GREEN LIVING: Preventing the Global Warming Ice Age

By Brian Steven

Politicians and other individuals find it all too easy to dismiss the "global warming myth," citing that it is all just doomsday rubbish concocted by crazy loons. First of all, these 'crazy loons' are experts in climate change; who dedicate their entire lives to studying our planet and where it's going in the near future.

Second, this 'doomsday rubbish' is not rubbish: it is happening today. More than 2,500 researchers who plan to attend 2009's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in Copenhagen will assess the situation. And they will be presented with the inevitability that water levels may rise as much as 100m in the near future, a 75% loss of tree cover, and millions (if not billions) will be displaced by the changes in climate. All this leads to one conclusion: we are in serious trouble.

If a convention of such size and with conclusions so resounding does not catch the attention of the world, then no amount of global warming proof will convince otherwise, unless we experience the results for ourselves. But the responsibility does not fall solely on governments and corporations. We have a role to play in keeping our environment safe and habitable. Here are two simple things we, as normal people living our normal, every-day lives, can do to help:

Waste Management - from merely reducing our needs to meet our needs to sorting trash and bringing empty cans to the recycling center, this is the first and easiest step we can take to help ease the burden on our environment.

Of course, proper disposal of garbage is something that takes top priority in the list of things that we can do to help our environment, as evidenced by the numerous categories of trash bins dotting street corners. But waste management involves not just properly handling the leftovers and garbage in our bins. It also follows the idea of minimalism, where we buy and use only what we need. Excess consumption results in excess waste and this waste will have to go somewhere in the system. Why create more headaches for our waste-disposal services when we can minimize what waste we produce in the first place?

Clean Energy - alternative energy sources like windmills and photovoltaic solar panels will not just help us prevent global warming, but it will actually help us save money in the long run. We can inspect what source of energy we can most easily tap: the wind, the sun and methane are particularly convenient and easy-to-access sources of energy. Once we find the alternative energy source most suited to our available resources, we can then place an investment into buying, installing and maintaining these alternative energy sources. Produce enough electricity and the power companies will be paying you for the energy you are sending back into the grid.

There is not much we normal every-day citizens can do to effect political, industrial and economic change to address the environmental problems, but we do have a hand in preventing a global warming future from choking the life out of us, our children, and our planet. Let's make it count while we still can.


For more information go to http://solarenergy2009.blogspot.com/ to see what all the fuss is about.

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