The Problem
By now, you’ve heard these two little words: global warming. How about climate crisis?
In a nutshell, we’re thickening our atmosphere with pollution. Toxic emissions (carbon dioxide, in particular) from our cars, power plants, factories, and even forest fires are changing the composition of our atmosphere. As a result, more of the energy from the sun that normally would bounce back into space becomes trapped inside our atmosphere, heating the Earth. This heating effect is cumulative, and we’re already seeing the effects on our melting glaciers and ice sheets. This extra energy is also warming the waters of our oceans, fueling storms and hurricanes.
Those of us who drive gas-powered cars are contributing to the problem. The same thing can be said for airplanes, diesel trucks, power plants, and factories - all of these things spew toxic emissions into the air.
Indirect Causes
It doesn’t end there, however. Electrical power plants that use oil, coal, or other polluting sources contribute too! When we flip that light switch, turn on the TV, or turn on the air conditioner, we’re generating demand on those power plants. More demand means more pollution.
Think about the supermarket, a cornucopia of foods and housewares. Now think about where all of those items came from. Odds are, many of them traveled long distances on diesel trucks from points all across the country - polluting the air on their long voyage.
It seems that our lives and our economy circle around pollution. However, this is a problem we can fix. We can change: piece by piece and bit by bit. However, the time to change is now while we can.
