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NexPlan Recycling & Renewable Energy
New Study about Global Warming | Sea change could shift Earth's rotation
A new study from Canadian researchers suggests that the collapse of a large portion of the Antarctic ice sheet would shift the Earth's axis. One of the most startling predictions is that the sea change could shift the Earth's rotation. The researchers from the University of Toronto predict that the melting of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet will actually cause the Earth's rotation axis to shift dramatically -- approximately 500 metres from its present position if the entire ice sheet melts. There is a widespread belief among scientists that the ice sheet is especially vulnerable to global warming and may be prone to collapse, which could trigger a rise in sea levels. Some analysts have predicted sea levels will rise by five meters (15 feet). The research suggests the melting of the ice sheet would change the balance of the globe much the same as tsunamis that move massive amounts of water from one area to another. The study also points out that as an ice sheet collapses, water actually moves away from it because the sheet's gravitational pull lessens. The result is that the sea level in the area of the shelf actually drops, while other areas see dramatic increases. The research indicates a massive depression in the bedrock that is currently underneath the ice shelf, will fill with water if the sheet collapses. But as the sheet melts and its weight disperses, the depression will rebound, thereby pushing water into other areas. The shift in the Earth's rotation will cause water to rise near North America and the Southern Indian Ocean. Some experts have predicted that most of the North American coasts could see sea lelels rise by up to 6 meters (18 feet). The ice sheet, which towers about 2,000 metres above sea level over a large section of Antarctica, also exerts a substantial gravitational attraction, the scientists say, pulling water toward it much like the gravitational forces of the sun and moon cause the tides. This is one of many studies that suggest that we can't ignore the impact of global warming and climate change.
Global Warming | Global Warming Facts | Global Warming Solutions
The latest scientific data confirms that the earth's climate is changing rapidly. Global temperatures increased by about one degree Fahrenheit over the course of the last century, and will likely rise even more rapidly in coming decades. The cause? A thickening layer of carbon dioxide pollution and other greenhouse gases, mostly from power plants and automobiles, which traps heat in the atmosphere. Scientists say that the earth could warm by an additional 7.2 degrees Fahrenheit during the 21st century if we fail to reduce emissions from burning fossil fuels, such as coal and oil. This rise in average temperature will have widespread effects. Sea levels will rise, flooding coastal areas. Heat waves will be more intense and more frequent. Droughts and wildfires will occur more often. Disease-carrying insects will expand their range.
The global rise in temperatures will have varying effects on our environment and Ecosystem. Warmer water in the oceans pumps more energy into tropical storms, making them more intense and potentially more destructive. Warmer temperatures could also increase the probability of drought. Greater evaporation, particularly during summer and fall, could heighten drought conditions and increase the risk of wildfires. Current rates of sea-level rise are expected to increase as a result both of thermal expansion of the oceans and melting of most mountain glaciers and partial melting of the Antarctic and Artic ice caps. Consequences include loss of coastal wetlands and a greater risk of flooding in coastal communities. The increase in global temperatures is expected to disrupt ecosystems and result in loss of species variance, as species that cannot adapt die off. Green house gases stay can stay in the atmosphere for an amount of years ranging from decades to hundreds and even thousands of years.
Changes resulting from global warming may include rising sea levels due to the melting of the polar ice caps, as well as an increase in occurrence and severity of storms and other severe weather events. As a result, the climate changes differently in different areas. What do melting glaciers, eroding coastlines, worldwide crop damage, food shortages, absence of rainfall, shrinking aquifers, wildfires and lowered water tables all have in common? These are all possible results from the increased accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, commonly called global warming, or global climate change.
What is the greenhouse effect, and is it affecting our climate? The greenhouse effect is unquestionably real and helps to regulate the temperature of our planet. Indirect indicators of warming such as borehole temperatures, snow cover, and glacier recession data are in substantial agreement with the more direct indicators of recent warmth. However, it has been hypothesized that warmer global sea surface temperatures can enhance global warming. What are the real causes to the increased world temperature? The first theory, which is the generally accepted one, is that the release of greenhouse gases from the burning of fossil fuel and from land use is responsible for the resent temperature increase. To better understand the controversy over global warming it is necessary to also understand why most climatologists believe it is the increased levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere which are causing the current temperature increase. It is the result of heat absorption by certain gases in the atmosphere called greenhouse gases because they effectively 'trap' heat in the lower atmosphere and re-radiation downward of some of that heat. Are greenhouse gases increasing? Human activity has been increasing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, mostly carbon dioxide from combustion of coal, oil, and gas; plus a few other trace gases. An enhanced greenhouse effect is expected to cause cooling in higher parts of the atmosphere because the increased "blanketing" effect in the lower atmosphere holds in more heat, allowing less to reach the upper atmosphere. Through the burning of fossil fuels and other GHG emissions, humans are enhancing the greenhouse effect and warming Earth. The greenhouse effect is unquestionably real and helps to regulate the temperature of our planet. A great deal of interest and concern has been raised in recent years over the impact on global temperatures by man. Earth is currently experiencing rapid warming, which the vast majority of climate scientists says is due to humans pumping huge amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Global warming is becoming an increasingly important issue.
