Let there be energy-- from light

The amount of solar energy the bathes the earth in a single hous cold, if harnessed, supply energy needs around the wold for a year. The tecnology to harvest even a tiny fraction of that energy at a reasonable cost does not yet exist-but we´re getting closer. It now costs seven times as much to create electricity from solar panels as it does from burning coal. Why the high price tag? Silicon is expensive, and it´s needed to make the photovoltaic cells that convert sunlight to nergy, as seen here near San Luis Obispo, Calif. Another factor: new technology and the infrastructure to support it require substancial up front investments.

Even so, the price of solar energy has declined steeply in the past few yaers and will continue to fall. Add tax breaks and other forms of official support, along with economies of the businness matures, and solar power ,which produces no carbon emissions or other greenhouse gases, Begins to look competitive with cheap but dirty hydrocarbons.

Shut off your computer

A screen saver is not an energy saver. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, 75% of all the electricity consumed in the home is standby power used to keep electronics running when those TVs, DVRs, computers, monitors and stereos are "off." The average desktop computer, not including the monitor, consumes from 60 to 250 watts a day. Compared with a machine left on 24/7, a computer that is in use four hours a day and turned off the rest of the time would save you about $70 a year. The carbon impact would be even greater. Shutting it off would reduce the machine's CO2 emissions 83%, to just 63 kg a year.

Remove the tie

How can a tie help fight climate change? When you leave it at home. In the "cool biz" summer of 2005, Japanese salarymen swapped their trademark dark blue business suits for open collars and light tropical colors. It was all part of the Japanese government's effort to save energy by keeping its office temperatures at 82.4�F throughout the summer.
The policy caused sartorial confusion but did make a dent in Japan's rising carbon emissions. In one summer, Japan cut an estimated 79,000 tons of CO2. If U.S. businesses eased off on their arctic-level air-conditioning, the gains could be significant. Time to make every summer day casual Friday?

Have a green wedding

You won't be able to stop global warming on your wedding day, but your choices can lessen the carbon footprint of your event. For example, if your guests are traveling long distances, offset the carbon emissions from their trips with a donation to renewable—energy projects. The sustainable—wedding website Portovert.com, in partnership with NativeEnergy, a renewable energy company, offers a wedding carbon calculator where couples can enter the number of guests and approximate miles traveled, to calculate the carbon impact of their wedding—related travel.

Wherever you celebrate, you can reduce your CO2 impact and often save money by giving your wedding a local touch. Buy wine from a nearby vineyard or beer from a neighborhood brewery. Get your wedding cake from a local bakery, and use seasonal flowers, not imports. "Why eat food or drink wine or beer that has traveled thousands of miles when you can choose local options that are just as good?" says Meghan Meyers, CEO of portovert.com.

Anything you do to make your wedding a little more modest—from wearing a borrowed wedding dress to choosing recycled paper or a website for your invitations—will lower its contribution to carbon emissions. Consider it your wedding gift to the planet.

This is an extended version of the article that originally appeared in TIME Magazine.

Straighten up and fly right

Until we can travel by fireplace, Harry Potter-style, the only way to get from Los Angeles to London is by carbon-spewing jet airliner. One simple change can help: adjust the exit and entry points each nation sets for its airspace so that planes can fly in as straight a line as possible. Last year the International Air Transport Association negotiated a more direct route from China to Europe that shaved an average 30 minutes off flight time, eliminating 84,800 metric tons of CO2 annually. Unifying European airspace as a "single sky" could cut fuel use up to 12%. Pilots could also change the way they fly. Abrupt drops in altitude waste fuel, so experts are advocating "continuous descent" until the plane reaches the runway—where it could be towed instead of burning fuel while taxiing. Of course, the best way to reduce plane emissions is to fly less. At least until the fireplace is ready for takeoff.

Plant a bamboo fence

Bamboo makes a beautiful fence, and because it grows so quickly (as much as 1 ft. a day or more, depending on the species), it absorbs more CO2 than, say, a rosebush. Most homeowners have to restrict its growth, lest it get out of control. Do this, however, and you reduce bamboo's capacity as a carbon sink. Only large-scale plantings, which absorb CO2 faster than they release it, can favorably tip the scales. How big is your yard?

Support your local farmer

Fruit, vegetables, meat and milk produced closer to home rack up fewer "petroleum miles" than products trucked cross-country to your table. How do you find them? Search localharvest.org by ZIP code for farmers' markets, greengrocers and food co-ops in your area. The website, which includes handy contact information in its directory listings, also identifies restaurants that specialize in regional and seasonal ingredients. If you really want to get close to the farm, join a Community Supported Agriculture project, which lets you buy shares in a farmer's annual harvest. In return, you get a box of produce every week for a season. It will take more than a few visits to the farm stand to reduce the carbon impact of the U.S. food supply. In the meantime, here's another reason to go local: the taste is great.

