What You Can Do About Global Climate Change

Megan Phelps

Today we were excited to learn that Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to spread knowledge and awareness of global climate change.

For most of our readers, concern about global climate change is nothing new, but we hope this international recognition of the problem will inspire more people to ask the logical next questions: What can we do about climate change? What can we all do to live more sustainably on this planet?

If you're ready to step up your own efforts at sustainable living and learn more about what you can do to combat global warming, here are a few resources we highly recommend:

Check out the resources in An Inconvenient Truth. Last fall, at Mother Earth News, we printed an excerpt of Al Gore's book An Inconvenient Truth. During that time, we all spent quite a bit of time checking out the book and the many resources it lists. We were impressed by the book and the affiliated Climate Crisis site. They are great places to help you start taking positive action.

Calculate your carbon footprint. The Climate Crisis Site has a carbon calculator so you can learn what your personal contribution is to global warming, and where you can start making changes in your lifestyle that will make the biggest impact. Here's another carbon footprint calculator, available from the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Learn what you can do at home! When you start looking at what you can do that makes a difference, you're likely to find that it's easiest and most rewarding to start at home. There are a lot of simple changes you can make that save energy, save money and at the same time make your home more comfortable. (Really, it's a no-lose situation once you know where to get started.) Here are a few good places to learn more:

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• Go to The Half Plan for detailed information about home energy projects that can cut your family's energy use in half.
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• Read about simple steps you can take to Slash Your Heating Bills.
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• Learn more about tax credits for home energy improvements and also about how to Make Energy Upgrades Affordable when you're buying a house.
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Do you know of other good books and Web resources for learning what you can do about global warming? Share your thoughts in our comments section below.