Be Part of the SOLUTION!

All the writing on this page raises one very question: „Is the world doomed?“
Gladly, I can answer: „Not yet, there is still a little time left to set things right“.
The time-window did not close, quite yet. But, what can we do to help fighting Climate Change?

Fight Climate Change!

German students demonstrating on account of the Fridays for Future movement, which originated from the Swedish climate activist Greta Tintin Eleonora Ernman Thunberg.

A couple of steps to tackle Climate Change:

The most important issue, in the combat against Climate Change, is to create a general awareness surrounding the topic. We can achieve that by sharing our knowledge. If you have trouble explaining Climate Change, then you could simply share some of the collected videos (viewable in the video slider), or this website. It would be immensely helpful if enough people would motivate/educate organizations to go greener. Please make sure, that your government/representatives are on the side of science.
Reduce, reuse, recycle. Example/Guideline: Idealistically, try to not buy plastic, which you would throw away after one use! Use reusable cups, so that you do not create waste every morning for your coffee cup! Though, if you forget your reusable cup, do not worry; order your coffee. After you drank up simply recycle your cup.
Control your energy usage. Change the way you gain energy from Fossil Fuel energy to renewable energies. Make sure, that you are using your energy wisely: turn off electronics after using them and try to minimize your energy usage. Buy more energy-efficient devices and adjust your heater after the weather.
Reduce your food waste, by buying only the food that you need and will eat. Eating less meat is one of the easiest and most significant impacts you can achieve. We can recommend to slowly reducing the amount of meat you eat so that it becomes easier to stick to a vegetarian (/vegan) diet once you get to the point. It helps to reduce atmospheric GHG drastically. In addition, pay attention to where the food comes from and try to avoid food, which had a long journey behind it. Most importantly, eat more regional and organic food.
Transportation: Buy an electric car, a full efficient vehicle, or simply drive less. Use the maximized space in the car by giving friends a ride or take hitchhikers with you (Of course, do not do that, if you mistrust them). Drive more often with public transit, like the bus, train, etc. Keep your tires in a good condition that will help to save fuel and keep these GHG out of the atmosphere, while you are at it get a good air filter for your car. If you are living in an urban area, you could consider walking more.
Get a track of your carbon footprint and try to reduce it as much as possible.

climate neutrality

According to the Climate Neutral Group, businesses are climate neutral, when they can demonstrate that their business causes absolutely zero CO2 emissions. If the Organisation achieves that aspired goal, they will be able to acquire the Climate Neutral Guarantee from the Climate Neutral Group. This is one of the examples of how our economy is changing into a more climate-friendly one.

Source: Climate Neutral Group

Another very efficient and easy way to help in the battle against Climate Change would be to support and/or to eventually donate to following projects/organizations:

Stand for Trees

Stand for Trees is a project funded by Code REDD and USAID and aims at tackling Climate Change by stopping the deforestation. How does that work? As I explained in the Chapter „Natural Cooling/Warming effects„, forests help to regulate our Climate by storing carbon dioxide. Deforestation is releasing these carbon storages, which creates an additional warming effect. How do they plan on stopping deforestation? Basically, normal people (YOU and ME) can buy a stand for tree certificate, that helps to protect a specific endangered forest. That would help to store carbon, generate oxygen, protect habitats, and support local communities. Click here to go to the Stand for Trees homepage.

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

The NRDC is a well known and very respected organization, which focuses on solving environmental problems. The NRDC is formed by many scientists, lawyers and policy advocates. They actively fight and publish articles about Climate Change, they also make it easier for you to get involved in even those environmental problems. I often relied on their Climate Change articles on this website. Click here to go to the NRDC homepage.

Environmental Defense Fund (EDF)

EDF is a non-profit organization, which is formed by scientists, economists, policy experts, etc.. They focus on the protection of natural systems, their main issue is Climate and Energy. They try to combat Climate Change by (for example) supporting the clean power plan. One of their main goals is: “(…)to stabilize the global climate, build defences against extreme weather, ensure food security and abundant oceans, and reduce exposure to air pollution and toxic chemicals” with our help by 2025. Click here to go to the EDF homepage.

The Nature Conservancy

The Nature Conservancy is a very recognized and respected environmental organization, which helps to protect nature by actively addressing and combating threats to the environment. They seek a world in which more people are respecting and acting to conserve the environment. One of their main issues is Climate Change. On this website, I had to rely on articles from the Nature Conservancy several times. Click here to go to the Nature Conservancy homepage.

The Solutions Project

The Solutions Project is battling Climate Change by improving and advertising renewable energies. The Solutions Project is a non-profit organisation, whose main goal is to create a change from Fossil Fuel energy to renewables. As I explained in the chapter „Greenhouse effect“ Fossil Fuel energy is one of the main contributors of the carbon dioxide in our atmosphere, which is warming our earth. The Solutions Project are introducing the Idea of a world, which is completely powered by renewable energies. Click here to go to the Solutions Project homepage.

Union of Concerned Scientist (UCS)

The UCS is a highly rated organization, which spends 32.8% of their budget in Climate and Energy. That is included in the 81%, which they spend on their active programs. A great part of their work includes Climate science. They have awesome staff with several Climate science experts. Click here to go to the homepage of UCS.

The Woolly Mammoth De-Extinction Project

The Woolly Mammoth de-extinction project is probably the most exciting idea to combat Climate Change. What is the general Idea behind it? Three different teams are currently trying to resurrect the Woolly Mammoth. The team of Havard University is led by prof. George M. Church, the Sooam Biotech team, which already clone dogs and a Russian team. If they could release the Woolly Mammoths to the Siberian Tundra again, it would help to delay Climate Change. In the permafrost of the Siberian Tundra are tons of GHG trapped. As soon as that permafrost melts, these GHG will be released to the atmosphere. Woolly Mammoth would help to delay Climate Change by simply living in the Siberian Tundra. By introducing gigantic animals like the Wooly Mammoth to the Tundra you could lower the temperatures by as much as 15 degrees [Fahrenheit]. How would they resurrect the Woolly Mammoth? The teams try to basically clone the mammoth. The Sooam Biotech team tries to find a mammoth corpse so well preserved, that they can clone the entire DNA, which is pretty difficult, because until now nobody ever found a mammoth corpse that well preserved. Scientist determined; part of the DNA gets lost, after the mammoth is frozen for that long of a time. The Havard team is currently trying to take an Asian elephant’s DNA and equip it with the helpful hand of the genome editing program CRISPR with Mammoth DNA trades. That would enable the new species to live in the extreme cold of the Siberian Tundra. How long would it take to de-extinct the Woolly Mammoth? As it seems it would still take about half a century to make a single herd of Woolly Mammoth and that is why we should not solely depend on the resurrection of Woolly Mammoth to prevent Climate Change. Nevertheless, it still could help to delay Climate Change in a later stage and who knows what kind of breakthroughs we may be able to achieve?

However, all of these ideas will not be worth anything if the individual does not want to embrace them or half-heartedly tries to do so and breaks back to his/her_ original habits. I hope my website made it clear why action must be taken. Now it is up to you! What actions will you take? Do you have ideas on your own? Think about it. If you desire to tell me your climate action plan or need help creating your own please feel free to use the contact page.

Sources

This Chapter, called “Be Part of the Solution”, is based on BBC (2), the guardian, National Geographic, Greenpeace, NRDC, Havard University, University of Bath and AZA!