Global Warming can destroy our planet If we
Global Warming can destroy our planet! If we just sit and do nothing about it. http: //www. time. com/time/covers/0, 16641, 20060403, 00. html
Changes Scientific consensus is that human activity, mainly carbon dioxide emissions, is causing global warming. Every time we use electricity or gasoline, we are sending CO 2 emissions to the atmosphere.
Global Warming • World before Industrial revolution, 1800 – CO 2 level low <280 ppm. – ~No fossil fuel emissions (oil, coal, gas). • We’ve had a global climate equilibrium for the last 100, 000 years – it’s like we had a very comfortable blanket developed specially for us. – Now we have a huge blanket (caused by the extra human-made emissions in the atmosphere) • made of heat-trapping, heat-emitting IR greenhouse gases.
Global Warming
How hot will the Earth be in a few years? Depends on us. http: //news. bbc. co. uk/1/shared /spl/hi/sci_nat/04/climate_ch ange/html/climate. stm
CO 2 in the atmosphere Years: 1960 -2000
CO 2 in Atmosphere Years: 1000 -2100
Earth’s Surface Temperature Years: 1000 -2100 How hot it ultimately gets depends on us.
Global average temperature Years: 1860 -2000 } Cold due to sulfuric emissions: (1940 -1970) which caused lung cancer, asthma & acid rain
Consequences: • • • Polar caps melt Sea level rise Extreme temperatures Cyclones/tornadoes Drought / floods Disease Agriculture losses Extinction of animal species, corals, vegetation Worst case scenario: stop ocean conveyor belt
Kilimanjaro (Tanzania, Africa) 30 years later…
Lake Chad Was the 6 th largest lake in the World! A study by U. Wisconsin-Madison and NASA's EOS, the lake is now 1/20 th of the size it was 35 years ago. W. Africa (Chad, Nigeria, & Cameroon), the region has suffered from an increasingly dry climate, experiencing decline in rain since early 1960 s. We are causing Extreme poverty in Africa due to our emissions which accounts for 25% of all world emissions compared to Africa’s 3%.
Patagonia (Argentina) Longest Glacier in S. A. 1928 2004
Costa Rica First official lost species due to Global warming: the golden toad Female Male
Hurricanes • 10 hottest years ever, occurred in the last 14 yrs. • 2003 1 st hurricane ever in the S. Altantic Ocean • 2005 highest # of hurricanes, – most intense, 6 Greek letters • 2005 Wilma strongest hurricane ever recorded AO Then… • 2006 Monica strongest hurricane ever recorded • Luckily, this year (2006), El Niño decreases # hurricanes
Icebergs with caves = broken food chain 60% of krill population killed because of this. Krill are small shrimp-like crustaceans zooplankton, food for baleen whales, mantas, whale sharks, seals, and a few seabird species
Worst case scenario: abrupt change IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) Due to change in salinity, if Artic keeps melting, this current could stop, creating a small ice age in Europe and North America.
On top of this… New blooming economies want to live their own version of the “American Dream”. Example: in China, the traditional bicycle lane was closed to lay way to an extra automobile lane. India is now also flourishing economically and greatly increasing their CO 2 emissions.
Potential Solutions • • • Reduce CO 2 emissions Reduce energy consumption Alternative green power: solar, wind Reforestation Increase fuel efficiency; e. g. fuel cell, hybrid cars Emission trading- Kyoto Protocol – signed by 135 nations in Kyoto, Japan to reduce emissions. – Not signed by U. S. or Australia!, the 2 nations with the highest emissions.
The Good News is… We can make a difference…
Layer Montreal Protocol's ban on CFCs • For years, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) were the agents--contributing to the destruction of the Earth's ozone layer. • After the Montreal Protocol's ban on CFCs, slightly -more benign HCFCs replaced them. . The ozone layer is healing, but there is still a higher incidence of skin cancer and other diseases in the World due in part by this hole.
More Good News… You can save over $2, 000 every year while helping the planet!
Top 16 Things – Save $ with NO initial cost 1. Turn off (or even better, unplug) appliances • (consider a power strip), cord instead of cordless phones 2. Turn off water faucet, • • shower not baths, flow change shower head 3. Clean air-conditioning filters 4. Tune-up car, keep balanced, Accelerate minimum only *MPG
5. Turn down Water heater, air conditioner • and Use sheets instead of blankets 6. Turn off PC, printers, when not using: • Use Laptop instead of PC 7. Use cold water for washing cloths! • Hang clothes if possible 8. Use dishwasher only when full • Wash by hand if possible
9. Eating habits: • • Eat less meat (less methane); Eat local products 10. Plant trees • • They also lower house T in summer, They reduce CO 2 11. Car pooling, walking or biking 12. Avoid sanitary dishes/napkins • Both styrofoam or paper
13. Buy products with least packaging • Large family packs • Gift bags instead of wrapping Packaging and • Water bottles! - use refillable bottle. clean water production needs a lot of energy and releases tons of CO 2 in the atmosphere annually.
14. Be a wise consumer • Buy less • Give away things you not longer use.
15. Recycle! • (plastic, paper, cardboard, cans, glass) 16. Email your senators, government officials: • Sign petition at www. undoit. org • Sign petition at climatecrisis. org
Top 11 Things – Save $ with some initial cost You will recover the initial costs quickly and at the same time, reduce emissions greatly. 1. Consider solar water heater 2. Replace light bulbs with coiled fluorescent
Top 11 (cont…) 3. Consider new appliances with Energy Star* MYTH: Not all new appliances are energy efficient!! Check the labels carefully.
Top 11 (cont…) Transportation accounts for 67% of oil used! 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Consider buying a small car or a Hybrid, Use public transportation Eat organic products (better health, less Br) Consider wind or solar power Use silicone or dark baking pans 10. Use reusable plastic or cloth coffee filter 11. Use rechargeable batteries Green means it’s also good for your HEALTH.
Small changes, make a big difference:
In summary… $ave Money, improve your Health, Save the Planet! In doing so, we are indirectly helping the extreme poor… …is our moral responsibility.
Political Issues • Oil industry interests, – Lobbyists • Governments covering up scientific evidence – (e. g. NASA climatologist, Jim Hansen) • Real cost of nuclear energy – Should include the cost of waste disposal and the cost of medical treatment of potential health diseases due to radioactive materials. – versus cost of clean energy like solar or wind.
Take action! Stop Global Warming
We are ONE human race; we only have ONE planet. Let’s use its resources efficiently so that we can all benefit from it. With your help… …we can save the World!
Book References: • • The End of Poverty by Jeffrey Sachs Weather Makers by Tim Flannery An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman Global Warming by Chris Spence Pathologies of Power, Paul Farmer Mini Atlas of Global Development, The World Bank
Web References… • • • www. nasa. gov www. ncdc. noaa. gov/oa/climate/globalwarming www. povertymap. net www. unmillenniumproject. org www. st-edmunds. cam. ac. uk www. noaa. gov www. borgenproject. org www. unicef. org www. energyhog. org FUN!! (PC games)
- Slides: 38
