Sunday, November 7, 2010

The Earth needs your help

In this blog post I will focus on one of the biggest global challenges the world is facing today, and that is global warming. Global warming is a topic that I am extremely passionate about. This post is written to increase people’s knowledge about global warming, and to bring awareness that this problem is happening right now. I am going to share with you some facts about global warming; to show you how important it is that we start doing something about this situation we are caught in. I will help you help the world by showing how this can be done. I guarantee you that if you work these small changes in to your daily life, you are going to wonder why you did not make these adjustments sooner, because they are so easy.

First of all I will start by explaining what global warming really means. Because some of you may not know what this big topic actually involves. Global warming means that the entire Earth's normal temperature increases. This has been going on for hundreds of years, and has increased more and more in the past 60-70 years. It is most likely that more than 90 percent of the increase in the global average temperature over the last 50 years, is caused by us humans. This is according to the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (Source: newspaper article from Aftenposten). A climate gas called CO2 is released, and about 90 percent of anthropogenic CO2 emissions are caused by fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are a general term for coal, oil and natural gas. This gas is increasing, and it causes less of the Earth's heat to release into the atmosphere. At the same time is it important to know that the nature has, and will always have, an effect on global warming. Therefore, you cannot put the entire blame on yourself, CO2 is caused by natural emissions as well, putrefy plants for example, is also releasing CO22.

It is estimated an increase of 1.1 ° C to 6.4 ° C during the 21th century. The poles in the Antarctic and the Arctic have already begun to melt, and this will continue as long as you do not limit your emissions. It is assumed that the Arctic could be ice-free by 2050 if our emissions continue as before. The water level in the oceans will rise. This is both because water expands when it gets warmer, and that part of the polar ice melts into the ocean. A rise in the sea-level will affect millions of people living on small islands and coastal cities. This leads to terrible consequences like loss of land and climate refugees. (Source: newspaper article from Aftenposten). The world has recently experienced frequent cases of powerful natural disasters, which can be connected to global warming. An example is Hurricane Katrina from 2005. What gives a storm its power is exactly the heat in the ocean. Therefore, increased heat in the ocean will also provide more dramatic natural disasters. Again, this will cost many people their lives. Do you want to be a part of that?

A lot of the pollution caused by humans is from traveling. Of all the transportation we use, it is the airplanes that emit the most climate gases. Travel less with plane, reducing how much you fly by even one or two trips a year will reduce your emissions significantly. There are several other travel options, like train or boat. When you are going on small trips, take a bike or walk, and let your car rest. Your bonus – free exercise. 30 percent of all car trips in Norway are less than three miles long (Source: newspaper article from Aftenposten). I strongly advise you to leave your car, and by doing that you save the atmosphere from CO2 emissions. When you have to take longer trips, for instance to and from your job, I want you to use public transportation, like a bus or subway. 70 percent of all trips to work is by car and it is an average of 1.2 persons in each car at rush hour (Source: newspaper article from Aftenposten). This practically means that the majority is sitting alone in the car, which is heating up our Earth and is as far from environmentally friendly as you can be. If you are one of those people that have to have a car, you have to invest in a more fuel efficient car.

Bovine are among the worst sources of emissions of methane, the second most dangerous greenhouse gas. Production of one kilogram of beef emits 22 kilograms climate gases, and the sale of meat has increased by 15 percent over the past ten years. Therefore I ask you kindly to choose vegetarian meals. But if you are going to eat meat, I would like it to always be from your local source. This way you will save the Earth from the pollution shipping grain to the bovine and shipping of the bovine itself, causes. By choosing vegetarian food you drastically reduce water consumption and land use. And your own bonus – it is much healthier.

Global warming will eventually affect us all. With that being said, I believe that you should not only be responsible for yourself, but also for the rest of the world. Taking responsibility for the entire world would include recycling your food, plastic, paper etc., don’t shop more than you need – both food and material things. You have to turn off all the lights when you leave the house, and the same with the electronic equipments. The water should not flow when you are not using it. Some other responsible things to do would be to give away your used clothes and buy second hand-clothes, and not get a new plastic bag every time you shop. Fill up your dishwasher and washing machine, this way you will save water and electricity.

Global warming is happening as I write this. In fact, it has already gone way too far. The poles have already started to melt, and the meat production has increased with 15 percent. These things are done, and it is nothing you can do about it. But the thing I want you to do is start doing all the things I have mentioned earlier in this post. They might seem useless, but the changes you make will help in the bigger picture. My goal with this blog post is to inform everyone to be the change they want to see in the world.

Make a change!

1 comment:

  1. First of all I would like to say that I agree with you. The last point where you mentioned that everyone should take responsibilty for themselves is crucial! Especially the last quote "My goal with this blog post is to inform everyone to be the change they want to see in the world". Unfortunatly people are lazy. They most likely wont change their habbits before it is too late. But then again we all need to have a little hope in humanity, don't we?

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