What's to debate about when everywhere in the world, there are signs that the earth has warmed. Whether it's climate change or not, the whole planet is experiencing a warming that has melted glaciers, shrunk polar ice, and flooded low masses of lands in oceans. Now, the United Nations has announced that the years between 2000 and 2009 are the warmest since record-keeping began in 1850. Climate scientists are predicting at warmer years ahead. Should this be a cause for concern? It's likely.
Between 2007 and 2009, the Arctic ice cap was reduced to the smallest ever recorded due to summer melt. This opened up new sea routes in areas that used to be ice clad. The situation posed questions on how Arctic life would fare with very little ice since a lot of animals there depend much on solid ice in order to thrive.
According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the warmest years since 1850 are 2005, 1998, 2007 and 2006, although the difference in temperatures between them are so little to be statistically insignificant. The recent climate change talks in Copenhagen (2009) sought to encourage governments worldwide to help in mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and get their commitment to the cause by implementing solid measures to deal with the problem.
In 2007, scientists revealed that human-made carbon dioxide emissions were increasing beyond what's been predicted. In the 1990s, it was only at 1.3% annually, but in the next decade moving into the 21st century, this figure went up to 3.3%. It was a dramatic increase that was blamed on growing industries. The results of the study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) journal.
The NAS identified the sources of the carbon dioxide emissions as part of the economic boom experienced in that time worldwide. According to study author Josep Canadell of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization in Australia, this boom resulted in the increase of greenhouse gas contributors such as coal-burning electricity plants. Canadell said this is reflected in carbon intensity, which measures the amount of carbon needed to produce $1 for the economy.
The level of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere has been known for a long time to be steadily increasing. As a greenhouse gas, this can trap the sun's heat in the atmosphere which can increase average temperatures worldwide and cause climate change, specifically global warming.
Now, scientists are saying that CO2 emissions have tapered off. A recent study (2009) conducted by the International Energy Agency (IEA) concludes that the dip in CO2 emissions over the last year will be greater than any dip in the last forty years. The reason for the drop, as identified by the IEA, is the current economic recession as well as the imposition of stricter environmental policies signed into law by governments like the United States.
Canadell said efficient technologies mean more wealth generated for the same level of emissions. While this is offset by growing economies which still use old fashioned energy sources, the belt-tightening of countries and a more environmentally-conscious populace means there's a trend to use less energy. It's now felt in the form of less CO2emissions. The IEA research came one year after the start of the global economic meltdown.
What does this mean for global warming? For one, it simply shows that with concerted effort (and this does not mean working together to bring down the economy), it is possible to make a change that could very well keep the Earth from plunging into a very warm future that could devastate civilization as we know it with extreme environmental changes. The debates on global warming may continue, but any change that may take place as a result of the physical conditions around us will have to be either dealt with or claimed. In the meantime, this news will allow a little breathing room until the economy picks up again.
Join the No Impact Project, starting on October 19, 2009 and show the world what you're doing to lessen your carbon footprint!
Do you want to be like Al Gore and campaign against global warming? Here's one way to put his head on your shoulders! Click here or on the image to place your order.
Flying is perhaps the only way to get from one side of the gobe to the next very quickly. But there are tradebacks, one of which is the fact that plane exhust, courtesy of jet fuel, releases tons of carbon dioxide into the air, contributing to the greenhouse effect which traps heat in the atmosphere.
While it may be an extreme move for some, quitting or refusing to fly when travelling is said to lessen one's carbon (dioxide) footprint, thereby helping to mitigate the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Some environmentalists have pushed for a reduction in flights and have suggested other means of transportation. Germans, for instance, have been advised to substitute exotic travel destinations for more local and less exotic Baltic sea destinations. "In the near future, people are going to become increasingly aware that aircraft emit vast amounts of greenhouse gases, far more than cars or trains," said Manfred Stock, a climate researcher in Potsdam near Berlin.
Still, even if you take a ship or a car to get from point A to point B, you would still use fuel and release carbon dioxide, unless the vehicle you're riding in is some kind of next-generation transport that does not use fossil fuel.
The shrinkage of Arctic ice has freed "iced" water to allow ships to use the Northwest passage and cut trips times between North America, Russia, and Asia. Arctic ice has melted to the lowest level since the late 1970s when satellite photos of the top of the world were taken. It is believed that global warming due to anthropogenic (man-made) emissions of carbon dioxide is the cause of the shrinkage.
It is believed that vast resources of oil and other fossil fuels exist underneath the Arctic, and nations like Canada, The United States, and Russia are scrambling to be the first to make the discovery and claims. A Russian submarine has already planted a flag underneath the North Pole. Ironically, the discovery and use of more carbon-dioxide-releasing fossil fuels will theoretically only contribute more to global warming and ice-melt.
