Al Gore’s documentary film “An Inconvenient Truth” raised awareness of the correlation between global warming and carbon dioxide gas, the main culprit of global warming. The film pointed out that global warming can be halted or reversed by reducing the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere, that is, by reducing our collective and individual carbon footprint.

A carbon footprint is the “measure of the impact human activities have on the environment in terms of the amount of green house gases produced, measured in units of carbon dioxide,” according to the Web site www.carbonfootprint.com. The average American emits 9.44 tons of carbon dioxide annually. To determine how large your carbon footprint is and to learn ways to reduce its size, visit: http://www.carbonfootprint.com/ or http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/ind_calculator.html.