While many greenhouse gases occur naturally and are needed to create the greenhouse effect that keeps the Earth warm enough to support life, human use of fossil fuels is the main source of excess greenhouse gases. By driving cars, using electricity from coal-fired power plants, or heating our homes with oil or natural gas, we release carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere. Deforestation is another significant source of greenhouse gases, because fewer trees mean less carbon dioxide conversion to oxygen. As the concentration of greenhouse gases grows, more heat is trapped in the atmosphere and less escapes back into space. This increase in trapped heat changes the climate and alters weather patterns, which may hasten species extinction, influence the length of seasons, cause coastal flooding, and lead to more frequent and severe storms.
However, today's climate change is happening far too fast to be the same as other climate swings. As human-caused biodiversity loss and climate disruption gain ground, we need to keep our sights clear and understand that the measure of a threat is not a matter of whether it is made on purpose, but of how much loss it may cause. Consider the Earth to be wrapped in a blanket - in this case, a blanket of gases. Among the ingredients are water vapor, carbon dioxide and methane. This blanket insulates the earth by trapping heat, a lot like panes of glass in a greenhouse. Without greenhouse gases, the Earth would be much too cold for comfort, unable to sustain life as we know it. But the problem now is that humans are thickening the blanket by producing a lot of greenhouse gases by burning fossil fuels. As a result, more heat is trapped - and, scientists say, nature's thermostat is nudged up.
Effects of global warming on the environment include glaciers, ecosystems, ocean currents, and rising sea levels. The most popular effect of global warming is its' impact on glaciers. The biggest concern would be the failure of the glaciers in Hindu Kush and the Himalayas. These glaciers are the main water supply for China, India, and most of Asia. The complete melting of these glaciers would result in a major flow for several decades, however after that the most populated areas in the world could potentially run out of water. Global warming effects on agriculture and farming are a growing problem-and vice versa. Keeping in mind that, so far, observed global warming effects keep surpassing scientist's expectations in a bad way; it seems likely that rising temperatures in farming regions will wreak havoc on crop yields. This would certainly aggravate the growing world food shortage crisis.
A slight increase in tree-ring thickness recently is to be expected because of the increased atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide. Among the ingredients are water vapor, carbon dioxide and methane. Natural greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone and water vapor. When fossil fuels such as oils, natural gas, and coal, in addition to wood, wood products, and solid waste are burned they emit carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide increases are in a direct relationship to population growth. In addition, forests play an important role in the cycle of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Trees are the largest known natural mechanism for removing carbon dioxide from the air. This is because they possess a large storage space for carbon dioxide in their structures. As the process of deforestation continues, the more and more carbon dioxide is unable to be stored by the existing trees: Due to atmospheric gases, mostly gaseous water vapor not droplets, also carbon dioxide, methane, and a few other miscellaneous gases- the "greenhouse effect".
One of the first things scientists learned is that there are several greenhouse gases responsible for warming, and humans emit them in a variety of ways. The general scientific belief for global warming is the increased burning of fossil fuels and thus increases the emission of greenhouse gases into the Earth's atmosphere. Besides greenhouse gases, forest destruction and population increase are two other causes of global warming. Different greenhouse gases have very different heat-trapping abilities. This blanket insulates the Earth by trapping heat, a lot like panes of glass in a greenhouse. Without greenhouse gases, the Earth would be much too cold for comfort, unable to sustain life as we know it. But the problem now is that humans are thickening the blanket by producing a lot of greenhouse gases by burning fossil fuels. Some greenhouse gases are produced naturally while others are the direct result of human activities. Natural greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone and water vapor. An increase in greenhouse gases increases the temperature of the Earth because they are transparent to short wave radiation from the sun, while they have the ability to absorb the cooler infra-red radiation from the Earth. This fact alone describes how greenhouse gases make it more difficult for the Earth the cool itself off. Several human activities increase the emission of certain greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Global warming causes are complex as are global warming effects.
