What can we do to prevent Global Warming?

Answer 1

There are many things individuals can do to reduce their carbon emissions and reduce the impact of global warming. Living in a tent, travelling by bike and stopping breathing are three steps that could be taken. There are less drastic measures.

FUEL EFFICIENT VEHICLE
Driving a more fuel-efficient vehicle makes a big difference. Each gallon of gasoline burned produces 10kg (20 pounds) of carbon dioxide. A motorist driving 15,000 miles a year will produce 7500kg of carbon emissions by driving a 20mpg vehicle whereas a vehicle returning 30mpg will produce 5000kg, 2½ tons less each year plus a reduced fuel bill (note).

DRIVING ECONOMICALLY
You can improve your vehicles fuel efficiency by as much as 30%. Drive gently avoiding harsh braking and sudden accelerating, drive at a steady speed, keep tyres correctly inflated, don’t carry excess weight, use the correct gear, use cruise control, remove bike and ski racks when not in use, keep your vehicle serviced, turn the engine off when stopped or waiting.

DRIVE LESS
Walk or cycle short journeys – no fuel emissions, healthier and saves money. Stagger journeys where possible to avoid rush hour traffic and hold ups. Use public transport.

HOME ENERGY EFFICIENCY
When replacing appliances buy energy efficient ones, turn off electrical appliances when not in use, don’t use the standby option. Use energy efficient light bulbs and switch off when not in use. Wash clothes at a lower temperature, modern machines and detergents are just as effective at lower temperatures. Dry your clothes outdoors instead of in a tumble drier. Wash in full loads at a time.

Insulate your home and block draughts around doors and windows. In the UK this is free to many people.

Turn your heating and air conditioning down. A 1°C difference will be barely noticeable but will produce a substantial saving in terms of energy used.

Buy electricity generated from renewable sources and consider installing a renewable energy system to lower your electricity costs and reduce pollution.

Use rechargeable batteries; don’t leave rechargers on for longer than is needed.

Buy local food where possible, much food is flown or shipped half way around the world before it reaches us.

Recycle waste and avoid buying products with excessive packaging.

Sign up with mail preferential services to stop junk mail.

Don’t have your fridge and freezer set lower than they need to be, regularly defrost your freezer, don’t put hot food into your fridge or freezer.

There’s lots more tips and advice on these sites...

Natural Resource Defense Council http://www.nrdc.org/air/energy/genergy.a...
Energy Saving Trust http://www.est.org.uk/myhome/
Carbon Trust http://www.carbontrust.co.uk/energy...
Energy Quest http://www.energyquest.ca.gov/saving_ene...
US Government http://www.energy.gov/energyefficiency/i...
Alliance to Save Energy http://www.ase.org/
UK Government http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/environmenta...
Rough Guides http://www.roughguides.com/savingenergy/...
Salt River Project http://www.srpnet.com/menu/energy.aspx...

Answer 2

The Earth is always changing. Sometimes it is warm and sometimes it is cold. There are a lot of theories as to why this happens, but it probably has very little to do with humans and a lot more to do with how much energy the sun is putting out, the path of our orbit and volcanic activity. There is really a lot we don't understand.

If you wanted to come up with a quick fix, something realistic, I suppose you could spray some reflective material in the upper atmosphere.

If you wanted to get rid of excess Carbon Dioxide (the "evil" chemical) you could dump powdered iron oxide by the ton in the tropical ocean. This would cause a huge bloom in aquatic plant life and would tie up all kinds of carbon. This would have other effects...

It is important to understand that the science on this matter is far from setteled. It is likely an attempt at some sort of global carbon tax rather than a concern for the environment.

Answer 3

In short, nothing. And there are very good reasons why the warming is good.

We are currently within a long term "ice age", that cycles between a lot of ice covering everything (New York was under a mile of ice 20,000 years ago) and ice only covering Antarctica and Greenland.

When the ice recedes, it is called an "interglacial epoch". We are currently within one of these interglacial epochs, and this warm weather may last another 2,000 years or so until the glaciers descend again.

Within our interglacial epoch, the earth has been warmer than now, and cooler than now. We are currently warming up from a "little ice age" that occurred a few hundred years ago.

Our present temperature is still not as warm as it was over a thousand years ago. So if things get a little warmer over the next 200 years, it will STILL be within natural variance for temperatures on earth.

Except for the first sentence, none of the statements above are disputed by anyone within the global warming debate.

The return of extensive glaciation was a very popular end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it story thirty years ago. It meant the end of civilization, and the geological evidence is overwhelming that it will occur again.

Climate is always changing, and given the choice between cold weather and warm weather, people always pick the warm weather hands down. Telling people they should reduce their standard of living (down to some third world toilet) in order to enjoy COLDER winters is ludicrous.

People that travel by private jet and live in huge homes with massive carbon bootprints and clearly no intention of reducing their own standard of living, telling everyone else they have to sacrifice to save the world, gives new meaning to the word hypocrisy.


