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What's a contemporary issue? A contemporary issue is an issue that is currently affecting people or places that has been unresolved to the current day. One major contemporary issue that has been affecting us deeply as a planet over the past hundred years is Global Climate Change. Global climate change is a very serious issue that is affecting the future health and safety of our planet. There are many attributes that cause climate change, but majority of it is caused by natural causes and Anthropogenic causes. We need to come together to save and protect our planet.

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In the contemporary issue known as, Climate Change, the term climate means the certain weather of a region or place over the course of many years. Climate change is when the climate of a region changes significantly compared to the regular everyday weather within that area. This happens when the conditions become hotter, colder, wetter, or drier throughout the years. Today Scientists have the technology and resources to track how the Earth is being affected by Climate Change. They use resources such as Earth-orbiting satellites, remote meteorological stations, ocean buoys, and the most important resource they have which is Paleoclimatology data. Paleoclimatology data is information that is gathered from natural resources that go back to hundreds of millions of years ago allowing us to get a grasp and better understanding for how Climate change had affected the planet over time.

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Natural causes have been around since before we were even on this planet. The Earth has gone through multiple hot and cool periods through its history as we know, so this isn't new information to us. These Natural causes are a very small portion of the causes of climate change in recent era and have little to no affect to the planet alone.

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Anthropogenic Causes are the leading causes towards Climate Change. More specifically Greenhouse Gases have skyrocketed over the past century from humans. greenhouse gases are used to heat the atmosphere, but when they are the height at which they are in recent years it is not safe nor heathy for our planets future.

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The lowdown on the earth’s central environmental threat.

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Paleoclimatology data are derived from natural sources such as tree rings, ice cores, corals, and ocean and lake sediments. These proxy climate data extend the archive of weather and climate information hundreds to millions of years. The data include geophysical or biological measurement time series and some reconstructed climate variables such as temperature and precipitation.

NCEI provides the paleoclimatology data and information scientists need to understand natural climate variability and future climate change. We also operate the World Data Service for Paleoclimatology, which archives and distributes data contributed by scientists around the world.

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Paleoclimatology data are derived from natural sources such as tree rings, ice cores, corals, and ocean and lake sediments. These proxy climate data extend the archive of weather and climate information hundreds to millions of years. The data include geophysical or biological measurement time series and some reconstructed climate variables such as temperature and precipitation.

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The Sun has a major impact for life on Earth, without it we wouldn't be able to live. Over recent years since the mid-20th century the Suns intensity has slowly begun to affect Earths climate increasing little by little over the years. Earth has a history of affecting the Earths climate from its intensity giving us events like the Ice Age. It affects us today by heating the Earth more than ever because the Earths O-zone layer s getting weaker.

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Volcanos can impact climate change. It promotes both global cooling and global warming in the atmosphere. When volcanoes have major eruptions they release huge amounts of volcanic gas, ash, and aerosol droplets into the atmosphere. A gas that is released from volcanos called sulfur dioxide is a gas that when in the atmosphere can cause global cooling, and a greenhouse gas from volcanoes called carbon dioxide is a gas that can cause global warming.

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Changes in Greenhouse Gas Concentrations 

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Changes in Greenhouse Gas Concentrations 

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Greenhouse gases are one of the driving factors for global warming which affects climate change. Greenhouse gases are released into the Atmosphere mostly by humans through pollution, but is also caused by volcanic eruptions, plants, and water vapor from oceans.

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Learn how the sun affects our climate in this primer from the Union of Concerned Scientists.

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Volcanoes can impact climate change. During major explosive eruptions huge amounts of volcanic gas, aerosol droplets, and ash are injected into the stratosphere. Injected ash falls rapidly from the stratosphere -- most of it is removed within several days to weeks -- and has little impact on climate change. But volcanic gases like sulfur dioxide can cause global cooling, while volcanic carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, has the potential to promote global warming.

