The COVID-19 outbreak has been drastically altering the patterns of our daily lives. One major change is that most human beings confined to their homes. This led to a decrease in urban mobility and the halt of production for some industries, thereby the reduction in carbon footprint. Low levels of air pollution with blue skies where formerly only smog could be seen and rivers running clearer and with flourishing biodiversity are just two examples of consequences of such a decrease in carbon footprint.In order to attract attention to nature protection including global warming, carbon footprint, and cleantech in the framework of Sustainable Growth Program powered by HSBC Turkey, Hackquarters is constantly organizing online meetups. Following three previous meetups in February and June; 4th online meetup was touching the topic of ‘Protecting Nature’.

Global Warming

Since the industrial revolution, the carbon emission of humans is increasing significantly. Global Warming can be depicted as absorption of sunlight and solar radiation in the air due to high rates of CO2 and other air pollutants. As a result, we face an increase in temperature, glacier melting, and lower biodiversity. The exciting changes in environmental conditions such as low air pollution due to COVID-19 lockdown spark new debates about global warming. Arzu Balkuv from WWF Turkey provided new aspects of global warming during the pandemic.

Carbon Footprint

Carbon footprint is the measure of greenhouse gases (firstly carbon dioxide) produced by the actions of people, machines, or events. That is why a declining carbon footprint is the main way to struggle against troubles about the climate and environment. Macro and micro solutions for it should be considered and applied in order to cope with it. Afforestation appears as a brilliant example of these solutions at a macro level.Yasemen Bilgili from Ege Forestry Foundation shared significant ideas for afforestation against carbon footprint.

CleanTech

As environmental concerns are increasing, green technologies ‘cleantech’ becomes more visible now. After the dot-com bubble in 2000, cleantech started to gain interest in the investment realm. Cleantech boom reached the top after the housing bubble. At the same time, with the advancements in technology like cloud computing and AI/ML, there are technology-based trends observed in cleantech where currently, software and software/hardware combinations found an area. Mert Karslıoğlu, E-cording - case study on #StayAtHomeForest in which afforestation becomes non-human more effective using drones.