Editor:
The November 2015 National Geographic issue is called Cool It: Climate Issue (www.nationalgeographic.com/climate-change/special-issue).
It gives an excellent overview for the non-scientist of what countries, towns and individuals are already doing to bring down greenhouse gas emissions in order to cool the planet. It explains the technology currently utilized and what’s on the drawing board for the future. National Geographic makes some simple suggestions for individual action. Of course, there are more, but here’s a start.
• Leave your car at home two days a week and reduce your greenhouse gas emissions by an average of two tons per year.
• Wash laundry in cold water to save 1,600 pounds of CO2 per year.
• Use a power strip to turn electronics on and off, which saves the average home up to $200 each year. Electronics, plugged in but not used, consume the equivalent output of 12 power plants per year.
• Cut back on meat consumption. If meat were dropped from diets globally, the reduction in CO2 emissions would almost equal total U.S. annual emissions. Farm animals emit lots of methane – especially cows.
There are many other simple things we can do to bring down the temperature of the Earth such as: use mass transit, make your next car an electric car, compost, insulate your home better, bike, walk, turn the lights out in unused rooms. Many of us and our friends and neighbours are already doing many of these things.
If you have more tips, please send them to our Facebook page (facebook.com/CleanAirSociety) or website (cleanaironthecoast.com) and we’ll post them for all to use. We’re growing the list to make it easier for anyone to take action.
Will our actions be enough? Who knows? Our climate is such a complex issue with lots of known and unknown factors. However, tens of thousands around the world are contributing to a solution. Every little bit helps.
Let’s make some of the changes mentioned above – just in case what we do (and what others do) makes a difference.
Elizabeth McNeill, Director, Sunshine Coast Clean Air Society