Sulfate aerosols can cool the climate and deplete Earth's ozone layer

The most significant climate impacts from volcanic injections into the stratosphere come from the conversion of sulfur dioxide to sulfuric acid, which condenses rapidly in the stratosphere to form fine sulfate aerosols. The aerosols increase the reflection of radiation from the Sun back into space, cooling the Earth's lower atmosphere or troposphere.

Several eruptions during the past century have caused a decline in the average temperature at the Earth's surface of up to half a degree (Fahrenheit scale) for periods of one to three years. The climactic eruption of Mount Pinatubo on June 15, 1991, was one of the largest eruptions of the twentieth century and injected a 20-million ton (metric scale) sulfur dioxide cloud into the stratosphere at an altitude of more than 20 miles. The Pinatubo cloud was the largest sulfur dioxide cloud ever observed in the stratosphere since the beginning of such observations by satellites in 1978. It caused what is believed to be the largest aerosol disturbance of the stratosphere in the twentieth century, though probably smaller than the disturbances from eruptions of Krakatau in 1883 and Tambora in 1815. Consequently, it was a standout in its climate impact and cooled the Earth's surface for three years following the eruption, by as much as 1.3 degrees F at the height of the impact.

The large 1783-1784 Laki fissure eruption in Iceland released a staggering amount more sulfur dioxide than Pinatubo (approximately 120-million ton vs. 20). Although the two eruptions were significantly different in length and style, the added atmospheric SO ₂ caused regional cooling of Europe and North America by similar amounts for similar periods of time.

Do the Earth's volcanoes emit more CO₂ than human activities? No.

Carbon dioxide (CO ₂) is a greenhouse gas and is the primary gas blamed for climate change. While sulfur dioxide released in contemporary volcanic eruptions has occasionally caused detectable global cooling of the lower atmosphere, the carbon dioxide released in contemporary volcanic eruptions has never caused detectable global warming of the atmosphere. In 2010, human activities were responsible for a projected 35 billion metric tons (gigatons) of CO ₂ emissions. All studies to date of global volcanic carbon dioxide emissions indicate that present-day subaerial and submarine volcanoes release less than a percent of the carbon dioxide released currently by human activities. While it has been proposed that intense volcanic release of carbon dioxide in the deep geologic past did cause global warming, and possibly some mass extinctions, this is a topic of scientific debate at present.

Published scientific estimates of the global CO ₂ emission rate for all degassing subaerial (on land) and submarine volcanoes lie in a range from 0.13 gigaton to 0.44 gigaton per year. The 35-gigaton projected anthropogenic CO ₂ emission for 2010 is about 80 to 270 times larger than the respective maximum and minimum annual global volcanic CO ₂ emission estimates.

There is no question that very large volcanic eruptions can inject significant amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens vented approximately 10 million tons of CO ₂ into the atmosphere in only 9 hours. However, it currently takes humanity only 2.5 hours to put out the same amount. While large explosive eruptions like this are rare and only occur globally every 10 years or so, humanity's emissions are ceaseless and increasing every year.

There continues to be efforts to reduce uncertainties and improve estimates of present-day global volcanic CO ₂ emissions, but there is little doubt among volcanic gas scientists that the anthropogenic CO ₂ emissions dwarf global volcanic CO ₂ emissions.

For additional information about this subject, please read the American Geophysical Union's Eos article "Volcanic Versus Anthropogenic Carbon Dioxide" written by USGS scientist Terrence M. Gerlach.

* Equal to 2% of the world's coal-fired electricity-generating capacity.
**Ratio of annual anthropogenic CO ₂ (approximately 35 Gt) to maximum preferred estimate for annual volcanic CO ₂.
⁺2015 data from IEA CO₂ Emissions From Fuel Combustion 2017 edition.

For additional information about climate change, visit the USGS Climate and Land Use Change Mission Area website.

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Volcanoes can impact climate change. During major explosive eruptions huge amounts of volcanic gas, aerosol droplets, and ash are injected into the stratosphere. Injected ash falls rapidly from the stratosphere -- most of it is removed within several days to weeks -- and has little impact on climate change.

