Carbon Footprints

1. Carbon Footprints by: Summer Osterhout

2. What is a Carbon Footprint? • The term : carbon footprint refers to the amount of C02 we produce as individuals in any one year period. • C02 is produced by many sources • It is the primary gas responsible for global warming and the alarming change in the earth’s climate. • Almost everything we do requires the use of energy, and the use of energy requires us to burn fossil fuels. • An average American is responsible for 19-21 tons of C02 being released in the atmosphere. • For some Americans their carbon footprint is less, and for some a lot more. • The US is responsible for emitting 25% of the green house gases going into the atmosphere even though we are only 5% of the world’s population.

3. How Can you reduce your Carbon Footprint at home? • Set your thermostat at no more than 68 degrees in the winter and no less than 78 degrees in the summer, cutting carbon dioxide (CO2) by 10% to 20%. • Keep cool with shades and blinds (cutting CO2 by 10% to 30%) • Replace incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs (cutting CO2 by up to 80%.) • Wrap your hot water heater with a blanket, cutting CO2 by up to 5%. • Install a programmable thermostat, cutting CO2 by 10% to 30%. • Weatherize your house by sealing doors and windows, cutting CO2 by up to 20%. • Get a free energy audit from the Energy Trust learn about and adopt additional energy efficiency measures that will save energy and money and curb CO2. • Eat lower on the food chain. Vegetarian food takes much less energy to produce. • See climate-friendly tips for lawn and garden  • Conserve water. http://www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.aspx

4. Facts about*Carbon • Everything that grows is built out of carbon • Therefore carbon is natures building block • Carbon is also stored in great quantities of all fossil fuels. • When carbon is in solid form like a tree trunk or coal, it is harmless. • But when carbon is burned, it is turned into Carbon Dioxide or better known as C02. • Increasing amounts of C02 in the earth’s atmosphere is one of the responsible factors that contributed to the crisis of Global Warming.

5. Carbon footprint & the environment • Our increasing carbon footprint is having profound effects on the environment. • Rising temperatures and shifting precipitation patterns are changing the growth patterns of plants and result in indigenous vegetation moving to increasingly cooler climates. • Sea levels are rising as the temperature of our planet increases • Rising seas will not only erode shorelines and destroy ecosystems, coastal cities and towns could be displaced by rising seas.

6. Carbon footprint & human health: • Our increased carbon footprint has the capacity to harm our health. • Most at risk are women in agricultural work and children. According to the World Health Organization, climate change is suspected to increase the percentage of people in Mali suffering from hunger from 34 percent to at least 64 percent 40 years from now.

7. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJwt9nwCElA&feature=fvst

8. Bibliography • http://www.marioninstitute.org/programs/gaviotas-carbon-offset-initiative?gclid=CPifz-D9_6UCFYSK4Aode2zPnA • http://www.oeconline.org/resources/livinggreen/what-you-can-do-to-reduce-your-carbon-footprint/athome • http://www.livestrong.com/article/183436-the-importance-of-reducing-a-carbon-footprint/ • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJwt9nwCElA&feature=fvst