Shrinking glaciers. Massive wildfires. Longer droughts. Severe tropical storms. These are just a few examples of what climate change is doing to the beautiful Earth we call home. Obviously, scientists and other professionals have been doing what they can to stop this and protect our atmosphere for decades.
But, you may be wondering, how can we, as a society, take small steps to reduce the effects of climate change?
To do this, we need to look at the cause of climate change. One of the main factors is the greenhouse effect, which is when greenhouse gasses produced from burning fossil fuels act like a blanket around the world and trap heat from the sun, causing global warming. To help stop this, you don’t have to do much. Just simply walking or riding a bike instead of driving short distances can have a huge benefit. It reduces the amount of air pollution, which helps reduce global warming.
Another reason is the abundance of meat consumption. In 2020, around 274 pounds of meat were consumed per person on average (in the U.S.). The journey of meat coming to your plate produces greenhouse gasses, which, as said previously, causes climate change. Additionally, deforestation is occurring around the world for the livestock industry. Cutting down these trees releases a substantial amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which adds to the air pollution. How can you help with this problem? By removing meat from your diet, or at least limiting it. You may think it won’t have a big impact, but it will be extremely beneficial in the long run. Moving towards a plant-based diet is even better. Having these little changes in your daily life will help the planet, and reduce your risk of health issues, so it’s a win-win.
On the topic of food, food waste also makes a big difference. The food that people throw away is estimated to be around one-third of the food intended for consumption (in the U.S). All of that waste goes into the landfill, and as it decomposes, it produces greenhouse gasses, especially methane (which is 25 times stronger than carbon dioxide). This—you probably figured it out by now—causes climate change. You don’t have to do anything big at all to make a difference. Simply reducing and recycling your food waste (such as turning it into compost) will do a lot.
Protecting our atmosphere has been a concern to scientists and professionals for decades now, and they have been trying their best to reduce the consequences of climate change. But now that you know a couple of ways to do the same thing in your home, hopefully, you can save the planet too.
Credits:
Created with images by ELG21 - "landscape change weather" • TheDigitalArtist - "question think help" • Other image sources - "The Big Food Wasters" by GDS Infographics is licensed under CC0 1.0 • Richter, F. (2020, May 5). Infographic: The countries that eat the most meat. Statista Infographics.