Where practicable, we can counterbalance our annual carbon dioxide emissions by investing in commercial services that draw down an equal amount of carbon out of the atmosphere, such as through planting trees or carbon capture and storage techniques. Where practical, we can support more local businesses that use and promote sustainable, climate-smart practices such as those listed above.
We can consider placing an upper limit on the amount of carbon dioxide we will allow ourselves to emit into the atmosphere within a given timeframe. We value your feedback Help us improve our content Your Email Address.
Security code. After Sandy: Changes and Choices. National Climate Assessment: States and cities are already reducing carbon emissions to save lives and dollars.
Climate change is one of the most complex issues facing us today. It involves many dimensions — science, economics, society, politics and moral and ethical questions — and is a global problem, felt on local scales, that will be around for decades and centuries to come.
Carbon dioxide, the heat-trapping greenhouse gas that has driven recent global warming, lingers in the atmosphere for hundreds of years, and the planet especially the oceans takes a while to respond to warming. So even if we stopped emitting all greenhouse gases today, global warming and climate change will continue to affect future generations. How much climate change? That will be determined by how our emissions continue and exactly how our climate system responds to those emissions.
Despite increasing awareness of climate change, our emissions of greenhouse gases continue on a relentless rise. In , the daily level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere surpassed parts per million for the first time in human history. The last time levels were that high was about three to five million years ago, during the Pliocene Epoch.
Because we are already committed to some level of climate change, responding to climate change involves a two-pronged approach:.
Adaptation — adapting to life in a changing climate — involves adjusting to actual or expected future climate. The goal is to reduce our vulnerability to the harmful effects of climate change like sea-level encroachment, more intense extreme weather events or food insecurity.
It also encompasses making the most of any potential beneficial opportunities associated with climate change for example, longer growing seasons or increased yields in some regions. Throughout history, people and societies have adjusted to and coped with changes in climate and extremes with varying degrees of success. Climate change drought in particular has been at least partly responsible for the rise and fall of civilizations.
This method also allows farmers to better cope with the effects of climate change like drought. Today, it costs less than 65 cents and the price keeps going down as advances are made in technology. Solar farms have more potential than solar rooftops because they cover large swaths of space and capture more energy from the sun. By empowering women with education and health options, birth rates come down and the population strain on the planet falls.
Image: Flickr: Develop Africa. It also happens to be at the root of fighting climate change. When girls receive a full education, they have fewer and healthier kids, contribute more to economic growth, and are better stewards of the environment, among other benefits. Image: Pixabay: rosinakaiser. Restoring tropical forests can sequester huge amounts of carbon, safeguard and replenish ecosystems, and provide sustainable incomes and sources of food.
Shifting away from the Western meat-centric diet to one revolving around plants can drastically reduce emissions, while also promoting health and helping ecosystems flourish. Image: Getty Images. Creating better systems for processing and consuming food is a sensible and easy way to make a huge dent in global emissions.
Wind farms are easy to build, use little land, and generate significant amounts of energy at rates that rival fossil fuels. Air conditioners cool down rooms and cars and fridges cool down food and beverages, but they both heat up the planet more than anything else in the world.
The Kigali accord goes after HFCs and, alone, shaves 1 degree Fahrenheit off projected temperatures rises.
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