Disney

Wow in the equipment(team) of ciberbots are very satisfied for that cadavez mas people join the fight against the Global Warming and it for us is something very agradeble between(among) mas people one to this fight mas rapidly we will be able to stop this great problem.For which we order a great letter of congratulation Disney since a new movie has just released on the Global Warming this sera a good form in order that the children enter mas to this topic.

Guarding a Screpter´d late

Rising water levels are one of the most potent threars posed by global warming. In response Britain has doubled its spending on flood prevention. The most visible evidence of the danger is the Thames Barrier, a set of hulking yet beautiful floodgates that bisect the waterway II miles downriver from central London. When he barrier became operational in 1983, 30 years after the massive flood that spurred its construction, planners expected that in might have to close once or twice a year to keep ocean storm surges from inundating the capital. In tha past decade,however,extreme weather has caused the barrier to be closed an average of I0 times each year.

Guarding a scepter´d isle

Rising water levels are one of the most potent threast posed by global warming. In response Britain has doubled its speading on flood prevention. The most visible evidence of the danger is the Thames Barrier, a set of hulking yet beautiful floodgates that bisect the waterway II miles dowriver from central London. When the Barrier became operational in I983 30 years after the massive flood taht spurred its construction, planners expected that it might have a close once or twice a year to keep ocean storm surges from inundating the capital, In the past decade, however extreme weather has caused the barrier to be closed the barrier to be closed an average of I0 times each year.

plugging into the power of the planet.

Solar and wind power realy upon factors that can´t be pretited: ample sustained breeze. But geothernal power , whitch taps the scorching temperature that radiate outward fron the anet-- the only variables are how deep you need to dig before finding it and at what cost. And as princes for gasoline and natural gas creep ever upward geothecal seems increasingly like a bargain. A 2006 report bye the Massachusetts Institute of Technology indicated that witch a $1 billion investment in the coming years, geothermal energy could supply 10% of all U.S power needs by 2050, on a par with nuclear and hydroelectric power. The world role model in this process will be Iceland, Whose Nesjavellir geothermal plant is shown here; 90% of the national´s power is generated ftrom geothermal and hydroelectric surces.

To catch the wind

Generating electricity from the power of the wind is one of the few forms alternative energy that make economic sense at present :when a federal tax subside is factored in, wind the power is competitive whit the least expensive--- and most polluting—forms of traditional fuel , like coal. And it doest produce a wisp of carbon exhaust. The power industry is paying heed: by 2004, U.S. power supply as the did in 2000, and amount equivalent to the burning of 9millions tons of coal.So why isn’t wind power catching on ever one? Apart from the iffy nature of relying on the breeze for steady power, some folks bemoan the birds and bats that are cuisnarted by giant wind turbines, while others who live near wind farms grumble about noise, unpleasant views and declining property values. But as global warming heats up- well, you don’t need a weatherman to know witch way the wind blows.

“BRIEFING: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS”

WHAT IS GLOBAL WARMING?It is gradual worldwide rise in surface temperature observed across the entire planet in recent decades.
WHAT CAUSES THE GLOBAL WARMING?
The vast majority of qualified scientist believes it is caused, at least in large measure, by the greenhouse effect.
WHAT IS THE GREEN HOUSE EFFECT? HOW DOES IT WORK?
It is the mechanism by which Earth’s atmosphere behaves like the panes of glass on a green house, allowing solar warmth to pass through, but preventing it from escaping back into space-those raising the temperature inside the “greenhouse” Certain gases (especially water vapor and carbon dioxide) act like the panes of glass, allowing solar heat to pass in but not out. These are called greenhouse gases.
IS THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT HARMFUL?
The greenhouse effect is a finely tuned mechanism, and if its delicate balance is upset, Earth’s surface could become dangerously hot, with potentially catastrophic results for life on the planet.
IS GLOBAL WARMING A THEORY, A FACT OR SOMETHING IN BETWEE?
It’s a theory, but only in the sense that gravity, relativity and evolution are theories: as in those cases most scientists now accept the broad outlines of global warming as the most convincing explanation of an observed phenomenon, one that is strongly supported by all the available evidence. That said, there are a number of important ongoing scientific disputes about the details of the warming process.

WHAT ARE THE CONSEQUENCES OF WLOB AL WARMING?
They are impossible to predict with precision, but they could include rising ocean levels (and accompany flooding of low-lying areas worldwide), dramatically increased storm activity, more frequent and severe droughts, the massive die-off of species whose habitats or food source are compromised by warming.

