Want to help save the environment? Taking steps to conserve and reuse is easier than you might think. You can do your part to help save the environment just by changing your daily habits. For starters, try decreasing your energy and water consumption, changing your eating and transportation habits, and adapting your home and yard to be more environmentally friendly.
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STAR Wars hero Harrison Ford has returned to the public stage for a special moment along with fellow cast members Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill, joining stars of the latest film.
LEGIONS of fans had slept outside the Comic-Con convention center in San Diego for days before the much anticipated appearance. They were rewarded for their commitment when they were treated to a behind-the-scenes look at the making of The Force Awakens, as well as a surprise outside concert attended by the cast bearing light sabres.
The Star Wars originals accompanied new cast members and actors Gwendoline Christie, Domhnall Gleeson, John Boyega and Daisy Ridley, as well as co-stars Oscar Isaac and Adam Driver, for a further glimpse at what fans can expect when the new film is released in cinemas in December.
The panel was Ford's first public appearance since crashing his small plane earlier this year and he received a standing ovation from fans as he walked on to the stage.
Clearly touched by the reception he received, Ford said: "The original Star Wars was the beginning of my working life, I was very happy to be a part of the story and the cast again."
The Indiana Jones star, 72, also suffered a broken leg during an accident on set but assured the crowds he felt "just fine".
Director JJ Abrams told devotees they could expect a new trailer later in the year, adding that one of his most important tasks was ensuring he did not let his love of the franchise interfere with the film-making.
"When you're directing a scene on the Millennium Falcon... it doesn't make the scene good," he said.
"It's definitely bitchin', don't get me wrong, but what's the story?"
The director revealed to fans that he already has a cut of the film but is still working on the final edit.
Ford, Fisher and Hamill all embraced on stage to the delight of fans before Abrams announced that panel attendees would be treated to a surprise outdoor concert of Star Wars music, performed by the San Diego Symphony.
Global warming and climate change refer to an increase in average global temperatures. Natural events and human activities are believed to be contributing to an increase in average global temperatures. This is caused primarily by increases in “greenhouse” gases such as Carbon Dioxide (CO2).
A warming planet thus leads to a change in climate which can affect weather in various ways, as discussed further below.
What Are The Main Indicators Of Climate Change?
As explained by the US agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), there are 7 indicators that would be expected to increase in a warming world (and they are), and 3 indicators would be expected to decrease (and they are):
The term greenhouse is used in conjunction with the phenomenon known as thegreenhouse effect.
Energy from the sun drives the earth’s weather and climate, and heats the earth’s surface;
In turn, the earth radiates energy back into space;
Some atmospheric gases (water vapor, carbon dioxide, and other gases) trap some of the outgoing energy, retaining heat somewhat like the glass panels of a greenhouse;
These gases are therefore known as greenhouse gases;
The greenhouse effect is the rise in temperature on Earth as certain gases in the atmosphere trap energy.
Image source: Greenhouse Effect, Wikipedia(Link includes detailed explanation of the above image). Note, image above expresses energy exchanges in watts per square meter (W/m2)
Six main greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) (which is 20 times as potent a greenhouse gas as carbon dioxide) and nitrous oxide (N2O), plus three fluorinated industrial gases: hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6). Water vapor is also considered a greenhouse gas.
The Greenhouse Effect Is Natural. What Do We Have To Do With It?
Many of these greenhouse gases are actually life-enabling, for without them, heat would escape back into space and the Earth’s average temperature would be a lot colder.
However, if the greenhouse effect becomes stronger, then more heat gets trapped than needed, and the Earth might become less habitable for humans, plants and animals.
Carbon dioxide, though not the most potent of greenhouse gases, is the most significant one. Human activity has caused an imbalance in the natural cycle of the greenhouse effect and related processes. NASA’s Earth Observatory is worth quoting the effect human activity is having on the natural carbon cycle, for example:
In addition to the natural fluxes of carbon through the Earth system, anthropogenic (human) activities, particularly fossil fuel burning and deforestation, are also releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
When we mine coal and extract oil from the Earth’s crust, and then burn these fossil fuels for transportation, heating, cooking, electricity, and manufacturing, we are effectively moving carbon more rapidly into the atmosphere than is being removed naturally through the sedimentation of carbon, ultimately causing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations to increase.
Also, by clearing forests to support agriculture, we are transferring carbon from living biomass into the atmosphere (dry wood is about 50 percent carbon).
The result is that humans are adding ever-increasing amounts of extra carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Because of this, atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations are higher today than they have been over the last half-million years or longer.
Another way of looking at this is with a simple analogy: consider salt and human health:
A small amount of salt is essential for human life;
Slightly more salt in our diet often makes food tastier;
Too much salt can be harmful to our health.
