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Imagine stepping onto wet cement.
As you step, you leave a footprint that remains long after the cement has hardened. You may never have left a footprint in wet cement, but all of us leave footprints. Your footprint is the effect you have on the world’s resources. It is shaped by what you do, what you eat, where you go, and how you get there. You can help conserve resources by leaving as small a footprint as you can.
How does your carbon footprint work? It’s all about how much carbon dioxide goes into the atmosphere because of you. For example, when you ride in a car, your carbon footprint grows. A car’s engine emits a lot of carbon dioxide. But when you walk or ride a bike, your carbon footprint doesn’t grow. If you take a bus or train, your carbon footprint is much smaller than if you ride in a car.
So why should we care about adding to our carbon footprints? Here’s why: Carbon dioxide traps the Sun’s heat in our atmosphere. That’s called the greenhouse effect. It’s the main cause of climate change. Climate change leads to changes on Earth that can cause droughts, floods, habitat loss for plants and animals, and a rise in sea level.
