Climate change does occur naturally and it is important for our societies to learn to live in co-operation with nature and the dynamism of our every environments. However, the rate at which climate is presently transforming and its strong correlation with the development of industrial society points towards an anthropogenic causation. Gasses released from industrial activities such as fossil fuel ignition, particularly Carbon dioxide and Methane are greenhouse gasses, which prevent the reflected portion of the suns radiation reaching the Earths surface from escaping back out into space. The Green House effect contributes to Global Warming which is the major concern surrounding current climate change and has already contributed to the degradation of many terrestrial and oceanic glaciers and ice caps. Indeed climate change models feed into simulations of the thermo dynamics of the green land ice sheet suggest that Global Warming has almost reached the extent where this major ice mass will no-longer be viable. The demise of the Greenland ice sheet will have a wide reaching influence, the Gulf steam of the North Atlantic will be pushed to the ocean floor and the sea surface and terrestrial temperate will plummet. Significant ecosystems will be lost and society will need to adapt rapidly to a very different and less stable climatic regime. Equally as worrying for many more areas of the globe is the effect of Global Warming on the Antarctica ice mass of the Southern Hemisphere, as when this decays it will cause an increase in global sea level and the huge proportion of the world population living in low lying areas will be at risk. Indeed, the collapse of the 200 metre thick, 3, 250 kilometre square Larsen B ice stream in West Antarctica in 2002 shows that the heat is already on.
In the U.K we are responsible for 3% of Global Greenhouse Gas emissions. Under the Kyoto Protocol we are legally bound to reduce our emissions by 12.5% below 1990 levels by 2008. The U.K is committed to cutting household carbon emissions by 5 mega tonnes of carbon per year up to 2010, this is equivalent to a 20% reduction in household emissions. In Wales we should at least meet these targets, but should strive to do better. Under the 2003 Sustainable Development Act we have a duty to legislate on these matters. The Energy Efficiency Action Plan of the Welsh Assembly calls for a significant reduction in the carbon emissions from Wales.
Ways in which we can all help to meet these necessary targets are simple. Firstly we can look into switching our energy supply to a Green Tariff - the money you pay on these is invested into renewable technologies, rather than burning more fossil fuels.
It is important to reduce the energy we use in order to combat climate change and reduce our Co2 emissions. Taking action to reduce your energy consumption will not only help the environment but will reduce your energy bills.
For More Information contact your local Energy Agency
Recycling is a very important thing for us to be doing. Large amounts of our waste get thrown in to land fills every day. This is unsustainable and space is rapidly running out, not least because modern products, especially plastics, persist within the environment and do not bio-degrade.
It is a target in wakes to reduce or landfill waste by 60%.
We can all help to do this by following the 3R's rules - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.
Firstly we must look at the products we consume and try to minimise the waste which they will produce. - Try to not buy goods with large amounts of plastic packaging or that only get used once.
Secondly we can look at where we can reuse rather than re-consume. - You may be able to use a strong shopping bag again and again to carry your groceries rather than getting new plastic bags each time. You might also be able to use a traditional re-washable towel instead of single use wet wipes and if you have a baby you should defiantly look at using some of the excellent eco-nappies rather than disposable ones.
Finally, if we are left with a waste, we must try to Recycle it. This will have several environmental benefits, it will not be going into landfill, it will mean that the raw material will not need to be further exploited and, in most cases, it requires less energy to create a new product via recycling than it does from scratch.
Most materials can be recycled but you should look on products for the recycling logo to be sure. In order to recycle materials you need to separate them into their categories, so if you ant to recycle at home it will be easier if you label some boxes from the start. A typical example may be:-
It is also important to rinse these materials before recycling. You may also be able to recycle organic waste such as food leftovers and vegetable peelings in a compost heap for your garden, alternatively your local council may run a compost collecting scheme.
Re-Cycle: Sends un wanted bikes to developing countries as well as encouraging people to use bikes