I found out this was originally from a Wendy's commercial!
Posted on 04/20/2024 11:56:56 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
Planetary warming, also known as climate change, continues to accelerate. The last eight years have been the warmest on global record, which is well-documented, with information dating back to 1850. Additional warming will continue in the years to come, but how much more warming depends on the decisions we make in the coming decades about energy use.
For those looking to take individual actions, and in recognition of Earth Day, there are many that are relevant across income levels:
1. Reduce food waste
This can be as simple as being sure that food is consumed before it goes bad and preparing only what you plan to eat. Wasted food means the energy and resources used to produce and transport food also go to waste. More viscerally, rotting food produces methane — a greenhouse gas more potent than carbon dioxide.
2. Eat less meat
No one is going to take away your burger, but the energy needed to raise animals for food is much higher than what is needed for plants. Every farming and ranching operation is different, but in general, beef and lamb require the most energy and resources to raise, and thus produce the most greenhouse gas emissions.
3. Change your light bulbs
Lighting from LEDs (light-emitting diodes) uses less energy and lasts longer than both incandescent bulbs and CFLs (compact fluorescent lamps). Plus, LEDs do not contain the poisonous mercury found in CFLs.
4. Install a programmable thermostat
Replacing the thermostat in your home will give you more control over when and how much your home is heated and cooled, allowing you to save energy — and money — when you are not at home.
5. Use public transportation
In smaller cities and towns, this is not always an option. But using a bus or passenger rail takes an additional vehicle off of the road. At minimum, this decreases congestion and increases the efficiency of travel on roadways. And if you have a gasoline or diesel car, it eliminates another source of greenhouse gas emissions. Where feasible, walk or ride a bicycle.
6. Consider an electric car
The price of all-electric cars has fallen substantially in the last few years, now competitive with gas and diesel cars. Charging infrastructure continues to expand, making them more feasible for longer trips. For commuting and running errands, the battery life between charges is more than sufficient.
Where you charge an electric car matters, so find out how electricity is generated where you live.
7. Plant some trees
Trees also have an impact at the local level, as their shade helps cool communities in the hot summer sun, and their root systems create more permeable soils — decreasing the amount of water running off into streams and creeks during heavy rain. Trees also take in carbon dioxide, although the sheer number of trees needed to appreciably bring down atmospheric carbon dioxide is overwhelming.
8. Replace gas appliances
Natural gas — mostly methane — is a fossil fuel that releases carbon dioxide when it is burned. When used for cooking, it also releases carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide, both toxic in high enough concentrations. Additionally, evidence continues to mount indicating the use of gas stoves in the home raises the risk of pediatric asthma. If your budget allows, explore the newer generation of conduction ranges for cooking at home.
Many of these processes do add up. Leah Stokes, professor of Climate and Energy Policy at the University of California-Santa Barbara, refers to the collection of these solutions as deep decarbonization, “Electrifying everything, and powering those electric technologies with renewable energy sources like wind and solar, can slash carbon pollution by 75 percent, and individuals have a crucial role to play in making it happen.”
9. Support solar energy
The price of solar energy has plummeted over the last decade. According to Joey Marquart at Silverline, a Virginia-based clean energy communications firm, “Utility and business-scale power plants are the biggest way to mitigate climate change with solar, but rooftop solar is also an essential part of our energy arsenal — as well as a great way for customers to lower utility bills and, when paired with batteries, keep the lights on during power outages.”
If your rooftop orientation is conducive for solar, an investment in rooftop panels will often pay for itself within a decade.
10. Do not despair
About 20 years ago, there was grave concern about the worst-case scenario — a global increase in temperature of 9 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100. With coal use on the decline, especially in the United States, that scenario is on the verge of being eliminated.
Climate scientists will differ on the precise details, but current global policies — if we adhere to them — put us on track to see about 5.5 degrees Fahrenheit of warming by the time today’s newborns are ready to retire.
This means that there is still more work to be done if we are to slow the pace of planetary warming below the 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius) threshold that nations agreed to in the 2015 Paris Agreement.
At its core, additional warming puts more energy into the climate system. While Earth is not in danger of turning into the hellish landscape of Venus, every little bit of warming increases the risk to people from temperatures that tend to be hotter, rains that tend to get heavier, seas that tend to rise further, and droughts that tend to develop more quickly.
Earth has already warmed about 2 degrees Fahrenheit since the end of the 19th century, with most of the warming coming in the last half-century. The decisions we make about energy use in the coming couple of decades will effectively set the thermostat for the decades to follow.
Re: Pledge
Atta boy,PIF atta boy, now you’re, “cooking with gas!”
Eat your ribeyes rare?
Actually, that should be number one. If all of them do this, then the problem disappears, one way or another. (/sarc. Cause somebody will think I am advocating suicide.)
I found out this was originally from a Wendy's commercial!
Many years ago...my Mom had a clothesline...that was common back then...Of course this was SoCal...
Too bad all the “climate change” alarmists failed eight-grade science.
Dullards and dunces, the lot of ‘em.
I do it/did it in NH and previously CNY.
I NY my neighbor did it too and we’d have a great time visiting while hanging up our laundry.
Plant a billion trees and problem solved. You won’t need the other stuff. Which then makes you wonder about the uncontrolled forest fires and why the flame retardant drooping planes were cancelled by Obama.
I skipped Taco Tuesday. Doing my part, one small thing at a time.
1-800-I-GIVE-UP
Unfortunately for us these people are in charge.
So those pushing all electric must be on the same payroll as these: https://www.reuters.com/technology/cybersecurity/fbi-says-chinese-hackers-preparing-attack-us-infrastructure-2024-04-18/
wondering when things cool off, will the government tell us to use more fossil fuels?
Glo-Bull warming is natural. In 1942 MGM produced a Traveltalks short on Glacier and Waterton National Parks.
The mention that the glaciers have been melting since the last Ice Age 12,000 years ago “and if there is NO CLIMATIC CHANGE they will be gone in a thousand years.”
So, no matter what Puny Man tries to do to stop it, it will continue until natural forces begin to move us back into a New Ice Age which we were warned about in the 1970s and were supposed to be in by now.
And you can bet it will be blamed on US.
They left out a few. Cut defense spending, open the border, have 100% mail in voting, end Capitalism.
Our power Plant burns coal. About 20 years ago they bought three jet engine driven generators to produce more “clean” power. They were powered by....Natural Gas.
I find bulbs I bought twenty years ago and stashed. The Led bulbs do not last as long as said.
Yes, I remember when LEDs first came out, they were guaranteed to last 10 uears. BS.
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