An Inconvenient Consequence
Last night, I watched Al Gore's documentary on global warming, "An Inconvenient Truth". And boy, did it freak me out. Not exactly what you should watch before going to bed, as it is scarier than any horror movie I've watched ("The Ring" Japanese version included). Here are some of the scary facts if the world continues to warm at the rate it's going:-- We will completely be ice-free in the Arctic Ocean by 2050.
-- We will lose the Netherlands, Manhattan, parts of San Francisco, Calcutta, Beijing, Shanghai and a lot more coastal cities will go under the water. Goodbye Philippines.
-- More than a million species extinct by 2050.
-- More droughts, heatwaves (50+ degrees), category 4 and 5 hurricanes. Famine, disease, pestilence...
Anyone else who thinks it sounds like the end of days as described in the book of Revelations?
And this is in OUR lifetime.
No wonder I couldn't sleep.
It's appalling to me that the US, which has 2x the amount of carbon emissions as the next offender, is not doing anything to curb this. While all the other nations have agreed, the US (together with Australia) has refused to sign the Kyoto Protocol, which seeks to limit the amount of greenhouse gas emissions per country. WAKE UP AMERICA -- what use are jobs if there's no planet to work and live in?
Right after I watched the movie, I went to http://www.climatecrisis.net/ to calculate my personal contribution of carbon dioxide emissions. I was doing pretty ok. The national average is 7.5 tons per year and after most everything, I was at half that (3.7 tons). That was, until I added in my estimated number of flights. 24 extended (8 hours and above) flights for the year. My contribution soared to 27.1 tons, 4x the national average!!!
So there are a couple of things I've resolved to do:
1) Buy a Toyota Prius instead of the second-hand Porsche Boxster I've been drooling over.
2) Turn off all lights, the TV and computer when I'm not using it.
3) Unplug all chargers and appliances as these continue to use electricity just by being plugged. (I did this right after watching the movie.)
4) Air dry my clothes.
5) Use cold water cycle for my laundry.
6) Turn up the A/C by one degree. Or better yet, use the fan.
7) Accelerate gently. And drive more slowly.
And because I'm having such a huge personal impact on the environment, I'm offsetting my CO2 emissions by helping renewable energy sources get built. It's painful on the wallet but I want my kids to grow up with the same planetary luxuries that I grew up with... clean air and water, four seasons (two in the Philippines) and enough food for everyone.
To find out what else you can do, click here. And offset your CO2 emissions here.
posted by moan @ 1:13 AM
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