When considering the question of "Ethics and Climate Change", perhaps the first thing to do is to calculate your own personal contribution to greenhouse gas emissions.

When Svante Arhenius first calculated global greenhouse gas emissions and their likely effect on climate at the end of the 1800's, it took him the better part of a year, working with pencil and paper.

These days, making the calculation for yourself is a simple matter of clicking on websites and adding some personal data. Below, we have assembled a list of websites with "carbon calculators", for a number of different countries.

Most of these calculators determine your contribution to greenhouse gasses based on your home energy consumption, transportation habits, and amount of household waste. Many include links to various "carbon offset" services, so you can invest in tree-planting or other activities intended to "neutralize" your personal contribution to a warming world. (A donation to Earth Charter International does not guarantee you carbon "neutrlization," but it does contribute to our work to promote greater awareness and action on climate change as well as many other related global challenges.)

For those living somewhere not on the list of countries below -- national calculators are often geared to the specific energy situation of that country -- you can try one of the following sites, which are better for international use:

SafeClimate by the World Resources Institute
www.safeclimate.net/calculator
BP China
www.bp.com/iframe.do?categoryId=9011363&contentId=7029371
My Carbon Footprint by the European Commission
www.mycarbonfootprint.eu

The EU site also gives good recommendations on how to reduce one's personal carbon footprint through simple, everyday changes: turning down household heat, switching off the appliances properly, recycling, and making more conscious decisions about transportation use.

For specifically calculating the carbon emissions associated with your national or international airline flight, have a look at:
http://www.climatecare.org/calculators/flight