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How using public transportation reduces global warming
CGTN

With many climate scientists warning the Earth is reaching a "point of no return," slashing greenhouse gas emissions may require everyone's help.

So what can each of us do to help slow climate change?

Riding public transportation is one way to reduce our individual carbon footprints.

The American Public Transit Association says in the U.S. alone, public transportation can save an estimated 1.4 billion gallons of gas every year. That translates into roughly 14 million tons of carbon dioxide.

In 2019, 29 percent of greenhouse gas emissions were from transportation, including the movement of people and goods by cars, trucks, trains, ships, airplanes, and other vehicles. 

Converting to clean energy and transportation technologies can't happen soon enough for the environment and for conventional modes of transport that run on gas-powered internal combustion engines. 

At current rates of production, fossil fuels will run out in hundreds of years, oil will run out in 53 years, natural gas in 54, and coal in 110. 

The International Energy Agency (IEA) warns global CO2 emissions are set to increase by the second-biggest amount in history this year as the global economy recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic.

As the world’s second-largest economy, China has encouraged more of its citizens to live in a simple, greener, and low-carbon lifestyle. For many Chinese, public transportation is already a preferred way to travel.

China is aiming to achieve "peak" CO2 emissions before 2030 and carbon neutrality before 2060. 

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