BBC Earth
© BBC Earth
The life of today’s footballers sounds more fantastical than fiction:
You are a top-level professional footballer who is involved in one of the most dangerous and lucrative sports in the world. You are placed under constant scrutiny as you play your professional games from the safety of a 35,000 seater stadium.
You can be punished for off-the-ball infringements by the powers that be as you look to win the ball and subsequently a penalty – you get easily injured with all these stresses in the game and question on your future in the sport.
But there is one special title that is a rare contribution by the world of football.
No, not the honour of being named the best player in the world by The Ballon d’Or award, and it is not even the amount of money you can make in a matchday salary – you are a “climate superhero”.
Media playback is not supported on this device Footballer’s World Cup of Life – Exhibit I
You are not the usual player who spends most of the football season in the dark as you are away in the cold and snowy climate or in the hot and humid humidity of the country where you play.
And you are not the typical footballer who spends most of the rest of the year off the pitch doing charitable work in Africa or the developing world in developing countries.
But you are the rare exception to the rule. You are a climate superhero.
You cannot explain how much good you have done for the environment by looking after the planet. Every time you set foot on the pitch you are putting a drop in the huge ever-growing lurch of global warming because you stop the power plants releasing carbon dioxide and thus the greenhouses gases. Every time you use your facilities like the training pitches, and cupboard or hotel or training grounds you cause massive CO2 levels to be lowered, which becomes a magical contribution to global warming.
Climate superheroes walk off the pitch with their feet taken from high ozone
It is an achievement that is appreciated by a lot of the people involved in the game and the global arena who are involved in climate protection.
However, there are two strings to the ‘climate superhero’ act.
First you always walk off the pitch with your feet taken from high ozone. Ever since you began playing you have been well aware that ozone layer protection is essential. You are aware that taking two feet off the ground immediately above you is a no-no and if you forget your step then the ozone layer shields you from harmful UV rays at the same time.
But the second aspect of your role as a climate superhero is that you show everyone exactly how to reduce carbon emissions to save the planet.
The greenhouses effect is greater when the surface of the ocean is covered with clouds
In the 2011/12 Premier League season, you played a record 549 matches and a total of 22,028 games. As a climate superhero you are looking at how much CO2 you can emit per minute as you go about your job and let other people know how to decrease their emissions without them knowing.
You have to remind people to do this every day and you remind players all over the world to be aware of what is going on at home and at the same time show everyone in the world what they can do to protect the planet.
You are the one in charge in football of the global quest to cut emissions to save the planet, which has a big following in this fascinating world of football.