system of the soil.

“For every 1 ton of real soil carbon that you add to your soil, you’ve actually removed 3.67 tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Every acre of hemp can potentially store 2-3 tons of carbon in the soil. If you multiply that by 3.67, an acre of hemp can potentially remove 7.34-11.01 tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.” Dobson said

Not only will growing hemp help sequester carbon, but the hemp plant actually also puts out more oxygen than most plants as well. And growing hemp for biomass fuel will provide us with all of our gas, oil, and coal energy consumption, and it will end our dependency on fossil fuels. In the process, it will clean up our air and soil, that’s a good trade in my opinion.

Let’s Save Our Home/Planet Earth Together

If we can learn from our past mistakes, this will allow us to heal our future. But we must act fast, as time is of the essence.

We have all this research going on how we can relocate to another planet after we essentially kill Earth. This is not a viable solution. 

Have you ever moved from the East Coast to the West Coast? That takes a lot of effort, planning, and money; and for this move, you stay on the planet while you do it. Just imagine moving your entire house to another PLANET. What is involved in such a move?

To me, this sounds like an awful lot of wasted effort that could be used to save the very planet we reside on. The United States spends over $100 million per year researching Mars. 

Uhhmmm, excuse me, our planet is dying slowly because of what is being done to it, can we please spend some of that money trying to correct Global Warming? It is all about priorities, and right now the health of our home is more important than any space exploration.

We need to be taking action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate the effects of climate change, not exploring Mars. I personally do not give a rat’s behind about life on Mars, if it is possible to relocate to the red planet, or if it gives insight into how our planet was formed. 

What I do care about is a future that my grandchildren’s grandchildren can enjoy on Earth. I am sure I am not alone!

All we need to do right now is reprioritize and regroup, we can overcome this catastrophe before it gets too far out of control. Our society as a whole can band together to bring about the biggest change history has seen, and save our beloved home.

As always, I would like to thank you for taking the time to read my article today, I would love to hear some feedback on the topic. Please feel free to leave a comment, I will get back to you as soon as I can.

Every time you see hemp on the voting ballot, vote in favor of hemp, that is a huge start for sure. Getting our politicians fully onboard with using hemp for as many products as possible versus petroleum and wood-based products is definitely an attainable goal.

Buying hemp-based products over petroleum and wood-based products is the next step, we cannot demand support for any product we are not buying and using. This one will get easier as we get more manufacturers on board with making quality hemp products.

We need to make these changes sooner rather than later, so let’s get to shopping for hemp products and voting for better laws about the production of all hemp products in general. Unfortunately, there are still some states that just will not see the good that can come from the legalization of Industrial Hemp.

Stacie Fortson, GGWHSF