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Climate Change and Global Warming

Climate change and global warming - impacts and threats

Donate Today With your help, we can reduce the impacts of climate change on our lives, on our environment and on future generations.
 

Trees store carbon and help slow the pace of climate change.

Trees store carbon and help slow the pace of climate change.

Support Our Work

When you make a tax-deductible gift now, you will make a difference by directly supporting The Nature Conservancy's climate change work.

Join Our Online Community

You'll receive our monthly e-newsletter, your own personalized nature page and most importantly, you'll be part of our global community working together to help slow climate change.

Learn More

The Nature Conservancy is joining with policy makers, community members, businesses, scientists, industry leaders and others to slow the pace of climate change.

Learn about our work to slow climate change.

Think climate change is too big of a problem to solve?

Think again. Small changes in our everyday lives can make a big difference. By doing the eight things mentioned below, you can keep up to 7.6 tons of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere every year.1 Set yourself some goals and revisit our calculator in a few months to see how you've done!

Upgrade and unplug

ENERGYSTAR appliances can save from 10 percent to 50 percent off the energy use of conventional appliances.

  1. Make sure any new appliances or electronics you buy are ENERGYSTAR.
  2. Replace an old printer or fax machine that isn't ENERGYSTAR.
  3. Since you can't replace everything, remember to turn off and unplug everything else!

POTENTIAL ANNUAL SAVINGS: :
0.8 tons CO2

Travel light

Cars and trucks run on fossil fuels, which release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. In the United States, automobiles produce more than 20 percent of the country's total carbon emissions. Aviation accounts for 3 percent of carbon emissions globally, producing approximately 600 million tons of carbon dioxide per year.

  1. Walk or bike instead of driving a car.
  2. Combine trips or share rides to reduce your time behind the wheel.
  3. Reduce your airtime with teleconferences or by combining trips.

POTENTIAL ANNUAL SAVINGS:
0.9 tons CO2 for driving 1,000 miles less per year.2
2.2 tons CO2 for cutting back on one long airplane trip per year.3

Recycle and use recycled products

Products made from recycled paper, glass, metal and plastic reduce carbon emissions because they use less energy to manufacture than products made from completely new materials. Recycling paper also saves trees—and living trees remove carbon from the atmosphere.

  1. Recycle everything. Challenge yourself to double your recycling and halve your trash.

POTENTIAL ANNUAL SAVINGS:
0.6 tons CO2 for cutting waste in half and doubling recycling.

You can make a difference

Remember, each of us makes a difference, whether we make big changes such as buying a new hybrid car or small ones such as recycling more.

TOTAL POTENTIAL SAVINGS:
4.5 tons CO2 per person per year

You can make an even greater difference by supporting the Conservancy's climate-change work. Your generous gift will help us create and implement effective solutions to reduce the impact of climate change on our lives, our environment and on future generations.

Donate Today With your help, we can reduce the impacts of climate change on our lives, on our environment and on future generations.
PHOTOS: Measuring tree height at Hill Bank in Rio Bravo, Belize. Photo © Tony Rath; Polar bear. Photo © Robert M. Griffith; Melting ice floats away from a polar icecap. Photo © CORBIS.

1 Assumes 3-person, single family detached home.
2 Assumes an average American, driving a large vehicle 12,000 miles per year.
3 Assumes an average American, who takes the equivalent of one long, and two short flights per year