3 Ways Americans Are Fighting Against Global Warming

From the polar bears in the arctic to the coral reefs off the Australian coast, global warming is impacting the earth in ways most people never imagined. As awareness grows of the human factors that contribute to climate change, many Americans and others strive to fight back. Innovation, energy plans, and forest conservation are just a few ways people are attempting to minimize their effects on the environment.

Investing in Innovation

Solar panels and wind turbines already exist to capture energy from the sun and air currents. Global Citizen talks about how many scientists have loftier aspirations of more efficient units to capture solar power and larger-than-ever palm-like turbines to decrease fossil fuel dependency. Radical rooftops utilize ceramic or crystal to convert the energy of wind and falling rain into electricity. Kemball-Cook’s tiles, invented by Laurence Kemball-Cook of Britain, generate electricity when people walk or run on them. A transparent solar panel may soon transform a window into a source of electricity. Scott and Julie Brusaw from Idaho invented solar tiles strong enough to pave roads. Imagine powering your car or surrounding streetlights simply by driving down the street. Innovators could expect to invest approximately 13 trillion dollars on inventions designed to prevent any increase in carbon emissions over the next decade. Some new products not only reduce the number of resources people use but also the greenhouse gasses their actions produce.

Energy Plans

In order to combat global warming, implementing energy plans is just as important as innovation. Many times, they show effects quicker than inventions, which could take years to realize practical use. Energy plans enable plants to balance sustainable development with the need for cleaner and lower carbon and methane emissions. They must comply with locale-specific characteristics of the energy sector. Spring Power & Gas recommends to use environmentally-conscious energy plans that include matching natural gas with carbon offsets and matching electricity with renewable energy certificates. Since energy contributes to 80 percent of CO2 emissions, it makes sense that it account for much of the planning that regards global warming. Responsible parties should base their energy plans on clean alternatives to fossil fuels, affordable uses, and realistic collection processes. Final plans should spring from impeccable data collection, facts analyses, and the ability to install long-term transitional technology.

Preserving Tropical Forests

Union of Concerned Scientists explains that deforestation goes far beyond cutting trees for lumber to construct furniture and building supplies. Clear-cutting by major manufacturers such as the beef industry accounts for close to 75 percent of tropical forest loss in Brazil. By enforcing regulations that aim to preserve forest canopy cover, replant trees, and provide security for tropical ecosystems, Americans and others are influencing agricultural practices across the Amazon basin. Via BioCarbon Engineering, drones plant seeds at the rate of two trees per second. Revival projects like these aim to restore millions of acres of forest. Education seeks ways to ranch and farm in harmony with the forest. Destroying wilderness accounts for high carbon emissions and also reduces the number of individual trees capable of trapping carbon dioxide. Watchdog groups like the Rainforest Alliance certified products for consumers looking for sustainable sources of beef or palm oil for example.

Global warming is of mounting concern and may even at times seem overwhelming. Nevertheless, Americans have found practical ways to fight its progress and perhaps reverse its track. With innovative designs to reduce the use of resources, energy plans to enable an easier transition to green fuels, and regulations to curb the rate of human deforestation, Americans have begun an effective crusade against global warming.

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