What do you think society can do as a whole to help with climate change?

Question

I know most people usually just talk about an INDIVIDUAL can help with the pressing issue of climate change. Believe me, that is important as well, but I have more than enough ideas on that part.

I would love some ideas on how a society together can help - led by someone, of course. :)

Answer 1

We have to reach a point where society has a unified knowledge base of what is really going on. We don't someone to lead us. We just need to have free access to all the data from the scientists. When there is such censorship on the subject,from the Bush admin.,the truth is kept from us.  Once we get the truth,it'll be easier to get things done. We need to totally re-think the way we use energy.  We waste so much! Just look at what gets thrown in the trash. All that stuff took energy to make,transport,keep in storage,and finally transported to the dump.  We have become a consumer society. We need to become an environmentalist society. All our efforts should be to reduce the waste and over producing stuff we don't really need. Recycling should be much more efficient,to reduce the need for raw materials. Awareness is the key to success.  Right now it seems that religion is standing in the way of change.  When you have people who 'believe' that God 'created' the Earth,it is hard to get them to accept the science of AGW. It tends to contradict the religious dogma.  Religion has always fought against science. Galileo and Copernicus were imprisoned for their discoveries! The church was threatened by the new knowledge. The same thing is happening now with the repression of the facts of AGW. So basicly,knowledge,or the lack of it, is power. Inform yourself,and inform others. Don't be swayed by the junk science that desperatly tries to find ANY other reason for the climate change,than what is really causing it. Yes there are cycles in the climate,but AGW is pushing those cycles way beyond normal.  Think of a canoe. If ther are waves on the lake,you don't want to rock the canoe too much. If you do,once the sides go under,you tip over very fast!  We're 'rocking' the climate by our use of foosil fuels. I'm afraid that people won't realize what is really happening until it's past the "tipping point"! There is a lot of scary new developments in the data lately. In the past 11 years,10 have been the warmest on record!

Answer 2

Stop at one kid.. or have none..

over 6.5 Billion of us right now.. our numbers are the main problem.. fewer people means less contributing factors and lets face it.. most people are ignorant and lazy and wont change their greedy or selfish ways...

here is a good link with other ideas that not only save the planet, but save you $ too.

http://www.gomestic.com/Personal-Finance...

Answer 3

In my opinion, informed by some reading I've done for my Master's thesis about societal responses to climate change, the ingredients of the transition towards  "climate-friendly" society would be:

Carbon rationing (every individual and company is assigned an annual carbon quota by the government, which decreases when one buys electricity or fuel, or takes airplane) coupled with carbon trading between individual carbon accounts.

Major shift towards renewable sources of energy, supported and subsidized by the government. Also, encouraging micro-generation of energy from renewable sources by individual households with the ability to feed it into the grid at the higher-than-market tariffs.

Re-orientation of transportation system towards public (mass transit) and non-motorized (bicycling, walking) modes of transportation.

Ban of airplanes as means of commercial aviation (with the exception of the official governmental delegations, armed forces and sport teams). Promotion of air ships (aka blimps) and modern sail for intercontinental travel.

Heavy taxation of meat products. Introduction of climate labelling of foods and appliances.

Mass electoral support of the Green Parties around the world and their coming to power.

Rise of the new global culture, based on collectivistic and spiritual values, appreciation of the non-human living beings and natural landscapes, and care for the generations to come (up to the 7th generation after us).

Answer 4

Very little. We can't stop it in the near future no matter what we do. However, if we want to stop it in the long run and avoid a catastrophe of catacysmic proportions (ie...most species go extinct or near extinct on the planet), we have to do something now.

Answer 5

It is individuals that make up society as a whole so it is hard to separate what the individual can do and what society can do. Society can encourage the individual to act and hopefully the feed-back will be that government will respond to make it easier for people to participate in alleviating climate change and global warming.

The list of things that we can do - either in ones, twos or en-masse is lengthy, ranging from increased use of public transport(if it was ever improved), cutting down on the stand-by mode of T.V.s, computers etc, reducing the amount of air travel to the use of wind turbines and other green energy generators.

Answer 6

Lifestyle changes can curb climate change

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080115/sc_...

The Stop Global Warming calculator shows you how much carbon dioxide you can prevent from being released into the atmosphere and how much money you can save by making some small changes in your daily life. It’s our hope that the calculator will promote action, awareness and empowerment by showing you that one person can make a difference and help stop global warming.

http://www.stopglobalwarming.org/sgw_act...

Answer 7

If global warming is real. Its Gods will and the best thing to do is read the Bible. The end is near.

Answer 8

We can and should do nothing because of two reasons:

1. Global Warming is largely a natural process

(see sources below)

2. The economic costs of attempting to change the climate would be catastrophic to human society

The Copenhagen Consensus, a group of the worlds leading scientists, have deemed Global Warming very far down on the list of serious immediate problems.

vs AIDs, poverty, drinking water, malaria, etc.

http://www.copenhagenconsensus.com/Defau...

Let's focus on those please.

http://theglobalwarmingtruth.com/Home_Pa...