Blog Action Day: How Bloggers Can Combat Climate Change

Today is Blog Action Day, and I want to talk about how bloggers can act to combat climate change.

But first things first, what is climate change? It is the change in the average weather around the world. In our specific case the weather is getting hotter (hence why people talk about global warming). This change is partially caused by natural factors (e.g., changes in Earth’s orbit), but the human factor also plays an important role, with the increasing concentration of greenhouses.

Agencies of the European Union estimate that if things don’t change the average temperature around the world might increase as much as 6°C by the end of this century. Why is this bad? Because the sea level will rise, and the frequency of extreme weather events like hurricanes and tsunamis will increase.

“OK,” you might be saying, “but what can I do to combat the climate change?” Here are some ideas:

1. Write About It

The first step to combat any problem is to recognize that we do have a problem. Many people still ignore (deliberately or not) the threats of climate change, and that is why it is important to get as many people as possible discussing about the issue.

The purpose of the Blog Action Day is exactly that: to get bloggers from around the world talking about the same issue on the same day. If we manage to generate enough buzz, the messages will propagate through mainstream media and beyond, reaching the general public.

Make sure to participate and write a post about climate change today.

2. Make Your Home Office Eco-Friendly

There are many hardware changes you can make to reduce your energy consumption. If you are still using a CTR monitor, for instance, you could purchase an LCD, which consumes much less energy.

Secondly, look for energy efficiency labels whenever buying an electronic device. This is particularly important when purchasing light bulbs, as efficient ones will save as much as 80% on energy consumption.

3. Make Your Habits Eco-Friendly

Apart from changing your hardware you can also save energy by changing your habits. Instead of driving everyday to the office, for instance, try to telecommute a couple of days a week.

Secondly, develop the habit of turning your computer and other electronics off whenever you can. Even if you use energy efficient products, they will still consume some power, and over the course of an year it adds up.

Over to the Readers

What about you, are you participating in Blog Action Day? Do you think that climate change poses a big threat to our society?