Your Footprint on this Planet.

    This week, I read an article about what each individual could do to help prevent climate change, a global crisis occurring in our day and age. This article “What you can do to help prevent climate change, according to exports” was written by Julia Jacobo on ABCNews. 

(Picture of healthy nature in Autumn)

According to Jacobo, Humans have emitted more than 555 gigatons of carbon dioxide since the Industrial Revolution. “Jason Smerdon, a climate scientist for Columbia University's Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory, told ABC News.” that “since the Industrial Revolution, more than 555 gigatons of carbon have been emitted into the atmosphere, Smerdon said, adding that scientists have determined a "climate budget" of another 100 to 150 gigatons that can be released before the Earth begins to warm more than 1.5 degrees Celsius -- when we will experience more extreme weather patterns, such as severe heat waves.”(Jacobo).

As an individual, there are many things you can do to help at this time, anything small is something. If you have the area to do so, plant trees, grow your own food. By planting plants and trees, that will help with lowering carbon in the atmosphere and bringing the carbon back into the soil. (Jacobo). Limit your beef consumption, because it requires a lot of carbon to produce. Beef is bad for the environment for two major reasons, cows need to consume a lot of food and water and occupy plenty of lands. PETA, an organization about animal rights states “About 260 million acres of U.S. forest have been cleared to create cropland to produce feed for animals raised for food” with “[r]oughly 2 of every 5 tons of grain produced in the world is fed to livestock.” Using all the land that once had forest blooming to breed cows for food consumption and feed them is a huge waste of land that had a major role in carbon absorption. More carbon is also emitted when the cows are transported and during the production of the beef. 

(Roper)

This graph made by Willem Roper shows the amount of carbon emitted by beef production compared to pork and chicken carbon emotions. They show all production steps and how much they emit in carbon dioxide in kilograms of Co2 per kilogram of product made. 

Other things you can do according to Julia Jacobo to lower your carbon footprint are lowering your use of singles and using plastic. Try finding glass jars and reusable boxes. Using reusable bags when going shopping is also a great way to lower your carbon footprint. Use renewable energy such as solar or any noncarbon based source of energy if you have the option to do so. Use public transportation, help with cleaning around your community, and bring awareness of the matter to people around you. By doing all of these things, you can help save the planet and future generations.

                                               

                                                                             (Bauman)

Bibliography

Bauman, Brooke. “How plastics contribute to climate change.” Yale Climate Connections, Yale, 20 9 2019, https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2019/08/how-plastics-contribute-to-climate-change/. Accessed 9 12 2020.

“4k Autumn Road Wallpaper HD.” Chromethemer, https://www.chromethemer.com/wallpapers/4k-wallpapers/4k-autumn-road-wallpaper-hd.html. Accessed 9 12 2020.

“How does eating meat harm the environment?” PETA, PETA, https://www.peta.org/about-peta/faq/how-does-eating-meat-harm-the-environment/. Accessed 9 12 2020.

Jacobo, Julia. “What you can do to help prevent climate change, according to experts.” ABC News, ABC News Ventures, 28 9 2019, https://abcnews.go.com/US/prevent-climate-change-experts/story?id=65721423. Accessed 9 12 2020.

Roper, Willem. “Beef: It's What's Contributing to Climate Change.” Statista, 3 8 2020, https://www.statista.com/chart/22450/meat-production-and-climate-change/. Accessed 9 12 2020.