Study Task – 07/10/16

What is Climate Change?: Climate is the average weather at a given point and time of year and over a period of time. Weather is different from climate. Weather is what we see when we look outside our window. If the climate does not remain constant then it is called climate change.

The Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 is an act passed by Scottish parliament. It aims to ‘provide annual targets for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions; to provide about the giving of advice to the Scottish Ministers relating to climate change; to confer power on Ministers to impose climate change duties on public bodies; to make further provision about mitigation of and adaptation to climate change; to make provision about energy efficiency, including provision enabling council tax discounts; to make provision about the reduction and recycling of waste; and for connected purposes.’ The Act includes an emissions target, set for the year 2050, for a reduction of at least 80% from the baseline year, 1990. This is known as the 2050 target. I believe that this is achievable for the people of Scotland with the right guidance and advice from the government, not all at once, but gradually, following the annual targets that have been set.

Also, the introduction of the carrier bag charges, in October 2015, is a law introduced by the government with the aim ‘to reduce the use of single-use plastic carrier bags, and the litter they can cause, by encouraging people to reuse bags’. However, working in a supermarket myself, I witness this first hand everyday and whilst it has been somewhat successful and many people do now grudge paying 5p for a carrier bag although find it hard to remember their own bags. There are still many people, mostly young people in my experience, who buy bags for single- use on every trip to the supermarket. Hopefully with the governments help, by following these annual targets and making appropriate changes to our daily lives, we will be able to meet the aim of the 2050 target.

The measure your footprint activity gave me some good ideas as ways to reduce my carbon footprint that I would not have previously considered. Things such as buying more seasonal foods, taking up cycling, carpooling or walking to work and recycling and buying second hand things. My results from the quiz are shown below. It has shocked me a bit at just how high my carbon footprint percentage is. I think it may be this high as I do a lot of driving. I drive roughly 45 miles on a single trip to university and back. However, it works out cheaper for me to drive than take the train. Although, my friend and I have recently started car sharing to university as we both live fairly close to one another and both take the car anyway, in hopes of saving money whilst also being more economical. Small changes like this along with finding out more about climate change will also help reduce my footprint.

References

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/single-use-plastic-carrier-bags-why-were-introducing-the-charge/carrier-bags-why-theres-a-5p-charge

http://footprint.wwf.org.uk/home/calculator_complete

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2009/12/introduction