IS HUMAN ACTIVITY CONTRIBUTING TO GLOAL WARMING?
Yes. Our planet’s atmosphere has become overloaded with carbon dioxide (CO2), one of the most potent greenhouse gasses. Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, CO2 levels in the atmosphere have spiked to levels not seen for hundreds of thousands of year. A 2007 report issued by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the world’s foremost scientific authority on the subject, declared that “warming of the climate system is unequivocal” and that there is “very high confidence” that human activity since 1750 has played a significant role in over loading the atmosphere witch CO2.

WHAT ARE WE DOING THAT’S CONTRIBUTING TO THE PROBLEM?
Our societies rely on power producer by burning hydrocarbon, chiefly in the form of fossil fuels such as oil, coal and natural gas. These fuels release energy when the hydrogen/carbon bond is broken, but also release large amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses.
HAS GLOBAL WARMING OCURRES BEFORE?
Yes, several times in Earth’s prehuman past, the atmosphere became overloaded with greenhouse gases and worldwide temperatures increased dramatically.
WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT EARLIER EPISODES OF GLOBAL WARMING?
Although the reason for ancient spikes in greenhouse-gas levels and temperatures are unclear, we know with near certainly based on geological evidence that they occurred. We also have a reasonably clear idea of the consequences. In the Permian .

Buried Treasure

One paradox of global warming is that it can cause both too much and too little rain, flooding some areas while others suffer prolonged drought. Australia has been parched for more than five years, making the water crisis a central issue in that country’s politics. In southwest China’s Sichuan region, no enduring its worst drought in more than a century, a 2006 crisis left more than 17,000 people without drinking water; in 2007 the government- and university- operated U.S.
Drought Monitor website reported that half the continental U.S. was experiencing abnormal dryness or drought. Over the previous four years, drought patterns migrated cast, crippling crops, shrinking lakes and drying up wells in eight southern states. Florida’s lake Okeechobee, the second largest body of fresh water in America, fell to a record low level in 2007, leaving so much of the bed dry that 12,000 acres of it caught fire in may.Draught can lead to desertification, the process by which once arable land is replaced by arid desert. In some cases, including the current humanitarian crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan, war and genocide are the ghastly offspring of drought, as shrinking supplies of water and fertilizer land breed violence. Here, farmers in Garissa, Kenya, seek water in 2006 at a well dug by hand

California Conflagration

Wildfires are both a cause and a result of global warming. Parched, arid conditions caused by higher temperatures and less rainfall are nature´s recipe for a tinderbox.
Add lightning and you´ve got a raging wildfire than can consume hundreds of square miles of woodland in a few days. Result: the increasing incidence and intensity of such fires around the world. Here, the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles in threatened by a wildfire on May 9, 2007.
Fire also helps forge climate change. In the developing world woodlands and rain forest are being cleared at a staggering rate to make way for crops and livestock grazing, almost always witch the use of deiverity ser fires.
Every second of very dat, a slice of forest the size of a football field goes up in smoke, pumping millions of tons of carbon into the atmosphere an taking more of the carbon mitigation engines-trees-out of service. Satellite photos have detected more than 70000 fires burning simultaneously in the Amazon River rain forest

Heat, Floodwaters and Risk Are Rising.

Two of the sharpest created by global warming-flooding and drought-account for more than half the world´s deaths from natural disaster. Nations whose land lies cloas to sea level, licke the Netherlands, Bangladesh and Indonesia, are locations where natural barriers against water have been degraded by ma. Scientist believe that Hurricanes Katrina would have been degraded by man. Scientist believe that Hurricane Katrinea would have paked a far less devasting punch if the wetlands that buffer New Orleans from the Gulf of Mexico had not been removed by imprudent levee-building and oil and gas development. As warming creates extreme weather patterns, lives are disrupted. In february 2007, as many as 400,000 Indonesians in the capital city, jakarta, shown here, were displaced by huge floods that followed several days of torrential rainstorms.

A Drop-by-Drop Disaster

As glaciers in Greenland heat up, they are dumoing water into the ocean at a rate greater than one cubic mile per week, scientists, scientists determined in 2005. For perspective, one cubic mile of water is about five times the amount Los Angeles uses in a year. The concern: that´s more than twice the previously observed rat of melt and runoff.

By some estimates, if the entire Greenland ice sheet (here turning to slush near Ililussat in 2006) were to melt, it would disgorge enough water to melt, it would disgorge enough water to raise global sea levels 23 ft., swallowing up large parts of coastal Florida, most of Bangladesh and many other regions worldwide.

Fueling the Crisis

Hydrocarbon fuels were fist used to create energy at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution ,as mankind began to run short of traditional fuels like wood and whale oil.

The new fuels contained more latent energy than any previously discovered but they also came with a flaw: the carbon emissions that are an unavoidable by-product of their combustion.There gases build up in the planets atmosphere, where they act like the panes of glass on a greenhouse, allowing the sun´s warmth in but not back out. As heat that would ordinaly radiate off into space is instead fefleted once again toward the planet´s surface temperature begin to rise and the globe begins to warm.

