Still a powerful tool to raise awareness about climate change, carbon footprinting

Jan. 14—ANDERSON — Just before Thanksgiving last year, the world’s population surpassed 8 billion people, according to United Nations estimates.

The landmark has implications for many aspects of society, such as economic development and health care, as well as a variety of policymaking decisions for governments around the world.

For climatologists and environmental advocates, it’s also a stark reminder that their messages challenging governments and individuals to make meaningful, climate-friendly lifestyle choices — articulated more urgently in some quarters than others — remain largely unheeded.

Those choices, they contend, could determine how long humanity can live comfortably within the planet’s environmental boundaries while averting — or at least postponing — some of the more dire climate disasters that have been predicted.

“This is a major issue in our time,” Dr. John Mulrow, a visiting assistant professor at Purdue University of Environmental and Ecological Engineering said.

Mulrow and other earth scientist have closely examined carbon footprinting over the years. This method is used by individuals and corporations to estimate their emissions of greenhouse gases. The greenhouse gases trap heat and contribute to rising temperatures.

The average carbon footprint of a person living in the United States is 16 tonnes, according to the Nature Conservancy. This rate is among the highest in the world, and more than four times that of the global average.

According to environmentalists, carbon footprinting can be a powerful tool in raising awareness and helping people make informed choices about their lifestyles. They caution that consumers need to track and reduce their carbon emissions in order to solve the climate change problem.

Melissa Widhalm (associate director, Midwestern Regional Climate Center), stated that “having an awareness of our carbon footprint was really important.” It’s not the most important or the only thing that matters. Individual choices are not enough to prevent the world from warming to dangerous levels. “Hard stop, bottom line.”

Widhalm said that it is impossible to mandate many lifestyle choices.

She stated that “Really, it boils down to the fact that we as individuals don’t have control over the majority of our carbon footprint.” “When I flip the light switch, I don’t get to choose where my energy company gets its energy. Even if an electric car was affordable, how do I know where the electricity comes from when it’s plugged in?

Mulrow, who has studied environmental science for nearly 20 years, has come to understand that a holistic approach to cutting carbon emissions — even one that produces economic benefits — is easier talked about than accomplished.

He said, “I went through an era where I was all focused on getting online, measuring and reducing my carbon footprint.” “What you do with your dollar savings is what the footprint calculators don’t ask you.” Everybody who saves money is going to spend it on another thing that has a carbon footprint.”

Many industries in Indiana are trying to figure out how much carbon footprint they should have when making decisions about materials and production methods. They also struggle with determining a reliable standard for measuring emissions.

To preserve resources in agriculture, there are many conservation methods. According to industry officials, it can be difficult to document these measures in order to comply with numerous federal and state regulations.

Jeff Cummins, Indiana Farm Bureau director of state government relations, stated that “we don’t have the right measurements and we don’t even know who has the right measurements when it comes quantifying those things.” It’s difficult because you have essentially the entire supply chain trying to figure how to measure and report what makes sense.

Widhalm stated that the ripple effects of unrestrained carbon emission could have far-reaching consequences for Hoosiers.

According to her, people suffering from allergies might notice longer allergy season due to warmer temperatures. As a result, winters will become wetter and spring will arrive earlier, while autumn will end later. Climate scientists have predicted that droughts could worsen in the future and can impact crop yields.

She stated that there are many tangible ways in which this global problem can become our daily problem if we don’t take collective steps to reduce our carbon footprint.

Follow Andy Knight @Andrew_J_Knight on Twitter, or call 765 64 4809.