Exploring ideas and feelings about the changing world through song, visual arts, writing and more can be a powerful way to share your unique perspective and help people understand climate change … In an NPR/Ipsos poll, 65% of teachers said they don't talk about climate change because it's not related to the subjects they teach. Scientists have many ways to track climate over time, all of which make it clear that today's climate change is linked to the emission of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane. We’re already seeing the effects of climate change, but thankfully, the planet is equipped with a powerful tool for stabilizing the climate: … Extreme poverty ends with you. One good example of the importance of this regards refrigerants. One ranking found that going car-free is the most effective action one person can take (Credit: Getty). It … Make consent and curiosity the core of these conversations. UC Davis professor Eric Post and colleagues note tips for how to do that in a 2017 BioScience study. Exploring ideas and feelings about the changing world through song, visual arts, writing and more can be a powerful way to share your unique perspective and help people understand climate change through a different lens. the number-one most effective policy to reduce emissions. In a new report published in September 2018, the world’s leading climate scientists made their starkest warning so far: our current actions are not enough for us to meet our target of 1.5C of warming. A larger-scale approach could be something like banning meat across an organisation, as office-sharing company WeWork did in 2018. But the opposite is also true: your actions will influence the planet for the coming decades – for better or for worse. Here are some tips that you can use in any classroom. Although the average human releases around 5 tonnes of CO2 per year, each country has very different circumstances: developed nations like the US and South Korea have higher national averages (16.5 tonnes and 11.5 tonnes per person, respectively) than developing countries like Pakistan and Philippines (around 1 tonne each). The meat industry contributes to global warming in three major ways. To mitigate climate change, the number one goal is to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy sources (Credit: Getty). If you’re not really in a rush, don’t select 1-day shipping. If you’re a UC Davis student, staff or faculty member, calculate your computer’s plug load using a tool developed by the UC Davis Energy Conservation Office. If you simply can’t make every change that’s needed, consider offsetting your emissions with a trusted green project – not a ‘get out of jail free card’, but another resource in your toolbox to compensate that unavoidable flight or car trip. An M.I.T. Climate action isn’t just about energy efficiency and carbon sequestration. A normal transatlantic round-trip flight can release around 1.6 tonnes of CO2, according to Nicholas’s study – almost as much as the average yearly emissions of one person in India. It’s a teensy thing, but bringing your own reusable cup or coffee mug is easy and feels good. Wondering how much your travel contributes to climate change? And we could ask if having children is necessarily a bad thing for solving climate change: our challenges may mean we will need more problem-solvers in future generations, not fewer. One way to dramatically curtail transportation fuel ... they may also be humanity's best short-term hope for limiting climate change. The UN Climate Convention keeps a portfolio of dozens of projects around the world you can contribute to. To understand the nuances of climate change, scientific knowledge is required. Limiting the use of fossil fuels such as oil, carbon and natural gas and replacing them with renewable and cleaner sources of energy, all while increasing energy efficiency. Their results were covered in the LA Times. Planes run on fossil fuels, and we haven’t figured out a scaleable alternative. For each degree raised, you can save 3-5 percent on air conditioning costs, for example, according to the American Council for an Energy-Efficiency Economy. Edx offers both individual courses and advanced programs designed to help you learn about climate change in an engaging and effective online learning environment complete with video tutorials, quizzes … It’s not only nice, it also helps build community resilience. If we want to protect our planet from dangerous and unprecedented change, first we must understand the science behind climate change. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was formed in 1988 to collect and assess evidence on climate change. Social scientists have found that when one person makes a sustainability-oriented decision, other people do too. This will help you ensure that your understanding of climate change and other hot-button scientific issues is grounded in peer-reviewed science. Whether you are a coffee farmer in Colombia or a homeowner in California, climate change will have an impact on your life. Should I think about how many children I have (or don’t have)? What if I just can’t avoid that flight, or cut down on driving? Most likely. exercise their rights both as citizens and as consumers, ranked 148 individual actions on climate change, the average yearly emissions (9.2 tonnes) contributed by each person in developed countries, mitigation chapter in the IPCC’s latest report, becoming increasingly cheap across the world, will be on par with or cheaper than fossil fuels by 2020, the cheapest source of electricity for many households in Latin America, Asia and Africa, by 2025 will be the cheapest source of electricity generation, recent evidence suggests these costs are ‘modest’, the world’s third largest emitter of greenhouse gases, cut down gradually and become a ‘flexitarian’, cut your diet's carbon footprint by more than 40%, office-sharing company WeWork did in 2018, This explainer of sustainable diets by the World Resources Institute, commercial flights running on solar energy, the average yearly emissions of one person in India, decided to give up flying or who fly less, this calculator by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, clothing sector represents around 3% of the world’s global production emissions of CO2, eat food that is both locally grown and seasonal, is the best way to reduce your contribution to climate change, we will need more