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Today is Blog Action Day ^[4], and this year’s theme is Climate Change ^[5] – a topic near and dear to our hearts here at Inhabitat ^[6]. To kick things off, we took a look back over last the past year’s posts and pulled together a list of our top 5 favorite climate change stories to hit the pages of Inhabitat ^[6]. The following [completely biased] list is in no particular order. It does, however, attempt to focus on solutions to the problem – because we believe that there is hope for our planet if we act now. Check it out and please, comment copiously. We love a good debate!

5. The Age of Stupid Debuts!

There are many ways to combat climate change; one of the best is to raise awareness. The film ‘The Age of Stupid ^[7]‘ by Franny Armstrong is a terrific example. The film stars Pete Postlethwaite as an old man living in “the devastated world of 2055, watching ‘archive’ footage from 2008 and asking: why didn’t we stop climate change while we had the chance?”

4. Polluted Skies Actually Reduce Global Warming

Not strictly a solution, this story ^[8] is important reading for anyone in the climate change trenches. The study ^[8], led by Dr. Lina Mercado from the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, ^[9] does not imply that pollution is good in any way. It simply states that “plants often thrive in hazy conditions such as those that exist during periods of increased atmospheric pollution.” Get the facts and share them with the skeptics in your life.

3. SFO Airport Carbon Offset Kiosks

This year San Francisco became the first airport in the world where travelers can purchase carbon offsets ^[10] right in the terminal. In an ideal world, air travel would produce no carbon emissions. Until that happens, carbon offsets seem to be the consensus solution, and now it’s easier than ever to balance the scales with the Climate Passport Program ^[10] at SFO. We hope others will soon follow.

2. France’s $2.2 Billion Car Charging Network

Part of a comprehensive French initiative ^[11] that includes increased EV production, new construction regulations and public EV charging stations, the $2.2 billion network ^[11] of charging stations is the first of its kind. The network of ‘sockets’ is designed to provide much-needed infrastructure for EVs. Here’s hoping the rest of the world follows France’s lead, and soon.

1. Barcoding Millions of Trees Could Relieve Global Warming

Treating tropical rainforests as a global ‘tree store’ might sound far-fetched, but British tech company, Helveta ^[12], is doing just that. Helveta is combating illegal logging by tagging millions of trees ^[12] in Africa, southeast Asia and South America. The barcodes discourage illegal logging, which is a $10 billion dollars a year business. A simple but effective idea ^[12] that we love.

+ Blog Action Day ^[4]