Rising temperatures, declining water supplies, poorer agricultural yields, melting glaciers and warming oceans are just a few obvious effects of global climate change on the environment. We hear environmentalists preaching about climate change for a long time, some are moved by the facts while others see it as an agenda. The bottom line is, we’re all impacted by the negative effects of climate change.

Our basic needs such as food, water and energy will be impacted as these symptoms extend beyond the increase in temperature.

Climate change can’t be stopped by an individual or a group of people. It’s a collective effort that the whole world needs to take part in. Before the melting glaciers and warming oceans completely decimate our fish supplies, before worse comes to worst, we should all put our foot on the pedal and do what we can today, to help eliminate climate change.

In this article, we’re going to talk about digital solutions that could help ease climate change. Being aware of these things will help all of us know what we can do and what other solutions are available in the future.

Fusion Energy

When fossil fuels like coal, oil, and natural gas are burned, they release a huge amount of carbon dioxide. This is a greenhouse gas that traps heat within our atmosphere that causes global warming. Since 1970, carbon dioxide emissions have catapulted by 90 percent. Not only this but nuclear power plants, a huge contributor to climate change, generate unstable nuclei — some can be radioactive for millions of years.

Clean energy like fusion energy has been found to be a viable solution to this problem. In the 1920s, British physicist Arthur Eddington proposed that the fusion of hydrogen into helium powered the sun and stars. This idea had researchers and scientists working and researching on the possibility of bringing this energy source to our planet. If successful, fusing atoms can release nearly four million times more energy than what we get from burning oil, gas, and coal, that’s 400% more than nuclear fission reactions — minus the nuclear waste and other radioactive elements.

Fusion is difficult to achieve, however, there have been advancements in science and promising studies that are shining light on making this idea a possibility. By 2050, it’s estimated that fusion power may become usable.

Reduce Transport

Studies show that 23 percent of CO2 emissions related to global energy are produced by transportation vehicles. However, people need transportation in their everyday lives, and we can only expect this to increase.

There are two ways to combat this as we are now. The pandemic has proven that remote work can be a viable option for non-client-facing jobs. Giving billions of people around the world the option to work from home will allow less energy wasted on transportation. Similarly, digitization has also improved so much that we can now order groceries online. Instead of driving to the supermarket, you can just have it delivered to your doorstep.

Another way is to use electric vehicles. Tesla has proven that electric vehicles are as good and can be better than those running on petrol. The good thing is that researchers are continuing their study in improving the performance of electric vehicles. We can expect faster, safer and more effective battery charging technology.

Direct Air Capture (Carbon Removal)

Emissions of greenhouse gases, which are mostly caused by carbon dioxide, are the main culprit for climate change, and scientists have also thought of a straightforward solution: capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Direct air capture works by using mechanical systems to capture CO2 and compress it to be put into geological storage (deep within the sea or appropriate geological reservoirs) or utilize it to make products like cement.

Carbon removal could lead to high costs, which can amount to USD600 per ton of CO2. However, many companies are operating direct air capture facilities and are working on finding ways to make it more efficient.

Reduce Energy Consumption

The most effective technological or digital solution that we all can do every day is to reduce energy consumption.

Reducing electricity use in your home or switching to solar energy altogether, can help ease climate change and save lives. More and more houses are investing in solar panels today and many future homeowners are asking their professional real estate agents for property listings with a solar energy system, which is a good sign. This means that people are becoming aware of the problems that come from climate change, as well as the benefits of having reusable and sustainable energy.

It may sound inconsequential but collectively, this will make a huge difference. A small step like you doing an action first can lead to great leaps like your whole family doing it, then your relatives, followed by the entire community.

Power plants and industrial plants are the main contributors to climate change, however, cutting back on energy consumption, as well as buying fewer products that impact climate change and global warming will reduce the amount of electricity that these industries use. No change is too small in this case.

What’s noteworthy is that the European Union has already begun establishing energy labelling projects that label how energy efficient an appliance is. This informs people about how much it will cost them to run an appliance like a refrigerator or things like light bulbs. This move might not be much but when done at scale, it can have a positive impact on energy consumption.

Take the First Step Toward a More Sustainable Future

No effort is too small when it comes to easing up climate change. Researchers and scientists are all working to fix this problem. However, we should also do our part. Right now, it’s impossible for you to shut down power plants emitting greenhouse and toxic gases in the atmosphere, maybe in the future, but at the moment, we should do what we can. 

Try to limit buying products that cause these power plants to use energy and try to use less electricity at home. If you can work from home, do so; this will not only save you gas but will also help reduce pollution and carbon dioxide emission.

The actions we take will not only help the planet but ourselves and future generations as well. We got this problem partly with technology. It would be reasonable to solve it with technology as well.