In a similar way, greenhouse gases are essential for our planet; the planet may be able to deal with slightly increased levels of such gases, but too much will affect the health of the whole planet.
Image source: NASA.(Note, values shown represent Carbon Gigatons being absorbed and released)
The other difference between the natural carbon cycle and human-induced climate change is that the latter is rapid. This means that ecosystems have less chance of adapting to the changes that will result and so the effects felt will be worse and more dramatic it things continue along the current trajectory.
The Climate Has Always Varied In The Past. How Is This Any Different?
Throughout Earth’s history the climate has varied, sometimes considerably. Past warming does not automatically mean that today’s warming is therefore also natural. Recent warming has been shown to be due to human industrialization processes.
John Cook, writing the popular Skeptical Science blog, summarizes the key indicators of a human finger print on climate change:
This graph, based on the comparison of atmospheric samples contained in ice cores and more recent direct measurements, provides evidence that atmospheric CO2 has increased since the Industrial Revolution:
The above covers hundreds of thousands of years and shows how atmospheric CO2 levels have dramatically increased in recent years. If we “zoom” in on just the past 250 years, we see the following:
Global CO2 emissions, 1751–2010, Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center (CDIAC), 2013, last accessed February 1, 2015. DOI:10.3334/CDIAC/00001_V2013
NASA’s Goddard Institute of Space Studies (GISS) tracks atmospheric global temperature climate trends. As environmental engineer, D Kelly O’Day, explained on ProcessingTrends.com (link no longer available): “To facilitate assessments of long term trends, climatologists compare the mean for a base period with the annual mean. Differences between the annual mean and baseline mean are called anomalies. GISS uses the 1951 - 1980 period for their baseline period. They use the difference between the annual mean and the baseline mean to determine the global temperature anomaly for the year.”
O’Day originally produced a chart showing global temperature anomalies between 1800 and 2006 using data from NASA. I updated the chart he provided to include recently updated data up to 2014:
Sources: GISS Surface Temperature Analysis, NASA, accessed January 25, 2015; Global temperature, 1800-2006, ProcessTrends.com, accessed October 27, 2009 (link no longer available)
In the 1880 - 1935 period, the temperature anomaly was consistently negative. In contrast, the since 1980 the anomaly has been consistently positive. The 1909 temperature anomaly (-0.47oC) was the lowest year on record. Since 1909, global temperature has warmed, with the most recent years showing the highest anomalies of +0.6 oC in the past 120 years.
Among the latest crop is this one reported by the Huffington Post. A so-called "online community of biblical theorists" believes a huge asteroid will strike the planet sometime in the Sept. 22-28 window, wiping us out.
For reasons unexplained, some of these crackpot predictions gain more traction than others. This one reportedly caught the attention of NASA, which responded with a statement, according to Yahoo News.
According to Yahoo News, a NASA spokesperson said: "NASA knows of no asteroid or comet currently on a collision course with Earth, so the probability of a major collision is quite small. In fact, as best as we can tell, no large object is likely to strike the Earth any time in the next several hundred years."
On the contrary, NASA said in a statement from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, an asteroid designated 1999 FN53 would safely pass more than 26 times the distance of Earth to the moon on May 14.
"To put it another way, at its closest point, the asteroid will get no closer than 6.3 million miles away (10 million kilometers)," the statement said. "It will not get closer than that for well over 100 years. And even then, (119 years from now) it will be so far away it will not affect our planet in any way, shape or form."
For those who are much more scientifically savvy, NASA puts out a table of potential risk of nearby objects colliding with the Earth. The Sentry Risk Table is part of NASA's Nearth Earth Object Program.
The program is part of NASA's asteroid initiative, which includes sending a robotic spacecraft to capture a boulder from the surface of a near-Earth asteroid and move it into a stable orbit around the moon for exploration by astronauts, in support of U.S. plans to travel to Mars, the statement said.
Want to help save the environment? Taking steps to conserve and reuse is easier than you might think. You can do your part to help save the environment just by changing your daily habits. For starters, try decreasing your energy and water consumption, changing your eating and transportation habits, and adapting your home and yard to be more environmentally friendly.
Method 1 of 7: Changing Your Daily Habits
1
Switch off anything that uses electricity when not in use. If you're not using it, turn it off. This goes for lights, televisions, computers, printers, and so on.
Put timers on lamps and use them to turn off lamps at the same time each day. Timers like these can be found in hardware stores and they can be plugged into outlets, then control the power to your lamp.
2
Unplug devices when possible. Leaving devices plugged in, such as laptop chargers or toasters, can use "phantom" energy. Even when an appliance is turned off, it may still use power.[1] It is best to unplug anything that you do not anticipate using in the next 36 hours (or more).