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Boosted greenhouse effect increases global temperatures

The greenhouse effect itself is a natural process without which the average temperature on Earth would be about -18 °C instead of the current about 15 °C. However, human activities increase atmospheric concentrations of both natural and synthetic greenhouse gases (GHGs) which enhances the greenhouse effect and leads to climate change.

The extra heat from the greenhouse enhancement drives climate change by, for example, modifying weather patterns that, in turn, have an impact on the ecosystems. GHGs are transported in the atmosphere with the winds: they can travel even thousands of kilometres. The additional greenhouse gases are contributing to global warming. Climate that is changing has different local impacts around the world regardless of the origin of GHGs.

GHGs remain in the atmosphere for different amounts of time and some of them are more effective than others at warming the atmosphere. One of the ways to compare the different GHGs and their input to the global warming is by the so-called Global Warming potential (GWP), which is the warming potential of a GHG compared to carbon dioxide (CO ₂) over a defined time period, for example 100 years. Each greenhouse gas has a different value of GWP depending on its atmospheric lifetime and the absorption characteristics of electromagnetic radiation.

Sources of greenhouse gases

There are both natural and human-caused greenhouse gases. Natural sources include respiration and decomposition of plants and ocean release of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. Many natural GHGs occur naturally in the atmosphere, such as water vapour, carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide.

Some greenhouse gases are synthetic, human-made. These include for example chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and sulphur hexafluoride (SF ₆).They can be found, for example in aerosol sprays, air conditioning and refrigerants and in electronics.

Human-caused emissions come from burning of fossil fuels such as oil, coal and natural gas, and activities like deforestation, agriculture and cement production. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), human activities are responsible for almost all of the increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere over the last 150 years.

ICOS measures the most important greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, ecosystems and ocean: carbon dioxide (CO ₂), methane (CH ₄), nitrous oxide (N ₂O) and water vapour (H ₂O). In addition, there are other greenhouse gases such as halocarbons, ozone and new synthetic greenhouse gases, for example hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and sulphur hexafluoride (SF ₆).

List of greenhouse gases

Carbon dioxide (CO ₂) is the primary greenhouse gas contributing to the enhanced greenhouse effect. While CO ₂ has a large variety of natural sources and sinks, human activities are responsible for the considerable increase of CO ₂ in the atmosphere occurred since the industrial revolution.

CO 2 occurs naturally in the atmosphere as part of the Earth's carbon cycle - the natural circulation of carbon among the air, water and ecosystems. Human activities are altering the carbon cycle either by adding CO ₂ to the atmosphere or by influencing the ability of natural sinks to remove CO ₂ from the atmosphere. Burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas) and wood are the primary source of human-caused CO ₂ emissions. Natural sinks are affected by deforestation and other land use changes.

According to IPCC, human-caused greenhouse gas emissions have increased since the pre-industrial era and are now higher than ever. Between 1750 and 2011, about half of the emissions have occurred in the last 40 years.

About 40% of the human-caused emissions have remained in the atmosphere. The rest has been removed from the atmosphere and stored on land in plants and soils, and in the oceans. The oceans have absorbed about 30% of CO ₂, with negative side effects such as ocean acidification. However, it is not clear how effectively these CO ₂ sinks will operate in the future under a changing climate and increasing human impacts.

Methane (CH ₄) is the second most important GHG for the enhanced greenhouse effect after carbon dioxide (CO ₂). Methane is emitted by natural and human sources. The main natural sources of methane include wetlands, tundra, oceans and their bottom sediments, and termites. Natural sources make about 36% of methane emissions. Important human sources include landfills, livestock farming (especially enteric fermentation in farm animals), rice farming, biomass burning, as well as the production, transportation and use of fossil fuels. Human-caused sources create the majority of methane emissions, accounting for about 64% of the total emissions.

Nitrous oxide (N ₂O) is the third most important GHG for the enhanced greenhouse effect after carbon dioxide (CO ₂) and methane (CH ₄). Although there is a relatively small amount of N ₂O in the atmosphere, its lifetime is long, about 120 years, which makes it very important for the total amount of global greenhouse gases. N ₂ O has nearly 300 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide. The nitrous oxide levels are now higher than ever in the past 800,000 years. Since the industrial revolution, the amount of nitrous oxide in the atmosphere has increased by 16%.

