Lauren Sutton

Professor Malcolm Campbell

UWRT 1103

09/22/19

Is it Hot in Here or Is it Just Me?(Ways You Can Reduce Your Carbon Footprint)

Introduction/Overview

I chose to discuss ways that you can reduce your carbon footprint because climate change

is one of the biggest issues of our generation. The National Aeronautics and Space

Administration (NASA) attributes human-induced climate change to the emission of greenhouse

gases that trap heat in the atmosphere, which causes a gradual increase in the overall temperature

of the planet. My topic is relevant to the entire living population of the earth, because it will have

major consequences on the natural structure of the world. According to the United Nations

General Assembly President María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, we have just over a decade to put

an end to climate change before it’s too late. Fortunately, there are things you can do in your

everyday life to counter these effects. The number one way you can fight global warming is to

reduce your carbon footprint.

A few of the websites I used to learn more about my topic included National Geographic,

NASA, and the United Nations. So far I have found several articles, some of which I discovered

through the library’s databases. I have not yet consulted a librarian to help me with my research.
I have discussed my topic with my peers and family to some extent. I feel that this process has

helped me understand my topic somewhat better.

There are many differing opinions about the best way to reduce your carbon footprint.

Author and President of the Copenhagen Consensus Center Bjorn Lomborg argues vegetarianism

is “an inefficient policy to push on people worldwide.” Greta Thunberg, a young Swedish girl

with Asperger’s, has become the face of the Fridays For Future movement, which inspired over 4

million people to congregate in the streets on the 20th of September. In her speech to the United

Nations General Assembly this past Monday, she warned, “The popular idea of cutting our

emissions in half in 10 years only gives us a 50% chance of staying below 1.5 degrees and the

risk of setting off irreversible chain reactions beyond human control.” Donald Trump, a widely

known skeptic of climate change, has rolled back many Obama-era environmental regulations

since his election in 2016, and has declared his intent to withdraw the US from the Paris

Agreement. Trump believes that these regulations stifle the economic prosperity of the fossil fuel

industry.

Initial Inquiry Question(s)

Will reducing the overall carbon footprint of the human race help to reverse climate

change? Does eating less meat reduce your carbon footprint? What is the largest producer of

greenhouse gases? How much does animal agriculture affect global emissions? Which country is

the leading source of greenhouse gas emissions?

My Interest in this Topic

 I am interested in discovering ways to reduce my carbon footprint because I want to be a

part of the solution to climate change. It is an issue that, if unchecked, will be catastrophic to the

natural world. A few of the effects projected by NASA include but are not limited to :changes in

precipitation patterns, stronger and more intense hurricanes, droughts, and heat waves, and the

Arctic ice caps will disappear altogether. These effects will be devastating to the biosphere of the

earth. Through my research, I would like to learn more about how to live a sustainable lifestyle.

Next Steps
I think the question that intrigued me most is, “Does eating less meat reduce your carbon

footprint?” because it has been a hot topic recently due to the fires in the Amazon rainforest. I

intend to do more research on my topic through scholarly articles from the library’s databases,

news articles such as the New York Times, and maybe find a book in the library or consult a

reference librarian.