Posted on 04/20/2024 11:56:56 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
Planetary warming, also known as climate change, continues to accelerate. The last eight years have been the warmest on global record, which is well-documented, with information dating back to 1850. Additional warming will continue in the years to come, but how much more warming depends on the decisions we make in the coming decades about energy use.
For those looking to take individual actions, and in recognition of Earth Day, there are many that are relevant across income levels:
1. Reduce food waste
This can be as simple as being sure that food is consumed before it goes bad and preparing only what you plan to eat. Wasted food means the energy and resources used to produce and transport food also go to waste. More viscerally, rotting food produces methane — a greenhouse gas more potent than carbon dioxide.
2. Eat less meat
No one is going to take away your burger, but the energy needed to raise animals for food is much higher than what is needed for plants. Every farming and ranching operation is different, but in general, beef and lamb require the most energy and resources to raise, and thus produce the most greenhouse gas emissions.
3. Change your light bulbs
Lighting from LEDs (light-emitting diodes) uses less energy and lasts longer than both incandescent bulbs and CFLs (compact fluorescent lamps). Plus, LEDs do not contain the poisonous mercury found in CFLs.
4. Install a programmable thermostat
Replacing the thermostat in your home will give you more control over when and how much your home is heated and cooled, allowing you to save energy — and money — when you are not at home.
5. Use public transportation
In smaller cities and towns, this is not always an option. But using a bus or passenger rail takes an additional vehicle off of the road. At minimum, this decreases congestion and increases the efficiency of travel on roadways. And if you have a gasoline or diesel car, it eliminates another source of greenhouse gas emissions. Where feasible, walk or ride a bicycle.
6. Consider an electric car
The price of all-electric cars has fallen substantially in the last few years, now competitive with gas and diesel cars. Charging infrastructure continues to expand, making them more feasible for longer trips. For commuting and running errands, the battery life between charges is more than sufficient.
Where you charge an electric car matters, so find out how electricity is generated where you live.
7. Plant some trees
Trees also have an impact at the local level, as their shade helps cool communities in the hot summer sun, and their root systems create more permeable soils — decreasing the amount of water running off into streams and creeks during heavy rain. Trees also take in carbon dioxide, although the sheer number of trees needed to appreciably bring down atmospheric carbon dioxide is overwhelming.
8. Replace gas appliances
Natural gas — mostly methane — is a fossil fuel that releases carbon dioxide when it is burned. When used for cooking, it also releases carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide, both toxic in high enough concentrations. Additionally, evidence continues to mount indicating the use of gas stoves in the home raises the risk of pediatric asthma. If your budget allows, explore the newer generation of conduction ranges for cooking at home.
Many of these processes do add up. Leah Stokes, professor of Climate and Energy Policy at the University of California-Santa Barbara, refers to the collection of these solutions as deep decarbonization, “Electrifying everything, and powering those electric technologies with renewable energy sources like wind and solar, can slash carbon pollution by 75 percent, and individuals have a crucial role to play in making it happen.”
9. Support solar energy
The price of solar energy has plummeted over the last decade. According to Joey Marquart at Silverline, a Virginia-based clean energy communications firm, “Utility and business-scale power plants are the biggest way to mitigate climate change with solar, but rooftop solar is also an essential part of our energy arsenal — as well as a great way for customers to lower utility bills and, when paired with batteries, keep the lights on during power outages.”
If your rooftop orientation is conducive for solar, an investment in rooftop panels will often pay for itself within a decade.
10. Do not despair
About 20 years ago, there was grave concern about the worst-case scenario — a global increase in temperature of 9 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100. With coal use on the decline, especially in the United States, that scenario is on the verge of being eliminated.
Climate scientists will differ on the precise details, but current global policies — if we adhere to them — put us on track to see about 5.5 degrees Fahrenheit of warming by the time today’s newborns are ready to retire.
This means that there is still more work to be done if we are to slow the pace of planetary warming below the 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius) threshold that nations agreed to in the 2015 Paris Agreement.
At its core, additional warming puts more energy into the climate system. While Earth is not in danger of turning into the hellish landscape of Venus, every little bit of warming increases the risk to people from temperatures that tend to be hotter, rains that tend to get heavier, seas that tend to rise further, and droughts that tend to develop more quickly.
Earth has already warmed about 2 degrees Fahrenheit since the end of the 19th century, with most of the warming coming in the last half-century. The decisions we make about energy use in the coming couple of decades will effectively set the thermostat for the decades to follow.
#1: Elimination of all liberals.
In the 1970s there was a plan to mine coal, grind it to dust, mix it with oil and spray it on the Ice fields to increase absorption of heat from the sun. This was to stop THE COMING ICE AGE! Now they are planning ways to block the sun to stop Glo-Bull Warming!
A few years back someone came up with a machine that looked like an oversized tennis racket to break down CO2 back into carbon and oxygen. It was planned to cost huge amounts of money to build.
Someone ask a simple question....”Why not plant a tree to do the same thing?”
From POPULAR SCIENCE, Feb 1980..
PS/What’s News ....
page 73
Changing the weather intentionally or otherwise weather modification..(Earth cooling vs Greenhouse effect)
“Do you suppose we can learn enough, soon enough, to pull off a balancing act with the CO2 blanket saving us from another ice age?”
An article by an obvious moron/liar. Not worth the electricity it took to display it.
They did some great commercials. Like this...
https://youtu.be/FpypTXccG2I?si=SNsK-JNdQ19iUSpg
Haiti might have it right these days.
I am horrified to discover that I do a few of these! (Avoid wasting food, preferring LED bulbs, plant trees, don’t despair)
I’ll work that much harder to continue breaking the rest of the rules! 👍🏻🤣
1. Realize it’s a lie and tell the climate change religious cultists they can GTH.
1. Turn TV OFF! Forever
If you do all those things you will very likely drop the earth’s average temperature by .000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001 deg
so get after it!!! If we all do it, you can take out 9 of those zeroes!!!
I read that list. Reducing CO2 is crap. It was never a harmful gas;just a plant fertilizer. Eating less meat isn’t hard to do as the price of meat is no bargain. Use public transportation. Great if you have it a reasonable price & goes where you want it to go. For me personal transportation is the best & probably the cheapest & most reliable. It can be counted to get me where & when I need to go & on time. Consider an electric car, besides being unaffordable, how many other reasons would you like to hear? Replace a gas appliance. I just bought a gas water heater & don’t even want to think what an electric would cost..counting the additional wiring. All things considered, the reasoning behind all this is crazy stupid. All this to reduce climate change which we can’t really change anyway?
You nailed their hypocrisy.
This climate change crap started in the 60’s with The Club of Rome, precursor to the WEF.
This has been all about creating fear for control.
11) think twice before setting a large pile of old tires on fire on Earth Day. Maybe consider having a BBQ instead.
Diesel?
LOL 🤣
You forgot sticking a cork up your butt to prevent gas
Many of these are ways to save money.
Only on Earth Day. Save them up for a roaring bonfire.
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