What if just 1 in 10 people changed how they eat, drive, heat or shop?

Climate change is often viewed as an issue that’s too big for individual action to matter. But calculations show that when personal choices add up, the impact can be significant.

The Associated Press looked at four everyday behaviors in the U.S. ranging from food and transportation to home energy and clothing. The question was then posed: What if just one in 10 Americans who currently eat beef, drive gasoline cars, heat their homes with natural gas or buy new clothes changed each of those habits?

To find out, the AP gathered data from federal agencies and other sources on each habit, then calculated how much emissions would be reduced if one out of every 10 users made a switch. The answer is tens, and in some cases hundreds, of billions of pounds of carbon pollution avoided each year.

Beef is one of the most carbon-intensive foods in the global food system because cattle emit methane and require vast amounts of land and feed, creating large amounts of climate pollution. Producing beef generates greenhouse gas emissions several times higher than chicken.

The recommended serving size of meat in the U.S. is 3 ounces (85 grams), according to the American Heart Association. Swapping one serving of beef that size for chicken once a week would cut about 10 pounds (4.54 kilograms) of carbon dioxide. Over 52 weeks in a year, that would equal a reduction of about 525 pounds (238 kilograms) of carbon dioxide per person per year.

About 74% of Americans eat beef at least once a week, according to a 2023 survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. If one out of every 10 of them — or about 25 million people — swapped just one beef meal a week for chicken, emissions would fall by about 13 billion pounds (roughly 6 million metric tons) of carbon dioxide each year. That change is roughly comparable to the annual emissions from nearly 1.3 million gasoline cars.

“Beef is a commonly consumed item that has one of the largest carbon footprints per pound,” said Dave Gustafson, project director at Agriculture & Food Systems Institute. “It is probably one of the largest individual choices that people make with regard to what they eat that has a direct impact on personal carbon footprint.”

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, transportation is one of the largest sources of direct greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S., and personal vehicles account for a major share of that total. Transportation accounts for 28% of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by economic sector.

The EPA says the average U.S. motorist drives 11,500 miles (18,507 kilometers) per year. The average gas powered car emits 400 grams (14 ounces) of carbon dioxide per mile, compared with about 110 grams (3.9 ounces) of carbon dioxide per mile for an electric vehicle. Driving an electric vehicle instead of a gas car cuts roughly 7,400 pounds (3,357 kilograms) of carbon dioxide per person annually, even after accounting for emissions from electricity generation.

If a number of Americans equal to 1 in 10 licensed drivers — or 23.77 million people — made that switch, the emissions savings would add up to roughly 175 billion pounds (roughly 79 million metric tons) of carbon dioxide every year, nearly 1.25% of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.

“If a large percentage of people changed a little bit of their travel, then all of a sudden the benefits are huge,” said Dillon Fitch-Polse, a professional researcher and co-director of Bicycling Plus Research Collaborative at the University of California, Davis.

At home, heating is often an invisible source of fossil fuel use. About 60 million U.S. households rely on utility natural gas furnaces, which burn fuel directly inside the home, according to the U.S Census Bureau's American Community Survey.

Replacing a gas furnace with an electric heat pump, which moves heat instead of generating it through combustion, cuts about 1,830 pounds (830 kilograms) of carbon dioxide per household per year.

If one in 10 households that heat their homes with natural gas switched to electric heat pumps, the result would be about 11 billion pounds (roughly 5 million metric tons) of carbon dioxide avoided annually, comparable to taking 1 million cars off the road.

“People’s homes are kind of like little fossil fuel power plants that people operate, and they just don’t realize that’s what they’re doing,” said Leah Stokes, associate professor of environment politics at the University of California, Santa Barbara. “That’s really the collective action thing is for people to understand that there is fossil fuel infrastructure right under their noses in their own homes.”

Clothing may seem minor next to cars or furnaces, but apparel has a significant carbon footprint.