The picture above shows how much the Arctic has shrunk, enough to allow ships to pass along its fringes during the summer season. Some believe that the whole of the Arctic will be free of ice in fifty years' time.
Bulusan volcano in Sorsogon in the Philippines erupts anew, endangering nearby towns. If things get worse, an evacuation of the vicinity will be undertaken.
This satellite image on the left, depicted in exaggerated, elevated 3D shows the Bulusan landscape. The volcano itself is 1,559 meters high. It has a 1,000-foot-diameter crater.
The ash spewed by the eruption, if massive enough, like what Mt. Pinatubo ejected, can theoretically become distributed around the globe and help cool the atmosphere to counter global warming.
In Bernardo O'Higgins National Park in Magallanes, Chile, a 2-hectare glacial lake has disappeared in what appears to be another case of global warming. The whole body of water simply seemed to evaporate in a span of two months. The discovery was made in late May by park rangers who were shocked to find a huge crater where the lake had been. No, it's not the Silver Surfer's fault. Geologists have concluded, after some deliberation, that melting glacial ice caused the lake's level to swell, putting more pressure on a glacial dam which eventually gave way. It makes us wonder how other bodies of water will fare in these times of warming.
The environmental group, Greenpeace, is building a replica of Noah's Ark on Mt Ararat, the place where, according to the Bible, the big boat ran aground after the Great Flood began to subside. Greenpeace said it was to deliver the message that global warming is endangering the planet, which would get flooded if greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, methane, and chlorofluorocarbons are not controlled. These gases trap heat in the atmosphere that causes ice in the polar regions to melt, potentially increasing sea levels and flooding coastal regions of landmasses.
The picture shows horses carrying wooden planks to the mountain.
Scientists have reported that ice in Antarctica, roughly equal to the size of California, had melted in 2005, adding to fears that sea levels will rise and the salinity of the oceans would be drastically altered enough to affect life on Earth. The report is based on satellite data from NASA's QuikScat which detected snowmelt using radar. Konrad Steffen of the University of Colorado in Boulder says "Antarctica has shown little to no warming in the recent past with the exception of the Antarctic Peninsula. But now, large regions are showing the first signs of the impacts of warming as interpreted by this satellite analysis."
This photo by Raimundo Valentim shows a terrible fishkill. Scientists say that fishes are dying in our seas because the waters have become warmer. They say that fish need more oxygen in a warmer environment and that many dies because there is less oxygen in water with a higher temperature than usual. Jellyfish, on the other hand, thrive in warm waters and are expected to proliferate, changing the ocean ecosystem. Combat global warming. Plant more trees and use less fossil fuel.
What a neat classic 1955 Chevy car! But what's inside?! Mud? Sheets? No! It's actually a whopper of a wasp nest! When car owner Harry Coker of Tallassee, Alabama first saw it, the nest was just the size of a car wheel. When he came back six weeks later, it had almost filled the car's interior! Scientists say wasps have been building bigger nests in the southern-central US lately in response to a gradual warming of the environment. To counter global warming, experts recommend planting more trees and using less of greenhouse-gas-emitting machines.
Billionnaire philanthropist Richard Branson, together with former US vise president Al Gore, has recently announced a $25 million prize for anyone who can make a machine that can remove greenhouse gases, like carbon dioxide, from the atmosphere. This is in order to curb global warming. A report by climatologists in Paris stated that global warming will continue for hundreds of years and if it is not stopped, the Earth will be in a hot seat, so to speak.
Branson compared the competition to one in 1675 for a method of determining longitude accurately. English clock maker John Harrison won the prize 60 years after it was announced. It was King George III gave him his due. Now that there's a similar contest, who and when will it be won?
In the meantime, perhaps it would be best to plant more trees. After all, the tree is the best machine of all to rid the air of carbon dioxide. What do you think?
What's to debate about when everywhere in the world, there are signs that the earth has warmed. Whether it's climate change or not, the whole planet is experiencing a warming that has melted glaciers, shrunk polar ice, and flooded low masses of lands in oceans. Now, the United Nations has announced that the years between 2000 and 2009 are the warmest since record-keeping began in 1850. Climate scientists are predicting at warmer years ahead. Should this be a cause for concern? It's likely.
Between 2007 and 2009, the Arctic ice cap was reduced to the smallest ever recorded due to summer melt. This opened up new sea routes in areas that used to be ice clad. The situation posed questions on how Arctic life would fare with very little ice since a lot of animals there depend much on solid ice in order to thrive.
Posts
