Global Warming is the hottest issue nowadays, with everyone from the left and right wings and everything in between seemingly willing to cuddle the premise of a warmer Earth through a man-made cause. Even high-profile celebrities have come into the fold of the green revolution, and driving a green car is now more chic than flaunting a Lexus. With all this the throng of supporters throwing themselves in the effort to cut down man-made CO2, you’d think that anyone who dares bat an eyelash at the possibility that the latter isn’t the cause for global warming would be scoffed at and ridiculed.
Yet that is just what a recent British documentary (in UK Channel 4) proposes, a noble attempt to speak out amidst a maddening mob of man-made CO2 bashers. It proposes that the current Global Warming trend is more of a political nature than an environmental one. As always, there are two sides to the story, and in this one, Margaret Thatcher started the whole Global Warming Revolution as it is. The man-made CO2 theory was originally propounded by a fringe scientist, and was immediately scoffed at by the scientific community. But due to the zeitgeist of that time, when Margaret Thatcher was facing problems of a massive coal strike in the country, a theory which declares coal as a renegade agent seems that much more appealing.
With a distrust in Middle East oil and in need of an alternative to coal, she pushed for nuclear energy on the premise that it is a cleaner source, and conveniently leaned on the CO2 theory in an effort to do away with coal. Funding to the tune of millions of pounds was poured into research which leaned toward the anti-CO2 slant, and the issue snowballed from the scientific community into the all-too-familiar grounds we know today.
The documentary also pointed out several flaws in Al Gore’s well-received movie “An Inconvenient Truth” which proposes that man-made CO2 has caused a rapid increase in temperature within the last fifty years or so since the start of the Industrial Revolution. The debunk effort maintains that periodic cycles of warming and cooling has been recurring for millennia, and that man’s contribution to the CO2 buildup is nothing compared to that emitted by plants, volcanoes, and decaying matter.
The efforts to cease Global Warming through man-made CO2 reduction have also suffered a backlash of a more urgent nature. In search of a ‘purer’ alternative to carbon fuels, ethanol is currently the pet fuel for environmentalists; ethanol is derived from grain, and a fifty-liter car tank requires two hundred kilos of corn’s worth of ethanol in order to run on a full belly. That’s more than enough to sustain a child for an entire year. The push for ethanol as an alternative fuel source has contributed to a grain shortage in importing countries, not to mention in the already famished ones. It appears that there is a Mr. Hyde lurking behind the Global Warming Revolution after all; if this ‘minor’ controversy isn’t addressed for its merits, the issue can escalate into a crisis of global proportions.
Wherever you may be in the world, you simply cannot escape the effects of ozone. If you are in any area where the sun should shine brightly, you will typically come across layers of ozone. Ozone is usually measured through PPM or parts per million but kept within fairly minimal levels. You will be amazed with just how vast the ozone can practically cover because it can reach even the most remote parts on the planet. As long as a certain area gets lighted up by the sun, you may as well expect the presence of ozone around that area.
But what most people seem to be concerned with are the effects which ozone can bring. Frankly speaking, ozone does have a dangerous effect on people. But this does not typically single out the ozone as the only dangerous thing in the atmosphere. The ozone is not the only thing that is potentially dangerous in our environment. Every natural occurrence can be regarded as dangerous if taken in major amounts. When it comes to knowing the danger behind ozone exposure, the level we get exposed to become extremely important. If you have ever been in certain situations where you have inhaled the smell of the air just right after a thunderstorm, or you have caught a whiff of the waterfalls on top of the mountain—that is not plain air which has caught you up. Those are actually ozone particles which have been freely floating around.
When ozone is kept at higher levels, it does actually have a line of its own perks. The ozone can be used to sanitize the atmosphere and kill harmful air borne bacteria in the process. At such high levels, ozone can actually control the occurrence of mold and even aid in the remediation of fire damage. However, using ozone for such purposes can be directly harmful to people. Because of this, ozone is only being used for these reasons inside closed spaces with nobody else around. Should it be used for an area inhabited by a group of people, leaving off some time for the ozone to work its magic and get cleared up becomes an important part of the protocol.
There are actually two types of ozone—with each of them working for the advantage and disadvantage of the living population. The high leveled ozone is the one considered to be extremely dangerous for the people’s health because it is actually some side result of pollution. To counteract the process, nature would automatically emit a higher end of ozone level to balance out the hydrocarbons and deal with some volatile type of organic compound. If nature does not automatically do this, living creatures will most certainly die and be killed by the real kind of pollutants. With this in mind, the low level type of ozone becomes a necessary thing for living creatures.
Nowadays, ozone generators have been crafted up to help target the need to reduce unwanted smell. These generators have their built in system of balancing them out to become more appropriate and more user-friendly.
Most countries around the world are looking for ways to “green up” their biggest cities, and reduce carbon footprints caused by fuel emissions. But the Desert nation of Abu Dhabi is taking the concept of the green city to a new extreme.
