Biomedicine

Abstract

If one has a passion for the planet, then this is the right time to drastically lower the carbon emissions. A carbon footprint is the total amount of greenhouse gases (including carbon dioxide and methane) that are generated by our actions. The average carbon footprint for a person in the United States is 16 tons, one of the highest rates in the world. Some carbon emissions will probably never be eradicated entirely from certain industries, such as air travel or construction. When emissions cannot be further reduced, carbon offsetting is the next best thing, says Winters (1). Offsetting emissions is paying for or investing in organisations that can extract carbon from the atmosphere to help others reduce their footprint. It could include investing in reforestation projects or new technologies that suck carbon out of the atmosphere and sequester it underground permanently, technologies to replace jet fuel with alternative green fuels, or switching fossil-fuel-powered facilities with hydrogen-powered facilities.