Do we know how to save the environment?

Many Americans think that they are helping to save energy by doing things such as turning off the lights when not needed, or unplugging appliances when not in use, or that making something out of recycled material saves more energy. However, making a glass container from virgin material uses a lot less energy than making something out of recycled material. The problem is, some would take action to a problem, like maybe one or two small ones. Then later, they would believe that they have done all that they can, and stop. Some real big energy savers include driving higher-mileage vehicles, and switching from central air conditioning to room air conditioning, according to previous studies. High efficiency light bulbs are also better than low efficiency ones, because with high-efficiency light bulbs can be kept on all the time, and still save more energy than reducing the use of low efficiency ones.

This is related to science and biology because our actions affect the environment, while the environment affects us. However, this reflects more of American's behavior, with "single action bias", and finding the easier way to do things at the moment, but it doesn't really have much impact. If our behavior doesn't change, the environment is going to get worse for us, endangering not just humans, but the whole planet. The planet is getting hotter, and that urges more technology to keep us cool, and in winters, it gets colder, urging more technology to keep us warm.

This article is important because it some people think that they are pro-environment are probably too optimistic on their ways and may be less accurate on what action is needed. Most of us are probably thinking that turning off the lights of their house or recycling some plastic is going to help the environment by a lot, but that will not drastically change things in ten years. We need to know our progress, and by knowing this, we know where to improve and how to improve it.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/08/100817103352.htm