Saturday, November 21, 2009

The Environment and Climate Change

Global warming (aka climate change) is probably the most important issue to face our generation, and quite possibly any generation in history. The worldwide scientific community is virtually unanimous in its agreement that global warming is happening, that that it's our fault. If we let it get out of our control, the consequences - which will already begin occuring in most of our lifetimes - will be catastrophic. Just some of the consequences that can be reasonably expected are rising sea levels, more frequent and more severe natural disasters, large-scale food shortages, plagues, massive species extinctions, unprecendented numbers of refugees, intensified ethnic and political tensions, and a global economic depression the likes of which no one has ever seen.

The situation is still within our grasp, but we must act now, we must act strongly, and we must act together. Individuals, companies, and governments across the globe must each do what they can to reverse climate change. We will never get a second chance.

What can I do?
The good news is that there are plenty of things that we can do to reduce our carbon footprint. The key word is reduce. We can greatly lessen our impact on climate change by using the planet's resources more responsibly. There are many things we can reduce, and many ways we can reduce them, but three of the major ones are: reduce the amount of animal products you consume (meat, dairy, eggs, leather, etc.), reduce the amount of fuel you use (car, air travel, etc.), and reduce the amount of electricity you use. If you're interested, there are plenty of good resources on the net. I encourage you to so your own research, though you might find some of the links below to be useful.
More climate change and enviroment info?
Footprint Network footprint calculator - Figure out your own ecological footprint.
wecansolveit.org - Join a global movement determined to help solve climate change.
Fight Climate Change with Diet Change - Find out why the meat industry produces more greenhouse gases than all the SUVs, cars, trucks, planes, and ships in the world combined.
http://www.rense.com/
http://www.arkive.org/
http://www.well.com/
http://www.ytmnd.com/