Its going to be a warm 2011- what are you doing to make a change?

By Peter Baeck

http://www.nasa.gov/

Although the message ‘it’s going to be a warm 2011’ might seem appealing to everyone who has just been through the last few months of snow and cold in the northern hemisphere,  the wamt predictions tell a story of global warming that is becoming more and more evident.

Climate research centres under NOAA and NASA have in the last few years published their analysis of the global climate, and conclude that 2010 (Slightly warmer than 2005), was the hottest year that have been measured globally while these surveys have been undertaken. China, Russia and Japan had their hottest summers ever, and India and Canada had their warmest years ever. Scientist predict that El Nina (a weatherphenomenon i don’t entirely understand) has actually cooled the earth in 2010, and once this wears off in 2011 its going to get really hot.

While global temperatures and hot summers in Japan may seem far away and hard to relate to, they are all part of a problem that should be very very real to us. The earth is getting hotter, and for each carbon emission we are responsible for we contribute to worsening that problem. At Innovation Units, we use our Green Next Practice programme to join a groving movement that seeks to engage communities and the civil society ind finding finding local solutions that help solve this global challenge and green our public services.

I find the work that the Green Next Practice team really inspiring, but also recognize that there needs to be many more like them if we are to make a global change and bring down the temperature of our mother earth. So therefore, i’m curious what are you doing (this could be even the smallest thing, like biking or recycling) to reduce your emissions, making life ‘greener’?