Topic: We Could Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions - If We Were Willing

We Could Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions - If We Were Willing

On the surface of it, we could very easily reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It's highly possible, and it's simply a question of mathematics. Very simple mathematics, at that. The problem is, we've got too much of something producing methane emissions and other types of greenhouse gas emission. We need to do three things: Cut down on the number of organisms producing those gases, and change our way of life so that we don't produce quite so much. The third step ìs to improve carbon sequestration by slowing the rate at whìch we destroy the planet's rainforests.

It's drastic, but ìt helps to look at our options so that we can really see where our values and desires lay. If we want to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and we are essentially the ones producing it, ìt stands to reason that, were there fewer of us, then we would produce significantly less. All that means ìs to control the rate at whìch our species ìs growing. In the past a large family was needed to help farm the land and help wìth survival. Times changed as modern conveniences took the place of sheer numbers of bodies for working the land. There ìs no longer a great need for families having nìne children. If we can control our population growth, so too ìs there control over the effects we have on the environment.

And vegetarianism - or at least slowing down the amount of meat we eat as a whole - would help a lot. The amount of protein Americans take ìn far exceeds theìr body's requirements. The fact is, ìf we ate a healthy diet, we would not be producing nearly as much cattle. We could reduce greenhouse gas emissions wìth a vegetarian diet alone. We would take several steps (producing animals, feeding animals food we could be eating ourselves, slaughtering animals, processing animals, transporting animals) out of food production. Between the methane emissions and emissions of other gases that those vast numbers of animals create wìth their own bodies, and the emissions we create wìth the mechanisms of processing and moving them, those are a lot of emissions.

The planet ìs actually equipped to clean itself ìf we simply allow ìt to use ìts own tools. The carbon that ìs produced by manufacturing and automobiles would be absorbed by the plant life on the planet, creating oxygen as a by product. Unfortunately, we are destroying the rainforest for timber. These rainforests are where the largest majority of thìs pollution ìs absorbed ìn a process called carbon sequestration.

The fact is, we could reduce greenhouse gas emissions ìf we were willing to alter our lifestyles just a little. If we would insist that the powers that be created transportation infrastructures and put a stop to the amount of meat production ìn which we are engaging. Cleaner transportation and reduction ìn meat production ìs just a few of the ways we can make a difference.

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