Looking back at the first week of this course I hadn't realized how many processes affect our climate, how we contribute to climate change and most importantly how we can
prevent further damage to our planet and surrounding atmosphere.
Particularly important to me is that this course gives me the
opportunity to learn and widen my knowledge. Snowball earth, feedbacks, ocean acidification, the Artic, Antarctica, green house gases, climate models, all of this topics were really interesting for me.
In
this last week, professor Tim Lenton said: Our collective actions will
determine the future climate for many, many generations to come.
He makes me think about which actions we can take against climate change.
The
Kyoto Protocol 1997 committed industrialised nations to reduce their carbon
emissions. But the protocol expires in 2020, and the United Nations are working
on a new agreement to keep climate change within safe levels of less than 2
degrees of global warming above the pre-industrial level. Any
international agreement to meet the two degrees target requires a roughly 60%
reduction in global carbon emissions.
It's easy to set targets, but it's not so easy
to take the steps that are necessary to meet them.
In Spain, The spanish government has launched a range of urgent measures in the most relevant
sectors regarding the need to reduce carbon dioxide emissions,
identified such as “The Strategic Lines against Climate Change”, six
lines with the aim of being accomplished in two years time since July,
2008. The Strategic Lines affect a wide range of sectors such as
transports, waste and manure management, residential, energy, forestry
and innovation. The Spanish Energy Policy is based on three axes; Security supply, competitiveness and sustainability.
But, what action can individuals take?
Here, I write some individual actions that we can do but I am sure that there are more.
At home - reduce, reuse, recycle
- Buy minimally packaged goods.
- Recycle paper, plastic, glass, and metal. Reuse, mend, and repurpose things to save money and divert waste from your local landfill.
- Plug air leaks in windows and doors to increase energy efficiency.
- Adjust your thermostat, lower in winter, higher in summer.
- Replace old appliances with energy efficient models and light bulbs.
- Save electricity by plugging appliances into a power strip and turning them off completely when not in use.
- Wash clothes in cold or warm water.
- Run dishwashers only when full and don’t use heat to dry dishes.
- Eat less meat, poultry, and fish.
- Plant Trees – Enter tree planting pledges online, then plant indigenous or locally appropriate trees where you live.
At work
- Print double-sided or not at all.
- Always use reusable cups, knives and forks.
- Think before you travel. If a video conference call will suffice, spare the hassle and expense, and CO2 emissions.
- Avoid traffic jams and decrease your personal carbon footprint by walking, bicycling, and using mass transit whenever possible. Consider carpooling with friends, neighbors, and co-workers.
- Taking the stairs can sometimes be faster than waiting in long elevator lines. In addition to saving energy, taking the stairs gives you a mild workout which will help keep you healthy.
The Energy Saving Trust has a useful website that defines what is meant by a carbon foot print as well as looking at what measures might be taken to reduce them.
http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/domestic/
You can calculate your carbon footprint using the WWF calculator
I would like to finish this course with this quote.
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