The global warming debate centers around release of CO2 from fossil fuel burning, and belief that computers can precisely model a complex coupled non-linear chaotic system.

The computers are not that good, and the downside to a gradual warming over the next 200 years is small compared to human tragedies that occur every day, and known threats to civilization.

Answer 4

1. Sign this Petition to Help Stop Global Warming at www.STOPGLOBALWARMING.COM
2. Buy Energy Efficient CFL lightbulbs.
3. When Looking at appliances or stuff like doors and windows,Stereos,Televisions, Computers etc. Make sure it is approved by Energy Star. So not only will you help the environment but also your wallet.
4. Consider buying a Hybrid or Electric vehicle, or buy a conversion kit for your vehicle to run on Biodiesel and have it intstalled.
5. Install Solar Panels in your backyard or on the roof. Get a Wind Turbine, Cool and heat your home with Geothermal Power.
6. Start a compost pile.
7.Invest only in companies who you know will you use your money wisely, Such as General Electric and Toyota.
8. Spread the word about Enviro related Issues by leaving Magazines that talk about Solar Power, Permaculture, Organic living, Wind Power, Hybrid Vehicles, and Just living the green lifestyle at place like your doctor's or Dentist's office.
9. Buy Clothing that is made from materials such as Hemp, Bamboo Fibres, Organic cotton and other recycled or renewable materials.
10. Send Letters to Government officials about Important environment Issues. Everyone from local to President to congress to your State Governor to Mayor and City and surrounding cities officials.

Answer 5

It is inevitable. We cannot prevent global warming, but we can take measures to retard it.

At the present time we are burning fossil fuels. Much of this carbon was sequestered during the permian, 300 million years ago. Supporting public transporation would be one good way to reduce the release of greenhouse gas into our atmosphere. There are numerous other proactive measures one can take to reduce one's "carbon footprint." Offering tax incentives for gas guzzling HumVee motor cars is not among them.

Methane is another greenhouse gas that has an even greater impact on climate change than carbon dioxide. But every little bit helps. As Ovid said, "add little to little, and soon there is a big pile."

One of the primary problems with carbon emissions is the number of people who clamp their eyes shut, hold their fists over their ears, and cry "nanu nanu nanu nanu" whenever anyone brings this subject up. They do so primarily for political reasons, though religion also plays a role. Some folks believe that Jesus will come again and save us from our mistakes, just as He saved the jews from the nazi ovens.

Or maybe not.

As for Corporate Kermit, this just goes to show how prejudgements can lead one far astray. I was raised on an indian reservation in northern nevada, far removed from the Ural Mountains of eastern europe.

Answer 6

Right off the top of my head I would say never use a pug in air freshener (why use electricity just to ad fragrance to you house when passive fresheners work fine). It's only a watt or so but times 24/7, 365 times however many millions that have been sold (many of which stay plugged in even after the smell is used up).

Then there is the drive through. You need a car to go somewhere fine. You do not need to run an engine to sit in line because it's too much work to get out and get your burger face to face.

Neither of these will solve the problem but every little bit helps.

Answer 7

Global warming is in theory reversable,but it will mean global co operation between all countries ,and taking into account human nature and the world politics ,it is unlikely that this will happen,

At least not untill we are all in the middle of planetary disastres and it becomes a battle for the survival of humanity every where.

SOLUTIONS
if you want to help the planet ,plant a tree every week ,if everyone on the planet did we we would be able to reverse the destructive processes

reduce carbon emisions,and they are already working on that by alternative forms of energy and regulations on carbon producing materials,aerosol cans,burning rubbish,industrial chimneys,powerplants etc.

the capture of carbon and the production of water and assist the aquiferous manta.

the world bank pays large subsidies for reforrestation to capture carbon and the best tree for this is the Pawlonia

Waterharvesting projects ,such as millions of small dams.to redirect over ground waterflows from the rains into the ground to supply subteranian water supplies.

the protection of existing forrests.

stop building more highways,urban planning to include vegetation stop building cities encourage people to return to the land to conduct their business from there which now has become possible thanks to the internet.

education to motivate people to auto sufficiency by building more home food gardens.

education on environmental awareness
education on family planning to curb over´populaion

Agricultural education and improvements to follow the principals or sustainability and soil management.

more environmental or land ,design to prevent bush fires,such as--fire breaks

,more dams.regulations and control for public behaviour

alternative effeciant public transport to discourage the use of the internal conbustion engine

recicling wastes,limit water use

Answer 8

It is a natural cycle that I doubt we can totally control. Of course, being careful about pollution and other CO2 producing activities but let's not go crazy and close all the coal plants or quit eating meat. Al Gore supposedly is leading the charge on pollution but yet his house uses 20 TIMES the energy of an average home in Tenn. Many politicians and officials want you to believe in Global Warming because it gives them yet another reason to control your activities.

