What You Can Actually Do to Fight Climate Change, According to Science. There’s no doubt that if we’re going to stop or even slow down climate change, we have to get our collective shit together. But collective action starts with individual choices, and for all the data- driven decision makers out there, the path forward just got a bit more lucid.

A new study in Environmental Research Letters has determined exactly which life choices reduce our carbon footprints the most. Many folks concerned about the climate advocate for national and international policies to reduce humanity’s collective carbon exhale. But a pair of researchers at Lund University in Sweden felt that this high- level policy focus overlooks a critical carbon- cutting opportunity: individuals in the developed world. So, the researchers took it upon themselves to rank a series of actions—from having fewer kids to eating a plant- based diet—that can empower ordinary folks to become the Captain Planets of their own personal narratives. The researchers took a “life cycle” approach, where, for instance, the carbon cost of car ownership includes the greenhouse gases produced during the manufacturing of the vehicle.

Ultimately, they identified a dozen individual carbon- cutting actions, including four recommended ones “that are of substantial magnitude throughout the developed world.” Those actions are eating a plant- based diet (average savings of 0. CO2 saved per year), taking one fewer transatlantic flight (1. CO2 saved per year), living car free (2.

CO2 per year), and having fewer carbon- spewing kiddos (6. CO2 per year). Two additional actions that the researchers thought would make the list—not owning a dog, and purchasing green energy—were found to be of “questionable merit,” averaged across all the countries in the study, although in Canada, Australia, and the US, going green resulted in some hefty carbon savings. A study published in 2. Celsius, the average individual carbon footprint needs to be brought down to 2.

CO2 per year by 2. The average American’s carbon footprint is currently estimated around 1. Unsurprisingly, the new study found we could be doing much more to communicate about impactful lifestyle choices. Analyzing 2. 16 individual recommended actions in Canadian high school textbooks, the researchers found that the best actions for reducing carbon pollution were “mostly presented in a less effective form, or not at all,” while lower- impact choices, like recycling, were front- and- center. An emphasis on lower- impact lifestyle choices was also found in government guides from the United States, Australia, Canada, and the EU.“The surprise was, those two sources of information,” textbooks and government recommendations, “focused on low or moderate impact actions,” Nicholas said. But I’ve also found it pretty easy to give up driving in a city, and now that I know exactly how bad air travel is, I’ll feel an irksome pang of guilt every time I purchase tickets. Download Aplikasi Pemutar Musik Terbaik Di Android File. And if you’re more worried about paying the bills than saving the planet, that’s okay.

But Nicholas points out that many of the choices outlined in the paper can have personal benefits, too.“I’ve found in my own life that making these changes to reduce emissions has been really positive,” she said, explaining how she’s ditched airlines in favor of train rides when traveling within Europe, and had lots of unexpected adventures as a result.

Those actions are eating a plant-based diet (average savings of 0.8 metric tons of CO2 saved per year), taking one fewer transatlantic flight (1.6 metric tons of CO2.

• NFL running back DeAngelo Williams made his pro wrestling debut over the weekend at Impact Wrestling’s Slammiversary XV, one of the main PPV events from the.
• Learn how to do just about everything at eHow. Find expert advice along with How To videos and articles, including instructions on how to make, cook, grow, or do.

Study co-author Kevin Smith applying the melted bitumen to the bottle, with the air testing equipment next to him. So probably I should know better than to write this Finals off just because, once again, the Warriors are up 2-0 after two largely uncompetitive games in Oakland. Get the latest breaking news across the U.S.