The Climate Catastrophe May Come as Soon As 10 years and Here Are Ways to Delay It

Experts are claiming that the worse of climate change is expected as soon as 2030 if humanity continues with the carelessness of waste, throwing trash around and maintaining inattentive to the seriousness of global warming. Governments worldwide must take quick, out of the box and groundbreaking modifications in all aspects of society to avoid disastrous levels of global warming. CNN  reports that ” the UN Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change (IPCC) reported on Monday that the planet will reach the crucial threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels by as early as 2030, precipitating the risk of extreme drought, wildfires, floods and food shortages for hundreds of millions of people.”. If the climate degree reaches 1.5 the world can expect heatwaves, hotter summer, heavier rainfalls, higher sea levels, and in for some countries, droughts. The prominent causes of the “around the corner date”, which many will live to see, are deforestation and the current levels of greenhouse gas emissions.  Greenhouse gas emissions are caused by the burning of fossil fuels, minerals from the earth such as oil, coal, and natural gas. “The main reason why fossil fuels cause so much damage is due to the amount of carbon dioxide or CO2 emitted when fossil fuels are burned. This burning and release of CO2 is a huge contributor to the greenhouse effect and climate change

More CO2 in our atmosphere causes less sunlight to escape back into space, causing the planet to warm.”, states Socratic.  The top uses of fossil fuels are for transportation and electricity. In a recent study in 2016, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released percentages of primary sources for greenhouse gas emissions. “Transportation (nearly 28.5 percent of 2016 greenhouse gas emissions) – The transportation sector generates the largest share of greenhouse gas emissions. The second common source for greenhouse gas emissions is electricity at a 28.4 percent. 68% comes from fossil fuels alone.” These numbers come as shockingly high but not entirely a surprise to many. If the world keeps letting the snowball of carelessness roll down the mountain, the biggest avalanche will come roaring onto our only home. However, it is not entirely late, but it will take more than a few handfuls of individuals to help delay a drastic climate disaster. Here are a few, but advantageous solutions to help setback global warming.

• Unplug Devices

Kitchen uses (toasters, coffee makers, etc.), chargers, or other plug needed machines should be disconnected when not in use. You may think that if said item is not in use then it is not consuming energy, but it sure is. These are called, “energy vampires”. Cords suck up energy even when they are not active and according to the Science ABC, “The amount of energy you are consuming definitely adds up”. With energy consummation of even as low as .25 watts, but over time those small number of watts add up every year and is very wasteful.

• Drive Less

With transportation being one of the leading producers of greenhouse gas emissions, car-pooling, buses, trains, walking, or biking are much better alternatives for reducing your carbon footprint. Although not everyone lives in a localized area with everything at arm’s length distance, it is good to know that there are always other choices of transport! Immediate results are guaranteed.

• Don’t Buy Fast Fashion

Textile production is one of the most polluting industries, producing 1.2 billion tons of CO2 equivalent (CO2e) per year. An example for this is polyester, the emissions for production are much higher as they are produced from fossil fuels such as crude oil. Also, in countries where clothing factories are abundant like India and China, illnesses, due to the releasing of carbon and overall pollution that seeps out into the air from the factories, are common to those who live near these buildings.  Instead of contributing to this high carbon activity, go shopping at thrift shops or second-hand websites like Depop or Poshmark.

• Plant a garden

Its not a fact that plants give us our oxygen, but did you know that plants also absorb carbon dioxide. Which means that the more plants, trees, and vegetables you seed in your backyard, the more carbon it is eliminating from the atmosphere. The Huffington Post sums it up best, “Balcony gardens are great for urban dwellings. Cities often need to reduce the “urban heat island” effect – basically, cities tend to be hotter than rural areas because of vast pavement areas, concrete buildings, and increased human activity. Creating more spaces for plants, grasses, and trees can mitigate this effect and lead to better cooling, which will be a necessity with worsening climate change.”. Besides who doesn’t’t enjoy the site of an abundance of colorful flowers or tasty fresh and all-natural grown vegetables.

By using this knowledge and putting them in action, individuals across the globe will bring a major setback and full spiral to climate change issues.

• climate change
• earth
• environment
• global warming
• recycle