Climate Change Solutions

 Be part of the climate change solution!

There is little doubt that the earth’s atmosphere is warming. Scientists are warning us of the catastrophic consequences of continued warming including rising sea levels and changing weather patterns.

Rising atmospheric temperatures may cause the polar ice caps to partially melt, raising sea levels which would devastate some coastal communities. The consequence of global warming includes more extreme weather patterns, which, in turn, will produce more frequent floods and drought. Whether it's storm damage or drought, climate change will extract a significant economic cost.

All the scientific evidence points to human activities as the cause for global warming, in particular, the burning of fossil fuels and changes in land use, such as deforestation. These activities are increasing the levels of CO₂ and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere which intensifies the natural greenhouse effect and, hence, increases atmospheric temperatures.

It is easy to be overwhelmed by this potential crisis and simply hope that governments around the world can find solutions. However, as individuals, we can each make a miniscule difference and, if enough of us join together, we can turn that into a big difference.

There are two fundamental ways we can help.

Firstly, make small lifestyle changes that reduce our personal use of energy. Our power stations are principally run by burning coal, so the less electricity we use, the less coal is burned and the less CO₂ is emitted into the atmosphere. See some suggestions below on ways we can achieve this.

Secondly, plant trees and shrubs. All plants utilise a process called photosynthesis whereby they absorb equal parts of CO₂ and water (H₂O) to produce sugars for energy. For each six parts of CO₂ and water, a plant produces one part of sugar and six parts of oxygen, which is released as a by-product. All plants store carbon so do not burn off your garden rubbish! This releases the carbon back into the atmosphere. It’s always best to compost your garden waste and return the material to the earth!

Tips to reduce our personal consumption of energy:

1. Turn off the air conditioner unless it’s absolutely necessary. Clean your air conditioner’s filter regularly to improve the unit’s efficiency. Put on a jumper instead of lighting the fire!
2. Turn off lights that aren’t needed. Change to low energy globes.
3. Minimise your use of the car. It’s burning fossil fuels directly! Try car pooling. Adopt better driving habits that minimise fuel consumption (saves money too!). Walk to the shops if you can!
4. Turn off electrical equipment at the power point. Even such things as TVs and computer monitors on stand-by are using energy.
5. Take shorter showers. This saves water and the energy needed to heat the water.
6. Ensure that dishwashers and washing machines are full to capacity before you turn them on.

Got more ideas or suggestions? Please email your thoughts to ramm@ramm.com.au

Useful links:
http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/
http://www.dar.csiro.au/information/climatechange.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_offset_planting
http://www.dpi.vic.gov.au/