Kelsey Gray Photography

According to NASA; “The current warming trend is of particular significance because most of it is very likely human-induced and proceeding at a rate that is unprecedented in the past 1,300 years.” 

Climate change is real, and it should be taken very seriously. The Earth’s average temperature is increasing faster than ever before. This paramount change effects everyone, and everything on the planet – humans, animals, forests, oceans. Sea levels are rising, oceans are becoming warmer, plant and animal species are dying.

To put it simply; with too many greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide), the Earth would heat up beyond survivable levels. Your carbon footprint is the amount of carbon dioxide released into the air due to your personal needs; transportation, electricity, food, clothing, and other goods.

To protect what we have left, we must immediately take action.

Kelsey Gray Photography

There are things each and everyone of us can do to slow down the process, and help reduce the problem.  

• Educate yourself, and others on this subject.
• Vote for candidates that don’t plan to destroy Earth. Candidates who are against coal ash, fracking and pesticides. These not only hurt the planet we live on, but us, as individuals. “Polluter profits cannot triumph over public health:” Check out Earth Justice for ways to help: http://earthjustice.org/
• Unplug. Turn off your electronics when not in use; computers, lights, TV’s, wash clothes in cold or warm water vs hot, and hang some of your clothes to dry.
• Buy organic and locally grown foods, or better yet, grow some of your own food. Make several of your meals meat & dairy-free. 18% of green house gas emissions come from meat & dairy production.
• Walk, ride your bike or take transit, instead of driving a car.
• Purchase solar panels for your home. Efficient solar panel systems create electricity without producing global warming pollution.
• Part of the problem is deforestation, as trees help remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by absorbing CO2 & other pollutants. Plant, plant, plant! OR donate to an organization that is devoted to increasing our forests: The Nature Conservancy.

I have already started implementing many of these, and I look forward to planting trees and building a vegetable garden this spring with my daughter.

What will you do to help?

For more facts regarding climate change, check out NASA’s Climate Change FAQ’s.

Kelsey Gray Photography