Category Archives:infographic

22
Apr

Earth Day: The Never-Ending Fight To Save Our Planet

mother earth tree

Happy Earth Day greenUPGRADER readers!!

Can you believe this day of earth-friendly behavior and learning has been around for 43 years? It's hard to imagine there was a time, not so long ago, when people knew almost nothing about chemical pesticides and industrial plants were free to dump their waste directly into lakes and rivers.

Thanks to the hard work of Earth Day founder Gaylord Nelson, and millions who share his passion for a healthier planet, we've come a long way since then. Although we might not always like how well they're enforced, laws like the Clean Air and Water Acts ensure that we have at least some recourse against those who would treat our only planet like a landfill.

Sometimes, fighting to protect the natural world can feel like a losing battle. For those who believe we are meant to be stewards of this marvelous blue marble, it's important to remember how far we've come, how much has been achieved. Browse the infographic below for interesting facts and figures from the first Earth Day until now.

And then do your best to get outside today...enjoy the beauty of this amazing place we call home! Feel the wind in your hair and the sun on your face. Breathe some fresh air. It'll help remind you why we're fighting so hard to save it.

Earth Day graphic produced by the Kars4Kids car donation program

Top image via alicepopkorn/Flickr

Posted:   |   Categories: Activism, conservation, Earth Day, infographic, Kars4Kids, Living, Mother Earth, News+Opinion, Pollution
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21
Apr

Earth Day: Challenge To Live A Mindful LIfe

k4k earth day header

Happy Earth Day CrispGreen Readers!!

This Earth-centric holiday has been around for 43 years, and we've come a long way since the very first Earth Day gathering. Now this day of environmental learning and action is celebrated in 192 countries around the world, inspiring millions to consider their impact on our world.

Like most things in this world, Earth Day has become highly commercialized. Every company and organization uses it as a way to promote their product line or agenda, while in reality their actions do harm to the planet they claim to care about. The true challenge of Earth Day is to live a mindful life every day of the year.

Sure, we could have posted a round-up of green gadgets or cool technologies that utilize clean energy, but this Earth Day, we decided to avoid consumption all together. We can't buy our way out of the mess our planet's in. Instead, let's reflect on how far we've come, and how far we have yet to go in our quest to leave this planet to our grand children in inhabitable shape.

Let's think about meaningful actions we can take to reduce waste and be an example of planetary stewards in our every day life. Let's be the change we want, instead of just talking about it. How did you celebrate Earth Day? Tell us in a comment.

Earth Day graphic produced by the Kars4Kids car donation program

Posted:   |   Categories: Activism, Gadgets, holidays, infographic, News, Pollution
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21
Apr

Earth Day: Challenge To Live A Mindful LIfe

k4k earth day header

Happy Earth Day CrispGreen Readers!!

This Earth-centric holiday has been around for 43 years, and we've come a long way since the very first Earth Day gathering. Now this day of environmental learning and action is celebrated in 192 countries around the world, inspiring millions to consider their impact on our world.

Like most things in this world, Earth Day has become highly commercialized. Every company and organization uses it as a way to promote their product line or agenda, while in reality their actions do harm to the planet they claim to care about. The true challenge of Earth Day is to live a mindful life every day of the year.

Sure, we could have posted a round-up of green gadgets or cool technologies that utilize clean energy, but this Earth Day, we decided to avoid consumption all together. We can't buy our way out of the mess our planet's in. Instead, let's reflect on how far we've come, and how far we have yet to go in our quest to leave this planet to our grand children in inhabitable shape.

Let's think about meaningful actions we can take to reduce waste and be an example of planetary stewards in our every day life. Let's be the change we want, instead of just talking about it. How did you celebrate Earth Day? Tell us in a comment.

Earth Day graphic produced by the Kars4Kids car donation program

Posted:   |   Categories: Earth Day, Gadgets, holidays, infographic, News, Pollution
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06
Mar

Infographic: How Climate Change Is Destroying The Earth

Climate change infographic

Earth & Industry readers most likely will agree that climate change is happening, and is caused by human actions. But it's often hard for individuals, no matter how well read, to fully grasp the enormity of how anthropogenic climate change is affecting the planet.

That's why we were interested to come across a new infographic from learnstuff.com that attempts to do just that - not only encompass all the evidence of climate change, but detail how it is destroying the Earth:

Thanks to extensive research and noticeable changes in weather and storm prevalence, it’s getting harder to turn a blind eye to the reality of climate change. Since the Industrial Age spurred the increasing usage of fossil fuels for energy production, the weather has been warming slowly. In fact, since 1880, the temperature of the earth has increased by 1 degree Celsius.

Although 72% of media outlets report on global warming with a skeptical air, the overwhelming majority of scientists believe that the extreme weather of the last decade is at least partially caused by global warming. Some examples of climate calamities caused partly by global warming include:

  • Hurricane Katrina
  • Drought in desert countries
  • Hurricane Sandy
  • Tornadoes in the Midwest

These storms, droughts, and floods are causing death and economic issues for people all over the world – many of whom cannot afford to rebuild their lives from the ground up after being wiped out by a tsunami or other disaster.

Evidence also indicates that the face of the Earth is changing because of warming trends. The ice caps of the Arctic are noticeably shrinking, the ice cap of Mt. Kilimanjaro alone has shrunk by 85% in the last hundred years, and the sea levels are rising at the rate of about 3 millimeters per year because of all the melting ice. Climate change is also affecting wildlife – for instance, Arctic polar bears are at risk of losing their environment; the Golden Toad has gone extinct; and the most adaptable species are evolving into new versions capable of withstanding warmer water.

Despite some naysayers with alternative theories about why global temperatures are rising – including the idea that the earth goes through natural temperature cycles every few millennia – the dramatic changes in the earth’s atmospheric makeup suggests humans are to blame. In fact, 97% of scientists agree humans are responsible for climate change. Since the Industrial Revolution, carbon dioxide levels increased 38% because of humans, methane levels have increased 148%, nitrous oxide is up 15% – and the list goes on and on, all because of human-instigated production, manufacturing, and Climate-Change

Posted:   |   Categories: Anthropocene, Climate Change, drought, emissions, Extreme weather, global warming, infographic, News, Severe weather
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