The very tiny Rathlin Island is off the coast of Northern Ireland and it is home to about 150 people.
As record temperatures, massive wildfires, and annual storms of the century rock communities around the world, one small island is pledging to do its part to fight the climate crisis.
Off the coast of Northern Ireland, the tiny Rathlin Island said it will become carbon neutral by the end of the decade.
Rathlin, home to about 150 people, is well-situated for its climate change initiative. It’s only been on the electrical grid since 2007, and it’s home to an environmentally friendly kelp farming industry.
“The thing about kelp is you grow it in the sea,” Kelp Farmer Kate Burns explained. “You don't need any fertilizers or any pesticides or any herbicides. In fact, the more you grow, the better it is for the environment."
Rathlin is also putting stock in hydrogen power.
"There's great possibilities now with hydrogen-fueled ferries, and we can produce hydrogen on Rathlin,” Michael Cecil from the Rathlin Development & Community Association said.
“So, I mean, that achieves two goals. It reduces our carbon footprint hopefully to zero, but it also gives us some security and that we're generating our own energy and retailing our own energy.
"It's not something away in the distance,” Burns said of serious and irreversible issues brought on by climate change. “It's actually something very scary, and it's here, and it's now. It's the biggest issue of our lifetime."
