What Is Carbon Offsetting?
Carbon can be added to the equation of climate change - it can also be subtracted.
Today, innovation, efficiency, and speed dominate our world. However, in this new era, we are polluting our Earth with millions upon millions of greenhouse gases. Mostly, one particular gas - carbon dioxide. Its uses are familiar, but its effects are unfamiliar. The damage occurs over the years until it is irreversible.
Carbon dioxide, commonly known as CO2, is everywhere. This gas is essential to life itself - providing us warmth by trapping the sun's heat. So where did carbon dioxide go, as some may say, off the rails? Well, most would agree, it was around the time of the industrial revolution where we moved to a faster, more capable, and systematic production system around the 1800s. It was a time of high achievement, globalization, and a booming economy, although it had a dark side. Every stitch of a shirt, every flip of the light, and every trip using fossil fuels now invoked so much pollution that Earth found it hard to keep up. Today, more than 2.4 million pounds of carbon dioxide is released into the air every second - or the equivalent of driving to the sun and back 16 times (a total of 2982127659 miles). Last year, human activities surpassed the Earth's carrying capacity or the amount it can absorb and handle without drastic shifts to ecosystems. We are silently growing our carbon impact exponentially.
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You should be able to read and properly pronounce every ingredient in what you eat. This general rule should also apply to what you put on your skin.
Fast fashion is slowly killing Earth. We need to stop and slow down. Is it necessary to have a chinchilla fur-lined hat, or does a traditional bennie work just as well?
You might not be able to hear it, see it, or smell it - but your unused appliances are sucking up tons of energy. These "vampire appliances" include almost everything, from toasters to hair dryers. Remember to unplug the unused, and you might even notice a difference in your energy bill.
Carpooling can save TONNES of greenhouse gases by spreading your impact over many. Next time you're heading to school or work, get together with a friend, and save Earth.
Today, try to live up to meatless Monday. We challenge you to go meat-free every Monday! It can be hard, but we think you're up for the challenge.
Flying economy class spreads out carbon emissions across masses of people. A handful of people flying on a private plane, for example, will each make a more extensive impact. An extra inch of legroom can cost you TONNES of pollution.
Some may ask what the problem is with this much CO2? Put simply, it parallels putting too many blankets over oneself - resulting in overheating. Still, with too little, you may freeze in the cold room. Carbon Dioxide is a reflective gas, meaning that it can trap infrared radiation produced by the sun within the atmosphere - acting like this "blanket." The balance of CO2 and other greenhouse gases in our atmosphere is very delicate, with too little, we would be in an ice age, with too much we face the drastic effects. We are just begging to see the impact of climate change. Currently, as we pump out vast amounts of greenhouse gases into our atmosphere, we are changing its dynamic, and the very air that we breathe. It's not just our climate that greenhouse gases change, but so many more aspects of the world we live in today.
According to the United Nation's top global issues, climate change ranks first. Their report highlights, "Climate Change is the defining issue of our time, and we are at a defining moment. From shifting weather patterns that threaten food production to rising sea levels that increase the risk of catastrophic flooding, the impacts of climate change are global in scope and unprecedented in scale." If the "doomsday" of Earth is approaching, how can we stop it?
It adds up. Together, we can make immense impact.
We can all make a change to fix our Carbon problem. Whether that means planting carbon-reducing trees, installing solar panels into underdeveloped countries, constructing vast fields of wind turbines, or reinventing the very concept of energy - we can all make an immense impact together. It's up to you how you contribute to reducing your carbon footprint with Light CO2. Only by reading this article, to educate yourself on climate change, you took the first of many steps towards a brighter future.
