A STEP BEYOND OUR COMFORT ZONES - WEEK 3

Week #3

Please join me in the effort to “Walk Lightly” on this earth.  Here I am to do the research on behalf of myself to understand how I can walk lighter on this earth. This week I talk about calculating your carbon footprint and why measuring your impact matters.

Day 1

CALCULATE YOUR FOOTPRINT

Let’s calculate our carbon footprints this week to understand our personal responsibility for global warming.

Day 2

ANNUAL PRODUCTION AVERAGE IS 5 TONS OF CO2 EQUIVALENT PER PERSON, HOW ABOUT YOU?

As a family of 3, I calculated that we produce 72 tons of CO2 equivalent per year. That’s 3% more than the average American family and I am embarrassed to admit that it is way higher than the world average. Here is a carbon footprint calculator from the Nature Conservancy.

According to the EPA, efforts to offset these emissions through forest and land management only remove about 13% of the total emissions each year. This means that 31 billion tons of CO2 equivalent still builds up in the atmosphere each year.

The number one source of greenhouse gases in the U.S. is the combustion of fuel for electricity (35%), followed closely by combustion of fuel for transportation (32%). Industry, residential, commercial and other uses produce the rest.

Nature can’t keep up to remove the enormous levels of greenhouse gases we have been producing since the Industrial Revolution.

Day 3

THERE ARE WAYS TO REDUCE OUR CARBON PRINT

Our carbon footprints depend on our lifestyles and there is ways to reduce it:

Using one gallon of gasoline emits 19.2 pounds of carbon dioxide. Flying across the country emits 2.9 tons of carbon dioxide. Traveling by public transportation emits about half as much CO2 as driving our own car.

A diet that includes meat produces 3000 pounds more carbon dioxide per year than a vegetarian diet (chicken and fish produce less CO2 than cows and other livestock). Here is a carbon footprint calculator from the Nature Conservancy.

Day 4

THE U.S. IS THE BIGGEST CARBON POLLUTER IN HISTORY

And we walked away from the Paris Climate deal giving up a leadership role for finding solutions for climate change!

Even though China emitted almost twice as much greenhouse gas as the U.S. in 2015, producing 10.5 billion tons of CO2 equivalent, the US produced over twice as much per capita at 16.5 tons per person.

U.S. is the fourth highest carbon footprint per capita in the world. United Arab Emirates is the first on the list with 21.3 tons.

A new report finds that in the first year of the Trump administration, U.S. government websites have been systematically altered to cut mentions of climate change. However, there is no evidence of tampering with climate data.

Day 5

WE NEED TO REDUCE OUR EMISSIONS 82.5 TIMES

Scientists have projected that we will need to reach an annual global CO2 output rate of 0.2 tons per capita to achieve long-term sustainability. That’s a reduction of 25 times lower than the current global emissions rate and 82.5 times lower than the current U.S. emissions rate!

Check out these tips on how to reduce from CarbonFund.org

Day 6

WOULD DESPAIR HELP, IF SO FOLLOW THIS LIST

A Running List of How Trump Is Changing the Environment is reported by the National Geographic Magazine.

President Donald Trump has announced that the United States will no longer regard climate change by name as a national security threat. The stance marks an abrupt turn from the Obama administration, which in 2015 described climate change as “an urgent and growing threat to our national security,” given its effects on natural disasters, conflicts over food and water, and refugee crises. Despite reductions in U.S. emissions and efforts by the Obama Administration in recent years, our carbon footprint has begun to trend upward once again. With the current government Real change can only happen through regulation, policy and funding of technology. More-severe climate model predictions could be the most accurate so the scenario could even be worse.

In the meantime, we can try to reduce our individual emissions from our cars, travels, homes, diets, events, businesses and lifestyles. A new model from January 2018, found that long-term, less easily reversed behavioral changes, such as insulating homes or purchasing hybrid cars, had by far the most impact in mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and thus reducing climate change, versus more short-term adjustments, such as adjusting thermostats or driving fewer miles. But still we must do everything we can even if the effects are smaller.

Day 7

HOW TO REDUCE OUR CARBON PRINTS

Find additional carbon reducing ideas for your action plan by checking out these tips on how to stop global warming from Conserve Energy Future. Even little everyday changes make a difference!