Nitrous oxide emissions are produced by both natural and human sources. The major natural sources include soils under natural vegetation, tundra and the oceans. Important human sources come from agriculture (nitrous oxide fertilizers, soil cultivation), livestock manure, biomass or fossil fuels combustion and industrial processes. In total, over one third of the emissions are estimated to come from human actions.

Water can take the form of an invisible gas called water vapour (H ₂ O). Water vapour is the most substantial natural greenhouse gas in the atmosphere and has a strong effect on water and climate.

Changes in water vapour concentration have resulted from warming of the atmosphere rather than a direct result of human activities. As the temperature of the atmosphere rises, more water is evaporated from ground storages such as rivers, oceans, reservoirs, and soil. As water vapour is a greenhouse gas, more water vapour in the atmosphere leads to even more warming. This positive feedback loop in which water is involved is critically important to projecting future climate change.

Ozone plays two different roles in the atmosphere. At ground level of the Earth's atmosphere, tropospheric ozone can act both as a direct, warming greenhouse gas, and as an indirect controller of greenhouse gases' lifetimes. In the second layer, stratospheric ozone has a cooling effect because it is acting as a shield which filters out most of the ultraviolet light from the Sun.

Ozone is created and destroyed by ultraviolet light from the Sun. It is created from oxygen by high energy rays, while low energy rays destroy it. Some ozone is human-caused by various kinds of air pollution (traffic emissions, biomass combustion), which then reacts in sunlight.

Tropospheric ozone is estimated to have caused around one third of all the direct greenhouse gas related warming seen since the industrial revolution. Tropospheric ozone is a particularly difficult greenhouse gas to keep track of because of its short lifespan in the atmosphere and the vast variations in its regional concentrations.

Tropospheric ozone can affect the lifetime of some greenhouse gases. The breakdown of tropospheric ozone in sunlight leads to the production of hydroxyl (OH) radicals. These radicals help to diminish some other greenhouse gases, like methane, and hence lessen their global warming potential.

The synthetic greenhouse gases are long lasting and absorb the solar radiation extremely efficiently. The synthetic greenhouse gases include halocarbons, such as CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons), HCFCs (hydrochlorofluorocarbons), and HFCs (hydrofluorocarbons). Other synthetic greenhouse gases are e.g. perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6).

Halocarbons are used, for example, for propellants, refrigeration devices, air conditioning, certain types of heat pumps, and for foam plastic. Halocarbons are long lasting and powerful greenhouse gases. For example, CFC can remain in the atmosphere for over 102 years and has 3800 times more powerful warming effect that carbon dioxide (CO ₂) molecule. However, international regulations have effectively limited the emissions these gases, and the concentrations of most of these gases are now declining or at least levelling off.

HFCs are used in the refrigeration and air-conditioning, aerosol, fire protection and foam-blowing industries. PFCs are created in the making of aluminium and magnesium and in enriching uranium, and they are being used also in eye surgery. SF6 is used in power plants as an insulation gas, gas-insulated switchgear and circuit breaker equipment and in scientific applications.

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Boosted greenhouse effect increases global temperatures The greenhouse effect itself is a natural process without which the average temperature on Earth would be about -18 °C instead of the current about 15 °C. However, human activities increase atmospheric concentrations of both natural and synthetic greenhouse gases (GHGs) which enhances the greenhouse effect and leads to climate change.

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Fossil fuels are sources of energy used by humans such as oil, coal, and gas. When we use and burn these resource they release a great amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Carbon contains heat in the atmosphere making it much hotter and the more we release the hotter the planet will get making climate change worse.

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Deforestation is when a wide area of woods are cleared and destroyed. The issue with this is that with plants and trees they store carbon dioxide within them and use it to grow over time. When they are destroyed in large amounts like deforestation large amounts of carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere. This leads to the increase of heat in the atmosphere affecting climate change.

