Is the threat of an uninhabitable Earth giving you bouts of anxiety and depression?

 

Are you tired of seeing news articles of the forest fires around the world, floods from 15 inches of rain falling in 24 hours, droughts drying up major rivers, and people dying from record high temperatures lasting for weeks?

As if things are not bad enough you hear from the climate scientists that the target temperature increase that was set by the Paris agreement will not be met because the actions that were promised were not taken. So now you succumb to the feeling of hopelessness and accept your demise.

Well, maybe we each can take enough actions to prevent further deterioration of our climate. I know our job is to keep a roof over our family's head, food on the table and clothes on their backs, and the governments of the world are supposed to tackle the big problems like climate change. Yet I am quite certain that there are a lot more of us than there are corporate CEO and politicians. So, if most of us take steps to reduce our carbon footprint we may achieve the Paris goal without the help of the people in power.

Many things that can reduce our carbon footprint do not require much money or for that matter a lot of effort. They may require a change in attitude and some determination but the vast majority of us can handle that. There are two things that are driving the rapid disruption of our climate, yes just two. We are putting too much heat absorbing gasses into the atmosphere. Yes, the greenhouse gases methane, carbon dioxide and water vapor are the culprits.  I know nobody told you about water vapor before now, but it is a really strong greenhouse gas and we need to do something about it.

The second thing is we are producing too much surface heat. These two things work hand and hand to warm the planet. This is how it works - when sunlight strikes any surface it can either bounce off as short-wave radiation, or absorb into the surface material, like driveways and roofs, and heat it up. Once that material heats up it sends out long/heat wave radiation.

In the atmosphere greenhouse gasses cannot absorb short wave radiation so it does not heat up, therefore does not heat up the atmosphere.  But long/heat wave radiation is absorbed by greenhouse gasses, so they get hot and heat up the atmosphere.

 We need to focus on simple things that reduce greenhouse gas production and increase reflectivity.

 Here is a list of things that you can do that will help fight climate change.

 … Reflective shields for you home windows.

They are easily made and inexpensive. With foam board, masking tape, or packing tape and aluminum foil you can make a panel to fit the glass area of your windows. Select the windows that you find are getting the most sunlight. Measure them and make the panel to fit the window, and cover one side with the foil, shiny side out.

 When you do not need to look out the window or you simply cannot stand the heating which is coming from it, put the panel in, shiny side out. It will accomplish several things; prevent the glass and the house from heating up by reflecting the light out, thus reducing the amount of heat waves going into the atmosphere. It will keep the house cooler reducing the amount of air-conditioning needed. That means you use less electricity, which means less electricity needs to be generated and with most electricity still produced with fossil fuels you reduce the amount of greenhouse gasses coming from power stations. And yes, your electric bill will be less.

 

… Paint the roof of you house White.

This is a proven method of reducing the micro-climates of urban areas which is very applicable to the suburbs too. Many of the major manufactures of paints have developed products designed specifically for painting all types of roofing materials to increase the reflectivity of the surface. A quick Google of “paint for roofs” will give many references for where to buy, DIY instructions and roof painting contractors. When using light colored paints, it not only increases the reflectivity but protects and extends the life of the roof. Similar to window reflectors this will reduce the cooling needs of the house and reduce energy use and the greenhouse gases produced. The cost is much less than re-roofing a house and is more environmental sound than replacing roofing material. But if you have to replace the roofing, use the lightest color available.

 … Paint that blacktop driveway white! The same laws of physics apply here as in the above actions.

 …Insulate the attic space of your house

This retains heat in the winter and shields the house from heat coming from the roof in the summer. It is do-able as a DIY project, or you can pay a contractor to do it. Check with your local utility provider for Federal and State rebate programs for energy conservation rebates.

 … If an appliance needs to be replaced, buy the high efficiency model.

 Seventeen per cent of greenhouse gases come from the transportation sector, primarily in the form of CO2 and water vapor created when the gas is combusted. The ICE vehicle also adds direct heat to the local air from the large amount of heat produced by the engine. Some of that heat is found in the hot exhaust gasses and some directly from the hot engine; all that heat results in long/heat waves radiating into the atmosphere. Any reduction in the number of miles on an ICE vehicle makes a difference.

 … If you cannot replace your vehicle with an electric vehicle, or hybrid vehicle try carpooling and reduce your number of trips.

 ... Your heating system needs replacement?  Replace it with a heat pump. They are more efficient and do not directly emit greenhouse gases.

 … Stop or reduce the amount of animal-based food you eat. Animal agriculture accounts for around 15% of global greenhouse gasses especially methane. It contributes several ways to the climate crisis. Cows and other ruminant animals exhale methane and all animal waste produces methane, which is 80 times more heat generating than CO2. Forests which sequester CO2 from the air are cleared to make more grazing land or feed crop farmland, accelerating the build-up of CO2.

 … Plant a shade tree. Trees sequester CO2; shield the ground from direct sunlight keeping the ground cool. The cooler we can keep the planet the less water vapor and long/heat waves will go into the atmosphere, 

 … Remove turf grass from your lawn area and replace it with a ground cover. This will eliminate mowing your lawn. If you are using a gas-powered mower, 1 hour of moving produces greenhouse gasses equivalent to driving an ICE car 100 miles.

There are many things we can all do to fight climate change, and the sooner we do them the better off we will be.

 https://planetearthneedsyou.blogspot.com/2020/11/could-we-be-facing-rapid-destruction-of.html

 https://planetearthneedsyou.blogspot.com/2021/05/animal-agriculture-plant-based.html