COVID-19 isn’t the only worldwide emergency affecting billions of people — climate change continues to threaten us with devastating implications.

Plant and wildlife sciences professor Ben Abbott explained that “with the global data streams that are now available, we can account for all the other changes in management and direct human activity to reveal the isolated effects of climate change. We can see the consequences of climate change reshaping the world around us.”

Before enacting change, we must understand the problem. Abbott offered three insights into key climate change contributors.

First, we are burning fossil fuels for electricity production, industry and transportation. Second, we are producing food at a huge scale, mainly intended for livestock. Finally, we are transforming the Earth’s ecosystems, reducing its capacity to remove the pollutants dumped into the atmosphere, water and soil.

Abbott said there are three opportunities for improvement.

1. Change your method of transportation

We all have places to go, but the way we get there makes a big difference.

Transportation is the number one source of greenhouse gas pollution in the U.S. When we walk, ride a bike or take public transportation, we vastly reduce our energy consumption.

Personal vehicles, like cars and trucks, account for more than half of transportation pollution, whereas riding a bicycle uses less than 1% of the energy that’s required to drive a car.

If 100 people traveled by bicycle, it would use same amount of energy it takes to drive one car.

2. Adjust your diet

What you eat doesn’t just affect how your body functions — it affects how the planet functions.

Eating a plant-based diet is one of the most impactful changes you can make to live more sustainably. Vegans reduce their agricultural carbon footprints by 73%. Eating a plant-based diet requires significantly less energy, water and nutrients than the typical American diet.

Other suggestions include reducing dairy consumption, committing to meatless Mondays, and trying plant-based alternatives to benefit both your health and the Earth.

3. Support systematic changes

Individual choice and systemic change are often presented as alternative approaches to solving climate change.

“We need both!” Abbott said. “We should make the right choices individually for moral reasons, and we should push for systematic change to create a more sustainable community for our families and neighbors.”

When we hold ourselves accountable for what we consume, we grow personally, physically and spiritually, becoming empowered to act on the scientific and societal opportunities related to global climate change.

We must acknowledge the costs of excessive consumption and make changes to hold ourselves accountable for our treatment of our planet.