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Intensive Agriculture plays a role in the greenhouse has issue in our world today. It does so because on farms there is a lot of methane and nitrous oxide released into the air which are two of the most influential greenhouse gasses behind carbon dioxide in global warming. They are used for livestock and crops on the farm and are also released from both into the atmosphere.

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This article is more than 4 years old

Deforestation and the carbon cycle

Forests store large amounts of carbon. Trees and other plants absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as they grow. This is converted into carbon and stored in the plant's branches, leaves, trunks, roots and in the soil.

When forests are cleared or burnt, stored carbon is released into the atmosphere, mainly as carbon dioxide. Averaged over 2015-2017, global loss of tropical forests contributed about 4.8 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide per year (or about 8-10% of annual human emissions of carbon dioxide).

Whilst forests are important carbon sinks, meaning they draw down carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, the carbon stored in these sinks is part of an active, relatively quick carbon cycle. As living things (including trees) die and decay, the carbon that they once stored is released back into the atmosphere.

By contrast, carbon stored underground in the form of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas, is much more stable, and is part of a much slower carbon cycle. Without the influence of humans burning these fossil fuels for energy, this carbon would be unlikely to reach the atmosphere. When fossil fuels are burned, carbon from dead and decayed plants, animals and phytoplankton that lived hundreds of millions of years ago (before dinosaurs existed), is released into the atmosphere in the form of carbon dioxide.
For the latest information about climate science from Australia's leading climate communicators, sign up to the Climate Council today.
Haze from forest fires blankets a an area of deforestation. Image: CIFOR (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Deforestation and climate change

Burning fossil fuels, in combination with destruction of carbon sinks due to deforestation and other activities, has contributed to more and more carbon dioxide building up in the atmosphere - more than can be absorbed from existing carbon sinks such as forests. The build-up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is driving global warming, as it traps heat in the lower atmosphere. Carbon dioxide levels are now at their highest in human history.

It is not effective to "offset" greenhouse gas pollution from burning fossil fuels by storing carbon in forests. This is because fossil fuels are pumping much more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than existing forests can absorb. At the same time, carbon stores in forests and other natural carbon sinks will become increasingly unstable as climate change progresses. Droughts, tropical storms, heatwaves and fire weather are increasing in severity and frequency because of climate change. This will continue to result in increases in forest losses, contributing to more and more carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere. Risks are significantly reduced but not avoided by keeping the rise in global temperature well below 2°C.

The future

Protecting natural ecosystems and sustainably managing and re-establishing forests are important ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and slow down temperature rise in the short term by drawing down carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. At the same time, we must deeply and rapidly reduce global greenhouse gas emissions levels from fossil fuels - coal, oil and gas. If we do only the former and not the latter, we risk transforming more and more of our carbon sinks into carbon sources as climate change progresses.
Land Carbon: No Substitute for Action on Fossil Fuels
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To learn more about this topic, read our report:

By Annika Dean / 21 August 2019

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Deforestation and Climate Change | Climate Council

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Forests store large amounts of carbon. Deforestation releases this stored CO2 back into the atmosphere, further contributing to climate change.

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Information on the environment for those involved in developing, adopting, implementing and evaluating environmental policy, and also the general public

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This is Earth in the next 100 years if we don't act on climate change | Ways to Change the World

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Lets say that we didn't act on climate change and we just "let it slide", where would we be in the future? many scientists say that overtime the heat will be so hot that it will cause heat waves never felt before all across the world affecting 2.7 billion or more people.
After a good amount of years there would be a smog from the air pollution collected in the atmosphere over time causing people to wear masks and even tear up from the the dirty air in their eyes. Forest fires would increase significantly across the world due to the dry and hot weather. Many islands and small countries will be flooded due to the ice caps melting and rise in sea level. Crops would dry out out and die making starvation a leading issue for humans. I believe that it is safe to say that climate change is a very VERY serious issue that we should not overlook whatsoever because we could lose the beautiful world we live on today.