Use a power strip to turn lots of things off with the flip of a single switch. You can plug all your devices in one area—say, your computer—into a power strip. When you're done, simply turn the power strip off with the switch.
Measure the energy your devices use, or look up typical energy use. To measure usage yourself, use a Kill-a-Watt. You plug an appliance in through the Kill-A-Watt, and it measures the power use. This tool can also tell you whether a particular appliance or device draws power when it is turned off.
3
Trade in your dryer for a good old-fashioned clothesline.Air drying leaves your clothes smelling fresh and is environmentally friendly. Tumble dryers are among the biggest energy users in most households, after the refrigerator and air conditioner. If you do use a dryer, make sure to keep the vent clear, for safety as well as efficiency.
4
Run your air conditioner sparingly or not at all. Air conditioners use a great deal of electricity. Use natural ventilation or a fan to keep cool, as much as possible.
If you do use an air conditioner, set it to a slightly lower temperature than outside. Remember that setting the temperature lower uses more electricity, and it won't cool things off any faster.
5
Close the heating and air conditioning vents in your home. If you are not using certain rooms in your house, close the vents in these rooms, and close the doors. Doing this consistently will reduce the amount of energy squandered by heating or cooling seldom occupied spaces.
6
Don't use electronic exercise machines. Instead of using exercise equipment, use a real bicycle (or a unicycle), or walk to get to nearby destinations or for pleasure. Calisthenics, push-ups, and other bodyweight exercises work, as well.
7
Use a warm blanket or sweater in winter. Bundle yourself up and lower your thermostat by a few degrees. Aim to set your thermostat at 68 degrees F in the winter, perhaps even lower at night. Every degree above this will generate about 6-8% additional energy output.[2]
8
Conserve water. The average family of four in the U.S. uses about 400 gallons of water every day.[3] Make conscious choices to lower your consumption of water.
Take shorter showers or fill the bathtub only one-quarter to one-third full.
Turn off the faucet while you brush your teeth.
Install low flow faucets (taps) or aerators, low-flow shower heads, and low-flush toilets.
Run your dishwasher only when it is completely full.
Wash full loads of laundry in a washing machine. Choose a front-load machine if possible.
If you hand wash your car, park it on your lawn and use buckets and sponges. Use the hose to rinse. Use a hose nozzle to stop the water or turn the hose off between rinses. Keep in mind however, that the soap and other cleaning products might go down the storm drain (if you have one), leading to pollution.
If you have a swimming pool, use pool covers to reduce evaporation and keep leaves out.
Plant drought tolerant landscaping, and consider xeriscaping. Maintain your outdoor irrigation and water no more than is necessary.
9
Recycle all you can. If you have curbside recycling, use it. Be sure to separate your recycling into glass, metal, paper and so on.
Take special trips to a recycling center if you don’t have curbside recycling, or if you need to recycle certain materials not accepted by your recycling service.
10
Avoid using disposable items. Anything you use only a few times and throw away consumes resources only to spend centuries in a landfill.
Use rechargeable batteries instead of disposable batteries. Batteries not only take up landfill space, as they can't be incinerated. They also can leak acid into the Earth.
Dispose properly of hazardous waste. Many materials, including batteries, fluorescent light bulbs, e-waste (most anything with batteries or a plug), cleaning products, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, automotive fluids, and paint, should never be disposed in a landfill, sanitary sewer, or storm sewer. Instead, contact your city for proper disposal opportunities.
11
Use only as much toilet paper as you need. Don't unwind a mile of it for one little wipe. Be reasonable. Go easy on the paper towels, too, and use a washable cloth or sponge for most of your kitchen cleanup.
For the paper products you do use, look for products made from 80-100% recycled paper, preferably with a high post-consumer content.
For most household cleaning, look for reusable terry cleaning cloths. They are inexpensive, especially when bought in bulk, and can be washed and reused hundreds of times.
12
Consider using cloth diapers. Cloth diapers have come a long way from the things with pins and plastic covers. You will save a fortune (especially if you have more than one child), keep potentially dangerous chemicals away from your baby's skin, and do a good thing for the planet while you're at it.
13
Stop your junk mail from coming. If you get several catalogs which you do not need, call and ask them to stop sending then to you.
Sign up at Opt Out Prescreen’s website (https://www.optoutprescreen.com) to stop unwanted credit card solicitations for either 5 years or permanently.
14
Be a mindful consumer. Ask yourself how your purchases are impacting other people and the natural environment.
Buy for durability. For items you do buy, look for things which will last a lifetime. Search "buy it for life" to find forums and recommendations for durable products.
Buy used. Reuse is a far higher purpose for used goods than the landfill, plus you'll save money.
