What Can We Do to Change Global Warming to Make it Better?

The greenhouse effect is a naturally occurring phenomenon that traps the sun's heat in the atmosphere, which keeps the earth at a warm enough temperature to support life. Global warming occurs when there are too many greenhouse gasses, especially carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane, in the atmosphere, which trap too much heat and cause temperatures to rise. Rising temperatures cause the melting of polar ice caps, mountain glaciers and the heating of oceans. All of these have a serious effect upon life on Earth. There are several measures that humans can take to make this situation better.

Use Less Electricity

• Coal is the main fossil fuel used to make electricity. When coal is burned, carbon dioxide, or CO2, one of the main greenhouse gasses, is released into the atmosphere. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), about 41 percent of all CO2 emissions in the United States come from the production of electricity. Turning off lights that are not being used, using power-saving light bulbs and drying clothes outside instead of in a dryer can greatly reduce the amount of electricity needed to be produced, and the harmful gasses that are released from its production.

Find Alternative Ways to Produce Electricity

• Coal is not the only way to produce electricity, but it is one of the dirtiest. Electricity is produced by generators, which are powered by spinning turbines. These turbines can be spun by many different methods. Water, in the form of waves or water being run through power plants, is a clean, renewable resource that accounts for 20 percent of the world's power supply. Wind mills, another renewable clean resource, can be used to produce electricity. According to AlternateEnergy.org, America produces 3 billion kilowatt hours of wind energy per year, which is the equivalent of 6.4 million barrels of oil but costs consumers much less than oil or coal, about 2 or 3 cents per kilowatt hour.

Use Less Gas

• In 2006, petroleum -- meaning gas, diesel and jet fuel -- supplied the largest share of domestic energy demands, accounting for 47 percent of all fossil-fuel-based energy consumption in the United States, and was the second-largest source of CO2 emissions, according to the EPA. Ways to cut down on petroleum consumption include carpooling, using more public transportation and buying food locally, so less fuel is used by planes and trucks. The website Encyclopedia of Earth shows that transportation from farm to market accounts for 17 percent of fuel consumption in the United States. There are also alternatives to gas-powered cars, such as hybrids, which run on gas and electricity and electric-only cars. Not only are these cleaner, but they qualify owners for tax benefits as well.

Plant More Trees

• Forests are necessary because they remove CO2 from the atmosphere and store it. This makes trees very important, especially as CO2 levels are increasing. As forests are being cut down and burned, to make room for feeding and housing the growing population, the CO2 in the trees is quickly released back into the environment, making a bad situation worse. With proper forest management, this can be countered and CO2 levels can be reduced, which is what happened in the United States in 2006, and, according to the EPA, accounted for a 13 percent reduction in greenhouse gasses.