On his first day in office, President-elect Biden renewed America’s commitment to the Paris Agreement. This global treaty involves 196 different parties sworn to reduce global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius by 2030. Solar panels are a big part of this initiative. Thus, the U.S. government has several programs in place to ensure everyone gets on board with this technology.
Find out how solar panels help reduce global warming and all the other benefits of installing solar power.
What Is Global Warming?
The Earth’s atmosphere naturally collects greenhouse gas emissions from the planet’s surface. These include water vapor, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone, and carbon dioxide. As the concentrations of these gases increase, the atmosphere heats up. That means, the more gases we release into the atmosphere due to our activities, the hotter the weather becomes.This has widespread effects on weather patterns. It causes changes in the seasons and increasingly frequent severe weather events. Drought, floods, hurricanes, and more are a result of global warming. It’s also causing the polar ice caps to melt at a rapid rate.
These climate changes cause serious disruptions in the migratory patterns of animals. They disrupt agriculture, and will ultimately lead to the extinction of mankind.It’s easy to see why we need to drastically reduce the number of emissions we pump into the atmosphere as quickly as possible.
How Do Solar Panels Help Reduce Global Warming
Solar power is clean energy. That means, it creates no harmful emissions that can contribute to global warming. It also helps decrease the demand for fossil fuels, like coal and gas, which we use to generate electricity for our homes. Coal, gas, and oil create enormous amounts of emissions when power plants burn them to release the energy trapped inside.
Solar panels also compensate for unrelated carbon emissions, like those resulting from transport. For instance, the average passenger vehicle is the source of about 4.6 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually. By installing solar panels, you help eliminate two cars’ worth of global emissions.
Environmental Benefits of Solar Panels
Apart from decreasing global warming, solar energy also helps save our water resources. It also protects the vegetation responsible for removing carbon emissions from the air.Power plant construction destroys green areas. It disrupts watercourses that support natural habitats, forests, and human settlements. The water used in power plants becomes toxic and non-potable to any living organism.
Solar panel production creates few emissions. Installing solar panels also helps decrease the need for power plants. So, more solar panel installations mean less environmental destruction, waste, and pollution.
Solar Panels Reduce Electric Bills
Taking steps to reduce global warming is part of responsible citizenship. Yet, solar panels offer many direct benefits for businesses and homeowners, too. You’ll save a fortune on your electricity bills by doing a simple compare energy process. You can also increase the value of your home considerably with a solar panel installation. What’s more, you stand to enjoy some lucrative incentives and discounts when you install a solar system.
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