problem-solvers in future generations, average human releases around 5 tonnes of CO2, were twice as likely to order a meatless lunch, portfolio of dozens of projects around the world. Measure your carbon emissions in this calculator by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley. The hectic pace of fast fashion contributes to this figure as clothes are discarded or fall apart after short periods. Sometimes you even get drink discounts for using these things. The UC Davis Center for Water and Energy Efficiency found that between June 2015-April 2016 of California’s drought, water conservation saved 1,830 gigawatt hours of electricity—enough to power 274,000 homes per year, with greenhouse gas savings equivalent to removing 110,000 cars from the road for a year. And finally, they also require lots of water, fertilisers that can release greenhouse gases, and plenty of land – some of which come from cleared forests, another source of carbon emissions. Learn about the impact and consequences of climate change and global warming for the environment and our lives. This means voting for legislation and politicians that aid against the … We're also concerned about the impacts and, at the same time, hopeful about what can … What can you do that will have the biggest impact? The good news is that we have made global progress on this, and two years ago 170 countries agreed to start phasing out HFCs in 2019. Learn how to discern between legitimate news sources and propaganda developed by special interests. PLT’s award-winning Carbon & Climate e-unit explores how climate affects living systems, the role carbon plays in climate, and what we can learn from past changes in the global climate. Diego Arguedas Ortiz is a science and climate change reporter for BBC Future. Most of the energy used in doing a load of laundry comes from warming the water itself. 9. Climate Science In fact, after fossil fuels, the food industry – and in particular the meat and dairy sector – is one of the most important contributors to climate change. Learn how to choose the right light. This is super simple and super important. By getting rid of financial instruments related to the fossil fuel industry, organisations can both take climate action and reap economic benefits. Of course, it’s true that climate change won’t be solved by your buying or driving habits alone – although many experts agree these are important, and can influence others to make changes too (more on that later). 5. For instance, the clothing sector represents around 3% of the world’s global production emissions of CO2, mostly because of the use of energy to produce attire. We know that climate change is happening – but there are plenty of things individuals can do to help mitigate it. We also could ask whether having offspring is a human right beyond questioning. In industrialised countries such as European nations, getting rid of your car can reduce 2.5 tonnes of CO2 – about one-fourth of the average yearly emissions (9.2 tonnes) contributed by each person in developed countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The reason for all this doom is simple — climate change. Instead, we need to ask: “what can we do?”. Wear your support for science-informed climate action. Here’s my mug: Inspired by research conducted by the California Lighting Technology Center at UC Davis, the University of California’s Million LED Challenge enables UC students, staff and faculty to order high-quality LED bulbs at reduced cost. Online shopping? Since then, it has produced a series of alarming climate … 8. Health. 10. This explainer of sustainable diets by the World Resources Institute (WIR) and its longer associated report provides more answers to questions about food and carbon emissions. The power of collective action can be a force to behold. In the UK, onshore wind and solar are competitive with gas and by 2025 will be the cheapest source of electricity generation. The number one goal? It takes more than turning off the lights, but it’s all doable. Physically connecting with the literal earth and caring for what’s grown helps you understand and appreciate it. By reducing your consumption of animal protein by half, you can cut your diet's carbon footprint by more than 40%. Consider them “re-solutions:”. | Privacy & Accessibility | Principles of Community | University of California | SitemapCopyright © The Regents of the University of California, Davis campus. This rich topic can be approached at many levels, from comparing the daily weather with long-term records to exploring abstract representations of climate … That’s a big one, too. In … Here’s how you can actually help stop climate change. Another way, increasingly undertaken by universities, faith groups and recently even at a countrywide level, is to ‘divest’ funds out of polluting activities – such as avoiding stocks in fossil fuels, or banks that invest in high-emission industries. Solar energy is now the cheapest source of electricity for many households in Latin America, Asia and Africa (Credit: Getty). 4. Strategies to mitigate climate change often center on clean technologies, such as electric vehicles and solar panels, while the mitigation potential of a quality educational experience is rarely discussed. We need to do more. Sign up for our monthly newsletter highlighting our latest climate change research stories, blog posts, and features. Learn what climate change is, and how it affects the planet Climate Change poses an increasing threat to the stability of Earth’s systems. He is @arguedasortiz on Twitter. This is important because we need “unprecedented changes in all aspects of society to deal with climate change, says the IPCC report. Eat leftovers, embrace “ugly” or imperfect produce, and learn other ways to reduce food waste. 2 Minute Read The planet is warming, from North Pole to South Pole. For everyone else, there are several options on the market. This also highlights the inequality of climate change: while everyone will be affected, only a minority of humans fly and even fewer people take planes often. Changing how industries are run or subsidised doesn’t sound like anything I can influence... can I? A 2015 study by the Institute of Transportation Studies at UC Davis found that a dramatic global increase in bicycling could reduce urban transportation emissions up to 10 percent by 2050. You can. 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