Global Warming - why half a degree matters

[waternohitter]

1.5 C vs 2 C global warming: New study shows why half a degree matters

Global warming is scary. It makes me wonder why people don't take it too seriously. Though I have read somewhere that the energy consumption of the US actually went down by a bit last year so maybe people are taking baby steps.
I've been trying to do my part by changing some of my lights to solar powered ones and gathering rain water to use for washing the car and stuff. I'm glad that the company where I work is going to launch a go-green program as well.
What do you think people should do to further lessen their carbon footprint, water consumption and wastes?

 

[ProfuselyQuarky]

What do you think people should do to further lessen their carbon footprint, water consumption and wastes?

There are lots of things! People emphasis car emission and how everybody should car pool, but, really, they are not the main causes. We have to do yearly smog checks and whatnot and this controls carbon foot prints relatively well—and then more and more people are purchasing electric cars. However, there are a lot of things that are not controlled. A huge example is private boats/yachts. There’s really no effort put into control smog check of boats. I always thought that that would be an easy step towards cleaner air, but nobody is putting that into practice.

 

[berkeman]

1.5 C vs 2 C global warming: New study shows why half a degree matters

Global warming is scary. It makes me wonder why people don't take it too seriously. Though I have read somewhere that the energy consumption of the US actually went down by a bit last year so maybe people are taking baby steps.
I've been trying to do my part by changing some of my lights to solar powered ones and gathering rain water to use for washing the car and stuff. I'm glad that the company where I work is going to launch a go-green program as well.
What do you think people should do to further lessen their carbon footprint, water consumption and wastes?

There are lots of things! People emphasis car emission and how everybody should car pool, but, really, they are not the main causes. We have to do yearly smog checks and whatnot and this controls carbon foot prints relatively well—and then more and more people are purchasing electric cars. However, there are a lot of things that are not controlled. A huge example is private boats/yachts. There’s really no effort put into control smog check of boats. I always thought that that would be an easy step towards cleaner air, but nobody is putting that into practice.

Please remember that Global Warming discussions were banned for a while here at the PF, and only recently have been allowed again. We are only allowed to discuss the scientific literature and studies about GW. Discussing the article you posted @waternohitter is fine. But if the discussion wanders off into other things not related to the article, the thread might be closed.

From the GW discussion rules stickie thread at the top of the Earth forum:

CC/GW threads in this forum are intended for discussion of the scientific content of well-researched models of weather, climatology, and global warming that have been published in peer-reviewed journals and well-established textbooks.

Threads such "Is global warming real" or "Are humans the cause of global warming" are too broad and are subject to being locked. We want to encourage questions about specific research, news and events involved with climate science.

 

[rootone]

* comment removed *
I had not seen berkeman's post above, and my reply was related to the denialists rather than the facts of climate science.

 

[waternohitter]

Looks like our company is really serious about this. They even got http://www.ecova.com/solutions.aspx to monitor their energy usage for them. Is there a government bonus or something if you get to lower your energy bill?

 

[Jim60]

Never ceases to amaze me how complex our climate is.

 

[sankofam]

The most efficient way to save water is to not eat beef. 1 pound of beef requires more than 2000 gallons of water, that breaks down to about 600 gallons per burger.

 

[MATS309TrinaC]

I think the best way is the 3 R's ( Reduce, Reuse and Recycle) and make the most out of everything.

 

[SafeSpaceMizzou]

The most efficient way to save water is to not eat beef. 1 pound of beef requires more than 2000 gallons of water, that breaks down to about 600 gallons per burger.

This makes no sense. Where does the water go? Is it annihilated? Are cow stomachs made of anti-matter?

 

[mheslep]

... We are only allowed to discuss the scientific literature and studies about GW. Discussing the article you posted @waternohitter is fine. But if the discussion wanders off into other things not related to the article, the thread might be closed...

The thread opened with "Global warming is scary". There has been no discussion in any post about the referenced study, and it's assertion of a 4" difference in sea level rise from 0.5C.

Please remember that Global Warming discussions were banned for a while here at the PF, and only recently have been allowed again. We are only allowed to discuss the scientific literature and studies about GW. Discussing the article you posted @waternohitter is fine. But if the discussion wanders off into other things not related to the article, the thread might be closed.

From the GW discussion rules stickie thread at the top of the Earth forum:

 

[berkeman]

Thread closed for Moderation...