ONLY IT IS TO SAY NOT TO THE CARRIER BAGS

Attention, to the buyers! These bags of white plastic that we take to house from the supermarket and they are not degradables, possibly end in a tiradero. Every year, more than 500 million carrier bags are distributed, and less than 3 % of the bags(stock exchanges) is recycled. Every year, more than 500 billions plastic purses are distributed, and less those of 3 % of these purses retrain. They are done typically of the polyethylene and can take up to 1000 years for biodegradarse in the tiraderos that express(emit) the gases that provoke the greenhouse effect. The reduction of the pollution by carrier bags is so simple as to use a paper bag when you buy bread, or you go to the supermarket.

OPEN A WINDOW

Most of 25 tons per year of emission of the CO2 comes from the home. Here there are some ways easy to lower these numbers Open a window instead of lighting the air conditioning. The termóstato fits a couple of degrees more above in summer and go down in winter. Cover all his doors and windows. Isolate hiswalls and roofs. Install watering-cans of low flow. Wash the clothes in lukewarm or cold water. Lower the temperature in the water kettle. At the end of the year, it is not surprised if his house feels more light. It(he,she) has just lost 1824 kilograms of the dioxide of carbon.

The Autonomous University of the State of Mexico

The Autonomous University of the State of Mexico, across the Faculty of Urban and Regional Plantation, signed the Letter of adhesion to the " alliance against the climatic change ", in the frame of the Forum summoned by the Secondary Official School " Heroes of the Independence " of Toluca's city, which it organized with the Maximum University mexiquense and the Commission of Nature reserves and of the Fauna of the entity.There signed the document groups environmentalists of Toluca's Valley; representatives of the Teachers' Union to the Service of the State of Mexico; the secretary of the Environment mexiquense, Guillermo Velasco Rodrigues, and the director of the Faculty Francisco Javier Rosas Ferrusca.

Skip the Steak

Which is responsible for more global warming: your BMW or your Big Mac? Believe it or not, it's the burger. The international meat industry generates roughly 18% of the world's greenhouse-gas emissions—even more than transportation—according to a report last year from the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization.
Much of that comes from the nitrous oxide in manure and the methane that is, as the New York Times delicately put it, "the natural result of bovine digestion." Methane has a warming effect that is 23 times as great as that of carbon, while nitrous oxide is 296 times as great.
There are 1.5 billion cattle and buffalo on the planet, along with 1.7 billion sheep and goats. Their populations are rising fast, especially in the developing world. Global meat production is expected to double between 2001 and 2050. Given the amount of energy consumed raising, shipping and selling livestock, a 16-oz.T-bone is like a Hummer on a plate.
If you switch to vegetarianism, you can shrink your carbon footprint by up to 1.5 tons of carbon dioxide a year, according to research by the University of Chicago. Trading a standard car for a hybrid cuts only about one ton—and isn't as tasty.

Cozy Up to Your Water Heater

Improving your home's efficiency doesn't have to mean hours in the attic tearing out the insulation. It might be as simple as giving your dear old water heater a warm hug. Wrapping your heater in an insulated blanket—one costs about $10 to $20 at home centers—could save your household about 250 lbs. in CO2 emissions annually. Most water heaters more than five years old are constantly losing heat and wasting energy because they lack internal insulation. If the surface feels warm to the touch, get your heater an extra blankie. You'll both feel better.

Pay the Carbon Tax

Everyone agrees that it's necessary to reduce carbon emissions around the world. There is less agreement over exactly how nations should go about achieving a more carbon-free planet. Cap-and-trade carbon emissions, or impose a carbon tax on all users? With cap-and-trade programs, governments limit the level of carbon that can be emitted by an industry. Companies that hold their emissions below the cap can sell their remaining allowance on a carbon market, while companies that exceed their limit must purchase credits on that market. Carbon taxes are more straightforward: a set tax rate is placed on the consumption of carbon in any form—fossil-fuel electricity, gasoline—with the idea that raising the price will encourage industries and individuals to consume less. At the moment, cap-and-trade has the upper hand, since it serves as the backbone of the current Kyoto Protocol, and helped the U.S. reduce acid rain in the 1990s—but don't write off the tax just yet.
Supporters of the tax argue that a cap-and-trade system, especially one that would be global enough to mitigate the 8 billion tons of carbon the world now emits, would be too difficult to administer—and too easily gamed by industries looking to sidestep emissions caps. Cap-and-trade advocates counter that like all other flat taxes, a carbon levy would disproportionately burden lower-income families, who spend a greater percentage of their income on energy than rich households.
So which system will have the largest impact on carbon consumption? A 10% flat carbon tax might reduce the demand for carbon about 5% or less, according to an analysis by the Carbon Tax Center, an environmental advocacy group. That may not be enough. Businesses and governments haven't figured out how the two competing regimes can work together, but in the end, the world may need both.