Masdar City will be the worlds first zero emissions city. Abu Dhabi has begun work on the future metropolis and estimates the city will cost at least $22 billion to complete. As a planned city, Masdar will take eight years to complete and is expected to have a population of around 50,000 inhabitants and approximately 1500 businesses.
The city will be powered mostly by solar energy, and will be a strictly car-free zone. Residents will travel throughout the city on light-weight dedicated “pods” (no kidding!) that move along magnetic tracks. If you think this sounds like something out of the Jetsons you’re not alone, but the oil-rich nation has both the money and resources to bring this fantasy Green city into reality.
Abu Dhabi is one of the world’s richest countries, and ironically, one of the biggest polluters, having one of the biggest “carbon footprints” of any nation in the world, and easily the worst polluter in the Middle East. Critics charge that by building Masdar City, Abu Dhabi is simply trying to deflect attention from the poor environmental policies of the rest of the country.
Other critics worry that the new Green city will become an island-like luxury oasis in the Middle East, and that the influence of this all green city will be minimal throughout the rest of the region.
But Masdar City is breaking new ground and setting the bar ever higher for sustainable urban areas. For example, the city will enforce strict architectural codes that require all buildings and structures to be of low-energy designs, and take advantage of the natural air conditioning from wind towers situated throughout the city.
Clean running water will be provided through a series of solar desalinization plants and overall, the city’s water needs are expected to be 60% lower than traditional cities of the same size. Further, in the process of creating Masdar City, the government of Abu Dhabi will create the world’s largest ever hydrogen power plant.
The goal of the new city is to set new standards and develop new technology for clean sustainable that can be transferred to other cities around the world. Despite the ambitiousness of the project, and the sky-high price tag, Abu Dhabi government officials insist that the green city will be a worthwhile return on the country’s investment.
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Although US politicians continue to bicker and argue over the extent of global warming — or in some cases whether global warming exists at all — the scientific evidence continues to mount. The Associated Press is reporting that NASA satellite data shows that the summer of 2007 broke all previous records for melting ice in Arctic regions of the world.
In Greenland, for example, the perennial ice sheet melted at a greater rate this summer that ever before in recorded history. NASA climate scientist, Jay Zwalley, expressed concerns that virtually all ice in the Arctic Ocean could be melted as early as 2012. This prediction is certainly cause for alarm, as scientists begin to see a speeding up of the melting process.
Just a few years ago, scientists like Zwalley were estimating that the Arctic ice sheets could melt as soon as 2040, but new evidence suggests that the change could take place much faster than that.
The Arctic is important as a measuring stick for planetary climate change, and most climatologists agree that the melting of Arctic ice in recent years will have a detrimental effect on the planet’s climate. Already, the melting ice in Greenland and the Arctic are affecting wildlife; more than 6000 walruses migrated to the mainland of Northwest Alaska this October, something never seen before.
Altogether, a record 552 billion tons of ice was lost from the Greenland ice sheet this summer, according to NASA satellite footage. The total was approximately 15% more than other recent summers, including 2005’s record year for melting ice.
The displacement of so much solid ice into the ocean is a major concern, as Arctic ice sheets reflect an enormous amount of solar radiation. The more the ice melts, the less radiation is reflected back out into space, resulting in higher average temperatures on land and at sea.
The rising temperature of ocean water caused by this effect begins to have a spiraling effect; the warmer the ocean water becomes, the quicker the ice melts. And the more the ice melts, the warmer the water becomes. Scientists around the world are concerned about this vicious cycle of warming and melting, and are beginning to bring greater and greater pressure on politicians and world leaders to take action to eliminate the root causes of the problem.
Unfortunately, it is the root causes of global warming that cause the most controversy. The majority of climatologists in the world view the burning of fossil fuels as a major cause of the climate change we are now beginning to experience. But there are still people who disagree with this analysis — especially politicians — who claim to see no clear link between global warming and the burning of fuels that produces carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
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Global warming is a crisis that is faced not by one country, or one continent or one race of people, but by the entire human population. Do not sit on the fence thinking that the problem will go away or that somebody else will do the rectification; you have to contribute your part in the ongoing battle against global warming. You have to change your attitude and modify your lifestyle to bring about changes in the society. In a developed country like US, an average American contributes to 6.6 tones of greenhouse gases per year and since the nineties this has increased even further. As more and more countries are become developed e.g. China and India with their huge population, the crisis is set to worsen. So it’s time to get up and start your contribution in the battle against global warming; others will surely follow.
Your Contribution
Small drops of water make an ocean; similarly a single individual can make a huge impact. Look around you; there are so many ways you are wasting precious resources without even being aware of it. Does your electrical appliance carry the energy star rating? If yes, then you have already taken a step against global warming. If not, then next time you are buying one, look out for the rating. The higher the number of stars, the higher is the amount of energy that appliance saves in comparison to ordinary ones. Change your ordinary bulbs to CFL bulbs, which give more light in half the electricity. Water is another resource we carelessly use. Use low flow faucets in home and do not leave them running unnecessarily.
