Freshwater

In the US, we have a long history of preserving places commonly special to us through the National Park System. Recently I have been thinking about the usefulness of the designation of National Park and questioning whether it is always the best prescription.

I found that I was getting depressed every day when I took a piece of bread out of a bag to make French toast, open a pill container to take my allergy medicine, or peeled back the wrapper from a block of cheese to make an omelette, so I took a vow not to buy any new plastic for one week. Plastics aren't just in grocery bags, which I can avoid most of the time. They're in food wrappers, diapers, hair care, appliances, toys, computers, writing utensils, art supplies, pet supplies, eyeglasses, business envelopes, you name it.

A great deal of focus is given to CO2 emissions and their role in the greenhouse effect, however the public is less aware of other powerful greenhouse gases.  Atmospheric nitrous oxide (N2O) concentrations have been rising since the Industrial Revolution due to anthropogenic activities. It is estimated that N2O accounts for 6% of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. Due to its atmospheric lifetime of approximately 120 years combined with its heat-trapping effects,  N2O has approximately 310 times more warming power than CO2 on a per molecule basis.