Light Up Your City

Cities can save energy—and money—by illuminating public spaces with LEDs, or light-emitting diodes. Last December Raleigh, N.C., turned one floor of a municipal parking garage into a testing ground for LEDs (see the before-and-after photos at cree.com/LEDcity). The new white, brighter fixtures use 40% less electricity than the high-pressure sodium bulbs they replaced. Although they cost two to three times as much, they can go five or more years without upkeep. Traditional bulbs must be replaced every 18 months. Other types of LEDs are already at work in traffic lights, outdoor displays (like those in New York City's Times Square) and stadiums; airports even use LEDs on their taxiways. If your city is still burning tax money on old lights, ask the mayor why.

Change Your Lightbulbs

The hottest thing in household energy savings is the compact fluorescent lightbulb (CFL), a funny-looking swirl that fits into standard sockets. CFLs cost three to five times as much as conventional incandescent bulbs yet use one-quarter the electricity and last several years longer. They are available virtually everywhere lightbulbs are sold. Most labels don't say "CFL" (GE calls its bulbs Energy Savers), and in some cases the telltale twist is enclosed in frosted glass. The wattage gives them away: many 7-watt CFLs are comparable to a regular 40-watt bulb, 26 watts is the typical CFL equivalent of 100 watts and so on. Or just look for the Energy Star label.
CFLs have come a long way since they were first introduced in the mid-'90s (they don't flicker as much when you turn them on, for one thing), but because each bulb still contains 5 mg of mercury, you're not supposed to toss them out with the regular trash, where they could end up in a landfill. So the bulbs are one more thing for you to sort in the recycling bin.
Light-emitting diodes, or LEDs (see item 4), don't have this problem, but they can require a bit of DIY rewiring. LEDs work great as accents and task lights, and you can also buy LED desk and floor lamps. But if you're just looking to put a green bulb in your favorite table lamp, CFL is the way to go.

Get Blueprints For a Green House

Reducing your impact on the earth is not just a question of what you drive but also of what you live in. Residential energy use accounts for 16% of greenhouse-gas emissions. If you begin thinking green at the blueprint stage, however, low-tech, pragmatic techniques will maximize your new home's efficiency. Installing those systems from the ground up is cheaper than retrofitting. "Doing simple things could drastically reduce your energy costs, by 40%," says Oru Bose, a sustainable-design architect in Santa Fe, N.M. For example, control heat, air and moisture leakage by sealing windows and doors. Insulate the garage, attic and basement with natural, nontoxic materials like reclaimed blue jeans. Protect windows from sunrays with large overhangs and double-pane glass. Emphasize natural cross ventilation. "You don't need to have 24th century solutions to solve 18th century problems," Bose says. Next, consider renewable energy sources like solar electric systems, compact wind turbines and geothermal heat pumps to help power your home. When you're ready to get creative, GreenHomeGuide.com will help you find bamboo flooring, cork tiles, and countertops made from recycled wastepaper.

WFF

The foundation of the wild life is an organism creadoase mas of 5 decades and account with mas of 5 million supporters in 5 continents. This organization arose in 1960 when Sir Julian Huxley I travel to the east of Africa to observe the condition of the wild life in that region. When Huxley I return to England he wrote three articles for the newspaper the observer of London in that he was warning the serious destruction of live of the indiscriminate hunt, which according to hiscalculations would finish with the wild life in the region in a space not bigger than 20 years.The response was satisfactory the businessman Victor Stolan I contact to huxley and itproposed himto forman international organization for the conservation of the animals. Soon he was joined by the ornithologist Max Nicholson and there was born the group, which put his(her,your) headquarters in Swiss, though with the idea always of having national representations that were attending closely to the problems of every region.

Consume Less, Share More, Live Simply

The chance to buy a carbon offset—in essence, an emissions indulgence—appeals to the environmental sinner in all of us. But there is an older path to reducing our impact on the planet that will feel familar to Evangelical Christians and Buddhists alike. Live simply. Meditate. Consume less. Think more. Get to know your neighbors. Borrow when you need to and lend when asked. E.F. Schumacher praised that philosophy this way in Small Is Beautiful: "Amazingly small means leading to extraordinarily satisfying results."

Be aggressive about passive

Georg Zielke, his wife and kids share a five-bedroom "passive house" in Darmstadt, Germany, with heating costs 90% lower than their neighbors'. Extra insulation and state-of-the-art ventilation recycle the energy from passive sources such as body heat, the sun and household appliances to warm the air. When it gets really cold, the Zielkes just turn on the TV.

The German government has thrown its weight behind the idea, guaranteeing low cost loans for people who want to build a passive house. They cost about 5% to 8% more to build than a standard one. Invented in a German-Swedish joint-venture in he early 1990s, about 10,000 have been built in Europe so far, most of them in Germany—and just three in the U.S.

