What You Can Do to Stop Global Warming

I don't know about the rest of you, but I find the whole issue of Global Warming very alarming. In fact, it's terrifying! The planet is in turmoil and unless we do something urgently, life as we know it will change forever. It's a very overwhelming topic, and easy to just ignore it and leave it to the experts. But the truth is, ALL OF US have to do our bit and believe it or not, we as individuals can do something about it!

When I search the web for information I find that: cars are the second biggest cause of global warming. I for one, did not realise this. It's not practical to live without a car, but if you have to drive, it makes sense to drive in the most eco-friendly way possible. Here are some pointers from UK:

Green Driving Techniques – Nottinghamshire County Council

* Service your car at least every year. Get the engine tuned, the wheels aligned and catalytic converter checked.
* Make sure that your tyres are inflated to the correct pressure. Under inflation by 7psi wastes half a gallon of fuel in every tank, so it's worth inflating to the manufacturer's guidelines (which are based on cold tyres, so use the petrol station nearest your start point to avoid your tyres warming up too much.)
* Reduce weight, and fuel consumption, by simply removing unnecessary items from your car that do not need to be there for a particular journey. These can include buggies, golf clubs, tools, footwear and so on.
* Avoid overfilling the tank when refuelling as spilled fuel evaporates and releases harmful emissions.

When you are driving:

* Drive smoothly – pulling away too fast uses 60% more fuel
* Slow down. Driving at 70mph can use up to 30% more petrol than driving at 50mph.
* Think ahead to avoid sharp braking - it just throws away energy.
* Avoid using the air conditioning, which uses 15% more fuel.
* It's better to switch your engine off when in stationary traffic. You use more fuel with the engine idling for 45 seconds than if you switched off and restarted 45 seconds later.

So let's not put our head in the sand about Global Warming. It's real and it's happening. And it's happening quickly! Otherwise, polar ice caps will melt, ocean levels will raise, nastier hurricanes will ravage land, droughts and flooding will become more severe and more often and the list goes on and on.

We don't want to leave a mess for our children and grand children do we? Of course not! START TODAY! Learn everything you can about Global Warming!