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How the World Will Look in 2050 if We Don’t Tackle Climate Change

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If we don’t take rapid action, life on earth will rapidly deteriorate

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Many nations today are working together with one another to start the fight against Climate Change and global warming. Their main focus is the biggest enemy we face today which is Carbon Dioxide. Its been being used in our everyday lives for the past century and longer. Carbon Dioxide is released into the atmosphere when we use power for our homes, cars, and even phones.

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When you see your family or friends educate them on the struggles our planet is facing and how they can help. Believe it or not there are many people who are unaware about this topic and that's one of the biggest struggles out there today. Our planet needs everybody’s help to save it.

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Many countries, States, and Towns are starting to use renewable energy. This is energy that is takin from natural sources like the sun or the wind and saved up so that it can be used to do things like power your home or even your car.

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Using water in your home or anywhere uses a lot of energy. when you take a shower think about all the functions your house uses to heat, pump, and treat the water you use. Over time it all adds up and if you find ways to take shorter showers or turn off the faucet when brushing our teeth you can impact the cause.

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Rising sea levels. Raging storms. Searing heat. Ferocious fires. Severe drought. Punishing floods. The effects of climate change are already threatening our health, our communities, our economy, our security, and our children's future.

What can you do? A whole lot, as it turns out. Americans, on average, produce 21 tons of carbon a year, about four times the global average. Personal action is, of course, no substitute for meaningful government policies. We still must limit carbon pollution and aggressively move away from dirty fossil fuels toward cleaner power.

But it's important to remember the equally vital contributions that can be made by private citizens-which is to say, by you. "Change only happens when individuals take action," says clean energy advocate Aliya Haq. "There's no other way, if it doesn't start with people."

Here are a dozen easy, effective ways each one of us can make a difference.

1. Speak up!

What's the single biggest way you can make an impact on global climate change? "Talk to your friends and family, and make sure your representatives are making good decisions," Haq says. By voicing your concerns-via social media or, better yet, directly to your elected officials-you send a message that you care about the warming world. Encourage Congress to enact new laws that limit carbon emissions and require polluters to pay for the emissions they produce. "The main reason elected officials do anything difficult is because their constituents make them," Haq says. You can help protect public lands, stop offshore drilling, and more here.

2. Power your home with renewable energy.

Choose a utility company that generates at least half its power from wind or solar and has been certified by Green-e Energy, an organization that vets renewable energy options. If that isn't possible for you, take a look at your electric bill; many utilities now list other ways to support renewable sources on their monthly statements and websites.

3. Weatherize, weatherize, weatherize.

"Building heating and cooling are among the biggest uses of energy," Haq says. Indeed, heating and air-conditioning account for almost half of home energy use. You can make your space more energy efficient by sealing drafts and ensuring it's adequately insulated. You can also claim federal tax credits for many energy efficiency home improvements. To help you figure out where to start, you could also get a home energy audit, which some utilities offer free of charge. (Alternatively, you can hire a professional to come to your home and perform one; the Inflation Reduction Act offers a partial tax credit for this.) The EPA's Home Energy Yardstick gives you a simple assessment of your home's annual energy use compared with similar homes.

4. Invest in energy-efficient appliances.

Since they were first implemented nationally in 1987, efficiency standards for dozens of appliances and products have kept 2.3 billion tons of carbon dioxide out of the air. That's about the same amount as the annual carbon pollution coughed up by nearly 440 million cars. "Energy efficiency is the lowest-cost way to reduce emissions," Haq says. When shopping for refrigerators, washing machines, heat pump water heaters, and other appliances, look for the Energy Star label. It will tell you which are the most efficient. (There may also be rebates to earn from your purchase of Energy Star-certified products.)

And when you're ready to swap out your old machines, don't just put them on the curb: Recycling an old refrigerator through the EPA's Responsible Appliance Disposal Program can prevent an additional 10,000 pounds of carbon pollution because the global-warming pollutants in the refrigerants and foam would be properly captured rather than vented to the air.

