Students from around the world calculated their class mean and standard deviations for their footprints and posted them on our world map.
Do you see differences across the globe? If so, why do you think those differences exist?
Did you use the calculator to try to reduce your footprint down to the average from a citizen of another country? What changes would you have to make to lower your footprint in this way? Are you going to try and take some of these actions in your daily life?
Student Footprints >
The Oceans Becoming More Acidic
We have been studying how the oceans are becoming more acidic in class. I was wondering what solutions there are currently and what could be future solutions. Any ideas?
One solution might be to lower the amount of carbon emissions in general because the less carbon there is in the air then the less the ocean will absorb.
Emilia,
Here's some ways to do that:
Seal up air leaks and add insulation to your home
Unplug devices when they're done charging/done using them. Don't skip this step. Though it can be bothersome it does make a difference.
Use CFL or LED bulbs.
Bring your own bag. DON'T UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF BRINGING YOUR OWN BAG!!!
Don't get new cars- even keeping an older model instead of buying a more efficient one helps the environment more.
BUT maintain your car well,
Do laundry AFTER 9:00
Also, here's some interesting info on how businesses are dealing with ocean acidification- http://oceanacidification.noaa.gov/Area … egies.aspx
Diego, you outlined really well some solutions that are on household level, which is really good but really can only do so much. Are there any changes that can be made on a larger scale? Also, is keeping your old car instead of getting a newer more efficient one? Even though I understand the logic, as making new cars takes energy, but in the long run wouldn't buying a new more fuel efficient car be more beneficial?
Benjamin- on a larger scale, there's a lot of good progress on carbon taxation. In addition, you should take a look at the NOAA site on ocean acidification. I left a link at the bottom of my previous comment.
Here's a bit of info on carbon tax-
http://www.carbontax.org/
In our class, we have been learning a lot about solutions that are more tied to politics and government. There are people pushing for carbon emission tax and even carbon emission limits. The thing is energy companies have so much money that it makes it challenging for any of these regulations to get passed.