Harini's Environment Corner

As we all know, the world is changing as time goes on but, have we ever asked ourselves what are some things that are changing? Animals, technology and nature are some of the things in our world that keep changing. All of these things affect humans is one way or the other like global warming.  Global warming is when more than a certain amount of GHG (greenhouse gases) are emitted into the atmosphere and when they mix together, they start to change the temperatures, weather and climates of the earth. On top of that, they also change the state of the environment too, which brings us to our topic of discussion, glacial melting. Glacial Melting 101 Glacial melting is when global warming affects the temperatures of the air to become warmer and it starts to melt the glaciers and icebergs (basically, anything involving snow that is created by mother nature). It is impossible to reverse the process of glacial melting due to the GHG gases up in the air already but we can still maintain to k...

There are many ways to reduce your ecological footprint. It all depends on your lifestyle and your day to day activities. Which means that everyone’s ecological footprint is different. There are many contributing parts to the ecological footprint. The carbon footprint makes the most impact. Therefore we will focus on that. The carbon footprint (CF) is the number of Greenhouse gases you emit (measured in CO2) by doing your day to day activities. To help reduce your CF, you must understand the impact of each activity. For example, buying and consuming B.C apples from the grocery store is leaving a large CF which we don't think of. Things that contribute to this example are transportation, cleaning method, processing, packaging and, storage. To reduce the CF, we need to eliminate/reduce some of these factors.  First of all, what is an Ecological footprint?  Ecological footprints measure the amount of land or sea area that you use to live. For example, if every person on this eart...

Why should we build net-zero homes? To make better choices for energy efficiency and reduce pollution. Even if this system doesn’t work in Calgary, many other countries could use this idea. In Alberta, we have our own oil, gas and, coal and we use our natural resources to generate all the required energy for our homes including heating our homes. Our province's income comes from these natural resources which are what shapes our economy. If Edmonton had done this, why should Calgary not do it? They are being tested and have been found working well. So far the results are good. If we also follow the same practice, it would be not a waste of money. But then again we have to keep in mind how many people in the oil industry would lose their jobs. But must remember that if we in Alberta do not use these forms of energy they can be exported to those who need them very badly. We can help in keeping the environment in Alberta clean. Here are some steps to follow so you can consider building...

For years, I have been doing research on how to interpret sustainable alternatives to our everyday lives. This year, I have been deeply thinking about why the environment isn’t really everyone’s top priority. One of the most vitally important issues of the 21st century is climate change and many countries like Spain have declared a national climate emergency. Through all of that, we tend to put other needs such as work and school before acting on the climate. This is why I would like to ask you, “why isn’t climate action our top priority?”.  History of the Climate Change First, we must take a trip back to the earlier days of sustainable living practices. Millions of years ago, when our ancestors roamed the earth, there wasn’t much energy used for living. They didn’t have pollution nor plastics. The only available materials and foodstuff they had were grown on earth and were 100% Net Zero/sustainable. As time passed, technology evolved. This resulted in more efficiency for humans an...