5. Reduce water waste.

Saving water reduces carbon pollution, too. That's because it takes a lot of energy to pump, heat, and treat your water. So take shorter showers, turn off the tap while brushing your teeth, and switch to WaterSense-labeled fixtures and appliances. The EPA estimates that if just one out of every 100 American homes were retrofitted with water-efficient fixtures, about 100 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per year would be saved-avoiding 80,000 tons of global warming pollution.

6. Actually eat the food you buy-and compost what you can't.

Approximately 10 percent of U.S. energy use goes into growing, processing, packaging, and shipping food-about 40 percent of which winds up in the landfill. "If you're wasting less food, you're likely cutting down on energy consumption," Haq says. As for the scraps you can't eat or the leftovers you don't get to, collect them in a compost bin instead of sending them to the landfill where they release methane. Recycling food and other organic waste into compost provides a range of environmental benefits, including improving soil health, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, recycling nutrients, and mitigating the impact of droughts.

7. Buy better bulbs.

LED light bulbs use one-sixth the amount of energy to deliver the same amount of light as conventional incandescents and last at least 10 times longer. They're also cheaper in the long run: A 10-watt LED that replaces your traditional 60-watt bulb will save you $125 over the light bulb's life. And because the average American home has around 40 to 50 light bulbs, this is a simple swap that will reap huge rewards. If every household in the United States replaced just one incandescent with an Energy Star-labeled LED, we would prevent seven billion pounds of carbon pollution per year. That's equivalent to the emissions of about 648,000 cars.

8. Pull the plug(s).

Taken together, the outlets in your home are likely powering about 65 devices-an average load for a home in the United States. Audio and video devices, cordless vacuums and power tools, and other electronics use energy even when they're not charging. This "idle load" across all U.S. households adds up to the output of 50 large power plants in the country. So don't leave fully charged devices plugged into your home's outlets, unplug rarely used devices or plug them into power strips and timers, and adjust your computers and monitors to automatically power down to the lowest power mode when not in use.

9. Drive a fuel-efficient vehicle.

Gas-smart cars, such as hybrids and fully electric vehicles, save fuel and money. And once all cars and light trucks meet 2025's clean car standards, which means averaging 54.5 miles per gallon, they'll be a mainstay. For good reason: Relative to a national fleet of vehicles that averaged only 28.3 miles per gallon in 2011, Americans will spend $80 billion less at the pump each year and cut their automotive emissions by half. Before you buy a new set of wheels, compare fuel-economy performance here.

10. Maintain your ride.

If all Americans kept their tires properly inflated, we could save 1.2 billion gallons of gas each year. A simple tune-up can boost miles per gallon anywhere from 4 percent to 40 percent, and a new air filter can get you a 10 percent boost. Also, remove unnecessary accessories from your car roof. Roof racks and clamshell storage containers can reduce fuel efficiency by as much as 5 percent.

11. Rethink planes, trains, and automobiles.

Choosing to live in walkable smart-growth cities and towns with quality public transportation leads to less driving, less money spent on fuel, and less pollution in the air. Less frequent flying can make a big difference, too. "Air transport is a major source of climate pollution," Haq says. "If you can take a train instead, do that." If you must fly, consider purchasing carbon offsets to counterbalance the hefty carbon pollution associated with flying. But not all carbon offset companies are alike. Do your homework to find the best supplier.

12. Reduce, reuse, and recycle.

In the United States, the average person generates 4.5 pounds of trash every day. Fortunately, not all the items we discard end up in landfills; we recycle or compost more than one-third of our trash. In 2014 this saved carbon emissions equivalent to the yearly output of 38 million passenger cars. But we could be doing so much more. "Reduce should always be the number-one priority," says NRDC senior resource specialist Darby Hoover. And to reap the environmental benefits of "recyclable" goods, you must recycle according to the rules of your municipality, since systems vary widely by location. Search your municipality's sanitation department (or equivalent) webpage to learn exactly what you can place in the recycling bin, as counties and cities often differ in what they accept.
This story was originally published on April 20, 2022 and has been updated with new information and links.

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There are many ways to prevent global warming from becoming worse. Many nations have put laws into place to fight climate change -- here's what you can do.