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Climate Change

 Increasing global average temperatures will change everybody's life on the face of this planet. Life will get harder the majority of people. Combined with habitat loss, human induced climate change will result in the mass extinction of a large percent of earth's animal and plant species. The first grumbles of resource and water wars are starting. Food and oil prices are soaring. Avoiding rapid climate change is in everybody's interest and there are a lot of positive actions you can take to help.

Before you start trying to minimising your carbon footprint and greenhouse gas emissions, it is a good idea to understand exactly where this polution is coming from and what it is. Don't just think about reducing your petrol consumption and your electricity use, you need to understand that the food you eat, the clothes you wear and your holiday in Bali all contribute.

The graph below shows that power stations are the biggest contributor - so reducing your electricy consumption is a good first step but there is a lot more to be done.



Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the most common greenhouse gas (apart from water vapour), followed by methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), and miscellaneous other gases (CFC's, etc.). Each gas behaves differently, methane traps heat 21 times as effectively as carbon dioxide, whilst nitrous oxide is 296 times as good at trapping heat. So, relatively small amounts of methane nitrous oxide have a large effect.

The graph below shows which sectors produce each particular gas. The contributions of these man-made greenhouse gases, are weighted by their global warming potential over the next 100 years. So, carbon dioxide is responsible for 72% of the warming and is mainly emitted by power stations, industrial processes and transportation fuels. Methane is responsilbe for 18% of the warming but it's sources are mostly agricultural byproducts (light green) and fossil fuel extraction/retrieva/processing (pink). Nitrous oxide is responsible for 9% of the waming and most of that comes from agricultural byproducts and land use /biomass burning.



Power - dirty coal or a fresh breeze?

Change your electricity supply to renewable energy. One of the best ways to dramatically reduce your CO2 emissions is to get your electricity from renewable sources. I installed solar panels on the roof of my house in Australia, but it is probably easier for most people to pay for 'green energy'. Most electricity suppliers give their customers options to pay for Green Energy. Basically you get the same electricity no matter what option you choose. However, you decide where the company has to invest it's money. Choosing green energy forces the company how to source a percentage of it's electricity from hydro, wind and solar energy.

Green energy does cost more, but do you really want to explain to your grandchildren why you helped wreck the world's environment just to save a bit of money? The cheapest and dirtiest way to make energy is by burning coal, and this is what you encourage when you buy the cheapest electricity available.

What you can do
- Use green renewable electricity.
- Buy efficient electrical appliances.
- Change your habits to use less electricity.


Power Stations 21.3%





Food - the 'hidden' polluter.

A food's emissions total depends heavily on where it grew and how it was transformed from raw ingredients into your dinner. This includes gases generated by tilling land, sowing crops, making fertilisers and pesticides, harvesting the food and shipping it to processing plants, as well as electricty for cleaning, processing and packaging your food, and then transporting it to your store1.

The loss of carbon sinks when forests are cleared for grazing or crops also contributes. That is why I have also included the 'land use' section of the colored pie in this section.

Greenhouse gas contributions from agriculture are equivalent to transport (each around 12 to 14% of all emissions). Remember that carbon dioxide is not the only chemical responsible for global warming. methane (CH4) is a potent greenhouse gas (21 times as potent as CO2). Ruminants (which includes cows, goats and sheep) burp and fart large quantities of methane. Cows for example can produce around 550-700Litres of methane a day. Large amounts of methane are also produced by rice padis.

Fertilisers and manure release nitrous oxide which is 296 times as good as CO2 at trapping heat in the atmosphere. Organic Farming is preferable. Getting your calories from meat is an inefficient way to use land, it is a lot more efficient to grow grain and eat that, rather than using it too feed animals and then eat them.

What you can do
- Grow your own fruit and vegetables.
- Eat less meat or go vegetarian.
- Eat less diary prodcuts.
- Buy organic products (no fertiliser/pesticides).
- Buy food with less packaging.




Agricultural byproducts 12.5%



Land use and biomass burning 10.0%







TRANSPORT - cars are a 4 letter word.

What you can do
Cool - Throw away your car. Use a bike.
Great - Throw away your car. Use public transport. Use a bike.
Average - Avoid driving, share a car or car pool.
Just OK - Change your driving habits follow some of the tips below.
Reckless - Drive like a maniac, drive fast and buy a BIG car.

Transportation fuels 14.0%


So, you are still addicted to your car? Here are some tips to minimise your CO2 emissions

Maintenance - Keep your car tuned up and running efficiently. Replace your air, oil and fuel filters regularly. Tires - Keep your tires properly inflated (just this can save half a tonne of CO2 per year!). Driving - Studies have shown up to 30% of fuel consumption is due to driving habits alone. Purchasing - buy a super efficient car.
Household - If the household has two cars, make the commuting car as efficient as possilbe.

Downsize - Get rid of your car altogether. Impossible? Read the book and it won’t seem so.

HOLIDAYs
- Avoid flying as much as possilbe.
- Offset your flying miles by purchasing caarbon credits.
- Fly nonstop - Nonstop flights are better than connecting flights (for lots of reasons). - While you’re away - Turn your stuff off. Turn down your thermostat and your water heater; turn off your electronics (even smarter: unplug them to protect from electrical storms). What’s the point of things being on with no one there? More tips - Take a look at green travel tips.


Fossil Fuel - before you even see it.

What you can do
- see Transport above (minimising fossil fuel use => minimising fossil fuel extraction).
- reduce plastic consumption (eg: packaging)
- pressure energy companies to clean up their extraction processes
- avoid purchasing power from companies that burn coal (ie: most of them)

Fossil fuel retrieval, processing, and distribution 11.3%


Industry - making things for us.

What you can do
- Buy little. Consume little.
- Reuse and recycle what you do buy.
- Buy secondhand things instead of new products. - Think twice about the chemicals you use.
- Don't work for polluting companies.
- Pressure company management to reduce their emmissions. shareholder letters, protests etc.

Industrial processes 16.8%






1 I have ripped a lot of information on food from 'New Scientist' article 'Dinner's dirty secret' by Bijal Trivedi, edition 13 September 2008.





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