A life cycle assessment by Levi Strauss & Co. estimates that producing a single pair of Levi's 501 jeans can emit more than 44 pounds (20 kilograms) of carbon dioxide, including manufacturing, packaging, transportation and retail.

If 34.2 million people — or the equivalent of 1 in 10 Americans — bought a pair of secondhand jeans this year instead of new ones, it would avoid roughly 1.5 billion pounds (roughly 0.7 million metric tons) of carbon dioxide, equivalent to the emissions of about 150,000 gasoline cars.

“What you can do is not throw in the trash,” said Constance Ulasewicz, consumer and family studies emeritus faculty and lecturer at San Francisco State University. “So it’s repairing your clothing so you can extend the life, and buying from a secondhand store.”

None of these actions alone can solve climate change, but together, the numbers show how quickly emissions add up or come down when millions of people move in the same direction.

The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

FILE - Miranda Lewin shops for clothes at Pib's Exchange in Salt Lake City, Utah, April 15, 2022. (Laura Seitz/The Deseret News via AP)

FILE - Vehicles drive along a highway July 30, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel, File)

FILE - A line cook slices beef brisket June 12, 2024, at a barbecue restaurant in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel, File)

FILE - A man eats a chicken wing June 12, 2024, at a barbecue restaurant in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel, File)

FILE - A driver waits in their car while charging their electric vehicles at an Electrify America station Oct. 9, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File)

U.S. President Donald Trump said the military could end its Iran offensive in two to three weeks and will shift responsibility for the Strait of Hormuz to countries that rely on it for oil and shipping as the White House announced a prime-time presidential address Wednesday evening on the war.

Trump expressed frustration Tuesday with allies who have been unwilling to do more to support the U.S. war effort, telling them to “go get your own oil.” Trump recently has vacillated between insisting there is progress in diplomatic talks with Iran and threatening to widen the war.

In an interview with pan-Arab broadcaster Al Jazeera, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi acknowledged receiving direct messages from U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff. He insisted, however, that there were no direct negotiations and said Iran has no faith that talks with the U.S. could yield any results, saying “the trust level is at zero.”

Meanwhile, U.S. gas prices jumped past an average of $4 a gallon for the first time since 2022 on Tuesday, as the Iran war continues to push fuel prices higher worldwide. Analysts say those high fuel costs will trickle into groceries as businesses’ transportation and packaging costs pile up.

Here is the latest:

Iran’s capital, Tehran, held a funeral Wednesday for an Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander killed in an Israeli airstrike last week.

State television showed live footage of mourners waving Iranian flags at a funeral for Rear. Adm. Alireza Tangsiri, the head of Revolutionary Guard’s navy. An Israeli airstrike killed Tangsiri last week, with Tehran only acknowledging his death Monday.

Another funeral had been held Tuesday in Bandar Abbas, a key port city on the Strait of Hormuz.

A volunteer with the Iranian Red Crescent was killed by an airstrike Tuesday in the country’s northwest, according to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

Alireza Sohbatlou was providing services at a clinic in Zanjan province when an airstrike hit the nearby religious site Azam Hussainiya of Zanjan, the humanitarian network said Wednesday.

He was the third Red Crescent volunteer killed in Iran since the start of the war, the IFRC said.

Iran’s supreme leader vowed Wednesday his nation will continue to support anti-Israeli forces in the Mideast.

The message from Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, like others since he was named Iran’s new supreme leader, came in a statement read on air by a state television anchor.

“I firmly declare that the consistent policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran, in continuing the path of the late Imam and martyred leader, is based on continuing to support the resistance against the Zionist-American enemy,” Khamenei said in the comments from a letter to the Lebanese group Hezbollah.

Khamenei has not been seen since the war began Feb. 28. U.S. and Israeli officials believe he was wounded and remains in hiding.

An Indian citizen was wounded during a drone attack Wednesday in the United Arab Emirates, according to the official WAM news agency in Umm Al Quwain, one of the UAE’ seven emirates.

