What Is Global Warming?

• Global warming is the gradual increase in Earth's temperature caused by gases such as carbon dioxide that become caught in Earth's atmosphere. The burning of fossil fuels, such as coal, oil and natural gas, release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Those gases trap the sun's heat close to Earth and prevent it from escaping into space.

According to NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the planet's average surface temperature has increased by about 1.2 to 1.4 degrees F in the last 100 years. In the last few hundred years, the eight warmest years on record have all occurred since 1998, with 2005 being the warmest year.

Effects

• Global warming can result in serious consequences for people, animals and the environment. Periods of fluctuating weather, such as extreme heat or cold, can have a negative impact on people's health. Animals can lose their habitats. Global warming affects sea levels and snow and ice cover. Melting sea ice affects polar bears and penguins, for example. They have less sea ice to float on as they hunt for food. Finally, warmer temperatures make it harder for some plants to grow.

Global warming is caused in part by humans, and scientists say Earth will continue to heat up unless people change some of their basic habits. There are several things people can do to reduce their use of greenhouse

Home Solutions

• At home, people release greenhouse gases when they use electricity. Experts recommend replacing standard light bulbs in the home with energy-efficient ones. Also, clean air filters regularly and have your home's heating and cooling systems checked each year by a professional.

Protect your home from air leaks and make sure it is well insulated to reduce the amount of energy it uses. Homeowners and renters can also recycle items such as paper and plastic whenever possible. Recycling helps conserve energy and reduce the pollution that results from manufacturing and disposing of items.

Driving Solutions

• It only takes a few thousand miles driven in one car to release about a ton of carbon dioxide into the environment, experts say. However, there are several things people can do to reduce global warming while driving. One easy method is to improve your car's fuel efficiency so it burns less fuel. Drivers can tap lightly on the brakes and gas, and reduce the amount of time spent idling in their vehicles. Also, lighten the load in your cars by removing unnecessary items from your trunk.

Drivers can opt to drive electric cars instead of gas-powered vehicles. They can also carpool, take public transportation, walk or ride a bicycle. Studies show that leaving the car home just two days per week can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an average of 1,600 pounds each year.

Top 10 Things You Can Do to Reduce Global Warming

1. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Do your part to reduce waste by choosing reusable products instead of disposables. Buying products with minimal packaging (including the economy size when that makes sense for you) will help to reduce waste. And whenever you can, recycle paper, plastic, newspaper, glass and aluminum cans. If there isn't a recycling program at your workplace, school, or in your community, ask about starting one. By recycling half of your household waste, you can save 2,400 pounds of carbon dioxide annually.

2. Use Less Heat and Air Conditioning

Adding insulation to your walls and attic, and installing weather stripping or caulking around doors and windows can lower your heating costs more than 25 percent, by reducing the amount of energy you need to heat and cool your home.

Turn down the heat while you're sleeping at night or away during the day, and keep temperatures moderate at all times. Setting your thermostat just 2 degrees lower in winter and higher in summer could save about 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide each year.

3. Change a Light Bulb

Wherever practical, replace regular light bulbs with compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs. Replacing just one 60-watt incandescent light bulb with a CFL will save you $30 over the life of the bulb. CFLs also last 10 times longer than incandescent bulbs, use two-thirds less energy, and give off 70 percent less heat.

If every U.S. family replaced one regular light bulb with a CFL, it would eliminate 90 billion pounds of greenhouse gases, the same as taking 7.5 million cars off the road.

4. Drive Less and Drive Smart

Less driving means fewer emissions. Besides saving gasoline, walking and biking are great forms of exercise. Explore your community mass transit system, and check out options for carpooling to work or school.

When you do drive, make sure your car is running efficiently. For example, keeping your tires properly inflated can improve your gas mileage by more than 3 percent. Every gallon of gas you save not only helps your budget, it also keeps 20 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.

5. Buy Energy-Efficient Products

When it's time to buy a new car, choose one that offers good gas mileage. Home appliances now come in a range of energy-efficient models, and compact florescent bulbs are designed to provide more natural-looking light while using far less energy than standard light bulbs.