Answer 9

As individuals, the best thing we can do is reduce our energy use: Use compact fluorescent bulbs and turn them off when you leave the room. Buy more efficient appliances, especially your fridge. Buy a more efficient vehicle, and drive less. Better yet, move closer to work so you don't need to commute by car at all. Get a programmable thermostat so you won't be heating or cooling your house when you're gone. Make sure your house can be sectioned off so that you don't need to waste energy heating and cooling the unused areas. But as individuals, we can't do it all. Talk to your representatives at the local, state, and national level, and tell them that you expect something to be done about global warming. Ask them to create policies that encourage investment in energy efficiency and renewable energy. And ask them to support market-based policies to limit CO2 emissions, like "cap and trade" programs, or carbon taxes (if you're concerned about high taxes, ask them to make sure the revenue is used to reduce existing income or sales taxes)

To get an idea of the scale of the actions required, I recommend you look at the "stabilization wedge" materials put together by Robert Socolow and Stephen Pacala at Princeton. They came up with a list of 15 strategies that could be adopted using known technologies. The important point is that these strategies provide results at a large enough scale, so that if we can do just 7 of them, we will avoid the projected increases in annual CO2 emissions over the next 50 years, and therefore prevent the atmospheric CO2 levels from rising above 570ppm (double the pre-industrial level.)

It might seem a little discouraging as individuals, because a lot of these ideas can't be done alone. But I guess that's the point. There's no simple solution, and it needs to be addressed at all levels -- individual, industry, and government. We must make big changes like these in order to prevent the really catastrophic effects of climate change. But unfortunately, even if we can hold CO2 levels to double the pre-industrial level, we will STILL see effects like loss of coral reefs, changing precipitation patterns, and droughts in some regions.

The 15 strategies are:
1. Efficiency –Transport
Increase automobile fuel efficiency (2 billion cars projected in 2050) … 1 wedge = doubling the efficiency of the all world’s cars from 30 to 60 mpg

2. Conservation- Transport
Reduce miles traveled by passenger and/or freight vehicles … 1 wedge = cutting miles traveled by all passenger vehicles in half

3. Efficiency - Buildings
Increase insulation, furnace and lighting efficiency… 1 wedge = using best available technology in all new and existing buildings

4. Efficiency – Electricity
Increase efficiency of power generation … 1 wedge = raising plant efficiency from 40% to 60%

5. Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) Electricity
CO2 from fossil fuel power plants captured, then stored underground (700 large coal plants or 1400 natural gas plants) … 1 wedge = injecting a volume of CO2 every year equal to the volume of oil extracted

6. CCS Hydrogen
Hydrogen fuel from fossil sources with CCS displaces hydrocarbon fuels … 1 wedge = producing hydrogen at 10 times the current rate

7. CCS Synfuels
Hydrogen fuel from fossil sources with CCS displaces hydrocarbon fuels … 1 wedge = producing hydrogen at 10 times the current rate

8. Fuel Switching – Electricity
Replacing coal-burning electric plants with natural gas plants (1400 1 GW coal plants) … 1 wedge = using an amount of natural gas equal to that used for all purposes today

9. Nuclear Electricity
Displace coal-burning electric plants with nuclear plants (2 x current capacity) … 1 wedge = ~3 times the effort France put into expanding nuclear power in the 1980’s, sustained for 50 years

10. Wind Electricity
Wind displaces coal-based electricity (30 x current capacity) … 1 wedge = using area equal to ~3% of U.S. land area for wind farms

11. Solar Electricity
Solar PV displaces coal-based electricity (700 x current capacity) ... 1 wedge = using the equivalent of a 100 x 200 km PV array

12. Wind Hydrogen
Produce hydrogen with wind electricity … 1 wedge = powering half the world’s cars predicted for 2050 with hydrogen

13. Biofuels
Biomass fuels from plantations replace petroleum fuels … 1 wedge = scaling up world ethanol production by a factor of 30

14. Forest Storage
Carbon stored in new forests … 1 wedge = halting deforestation in 50 years

15. Soil Storage
Farming techiques increase carbon retention or storage in soils … 1 wedge = using conservation tillage on all the world’s agricultural soils

Answer 10

Nothing.
Not 1 single thing.
Nada!
Non.
Nyettink
Nuttin' honey.
Zilch.
Zero.
Fagedaboudit!
Time wasted.
Time better spent on something else.
You can't fix what ain't broke.
You can't mess with Mother Nature.
If it is not broken, then please do not try to repair it.
Mind your own business.
She can take care of herself.
If ya wanna whine 'bout sumthin, whine about your sorry life being wasted on environ-mental cases.
If it don't kill ya, it'll make ya stronga.
Git over yourself.
Mammie gonna make me some shortnin shortnin~Mammie gonna make me some shortnin~bread~~Yeah! Mammie!
What cha gonna do?
Having paranoid delusions helps nothing at all.
Eenee Meenee chili beeany~the spirits are about to speak!