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How do we solve the climate crisis? - Coggle Diagram
How do we solve the climate crisis?
HOME
ENERGY-SAVING APPLIANCES (all of these are real products)
Solar panel glazed windows. Coat your windows with solar power absorbing paint, and use the energy in your home.
Smart thermostats are gaining traction in the United States. They automatically turn on and off based on patterns, and save the household around 200$ a year.
Home energy-management systems. Control your home with sensors and a remote, with AI to turn systems on and off based on patterns.
In home recyclers are tubes that lead from your home to a centralized recycling center. They have a large upfront cost, but can you put a price tag on the environment?
NORMAL
Turn off lights and electronics when leaving a room.
Turn off appliances instead of placing them on standby.
Do not purchase excess clothes or products; they just contribute to your carbon footprint.
Try not to eat meat, as cows have a huge carbon footprint. Eat chicken or vegetables instead.
TRAVEL
NO PLANES! A return trip from London to New York puts in 0.67 tonnes of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere per person.
Carpooling is when many people travel in the same car, thus cutting down the carbon footprint if each person. Many companies such as Uber have implemented carpooling systems into their apps, allowing you to catch a ride with someone else, but you pay less and have less of a carbon footprint.
People claim that electric cars lower your carbon footprint, but they haven't told you by how much. The electricity that powers the car does get produced at a power plant, but it reduces the carbon footprint of a car ride by over 40 percent!
HOW MUCH CARBON DIOXIDE DOES PURCHASING A PRODUCT PUT IN THE ATMOSPHERE?
Book - 500g
iPad - 113kgs
Couch - 2.65 tonnes
Pair of jeans - 34kgs
Watching an hour of shows on Netflix - 3.2kgs
WHAT EASY THINGS CAN YOU DO?
Local! Buying local fruits and veggies has less than a third of the carbon footprint than buying foreign or imported .
Donate to carbon offsetting projects, so that you restore whatever carbon dioxide you put in the atmosphere.
Use sustainable transportation. Use the subway or the bus, and if there is not adequate public transport, carpool!
Spread the word. The reason a person is not doing something is probably because they do not know the ramifications of their decisions.
Recycle! Throwing away your product has 4 times the carbon footprint than if you recycle it.
Make sure you know your carbon footprint and you know what you can do to reduce it. Set a goal for yourself! In my opinion, finding out your footprint and working on reducing it is the most important thing you should do.
INSPIRING VIDEOS
Our Changing Climate - What can you do about climate change? :
https://bit.ly/3eEhDjI
The YEARS Project | The solution to climate change is all around us :
https://bit.ly/3gP8qXv
Vox | UCLA - Climate Lab :
https://bit.ly/VoxClimateLab
ALTERNATIVE ENERGY
WIND
Usage of wind to turn turbines or motors, generating electrical energy on a large scale.
Expensive upfront, but infinitely renewable.
Geared toward communities, not individuals. Produces consistent energy, as opposed to solar energy, which is dependent on the dust in the air.
Requires a lot of space and free land, which are usually unavailable near large cities.
NUCLEAR
Nuclear power produces 55% of America's clean energy.
One of the drawbacks is that it is highly volatile, and must be handled extremely carefully. Any neglect toward nuclear power plants could have catastrophic consequences.
Radioactive elements are extremely dense, so even extracting a small amount of uranium will produce a large amount of fuel.
SOLAR
Photo-voltaic cells in large panels harness the heat and light energy from the Sun and convert it into electrical energy.
If you do not want to buy solar panels, there are still many ways to use solar energy. Rather than using an electrical to heat up water, you can buy a heater that heats up the water directly from the Sun.
Another thing you can do is dry your clothes in the sunlight rather than using an electric dryer.
Even though the upfront cost of solar panels seems quite large, it will save you tens of thousands of dollars in the long run. Since the power you are receiving is completely local, you will have to pay minimal electric fees.
HYDROELECTRIC
It leaves behind no waste, and helps the biodiversity of the natural environment.
16% of the world's energy is produced through hydropower.
It is the most efficient way to produce energy, being over 90% efficient. The most efficient coal-based plants are only 50% efficient.
Hydropower is also one of the cheapest forms of energy. It costs an average of 0.85 cents/kWh. This is less than half the cost of using fossil fuels, and a quarter of the price of natural gas.
The main drawback of hydropower is that it requires a river or a reservoir. Many inland countries do not have lakes or rivers large enough to efficiently produce hydropower.