Global Warming Solutions

I won't go into what is global warming and how its affecting us. Anyone who hasn't been living in a cave knows what it is. So let's get down to the question - What can you do to stop global warming. Answer - Nothing.

Hold on. I don't mean you should do nothing. What I mean is that anything and everything you do is absolutely useless to stop global warming. The McKinsey Global Institute predicts that, under present trends, worldwide energy use will have risen 45 percent from 2003 to 2020. China will have accounted for a third of the increase, all developing countries for four fifths. Even after assuming huge improvements in energy efficiency (better light bulbs, etc.), McKinsey still projects an increase of 13 percent in global energy demand. Source - Newsweek.

Okay, before you give up hope, let's look at this from another angle. The solution is not to reduce consumption, which is really futile, but to find ways to solve the problems arising out of that consumption. Specifically speaking, your energy use contibutes to greenhouse gas emissions, like Carbon Di Oxide, which leads to global warming. The solution is not to emit less CO2, but to find ways to get that CO2 out of the atmosphere. This calls for some major research and a technological breakthrough. But its not as far fetched as you think. Its not a science fiction movie. Its almost reality. Continue reading to find out why you can continue to enjoy your Hummer and diss the Prius.

This website has a lot of great ideas and ongoing research into how CO2 can be absorbed back from the atmosphere and converted into useful energy. There is a worldwide effort to come up with something practical, which can be applied on a large scale and really make a dent on global warming.

Whatever the ultimate device used, the basic concept is simple. We, human beings, are breathing in oxygen and pumping CO2 into the atmosphere. Green plants take in CO2 from the atmosphere and give out oxygen in a process called photosynthesis, which I'm sure youall studied in school ( Stomata and epidermis sound vaguely familiar? You probably spelt through biology class. So did I ). Its an ecosystem which was working just fine, until we started razing entire forests into barren wastelands, which left us with a dysfunctional ecosystem. To correct this imbalance, we need more plants. Probem is, we don't have the free land anymore to plant entire forests, since its already inhabited. So we need to duplicate the process by which plants take in CO2 and convert it into energy. This is what is known as artificial photosynthesis and this is what is going to save the planet from global warming.

You want to lead a cardon neutral life or reduce your cardon footprint or drive a prius or use solar panels, go ahead. But if you really want to save the planet - I mean, like, not just feel good 'let's save the planet with Al Gore', but something which actually has a very good chance of working, then support research into artificial photosynthesis. Contact your Congress Representative to ask them why they're not supporting more research into this. Ask your Chemistry Professor what he knows about this. Do whatever you can, and make this something the whole nation wants to do - Like beating the Soviets to be the first on the moon. Only this time, the stakes are a tad bit higher.