There are ways of doing our day to day activities that do not involve burning something that will result in particulate and gasses polluting our atmosphere. We can use wind and solar power generation for all of our needs. And on the plus side we will no longer be getting billed by a corporation that meteres out the power our tax dollars paid to develop the infrastructure of. And as a plus plus wind and solar power generation does not require millions of miles of wires to get to your home. You can create your own power and not have the risk of much more highly energized power lines going everywhere and maintained by those that look no further forward than the next quarterly earnings report.
We have to make these changes on an individual level as the corporate structure has firmly embedded itself into our political process to the point where the general welfare is no longer a concern if it impeded profit generation.
Scientists have pieced together a picture of Earth’s climate, dating back hundreds of thousands of years, by analyzing a number of indirect measures of climate such as ice cores, tree rings, glacier lengths, pollen remains, and ocean sediments, and by studying changes in Earth’s orbit around the sun. [1]
The historical record shows that the climate system varies naturally over a wide range of time scales. In general, climate changes prior to the Industrial Revolution in the 1700s can be explained by natural causes, such as changes in solar energy, volcanic eruptions, and natural changes in greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations. [1]
Recent climate changes, however, cannot be explained by natural causes alone.Research indicates that natural causes are very unlikely to explain most observed warming, especially warming since the mid-20th century. Rather, human activities can very likely explain most of that warming. [1]
We did this to ourselves, it is up to us to fix it.
Many greenhouse gases stay in the atmosphere for long periods of time. As a result, even if emissions stopped increasing, atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations would continue to increase and remain elevated for hundreds of years. Moreover, if we stabilized concentrations and the composition of today's atmosphere remained steady (which would require a dramatic reduction in current greenhouse gas emissions), surface air temperatures would continue to warm. This is because the oceans, which store heat, take many decades to fully respond to higher greenhouse gas concentrations. The ocean's response to higher greenhouse gas concentrations and higher temperatures will continue to impact climate over the next several decades to hundreds of years.[1] [2]
To learn more about greenhouse gases, please visit the Greenhouse Gas Emissions page and the Greenhouse Effect section of the Causes of Climate Change page.
Because it is difficult to project far-off future emissions and other human factors that influence climate, scientists use a range of scenarios using various assumptions about future economic, social, technological, and environmental conditions. The slideshow above provides more information on these scenarios in the "Estimating the Future" section.
So how do we put the brakes on these pollutants on our own?
This is Wisconsin's comprehensive examination of wind power for home use
And here is a guide to making your own.
I started the process of designing my wind turbine by Googling for information on home-built wind turbines. There are a lot of them out there in an amazing variety of designs and complexities. All of them had five things in common though:
A generator
Blades
A mounting that keeps it turned into the wind
A tower to get it up into the wind
Batteries and an electronic control system
I reduced the project to just five little systems. If attacked one at a time, the project didn't seem too terribly difficult. I decided to start with the generator. My online research showed that a lot of people were building their own generators. That seemed a bit too complicated, at least for a first effort. Others were using surplus permanent magnet DC motors as generators in their projects. This looked like a simpler way to go. So I began looking into what motors were best for the job.
A lot of people seemed to like to use old computer tape drive motors (surplus relics from the days when computers had big reel to reel tape drives). The best apparently are a couple of models of motor made by Ametek. The best motor made by Ametek is a 99 volt DC motor that works great as a generator. Unfortunately, they are almost impossible to locate these days. There are a lot of other Ametek motors around though. A couple of their other models make decent generators and can still be found on places like Ebay. This web site talks about the virtues and vices of various Ametek motors when used as generators.
Solar is a bit more difficult to DIY due to the intensive process needed to make power generation in that manner. But there are a variety of commercial options available to suit any home.
A small solar electric or photovoltaic (PV) system can be a reliable and pollution-free producer of electricity for your home or office. Small PV systems also provide a cost-effective power supply in locations where it is expensive or impossible to send electricity through conventional power lines.
Because PV technologies use both direct and scattered sunlight to create electricity, the solar resource across the United States is ample for home solar electric systems. However, the amount of power generated by a solar system at a particular site depends on how much of the sun's energy reaches it. Thus, PV systems, like all solar technologies, function most efficiently in the southwestern United States, which receives the greatest amount of solar energy.
Because of their modularity, PV systems can be designed to meet any electrical requirement, no matter how large or how small. You can connect them to an electric distribution system (grid-connected), or they can stand alone [10610](off-grid). You can also use PV technology to provide outdoor lighting.
You can make a difference in our future. But it is up to you to take the first step.