The heat is on

Live Better Challenge The heat is on Are you leading the charge to use less power? The planet is in trouble We all know that the burning of fossil fuels is having a disastrous effect on our climate. Carbon dioxide concentration' (ppm) Global surface temperature (°C, relative to 1951-80 avg.) Sea level change (mm, relative to 1997) Number of climate-related disasters worldwide? 398 54.3 0.6 -0.2 269 378 -16.6 99 1880 2013 Jan 1993 Nov 2013 1980 2011 Jan 2005 Jan 2014 Sea ice extent' (million km?, Arctic September avgs.) Land ice mass' (Gt, Antarctic, relative to same period avg.) Biodiversity (Global Living Planet Index, 1970-1) Ocean pH4 (Hawaii, lower pH is more acidic) 8.11 5.1 733 1.0 7.? 0.7 8.07 -800 Mank 1979 2013 Apr 2002 Jul 2013 1970 2008 1989 2011 Something's got to change The problem is fossil fuels still make up 87% of world energy usage. In 2012, global CO2 emissions increased by 2.6% .and UK's CO2 emissions went up 4.5% 27% of the UK's CO2 emissions come directly from households. It is vital that we all try to reduce our energy use. What kind of difference can you make? huge difference An average residential solar installation can provide up to 3400 kWh of energy per year. That's around 80% INSTALL SOLAR PANELS GET DOUBLE GLAZING INSULATE YOUR LOFT INSTALL CAVITY WALL INSULATION REDUCE THE NUMBER OF FLIGHTS YOU TAKE of the average home's electricity consumption. 10m A big difference TURN YOUR THERMOSTAT DOWN BY 1° C INSTALL FLOOR INSULATION AVOID STANDBY ON DEVICES HANG YOUR CLOTHES OUT RATHER THAN TUMBLE DRY CYCLE OR WALK ON SHORT JOURNEYS - OR TRY CAR SHARING If every household in the United That's as much as the total yearly CO2 emissions of Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad, the Central African Kingdom turned down their room thermostat by 1°C, the country would cut its annual carbon dioxide emissions by over 8000 kilotons. -1°C Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo. combined."12.1B fairly big difference ***I.. REPLACE YOUR STANDARD FILL YOUR DISHWASHER OR UPGRADE YOUR APPLIANCES (E.G. AN ENERGY- EFFICIENT FRIDGE) INSTALL DRAUGHT- PROOFING FILL YOUR KETTLE UP WITH ONLY THE WATER YOU NEED LIGHTBULBS WITH ENERGY-SAVING ONES WASHING MACHINE WITH A FULL LOAD 67% of people in Britain admit If everyone boiled only the water needed to make a to overfilling the kettle each single cup of tea, it could save enough electricity in a year to run nearly half of all the street time they use it. lighting in the UK." SOURCES: 1. http://climate.nasa.gov/key_indicators 2. http://www.preventionweb.net/files/20120613 ClimateDisaster1980-2011.pdf 3. http://www.zsl.org/science/research-projects/indicators-assessments/living-planet-index-graphs,18,GAL.html 4. http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/images/indicator_figures/acidity-figurel-2012.gif 5. http://theenergycollective.com/schalk-cloete/286196/understanding-continued-dominance-fossil-fuels 6. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20556703 7. http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/mar/28/uk-co2-emissions-up-2012 8. http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Take-action/Reduce-your-carbon-footprint 9. http://www.theecoexperts.co.uk/how-much-electricity-does-average-solar-panel-system-generate 10. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment data/file/65954/chapter 3 domestic factsheet.pdf 11. http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/census/2011-census/population-estimates-by-five-year-age-bands--and-household-estimates-. for-local-authorities-in-the-united-kingdom/stb-population-and-household-estimates-for-the-united-kingdom-march-2011.html 12. http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Heating-and-hot-water/Thermostats-and-controls 13. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List of countries_by_carbon_dioxide_emissions 14. http://www.theguardian.com/environment/ethicallivingblog/2008/mar/07/keepyourkettleincheck Sponsored by Unilever projectSunlight II