Set a Higher Standard

If cars have to meet energy standards, why don't power plants? Carbon-emission standards limiting the amount of CO2 that a new power plant can spew are in place in a handful of states. California's tough new rules virtually exclude new coal plants until clean-coal technology comes on line, and could establish a national standard—just as they might for auto emissions. A federal carbon standard would be aggressively opposed by power companies that depend on coal. But it could also spur investment in renewables, clean coal and even nuclear (that's another fight) more rapidly than carbon taxes or cap-and-trade systems. With 159 new coal-powered plants slated for the next decade, a critical choice is looming.

Drive Green on the Scenic Route

Going on vacation doesn't have to mean leaving your green conscience at home. The car-sharing service Zipcar rents hybrids cars in five U.S. cities, Toronto and London. A few specialty companies offer rental cars that run on biodiesel fuel, a clean-burning substance derived from renewable sources like vegetable oil. Bio-Beetle rents eco-friendly cars, ranging from Passats to Jeeps, in Hawaii and Los Angeles. A week's rental in L.A. runs from $200 to $300. And competitor EV Rental Cars has started to expand beyond the West Coast

If You Must Burn Coal, Do it Right

The poor coal plant: not only does it emit environment-damaging compounds, but even the newest (which can cost as much as $3 billion to build) lose more than half the heat generated when the coal is burned. But in co-generation power plants, that excess heat is captured and reused for domestic and industrial heating, nearly doubling a plant?s efficiency. The process is similar to what goes on in your car—think of the engine as a mini cogeneration plant. When the engine runs, it create excess heat while driving the car, and in cold weather, that waste product is used to warm the car. Cogeneration is a favorite environmental initiative of fossil fuel companies. ExxonMobil owns parts of 85 cogeneration plants in 30 locations; the company estimates that the technology helps it avoid 9 million tons of CO2 a year. In fossil-fueled China, cogeneration is seen as a cutting-edge technology, and enables the country to prevent nearly 100 million tons of CO2 annually.

It?s not the ideal solution, but thermal power will remain the backbone of our electricity grid for the foreseeable future. If we?re going to burn coal and oil, we might as well make sure all that carbon doesn?t go to waste.

Plant a Tree in the Tropics

It seems like simple arithmetic: a tree can absorb up to a ton of carbon dioxide over its lifetime, so planting one should be an easy way to mitigate climate change. Turns out it's not so simple. Recent studies have shown that trees in temperate latitudes—including most of the U.S.—actually have a net warming effect on the climate. The heat that dark leaves absorb outweighs the carbon they soak up.

Make One Right Turn After Another

United Parcel Service took a detour to the right on its way to curb CO2 emissions. In 2004, UPS announced that its drivers would avoid making left turns. The time spent idling while waiting to turn against oncoming traffic burns fuel and costs millions each year. A software program maps a customized route for every driver to minimize lefts.

In metro New York, UPS has reduced CO2 emissions by 1,000 metric tons since January. Today 83% of UPS facilities are heading in the right direction; within two years, the policy will be adopted nationwide.

Make One Right Turn After Another

United Parcel Service took a detour to the right on its way to curb CO2 emissions. In 2004, UPS announced that its drivers would avoid making left turns. The time spent idling while waiting to turn against oncoming traffic burns fuel and costs millions each year. A software program maps a customized route for every driver to minimize lefts.

In metro New York, UPS has reduced CO2 emissions by 1,000 metric tons since January. Today 83% of UPS facilities are heading in the right direction; within two years, the policy will be adopted nationwide.

Check Your Tires

so you own a plain-vanilla, nonhybrid, American-made gas guzzler and can't afford a hybrid. Now what? Just giving your engine a tune-up can improve gas mileage 4% and often much more. Replacing a clogged air filter can boost efficiency 10%. And keeping tires properly inflated can improve gas mileage more than 3%. The bottom line? If you can boost your gas mileage from 20 to 24 m.p.g., your old heap will put 200 fewer pounds of CO2 into the atmosphere each year.

Skip the Steak

Which is responsible for more global warming: your BMW or your Big Mac? Believe it or not, it's the burger. The international meat industry generates roughly 18% of the world's greenhouse-gas emissions—even more than transportation—according to a report last year from the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization.

Much of that comes from the nitrous oxide in manure and the methane that is, as the New York Times delicately put it, "the natural result of bovine digestion." Methane has a warming effect that is 23 times as great as that of carbon, while nitrous oxide is 296 times as great.
There are 1.5 billion cattle and buffalo on the planet, along with 1.7 billion sheep and goats. Their populations are rising fast, especially in the developing world. Global meat production is expected to double between 2001 and 2050. Given the amount of energy consumed raising, shipping and selling livestock, a 16-oz.T-bone is like a Hummer on a plate.
If you switch to vegetarianism, you can shrink your carbon footprint by up to 1.5 tons of carbon dioxide a year, according to research by the University of Chicago. Trading a standard car for a hybrid cuts only about one ton—and isn't as tasty.