Shrapnel fell near an industrial area of Umm Al Thoub while air defense systems were intercepting a drone, the agency reported.

The Russian Embassy in Iran on Wednesday condemned an airstrike on the compound of the former U.S. Embassy there as it damaged a nearby cathedral.

The embassy said the blast broke doors and windows at St. Nicholas Orthodox Cathedral, just across from the compound.

An adjacent Russian nursing home sustained damage, including a collapsed roof, it added.

“We strongly condemn the ongoing US and Israeli aggression against Iran, which is increasingly affecting civilian infrastructure and religious and cultural heritage,” the embassy said.

South Korea will require public employees to alternate car use every other day starting next week.

The measure comes as officials raised the alert level over crude oil supplies, citing concerns about a prolonged crisis in the Middle East.

The climate ministry said Wednesday the government will implement an odd-even driving scheme, based on license plate numbers, for public employees using fossil-fuel vehicles starting April 8.

The government already had required public employees to keep their cars off the road at least one weekday starting March 25 to reduce energy consumption during the war.

Electric and hydrogen-powered vehicles, as well as those used by people with disabilities and pregnant women, will be exempt from the restrictions.

Asked about U.S. President Donald Trump’s comment to the Daily Telegraph newspaper that he is considering pulling out of NATO, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Britain is “fully committed to NATO.”

Starmer called it “the single most effective military alliance the world has ever seen.”

Starmer told reporters that “whatever the pressure on me and others, whatever the noise, I am going to act in the British national interest in all the decisions I make.”

Prime Minister Keir Starmer says the U.K. will host an international diplomatic conference this week on ways to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Starmer says 35 countries have signed a statement committing to work together on restoring maritime security to the key oil transport route.

He said Wednesday that Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper will lead a conference on the issue, and military planners are also working on plans for security once the Iran war ends.

Starmer said “a united front of military strength and diplomatic activity” is needed to restore stability.

Multiple drones attacked a northern Iraq fuel warehouse linked to British oil and natural gas giant BP, a firm operating the facility said.

No casualties were reported.

The attack on the motor oil warehouse occurred in Irbil, the capital city of Iraq’s semiautonomous Kurdish region, the Sardar Group, a major automotive group in Iraq, said in a statement. It said the facility is owned by Castrol, a subsidiary of BP.

The statement said the first drone hit the facility at 7:20 a.m., before it was attacked again with two more drones while firefighters were combating the fire.

The attack started a massive fire that sent a column of black smoke into the air, social media footage shows.

The Lebanese military said its forces have largely withdrawn from some border towns as Israeli troops continue to push a ground invasion into the country.

The Lebanese military said in a statement that troops had to reposition to prevent being dispersed and cut off from support lines.

The military has gradually withdrawn from a handful of border towns. Remaining residents in the Christian-majority communities Rmeich and Ain Ebel have appealed to the Lebanese military and leadership to stay.

The military said it would maintain soldiers in those towns.

Israel has declared southern Lebanon up until the Litani River will be a “security-zone” in its ongoing war with the militant group Hezbollah and residents will not be able to return until further notice.

Over 1 million people in Lebanon have been displaced over the past month.

Australia Prime Minister Anthony Albanese used a rare national address to urge Australians to use public transport due to fuel supply uncertainties created by the Iran war.

Albanese said in a statement broadcast Wednesday by major television and radio networks that “the months ahead may not be easy.”

“You should go about your business and your life as normal. Enjoy your Easter,” Albanese said.

“And over the coming weeks, if you can switch to catching the train or bus or tram to work, do so,” he added.

Australia slashed fuel taxes from Wednesday in a bid to curb price rises at the pump.

The government maintains that Australia has all the fuel it needs, but panic buying and distribution problems have created regional shortages.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi signaled Tehran’s willingness to keep fighting no matter what Trump may threaten.

Trump’s April 6 deadline for the Strait of Hormuz to open still stands, otherwise he threatened to hit power plants.

“You cannot speak to the people of Iran in the language of threats and deadlines,” Araghchi said.

