10 EZ Ways You Can Cool the Planet Now
“Code Red for Mankind”
“The alarm bells are deafening, and the evidence is irrefutable… Climate change is widespread, rapid, and intensifying, and some trends are now irreversible,” according to the UNs Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report released on August 9, 2021.
Once-in-50-years heat waves are occurring every decade, and entire California towns are burning to the ground. Melting ice sheets brought floods to Venice, Italy, in 2019, causing $1 billion in damage to its tourist attractions. The pace is quickening.
Baby Steps
People say that baby steps and gentle reminders are great ways of getting a job done, so let's start with ten of them:
Be ever-mindful of conserving water in everyday use and make this a long-term strategy. Cities and towns can run out of water, and five major US cities are in danger of doing so. For a sobering discovery, observe the critically low water level at Hoover Dam.
Drink tap water - our lakes, rivers, and dams are disappearing at an alarming rate as private companies continue to make bottled water. This reduction in surface water reduces surface evaporation, decreasing the number of low-level clouds in the atmosphere. These clouds function to scatter solar radiation back into space and cool the planet.
Go paperless whenever possible to reduce the erosive effects of deforestation on the planet. Use both sides of every paper to write and print, including letters and ads that come in the mail. Stop buying and subscribing to catalogs, newspapers, and magazines and read them online.
Vote for leaders who understand the science behind global warming and pledge to restore the planet as a top priority.
Substitute red meat with plant-based proteins, like Just Egg, Beyond Meat, and plant butters and milks, like almond or soy milk. The agricultural waste from farm and dairy animals produces methane gas and warming of the atmosphere, the second-largest contributor to greenhouse gases after fossil fuels.
Send a note to IBM engineers asking them to call upon WATSON, winner of the three-day Jeopardy challenge, to develop solutions for trapping and storing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. If anything can do it, WATSON can.
Petition Congress, the US President, and the United Nations to pass legislation that bans all coal-powered plants; they are the single most significant contributors to global warming.
Buy only electric and hybrid vehicles, forcing major automakers to comply with the demand for electric cars, trucks. Electric airplanes are currently under development.
Eliminate food waste to reduce methane gas in the atmosphere. Prepare and consume food in required quantities and stop leaving leftovers in the waste bin.
Drastically reduce the use of (HVAC) Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning systems. Adjust your thermostat to use less energy and be vigilant. You can substitute HVAC devices by installing cooling roofs and improving airflow systems. HVAC systems produce Chlorofleurocarbons that deplete the earth’s ozone layer.
The Rocky Road
Blah-blah-blah. On and on ad infinitum. They’re shameless, tireless, monotonous. You hear them every day, in every language, from leaders on every continent. Platitudes. Promises. They always mean the same, “we do not hear you.”
They kick things down the road. Other things are more important. We’ll do it later - the policymakers. They need to stop talking.
Many people are unaware that global warming is occurring at an accelerated pace, faster than earth scientists had realized. This places our planet in further peril. It’s up to humanity to unite if we are to effect changes in our environment. We are sliding down the “slippery slope.”
Hope is Not Lost
Ask yourself what actions you can take individually to have a positive impact on the environment. Include your family. Think of ways to teach your children about restitution and maintenance of Mother Earth. Explain that this will be their legacy.
Instill in them great respect for the earth. Teach them the importance of applying their actions over a lifetime and passing their knowledge to succeeding generations. Impart to them the fragile nature of our environment and show by example ways to respect and care for it.
There are many things they can do. Join groups to clean up beaches, the oceans, and nature trails. Show them ways discarded plastics are recycled to make roads, 3-D housing, rugs, and fashionable clothing. Challenge them to create new ideas for plastic reuse and to have a conservation mindset.
Help to slow Earth’s progression toward a temperature just 1.5 degrees Celsius hotter than today.
Together We Can Make It
Urge your families, friends, and neighbors to get involved, joining or forming groups dedicated to ending further warming of the planet.
Let’s cool things down for ourselves and our posterity…