Cars and other transportation cause maximum pollution, but it is also true that we cannot live without them. So we have to make them more environment friendly. Take a job, if possible nearer home so that you can walk or cycle to it. Otherwise try to use the car pool or public transport. See that the car you use gives more mileage per gallon. Another important resource to save is the trees, our planet’s lungs. Do not waste paper; if possible use an alternative. Recycle whenever possible and not only for paper but other garbage also. Remember the rubbish generated will need a landfill or if burned will release harmful gases into the atmosphere.
Do More
Keep yourself aware with the problems of global warming. If you see any one flouting standard rules or an act that can cause more greenhouse gas production, protest against it. Pressure your government to bring changes in the policy regarding environment. Global warming will affect every one of our progeny, so join the battle now.
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Global warming has become synonymous with everything wrong in today’s world. Erratic weather, rising sea level, floods, droughts everything is being blamed on global warming. While some of the allegations are true, others are under investigation. But before we dwell on what are the effects of global warming, let’s see how this problem was created in the first place.
The First Phase
Global warming is not something new, it has been occurring for the last 400,000 years. The difference is that earlier, it was happening as a part of nature’s cycle. The greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide, that came out naturally formed a blanket over earth keeping her warm for life to flourish. Trees took excess CO2 and turned it into O2 and water. But as the Modern Age started, the production of CO2 increased as a result of human activities. Now let’s see what these are:
- CO2 from power plants: Electricity has been the driving force behind human progress in the last century. The power plants that made it possible burnt coal to generate it. Coals have eighty percent more carbon per unit of energy than natural gas. Carbon dioxide is the main gas emitted from burning coal; so you can imagine how much CO2 is generated when you heat a room electrically in winter without proper insulation.
- CO2 from cars: CO2 from cars is the second source of greenhouse gases responsible for global warming. People don’t bother about how many miles per gallon their cars are giving and so fail to save oil, a precious resource and pollute the air as well.
- Methane: The second important greenhouse gas, the production of which has gone up by 145% in the last hundred years is methane. It is deadlier than CO2 as it can trap heat up to more than twenty times. Fossil fuel is one major man-made source.
- Nitrous oxide: Another naturally occurring greenhouse gas that human activities have increased is nitrogen. Fertilizers, cars and burning of organic matter contribute in the formation of this gas.
- Deforestation: Had trees been there in adequate number, they could have cleaned the excess CO2. But 34 million acres of trees are cut down every year making that impossible.
The Next Phase
As the earth keeps getting hotter, “carbon sink” that had trapped carbon for years have started to release them. Major among them is Permafrost, a solid structure of frozen soil deep below earth. This is found in the Arctic and sub Arctic region. Already, thawing permafrost has started to release CO2 and methane in the air. Tundra, another carbon sink holding approximately 50 million tons of carbon has started to melt due to warmer temperature, releasing CO2 in return. Oceans too have started to release carbon. All these will accelerate the global warming process.
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Global warming is one of the problems that we cannot overlook anymore. The surface temperature of the earth had always been on the increase; there have been volcanoes, solar variations and other natural reasons. These changes over a period have resulted in the evolution of life as we see it today. In the past the rate of increase was so small, that Mother Nature could adjust with it over the time. But what is alarming now, is that, the earth is heating up too fast and Mother Nature is having great difficulty in adjusting to it.
The Main Culprit
Human beings and their advancement in the last 100 years is one of the main reasons for global warming. After Industrial Revolution, the burning of fossil fuels like coal and petroleum has increased, leading to the increase of carbon dioxide and methane in the atmosphere. On the other hand, the rise in population and their demands have led to cutting down of vast tracts of forests, which suck the carbon dioxide present in the air. As a result there has been 75% annual increase in the percentage of carbon dioxide in atmosphere. All these have led to a rise of over .6°C in the last 100 years.
The Vanishing “Snows Of Kilimanjaro”
Kilimanjaro has always been a nature’s wonder; it is the only snow-capped mountain to be present in the equatorial region. But sadly, that will soon be the stuff of the legends if global warming is not tackled with right now. The snow is melting at such a speed that between 2000 and 2006, the mountain has lost 1/4th of its snow. Kilimanjaro is not the only victim of global warming; all over the world, glaciers in snow capped mountains whether in Andes or in Himalayas, are receding at an alarming rate. The rivers coming down from these glaciers are also being affected, as is the world surrounding them.
Global warming is also leading to the melting of Arctic and Antarctic ice. Already the sea level has increased by 10 to 20 cm in the past 100 years. If it goes on increasing at such rate, then islands and low laying countries like Bangladesh will exist only in history books. There will be changes in atmosphere leading to floods in one part of the world and deserts in another part.
Act Now
We have to act today on global warming and stop it from becoming worse. The three main changes we can adopt are: Reduce, Recycle and Renew. We must reduce our burning of fossil fuels as well as our consumption. We must make recycling a way of life and lastly we must renew our environment by planting more trees and turn to renewable sources of energy. With the right attitude and global support, global warming can be controlled.
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