Asked if the United States would launch a ground war in Iran, Araghchi dismissed the idea.

“I do not think they would dare to do such a thing,” he said. “Very heavy casualties would await them.”

Asked about attacks across the Gulf Arab states, Araghchi again insisted Iran isn’t targeting those states, despite repeated attacks on civilian infrastructure like airports, power plants and desalination facilities.

“In reality, they are using the people of the Persian Gulf as human shields,” Araghchi said.

Oil fell below $100 per barrel and Asian shares jumped Wednesday over renewed optimism about a de-escalation of the Iran war.

Brent crude, the international standard, was down 4.7% to $99.05 per barrel.

Benchmark U.S. crude dropped 4% to $97.33 a barrel.

South Korea’s Kospi recovered its losses from earlier this week, surging 8.4% to 5,478.70, while Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 rose 5.2% to 53,739.68.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 2.3% to 25,346.42, while the Shanghai Composite index was trading 1.5% higher at 3,948.55.

An airstrike in Iran’s capital, Tehran, on Wednesday morning appears to have struck inside of the former U.S. Embassy compound there.

The embassy has been controlled by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard since the 1979 hostage crisis.

Its all-volunteer Basij force operates the compound, running an anti-American museum inside the embassy and having different operations on its grounds in newer buildings.

Witnesses saw blown-out windows surrounding the massive compound on Tehran’s Taleghani Street. However, there was no missile strike visible around the compound, with witnesses saying they believe the strike happened inside the compound.

The 444-day hostage crisis saw American diplomats held until President Ronald Reagan took office from President Jimmy Carter in 1981.

An oil tanker contracted to Qatar was struck by an Iranian cruise missile on Wednesday while two others were intercepted, authorities said.

The missile slammed into the tanker off Qatar's coast that is contracted by state-owned QatarEnergy. The ministry said the tanker’s 21-member crew was evacuated, and no casualties were reported.

In a statement, the Defense Ministry said two other missiles were intercepted.

QatarEnergy said there was no environmental impact from the tanker attack.

The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said earlier that a projectile slammed into the side of the ship.

The Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen said Wednesday they fired a barrage of ballistic missiles toward Israel.

Air raid sirens went off in southern Israel in the early morning, from Beersheba to the Mediterranean coast following the launch. There were no immediate reports of impacts.

Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, a military spokesman for the Houthis, said in a prerecorded statement that they fired at “sensitive targets” in southern Israel.

The attack is the third since the Houthis joined the war on Friday when they fired their first missile toward Israel since the U.S. and Israel launched massive airstrikes on Iran on Feb. 28.

Their entry has raised concerns that they could resume attacks on vessels in the Red Sea further disrupting the global shipping industry and sending oil prices much higher

A drone attack has killed a citizen of Bangladesh in Fujairah, one of the UAE’s seven emirates, authorities said.

He was killed Wednesday when Emirati air defense systems intercepted a drone, and shrapnel landed in a farm, the Fujairah media office said.

The fatality has brought the death toll in the UAE to nine civilians and two soldiers. A Moroccan contractor with the UAE army was also killed in Bahrain.

Earlier Saudi Arabia said it had destroyed two Iranian drones.

Emergency personnel said an 11-year-old girl was severely wounded in central Israel in the latest missile attack from Iran.

Two more people suffered moderate injuries including a 13-year-old boy and a 36-year-old woman, according to Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue services.

Iran’s foreign minister has acknowledged receiving direct messages from U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff.

The comments by Abbas Araghchi came in an interview with pan-Arab broadcaster Al Jazeera aired late Tuesday. He insisted that the messages didn’t constitute negotiations.

U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly described Iran and America has having talks over the war, while Pakistan has been a key intermediary along with Egypt and Turkey during the conflict.

“I receive messages from Witkoff directly, as before, and this does not mean that we are in negotiations,” he said.

He added: “We do not have any faith that negotiations with the U.S. will yield any results. The trust level is at zero.”

