Carbon
, nonmetallic chemical element, known by the symbol C, is the fundamental building block of material in living organisms and is important to many industries. Carbon occurs in naturein nearly pure form of in diamond and graphite. It is also the major component of coal, petroleum, asphalt, limestone, and most materials made by plants and animals. The name carbonis derived from the Latin word
carbo
, which means charcoal, a material that is composed primarily of carbon.Scientists, industries, and consumers use different forms of carbon and carbon-containingcompounds in many ways. Scientists use the carbon atom as the basic unit of mass and as a clueto the age of an object. Industries use carbon to make steel iron, purify metals, and add strength torubber. In the form of diamond, carbon can cut most other substances and shine more brilliantlyin jewelry than most other gems. Carbon compounds can be burned as fuel to heat food or homes,as well as form many different molecules for all sorts of human needs. Chemical industries arealso one of the major consumers of carbon. Pharmaceuticals, pesticides, paints, and coatings areamong the products made from synthetic organic chemicals.Those are some of the thousand uses of carbon. But the excessive use of carbon puts our environment at risk. Carbon emissions that are often talked about these days are associated withglobal warming. They refer to the emission of CO2 gas. The gas is called carbon dioxide and is building up in unnatural amounts in the amounts in the atmosphere as a result of pollution. Mostof the CO2 that is being produced in the world today comes from the burning of fossil fuels likecoal. Some of it is absorbed by plants in their food making process called photosynthesis, whichis why it is so important to protect the environment.Reducing carbon emissions helps to slow down global warming and subsequent climatechange. Most thinking people in the world realize that global warming is a very serious matter. Itis very important to minimize carbon emissions and global warming for the sake of our childrenand future generations. Global warming as the name suggests is the heating up of our planet. Thegreenhouse gases (which include CO2 from carbon emissions) that are building up in our atmosphere are trapping the heat from the sun and causing the atmosphere to be warmer thannormal. This phenomenon is dependent on a large number of factors such as transportation andfuel combustion including residential, commercial, industrial, and coal-burning power plants.There is a rough correlation though and that is the more greenhouse gases in the atmosphere thewarmer it will get.As a consequence, our world faces so many threats like extinction of species, drought,spreading of deserts, heavy floods, monsoons, and the worst, climate change. To prevent themfrom worsening, let us enumerate the ways on how to prevent them.Did you know that the energy used to produce, deliver, and dispose of junk mail produces moregreenhouse gas emissions than 2.8 million cars?! That is a very big amount! We can help reduceyour junk mails and offset CO2 emissions by contacting companies to remove your name fromtheir lists, such as credit cards offers, coupon mailers, etc. And that is a big thing, you help savethe world!Are you a vegetarian? If yes, then you save 3000 pounds of CO2 per year compared to meateaters! Removing eating of meat in your system is a difficult thing but through mind conditioningyou can. Just increase the number of vegetable meals you eat per week and sooner or later, youwill get used to it. You just do not help save the earth but you also save yourself from the diseasesequipped when you eat meat.
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