Avoid products that come with excess packaging, especially molded plastic and other packaging that can't be recycled. If you reduce your household garbage by 10 percent, you can save 1,200 pounds of carbon dioxide annually.

6. Use Less Hot Water

Set your water heater at 120 degrees to save energy, and wrap it in an insulating blanket if it is more than 5 years old. Buy low-flow showerheads to save hot water and about 350 pounds of carbon dioxide yearly. Wash your clothes in warm or cold water to reduce your use of hot water and the energy required to produce it. That change alone can save at least 500 pounds of carbon dioxide annually in most households. Use the energy-saving settings on your dishwasher and let the dishes air-dry.

7. Use the "Off" Switch

Save electricity and reduce global warming by turning off lights when you leave a room, and using only as much light as you need. And remember to turn off your television, video player, stereo and computer when you're not using them.

It's also a good idea to turn off the water when you're not using it. While brushing your teeth, shampooing the dog or washing your car, turn off the water until you actually need it for rinsing. You'll reduce your water bill and help to conserve a vital resource.

8. Plant a Tree

If you have the means to plant a tree, start digging. During photosynthesis, trees and other plants absorb carbon dioxide and give off oxygen. They are an integral part of the natural atmospheric exchange cycle here on Earth, but there are too few of them to fully counter the increases in carbon dioxide caused by automobile traffic, manufacturing and other human activities. A single tree will absorb approximately one ton of carbon dioxide during its lifetime.

9. Get a Report Card from Your Utility Company

Many utility companies provide free home energy audits to help consumers identify areas in their homes that may not be energy efficient. In addition, many utility companies offer rebate programs to help pay for the cost of energy-efficient upgrades.

10. Encourage Others to Conserve

Share information about recycling and energy conservation with your friends, neighbors and co-workers, and take opportunities to encourage public officials to establish programs and policies that are good for the environment.

These 10 steps will take you a long way toward reducing your energy use and your monthly budget. And less energy use means less dependence on the fossil fuels that create greenhouse gases and contribute to global warming.

How to Prevent Global Warming In Your Home

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• How To Prevent Global Warming - Making Changes In Your Life
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How To Prevent Global Warming In Your Home

Learning how to prevent global warming in your on home is simple. The first thing for you to do is to understand which areas you should focus on the most. The biggest sources of global warming causing gases in most homes come from heating, cooling, and eletricity use for appliances and lighting.

How To Prevent Global Warming By Reducing Your Heating & Cooling

Preventing global warming in your home requires using less energy to stay warm in the winter and cool in the summer, which means you need to find the places your home leaks air and plug those holes. Typical places that you'll find leaks are around windows and doors, which can easily be fixed with a little bit of weather stripping, making this the easiest way to help prevent global warming in your own home. Your windows cause a lot of heat loss, and cooling loss because windows are much less insulated than your walls, and this can be remedied with thermal curtains.

The recomendations above will help reduce your homes contribution to global warming a little bit, but if you really want to make a big dent in your carbon footprint, then you should consider doing more significant remodeling of your home to increase the insulation in your walls and roof, and to incorporate passive heating and cooling using the earth and the sun.

How to Prevent Global Warming By Using Less Electricity

Using less electricity is pretty simple if you are willing to make some changes in your daily life. The first thing to understand is that anything that heats up by using electricity requires a lot of energy, and it's best to find alternatives. Some examples of the kinds of appliances you want to avoide are toasters, irons, ovens, dryers, dishwashers, hair curlers, etc. Most of these kinds of technologies are easy enough to do without. You can hang your clothing as soon as you are done washing it and you'll eliminate your need to use a dryer for example.

Turning off lights and appliancs when they are not in use is also a very simple, and basic act that helps prevent global warming. Try putting up signs around your house to remind you and others to turn things of when they are not in use. Also, many appliances like DVD players still draw electricity even after you have turned them off. The way you can tell if an appliance is still drawing electricity after you turn it off is to see if there is still some sort of digital display or light that is on. If so, you are using electricity. To deal with this you can get power strips and plug your appliances in