Global warming is the steady increase in the temperatures of the air adjacent to the Earths surface. The recent increase in the global warming is attributed to the human activities which include the increase in the concentration of green house gasses. The increasing number of green houses has subsequently increased the concentration of the anthropogenic gas which has lead to the increase in the temperatures.The second human cause for global warming is deforestation which has caused a change on the Earth’s surface.
Deforestation reduces the amount of carbon dioxide released by the green houses and in addition to the biomass burning. Deforestation also leads to the alteration of terrestrial albedo which in turn leads to radiative forcing. The last human factor is the increasing concentration of aerosols in the atmosphere.Since human being activities are the major contributors to the global warming, individuals can allow down the rate of global warming by considering the following. The major way of slowing the global warming is through reduction of the consumption of fossil fuels burnt.Oxlade said that “to reduce the fossil fuel burnt” (32) by the society, individuals should buy fuel efficient vehicles.
This is determined by the type of vehicle modern vehicles are hybrid vehicles which use gas- electric engine thus reducing the use of fuel. More than a third carbon dioxide emission is omitted by the vehicles. By so doing the level of carbon dioxide emitted would reduce thus reducing the global warming.Individual consumers can decide to drive less this will in turn reduce the fossils that are burnt. The consumers can drive less by walking to the places of destination, using bicycle. The consumers can also reduce the amount of carbon omission by driving safe. This is achieved through avoiding sudden starts and stops as this will consume more fuel thus more carbon is emitted to the atmosphere.
The consumers should use energy savers in lighting. Mark Maslin stated that “these types of bulbs produce only a small fraction of the illumination” (72) from the energy they use and the largest proportion of the illumination is released as heat. The heat is released to the environment inform of heat and not in turns of carbonate thus act in a way to reduce or slow the rate of global warming. The individual consumers can also reduce the level of human appliances. The human appliances should be used efficiently by buying those appliances that conserve the energy usage.The individual consumers should reduce the amount of heat energy used for heating.
Since all heating and cooling appliances emit carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, this means that most of the energy used for heating and cooling is wasted in to the atmosphere in form of carbon thus increasing the rate of global warming. The consumers should reduce the amount of energy required for cooling. The individual consumers should minimize the usage of coolers such as the air condenser and coolersIndividual consumers can reduce the emission of carbon to the atmosphere through conservation of energy in the homes and yard. The maintenance of the home and the yard will require some appliances such as a power lawn mower which consumes a large fraction of power thus emitting hydrocarbon.
The appliances for maintaining the yard can be managed to reduce the carbon emission by reducing the size of the lawn. The size of the lawn can be reduced through addition of shrubs ground cover and mulched areas. The individual can reduce or eliminate completely the use of the weed-eater. The other way through which individual consumers can reduce the carbon emission is through recycling when recycling is possible. All those items that can be recycled should be recycled. The recycled item reduces the cost as well as the carbon emission through he production of another such item.
Examples of items that can be recycled include the aluminum tins, writing papers, cardboard.Individual consumers can form a habit of feeding on local products and more sore those that are readily available in their residential places. This will help reduce the amount of carbon emitted through the transportation of the imported food products. Also the carbon emitted in the preservation of the food products in the fridges will be avoided since food products are obtained locally. The individuals should eat vegetarian meals. Vegetarian foods are not processed and if they are they do not require a lot of energy. This will help reduce the amount of carbon emitted through processing of food.Gore stated that “the individual consumers should paint their houses in bright colors if they live in warm areas” (325).
This will help avoid the usage of the coolers which will in turn emit carbon to the atmosphere thus helping to slow the rate of global warming. On the other hand individuals living in cold areas should paint their houses with dark colors to avoid the usage of heaters to warm the house. Thus avoiding the emission of carbon by the heater thus slowing down the global warming.Individuals should choose clean options of energy. When choosing the energy suppler the individuals should choose companies that generate power from renewable sources such as wind and solar energy.
REFERENCE
Gore, A., L. & Media, M. An inconvenient truth: The planetary emergency of global warming and what we can do about it. New York: Rodale, 2006
Weart, S., R. The discovery of global warming. USA: Library of congress, 2008
