Each of us individually contributes to the aggravation of global warming. Every time we travel by plane or opt for a means of transport that uses fossil fuels or eat a piece of meat we are directly or indirectly emitting greenhouse gases and contributing to their increase in concentration in the atmosphere.
Global warming is an urgent problem on which we must act upon, reducing and ideally eliminating emissions. If we know how we contribute to global warming, we have the power to avoid doing so: through information and decision making.
We must not forget, however, that companies are the ones that produce most of the emissions and that, compared to these, our emissions are not that significant. But it is the spread of awareness and the change in individual behavior that leads to changes in the collective. And all individual efforts are a contribution towards a goal to be achieved together.
Let us see how much we emit individually. On average, each human being emits 5 tonnes of CO2 to the atmosphere per year, a number that varies a lot between countries: in developed countries much more is emitted (for example in the United States 16.5 tonnes are emitted per inhabitant) than in developing countries (in the Philippines only 1 ton is emitted).
Let us now see how much each action we take contributes to these emissions. Among the activities with the highest level of emissions, it is worth noting riding in a car, which emits around 1 thousand to 5 thousand kg of CO2 per year, and taking a plane trip, which emits around 1 thousand to 3 thousand kg. Another activity whose consideration requires a more careful assessment because it is not a simple consequence of one’s lifestyle but is a sensitive issue is having a child that emits about 20 thousand to 120 thousand kg. These are the activities with the greatest impact, the first two of which are not so difficult to avoid, the first using public transport and cycling and the second trying to travel by train whenever possible. Other great impact lifestyle changes within our reach are using green energy, which leads to a reduction of up to 2,5 thousand kg, having a more efficient car, which reduces about 1 thousand kg and having a plant-based diet, which reduces up to about 1.5 thousand kg. But there are more things we can do. Actions that lead to medium impact reductions are insulating the house, using renewable energies, buying energy efficient appliances, hanging clothes to dry, not wasting food, eating less meat, recycling and eating local foods. For a more comprehensive list and comparison of activities with their corresponding emissions refer to the table and graph and at the end of the post.
Scientists have found that when a person makes a sustainability-oriented decision, the people around them tend to make that decision as well.
There are also actions that have a non-measurable impact but that are equally important such as making others aware of these issues and putting pressure on institutions and companies. We must act not only as consumers but also as citizens and put pressure on governments and companies to make the necessary changes.
High-impact political actions like abolishing fossil fuel subsidies, taxing air pollution, or putting a price on carbon emissions allow green energy suppliers to compete equally. Within our reach as citizens there is protesting, writing letters, direct lobbying, exposing politicians and organizations with bad practices and voting for rulers who give priority to climate action.
All that we describe in this post are lifestyle changes and civic action that we can take in order to fight climate change. The first step, being informed, has already been taken by reading this post. Now remains the second, your decision making: what are you waiting for?
Patrícia Pereira and António Telo
Table with activities and corresponding CO2 reduction per year:
Graph with a comparison of the emissions savings per activity:
Table and graph by Seth Wynes and Kimberly A. Nicholas from the article "The climate mitigation gap: Education and government recommendations miss the most effective individual actions", in Environmental Research Letters, July 2017, DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/aa7541
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