What You Can Do to Help Stop Global Warming?

Our planet is increasing its temperature at a very alarming rate. An increase of 1 centigrade a decade may not seem much but its effects on the eco-system is already proving to have devastating effects. The natural habitats of every species are being disrupted and the weather patterns are becoming worse with many extreme natural disasters the result. Man has changed the face of the earth more than any other species, and so it is also our job to rehabilitate it.

It has been proven that global warming will not reverse on its own, so only through large scale worldwide commitment to carbon emission reduction can we hope to turn back the tide. There are any number of actions that can be taken to minimise current consequences and possibly stop further damage. But one of the primary concerns is our energy consumption; almost everything is powered by electricity and we still heavily rely on fossil fuels, which is where the problem arises.

Fortunately every one of us can help to make a positive difference; individually you can do small things like reducing your electricity usage that collectively has a huge impact. Turning off whatever is not used and replacing your lights with energy saving compact fluorescent light globes is a couple of things you probably know already. But there are many others that you may not be aware of; our food production is responsible for huge amounts of carbon emissions, so eat locally grown food as much as possible. Also clothing manufacture is another huge non green industry; simple things like organising clothing swaps with friends rather than buying something new are fun and very effective ways to reduce your carbon footprint. And of course walk, cycle or use public transport as often as possible rather than your car.

These are all important contributions; however ultimately making the switch to renewable energy sources like solar panels systems and solar hot water systems poses one of the greatest contributions that you can make. Making this switch is not even a sacrifice as the system will also bring economic benefits to the homeowner.

Wide scale use of Solar panel systems worldwide in the next few years is expected to decrease the dependence to fossil fuel by half. Of course it is very important that corporations and industries do their bit which is what governments are starting to enforce, but even if only homes are fitted with solar panels carbon emissions will plummet down significantly.

Aside from direct emissions, indirect emissions (associated with the products and services that you buy) are also responsible for a marginal percentage of the total carbon in the air. Controlling your purchases and identifying what is needed and essential and what is only wanted will help reduce indirect emissions, with a bonus of not exhausting your credit cards as well!

In Australia at the moment it is giving our collective support for the carbon tax in a workable form that will make the biggest impact on carbon reduction. If it becomes financially more of a burden to be a polluter rather than be green then this will prompt everyone to save energy and/or to find new and effective ways to manufacture and produce. Australia’s climate change chief adviser Ross Garnaut once said that the carbon tax will push us to go beyond our boundaries, and will force innovation for new technologies for energy efficiency.

The carbon tax will also provide money to help extend government funding for solar schemes of rebates and bonuses and for large scale renewable energy projects in the future. Basically our future depends on us all committing ourselves to the global responsibility of carbon reduction and ensuring a better life for the next generation as well as all other life on the planet.