The subject of greenhouse gases has never been far away from the headlines for many years now and indeed despite governments around the world spending billions upon billions of pounds on promotion of the issue, there's been little in the way of progress. It now looks as though each and every individual in the UK, and around the world, will need to take control of their own carbon footprint and look to reduce this going forward.
What is your carbon footprint?
The simplest way to describe your carbon footprint is the amount of greenhouse gases which are created because of your lifestyle. This "lifestyle" will take in everything from energy supply to transport and many other issues which are prevalent in our everyday lives. The gases in question tend to be things like carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, etc which while created naturally can also be created by man-made activities.
Why should we fear greenhouse gases?
The greenhouse gases that we mentioned above are just a small fraction of the overall number of gases classified in this way. The simple fact is that these greenhouse gases have the ability to remain in the atmosphere for a prolonged period of time and during this time they will retain heat. This heat retention has a massive impact upon the temperature of the Earth and there are potentially enormous knock-on effects to nature and other areas of life.
Do greenhouse gases impact us directly?
Perhaps the reason why governments around the world are finding it very difficult to get the message across to the general public is because greenhouse gases will not affect you immediately. It is this excessive build up of greenhouse gases over many years which have the ability to change the world we live in and to indeed ruin and destroy the natural habitats of many animals. Many of us will not be aware but insects, birds, animals, etc all have a part to play in the food chain which could potentially be altered forever.
Governments and taxes
Time and time again governments around the world have warned the general public and even businesses about the need to reduce their carbon footprints and reduce the amount of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere. While the message has been received more loudly and more clearly in the business arena the same cannot be said of the general public. There is distrust among the general public when governments suggest environmental taxes, green taxes, etc because very often this means more money for governments around the world to waste.
Investing in the environment
If governments around the world were able to clearly define how these green taxes would be used and what benefit they would give the general public then there may well be more enthusiasm. However, at this moment in time there is no doubt there is a major scepticism that this is just one more of a number of moneymaking schemes for the UK government, US government, European union, etc, etc. Until the authorities around the world can get the message across there will be great reluctance from the public to release any more of their hard earned cash.