Asked about a possible ground offensive by the U.S., Araghchi said “we are waiting for them.”

“We know very well how to defend ourselves,” Araghchi reportedly told the Qatar-based broadcaster. “In a ground war, we can do it even better. We are completely ready to confront any sort of ground attack. We hope they do not make such a mistake.”

Lebanon’s Health Ministry said in a preliminary count early Wednesday 21 people were also wounded in the strike in Jnah.

The strike came without warning, and Israel did not declare the target. When it does, it often says it is targeting operatives from the Hezbollah militant group.

Emergency workers rushed to the scene to search for victims.

Israel’s military warned the public Wednesday a missile was incoming from Yemen, yet another attack from the country’s Houthi rebels who have just entered the war on Iran’s side.

Air raid sirens went off in southern Israel, from Beersheba to the Mediterranean coast.

The warning, just around dawn, broke a long lull, more than 19 hours since the last time Israel’s military warned of an incoming missile launch from Iran, and more than six hours from the last alarms in the northern part of Israel, which in past days received near-constant fire from Hezbollah in Lebanon.

A drone attack by Iran and its allies hit a fuel tank at Kuwait International Airport, sparking a fire, authorities said.

The state-run KUNA news agency said the attack early Wednesday sparked a “large fire” at the airport.

It said there were no immediate injuries from the attack and firefighters were working to control the blaze.

Kuwait International Airport has been attacked before by Iran during the war. The KUNA report suggested the attack may have been launched by Iranian-supported militias in Iraq with Tehran’s support.

In another strike, Bahrain said early on Wednesday morning that it was working to extinguish a fire at a business facility that resulted from an Iranian attack.

Israel said early Wednesday it struck a plant supplying Iran’s theocracy with fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid, to allegedly use in a chemical weapons program. Iran acknowledged the strike on Tofigh Daru factory, but insisted it only supplied “hospital drugs” used in medical operations.

The strike happened Tuesday, both the Israelis and the Iranians said.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted a picture of the factory in Tehran, writing on X: “The war criminals in Israel are now openly and unashamedly bombing pharmaceutical companies.”

Hospitals extensively use fentanyl to treat severe pain. But a small amount of the drug can be fatal.

Both Israel and the United States have warned in recent years Iran was experimenting with fentanyl in munitions. The U.S. previously pointed to Iranian academic research studying how Russia likely used a fentanyl derivative during the 2002 Moscow theater hostage seizure by Chechen militants.

Israel alleged Tofigh Daru supplied fentanyl to an advanced research institute in Tehran, known by its acronym SPND. The U.S alleges SPND has conducted research and testing that could be applicable to the development of nuclear explosive devices and other weapons.

The United Arab Emirates has barred Iranians from entering or transiting the country as the war rages, three major airlines said Wednesday.

Long-haul carriers Emirates and Etihad, as well as the lower-cost airline FlyDubai, made the announcements on their websites.

Entry rules can sometimes be opaque in the autocratic United Arab Emirates, a federation of seven sheikhdoms, the three airlines agreed on the order. It said holders of 10-year Golden Visa residency permits could still enter the country.

Authorities have offered no official comment. But Dubai has already shut down the city-state’s Iranian Hospital and Iranian Club, institutions that date back to the time of the shah.

Members of civic groups hold signs against the U.S. and Israel attacks on Iran near the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Israel's rescue teams and residents take shelter as sirens sounds next to a site struck by an Iranian missile in Bnei Brak, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

People stand near a damaged van beside scattered debris following an Israeli strike in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

A firefighter extinguishes a car at the site of Israeli airstrikes, in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Residents and Israeli security forces inspect a site struck by an Iranian missile in Petah Tikva, Israel, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

A man inspect the wreckage of an Iranian missile that landed near the West Bank village of Marda, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike hits a building near the airport road in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

A family who fled Israeli shelling in southern Lebanon warm themselves by a bonfire next to tents used as shelters in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)