Move to London's New Green Zone

Homes in London account for 44% of the city's CO2 emissions, more than twice the amount spewed out through transport. Worse still, the city needs to add 35,000 more every year to keep up with London's ballooning population.

That's why, on a brownfield site in the city's docklands, builders plan in 2010 to open the city's first large-scale zero-carbon housing development. All 233 homes on the 3-acre spot will hook up to a combined heat-and-power plant that turns wood chips into electricity and hot water, with extra juice from solar panels and wind. And should a chilly winter call for extra energy from the national grid, the plant will return an equivalent amount once demand from residents has dropped off. Renewable energy isn't the only advantage. Home owners can expect greenhouses for organic food, plus car and bicycle clubs to reduce commuters' emissions.

A response to the challenge from London's mayor to show that zero-carbon homes can be commercially viable, the development could cost just 5% more than standard projects. At least a third of the homes will be reserved for affordable housing. Helping the planet need not cost the earth.

Pay For Your Carbon Sins

Feeling full of climate-change guilt, Americans are snapping up carbon offsets from Web-based retailers and nonprofits. Unlike mandatory allowances, offsets allow consumers to pay voluntarily to reduce carbon emissions by a quantity equal to their estimated contribution. The money typically funds clean-energy projects, pollution control, tree planting and forest conservation. But offsets are picking up skeptics along with customers. Critics say consumers have little assurance that the projects they underwrite really reduce emissions and warn that those buying offsets may sometimes pay for improvements that would have happened anyway. They also argue that carbon-offset trading distracts from the urgent need to change U.S. policies to address global warming.

Are these criticisms fair? "There needs to be more standardization, more verification and more assurances for the consumer that the offsets are real," concedes Ricardo Bayon, director of Ecosystem Marketplace. A number of organizations, including the Center for Resource Solutions in San Francisco and the Climate Group, based in Britain, are racing to establish certification standards. Even supporters of offset trading agree that it's no substitute for comprehensive national policies. "This voluntary stuff is an interim measure," says Judi Greenwald of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change. "But it is certainly better than doing nothing."

Cozy Up to Your Water Heater

Improving your home's efficiency doesn't have to mean hours in the attic tearing out the insulation. It might be as simple as giving your dear old water heater a warm hug. Wrapping your heater in an insulated blanket—one costs about $10 to $20 at home centers—could save your household about 250 lbs. in CO2 emissions annually. Most water heaters more than five years old are constantly losing heat and wasting energy because they lack internal insulation. If the surface feels warm to the touch, get your heater an extra blankie. You'll both feel better.

Check the Label

You wouldn't buy a car without knowing its gas mileage. Why not do the same when choosing energy-efficient ovens or even supermarkets and hotels? Energy Star, a rating system by the Environmental Protection Agency, will help you find them. Approved products can be pricier, but they cost less to power. Commercial buildings account for nearly 18% of U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions, but those with the Energy Star label consume 35% less energy than the average. By using Energy Star appliances at home, consumers can reduce their utility bill as much as 30%.

Buy Green Power, At Home or Away

More than 600 utilities in 37 states offer green energy, but unless you read the fine print on your bill, you may not know if your power company is one of them. (To find out, visit eere.energy.gov/greenpower.) If you don't live in a green power zone, you can support the industry by buying renewable energy certificates, which allow you to purchase green energy in another part of the country. The extra dollars will dispense green power to the national power grid.

Fill'er Up With Passengers

The next time you get behind the wheel of your car, turn to the passenger seat. Chances are, it's empty. In most of the U.S., the single-occupant driver still reigns supreme. Nearly 80% of people drive to work alone; about 38% drive alone in general. In some places, that's starting to change. As part of its Clean Air Act, Washington State appealed to business with incentives to encourage employees to drive less or at least stop driving alone. A state tax credit benefits companies that encourage their employees to carpool, ride the bus, walk or bike to work, or work a compressed workweek. The result: about 20,000 fewer vehicle trips each morning since the program started in 1991, saving commuters $13.7 million and 5.8 million gallons of gas, and reducing 78,000 tons of air pollutants and CO2-equivalent gases.

Get a Carbon Budget

The essential injustice of global warming is that the poor will suffer the worst effects while contributing far less to carbon emissions than the rich. So here's a radical solution: divide greenhouse-gas emissions by population, and give everyone in the world the right to emit the same amount of carbon—a personal carbon allowance.

