Together we can “Invest in Our Planet”

On April 22, more than 1 billion people around the world will unite to celebrate Earth Day – a day to raise public awareness about environmental issues that adversely affect our planet. This year’s theme, “Invest in Our Planet,” focuses on engaging individuals, along with governments, businesses, and institutions, to help solve the world’s greatest problem: climate change.

Climate change vs global warming

Understanding the difference between climate change and global warming can be confusing. Global warming refers to Earth’s rising surface temperature while climate change includes that warming as well as its consequences – like melting glaciers, heavier rainstorms, or more frequent drought. Simply, global warming is one part of a much larger problem of human-caused climate change.

Typically, global warming refers to human-caused warming — warming due to the rapid increase in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases caused by burning coal, oil, and gas; emitting aerosol pollution into the atmosphere; or deforestation (transforming Earth's landscape from carbon-storing forests to farmland or social progress). Climate change, on the other hand, can refer to both human-caused changes or natural ones, such as ice ages.

Simple ways you can help

Despite the strides governments and industry have made over the last decades, we still have a long way to go to protect our planet and ensure its longevity for generations to come. Everyone – big and small – can be a part of the solution to mitigate climate change. Here are a few simple things you can do to celebrate Earth Day, and maybe incorporate into your everyday life – even just one can make a lasting difference:

• Park your car: fewer cars on the road means less carbon emissions polluting the air and contributing to global warming. So find a transportation alternative that helps you reduce your carbon footprint such as riding your bike, walking, carpooling, or taking public transit.
• Use reusable bags and water bottles: it takes millions of barrels of oil to manufacture plastic bags and water bottles and millions of these items are never recycled – instead they are dumped  in our landfills, scattered in our neighbourhoods, and floating in our oceans, wreaking havoc for humans, animals, and marine life.
• Make your home energy efficient:  electricity and heating our homes consumes a lot of energy. Simple changes like swapping to LED bulbs, turning off the lights when you walk out of a room, setting the thermostat a degree or two lower, and getting a heat pump are just a few ways you can significantly reduce your energy consumption.
• Plant a tree: trees are a big part of a clean environment. They absorb carbon dioxide from the air, and in turn produce oxygen. In fact, a 2018 UN report suggests that an additional 1 billion hectares of forest could limit global warming by 2050.
• Go paperless: switching to e-bills and online invoices, and using apps to read your favourite magazines or newspapers can save millions of trees every year.

As humans, we need this planet more than it needs us, but we are on a dangerous path to a climate change and global warming disaster. Together we can “Invest in Our Planet” to do our part each and every day to protect Earth and save it for all future generations.

You can read about Doctors of BC's commitments and recommendations regarding the significant impact climate change can have on human health in our Climate change and human health news article.