Fighting Climate Change: 5 Ways to Wage the War and Save the Planet
Some people think that we are still waiting for the climate to start warming up due to the increase of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. However, studies have found that the temperature of the planet has been rising in a gradual fashion since around 1880. Every decade or so, the earth gets warmer by a fraction of a degree.
As the planet continues to warm, fighting climate change will become a more and more pressing issue. Many people are experiencing a sense of panic as they feel that climate change is unstoppable. However, many people have come up with strategies to try to slow down or even reverse climate change.
Read on to learn all about the most powerful options out there to help us fight the changing climate of the planet!
5 Ways To Fight Against Climate Change
Read on to learn all about the most powerful options out there to help us fight the changing climate of the planet!
Overview:
- How to Combat Climate Change With Reflection
- Addressing the Climate Crisis With Inspiration From Volcanoes
- Individuals Can Decrease Their Carbon Footprint
- Passing Laws to Decrease Carbon Emissions
- Stopping Global Warming With Carbon Capture
1. How To Combat Climate Change With Reflection
When most people think about fighting climate change, they think about greenhouse gases. This makes a lot of sense. The main reason that the climate is warming faster than it has in history is that we are adding more greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.
However, it still makes sense to consider other avenues for addressing the warming planet. After all, the only reason that greenhouse gases lead to global warming is that they increase how much energy from the Sun our planet captures.
That makes climate change an interesting product of both greenhouse gases and how much sunlight reaches the planet. That is why one strategy for cooling the planet is to make the planet more reflective.
When sunlight hits our planet, the energy in its photons is transformed into thermal energy, in other words, heat.
However, when the sun strikes something that is light in color, those photons bounce off. Many of them are then reflected into space. This is one of the functions of clouds.
Plenty of sunlight bounces off of them, keeping the planet from getting as warm as it would if clouds were not reflective. Some scientists have proposed that we can make the surface of the planet more reflective. We could do this by making the tops of all of our buildings white.
We could also try to do this near the North and South pole. Reflecting a little extra sunlight around the poles might allow more ice to form. When there is more ice at the poles, that ice reflects even more sunlight.
2. Addressing The Climate Crisis With Inspiration From Volcanoes
Some people have heard about volcanic eruptions so large that they affected the climate for a few years. In fact, this used to be one of the major theories for how the dinosaurs died.
Scientists used to think that volcanoes filled the atmosphere with so much smoke that it blocked out the sun. These days, scientists know that an asteroid strike filled the atmosphere with dust that blocked out the sun.
However, the same basic principle applies. Blocking out the sun cools the planet down. Of course, we would only want to cool down the planet a little.
Fortunately, we can look at smaller examples of this effect in recent history. Large volcanic eruptions sometimes lead to a noticeably cooler climate for two or three years.
Scientists have proposed that we add similar amounts of material into the atmosphere to block out light from the sun. In theory, this would only cool the climate as much as eruptions from volcanoes have done in recent decades.
Fighting climate change will become a more and more pressing issue.
3. Individuals Can Decrease Their Carbon Footprint
Another major way to fight climate change is by reducing our carbon footprint. Many people are shocked to find out how much the average person contributes to the increasing prevalence of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
There are several things that people can do to decrease their carbon footprint. Some are difficult and expensive and do not decrease carbon footprints very much. Others are somewhat easier and can decrease carbon footprints by a lot.
For example, most people don’t realize that eating beef requires producing many more pounds of greenhouse gases than eating other meats. Some people are reluctant to give up meat to decrease their carbon footprint. But they are much more amenable to the idea of simply choosing to eat meats that do not require as much carbon dioxide to produce.
Most people do not realize that air conditioning consumes huge quantities of electricity. Ultimately, much of that electricity comes from power plants that generate greenhouse gases.
In some cases, your AC might use up half of all of the energy consumption of your entire household! Improving the insulation of your home or using the right curtains can help keep your home cooler. That way, your air conditioner will not have to eat up so much electricity to keep your home comfortable.
4. Passing Laws To Decrease Carbon Emissions
Many people think that policies like cap and trade can efficiently decrease the carbon footprints of our companies and governments. With the right intervention of laws, it is possible that we can slow down the progression of climate change.
5. Stopping Global Warming With Carbon Capture
Climate change started with adding too many greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. Carbon capture addresses this problem directly. Carbon capture technology absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, returning carbon dioxide levels to what they were prior to the industrial revolution.
If we can improve carbon capture technology enough, this could directly reverse climate change trends.
Understand Our Options For Fighting Climate Change
Fighting climate change is one of the most difficult problems we face today. At the same time, people all around the world are putting their heads together to come up with strategies to fight climate change.
As technology continues to progress, there is hope that we will be able to manage even a problem as large as the changing climate of the planet!
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