Essentially, allowances are a cap-and-trade scheme for individuals. They set a clear target and let the market work out the details. Bike to work and live beneath your allowance, and you can sell your carbon credits to energy spendthrifts who refuse to give up their SUVs. The balance of your allowance might be recorded on a sort of carbon-debit card, so if you buy that SUV, you'll be spending carbon too. If you want to keep living as if it's 1989, all you have to do is pay for it.

How has it affected the change to Toluca? (Our city)

They predominate over the climates moderated and subhumid with rains in summer. Nevertheless, in the covered with snow tops of the Popocatépetl and the Iztaccíhuatl there persists the constant cold of high mountain.
It thinks that for high regions of the condition, as Atlacomulco and Toluca, the increase of 2°C will favor the zones of culture of maize. If to this the change is added in the rainfall a major productivity will be obtained.
The change of the climate in the place owes basically to the loss of vegetablecoverage, which has provoked a change in the retention of dampness in the environment and in the soils of the forest, function that were fulfilling the trees. " They have changed the cycles of rain and the water infiltration into the aquiferous mantles, due to the erosion of the soils for lack of trees ".
It indicates that " it is known that the temperature has increased a couple of degrees in Toluca's city and his surroundings in last decades, partly for the lack of vegetable coverage that was doing the function of absorber before the solar radiation that now falls squarely to the soil. This has caused that the snow and permanent glaciers that were seen almost all the year round or great part of he, are on the verge of disappearing or already not to exist in these mountains ".
Carreón holds that great part of the problem of Toluca's Snow-capped mountain owes to the loss of forest coverage with ends of providing useful wood utilization, for the change of use of soil that is observed, with the intensive growth of the lands of culture as maize and barley.
In this also it affects, the expert recounts, the intensive population growth in the region, which demonstrates in the invasion of federal lands with accessions inside the limits of the park. " Since we know, where they exist rural populations appear diverse activities that include an irresponsible use of the natural resources; this way, for example, to the date Toluca's National Covered with snow Park is without fauna due to the illegal hunt ".

Ask the Experts For An Energy Audit of Your Home

How green is your abode? A home energy audit, which most utility providers will do free of charge, will tell you the amount of power your household consumes and what you can do to reduce it. The average family can find ways to shave 1,000 lbs. of CO2 emissions each year. Energy auditors use special equipment like blower doors and infrared cameras to help you pinpoint exactly how your house is losing energy. You can also perform a do-it-yourself audit (see time.com/audit), but this is one time you might actually want to be audited by the experts.

Make Your Garden Grow

The U.S. spends more than $5 billion a year on fossil-fuel-derived fertilizers that leak chemicals into the ground and accelerate the release of nitrous oxide—a greenhouse gas. Try alternatives, from old-fashioned compost to grass clippings, which contain about 4% nitrogen. More adventurous gardeners use a homemade fertilizer mix that includes seaweed extracts for potassium and fish proteins and oils for nitrogen. Or go native and embrace wildflowers and indigenous grasses. Weeds are a matter of taste.

Trade Carbon for Capital

One of the most ambitious of the Kyoto Protocol's plans to help cut greenhouse gases was the Clean Development Mechanism, through which companies in the rich world could earn credit not for reducing their own emissions but for investing in energy efficient projects in the developing world. The idea, which was included in the Kyoto Protocol at the insistence of the U.S., has helped create a global trade in carbon credits, in addition to the broader emissions-trading market. So far, hundreds of projects have been approved, some two-thirds of them in just three countries: Brazil, China and India. Together, the projects save the equivalent of about 115 million tons of carbon dioxide per year, and range from installing more energy efficient machinery in paper and cardboard factories to building wind turbines to generate renewable power.
There have been some hiccups. A recent study found that factories in China were using relatively cheap cleaning systems and then exploiting a loophole to claim hundreds of millions of dollars in carbon credits. But that is no reason to abandon the CDM mechanism argues Rajesh K. Sethi, secretary of India's CDM Authority in the Ministry of Evironment and Forests. Sethi says the CDM is "one of the most succesful ways we've found to reduce greenhouse gases. It needs to be extended, not abandoned." The trade in carbon credits would explode if the regulations were made more predictable, so that poor world companies didn't have to wait so long for the go-ahead for projects. Says Sethi: "We're very much encouraged by how well this has done, but we can do a lot better."

Open a Window

Most of the 25 tons of CO2 emissions each American is responsible for each year come from the home. Here are some easy ways to get that number down in a hurry without rebuilding. Open a window instead of running the AC. Adjust the thermostat a couple of degrees higher in the summer and lower in the winter. Caulk and weatherstrip all your doors and windows. Insulate your walls and ceilings. Use the dishwasher only when it's full. Install low-flow showerheads. Wash your clothes in warm or cold water. Turn down the thermostat on the water heater. At the end of the year, don't be surprised if your house feels lighter. It just lost 4,000 lbs. of carbon dioxide.