Climate Care

For many years, we have been taking our environment for granted. We have been letting nature itself fix what we have been altering. But several things have shown us how wrong we are, and the climate changes are one of them. It is quite clear that scientists from all over the world disagree on the levels of such alterations and the risks it offers, but what we know for sure is that, no matter how much it affects our planet, it is definitely happening. Therefore, we must start caring about our environment, and this means caring about the climate.

Global warming is affecting the entire world as we know it. Snow and ice are melting in a faster pace causing the sea levels to rise and consequently threatening several species, such as the polar bear which is being left without no natural habitat. The polar bear needs the ice to survive, and even in Alaska, there are moving up north in search of better grounds. Moreover, we have been witnessing many floods, devastating storms, droughts, which mean damages to ecosystems and their species. What happens is that people are taking too long to realise is that even a small change in the average temperature has huge effects on our planet. But, the signs are everywhere. Even the USA, which refused to cooperate with the world's struggle to reduce CO2 emissions, is now experiencing its consequences. There have been more catastrophic hurricanes assaulting the country than ever seen before. Even the USA national parks are under threat, affecting several animals, including their wildlife symbol, the grizzly bear. As we can see, climate care is vital at this point.

We all know what is causing so many events: the greenhouse effect phenomenon. But what cause such phenomenon? Mainly, it is caused by methane, nitrous oxide, and especially CO2 emissions. Furthermore, most of these emissions are due to the use of fossil fuels (oil, gas, and coal burning), to chopping down forests, and farming, which alone is responsible for half of all emissions. Next on the list is energy consumption. Simply, the cost for the environment is too high. We must help protect the Earth; we must care about the climate if we want things to have a different ending. It is past the time to start doing something about it.

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is essential. All our day-to-day activities have an impact: flying, driving, heating our home, using electric devices, etc. So, we should start at reducing fossil fuel consumption by having well insulated houses, by switching off whatever is not being use, by driving less and taking public transportation more, exchanging old devices by energy efficient ones, avoiding plastic product, recycling, controlling our waste, among others. In addition, there is a new trend which involves calculating the amount of CO2 one produces and offsetting it. Offsetting here means compensating our CO2 emissions by funding projects on renewable energy, forest restoration, energy saving, etc. There are several websites that provide such calculation, for example www.climatecare.com. Many companies and a great deal of people are adopting this trend. It is easy to become environmentally friendly. Because if you care about what our future generations are going to inherit, you must care about the climate and the alterations it provokes on our planet.

Lucien Oliveira is a freelance writer with strong interest nature and wildlife. You can find more about earth, global dangers and climate care. Read more about nature.

A Commitment To Fight Climate Change

Climate change continues to be one of the biggest, most challenging problems the planet faces, and a few forward-thinking companies are making the commitment to reduce their impact.

These companies are making changes in several ways, including adopting aggressive plans to reduce their carbon emissions by reducing the energy they use to manufacture their products, and offering carbon-negative products.

For example, Fiji Water has entered into a partnership with Conservation International, a leading conservation organization. The premium bottled water company wanted to know how it could reduce its CO2 emissions that contribute to global warming.

Company leaders were also interested in protecting and preserving the Sovi Basin, the largest remaining area of pristine rain forest in Fiji.

Over the next three years, the company will implement an environmental program that seeks to "green" every step in the life cycle of its products, from packaging and shipping to the use of renewable energies and land-preservation efforts. By 2010, this plan is expected to result in a 25 percent reduction in actual CO2 emissions. In addition, the company will work to develop forest carbon and renewable energy projects that are expected to add up to at least 120 percent of their remaining product life-cycle emissions.

ICF International, a global leader in analyzing emissions inventories and providing advice on climate strategy, will independently review and verify the company's carbon footprint.

Protecting rain forests like the Sovi Basin in Fiji from logging can have a positive benefit to the environment. Each year, tropical forests covering an area at least equal to the size of New York state are destroyed; the carbon dioxide that those trees would have absorbed amounts to 20 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. Protecting the Sovi Basin from logging will prevent 10 million tons of CO2 from being released into the atmosphere, the equivalent of taking nearly 2 million cars off the road.

"We're excited to expand our environmental leadership so that our consumers can continue to enjoy our great-tasting, mineral-rich, natural artesian water, knowing that it comes with a commitment and promise to do something positive for the climate and our environment," said Thomas Mooney, senior vice president of Fiji Water.

The Sovi Basin contains the largest remaining area of pristine rain forest in Fiji and one company is working to protect it.

(NAPSI)