green is universal

From Airline Contrails to Thermostats: Going Green One Degree at a Time

Posted at 08:53 PM on November 05, 2007 comments (2)

By Paul McGillivary, Paul Tech Network

I recently watched the NOVA program "Dimming the Sun." The show highlighted, among other things, the effect of airline contrails on macro weather patterns. Scientists had been studying airplane exhaust in the upper atmosphere, and had hypothesized that it could alter surface temperatures. The problem was that they needed a control to test against, but were at a loss.

How would they possibly have an opportunity to monitor temperatures with no air traffic? Well, as fate would have it, September 11, 2001 afforded them that very chance. For the first time in aviation history, the FAA grounded virtually all air traffic in the continental United States. And the results were shocking. Scientists saw a two degree Fahrenheit increase in the range of surface temperatures when airline contrails were not present in the upper atmosphere. Two degrees may not seem like much, but climatologists will tell you that it is. Discoveries like this have started a green revolution.

10 years ago, revolution wasn't the idea that came to my mind when I thought about the green movement. I tended to think of it as very extremist. But I have slowly come to see that I was prejudiced in that regard. I now see that those early whistle blowers were onto something. They understood that our modern excesses can really end up hurting all of us. The problem is that we can sometimes be so far removed from seeing those effects. And I also had to deal with my own excuses. Many of them had more to do with my own busyness, my denial, or just my plain laziness. But, finally, I decided to join this green movement.

My first reaction was to do it all. I wanted a complete solar home, high efficiency appliances, hay filled walls, composting garden, etc. And then I became frozen at the enormity of the idea. I soon realized that I needed to "grow green." Because going green should be an organic process, do small things first. Turn your thermostat up a little in the summer and down a little in the winter. Start recycling everything you can. Think about purchases before you make them. Merge car trips together. Everyone is busy and life is difficult. We have families, jobs, and responsibilities. But starting small allows us to get in the game. This is exactly what our family has been doing. We started recycling. We started composting and stopped trying to use chemicals as much as possible. We started doing small things to grow greener.

Look, our massive landfills and harmful air also started with small things. They started with ideas like "I can do what I want and it doesn't affect others." Small, singular decisions to throw out items that are still usable, multiplied many times over, results in big problems long term. Small actions that harm our environment have multiplied to large concerns. But the small things that got us in this mess can also get us out. We can individually make the decision to start growing greener. We can start a process of learning to live more responsibly. If many small airline contrails can effect the earth's temperature tremendously, just imagine what millions of individuals can do to improve our planet's health.

Paul McGillivary
Paul Tech Network
http://gopaultech.com