Greenhouse Gas & Air Quality Emissions
Emissions are gases and particles released into the air as byproducts of a natural or man-made process. One of these processes is the burning of fuels to create electricity and other forms of energy. The emissions from burning fossil fuels contribute significantly to global warming and poor air quality. A small set of emissions are responsible for the majority of human impacts on climate change and health. These gases and particulates come from a variety of sources and can be categorized as greenhouse gas emissions and air quality emissions that affect climate change.
Worldwide emission levels from human activity have increased significantly over the past 200 years as industrial activity, electricity infrastructure, and transportation have developed. As broader understanding of the impacts of these emissions has increased, regulation and new development practices have been implemented to reduce the rate of emissions in many countries. However, high levels of these emissions are still being produced each year. Greenhouse gas emissions come from four main sources: the burning of fossil fuels to make electricity; industrial, commercial and residential burning of fossil fuels for heat and the use of other emission-producing processes; the burning of fossil fuels to power transportation; and the emissions produced through agriculture and other activities.
There are different types of emissions that contribute to poor air quality and climate change. Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is the most common. Methane is another naturally occurring gas. Human activities that produce methane include fossil fuel production, decay in landfills, and the digestive processes of farm animals such as cattle. Halocarbons are entirely man-made chemicals. Their most common use is in refrigeration and air conditioning technologies but they are also used heavily in the electric system infrastructure. When released into the atmosphere as gases, they can significantly impact global climate patterns. Other gases like carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides impact climate change indirectly and have more direct effects on health when they are released into the lower atmosphere. Carbon monoxide is an odorless, colorless and toxic gas. Unvented kerosene and gas space heaters, leaking chimneys and furnaces, wood and gas stoves, and fireplaces, gas stoves, generators and other gasoline powered devices, automobile exhaust from attached garages; and tobacco smoke are sources of carbon dioxide. It is particularly dangerous when released in closed places like garages and kills close to 500 people each year in the US. Nitrogen oxides, or NOx, is the generic term for a group of highly reactive gases. The primary manmade sources of NOx are motor vehicles, electric utilities, and other industrial, commercial, and residential sources that burn fuels. NOx can also be formed naturally. Sulfur dioxide (SO2) is a gas that is prevalent in crude oil, coal, and ore that contains common metals like aluminum, copper, zinc, lead and iron. The majority of SO2 released into the atmosphere comes from coal burning power plants. Other sources of this pollutant are petroleum refineries, cement manufacturing, and metal processing facilities.
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) include a variety of chemicals, some of which may have short- and long-term negative health effects. Many Volatile Organic Compounds are human-made chemicals that are used and produced in the manufacture of paints, pharmaceuticals, cleaning fluids and refrigerants. VOCs have been found to be a major contributing factor to ozone, a common air pollutant which is a public health hazard. VOCs can be present in wells and public drinking water. They can enter ground water from a variety of sources. Benzene, for example, may enter ground water from gasoline or oil spills on the ground surface or from leaking underground fuel tanks. Other examples of commonly detected VOCs are ethylene chloride, (an industrial solvent), tetrachloroethylene (perchloroethylene), used in the dry-cleaning industry and trichloroethylene, used in septic system cleaners.
Particulates may be the air pollutant that most commonly affects human health. Particulates commonly referred to as particulate matter or fine particles, are tiny particles of solid or liquid suspended in a gas. There are both natural and human sources of atmospheric particulates. The main natural sources are forest fires, dust, and volcanoes. The biggest human sources of particles are mainly from the use of automobiles and power plants.
Ozone is a gas that occurs both in the Earth's upper atmosphere and at ground level. The stratosphere or "good" ozone layer extends upward from about 6 to 30 miles and protects life on Earth from the sun's harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays. This natural shield has been gradually depleted by man-made chemicals like chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). A depleted ozone shield allows more UV radiation to reach the ground, leading to more cases of skin cancer, and other health and environmental problems. Ground-level or "bad" ozone is a pollutant that is a significant health risk, especially for children with asthma. It also damages crops, trees and other vegetation. It is a main ingredient of urban smog. High concentrations of ozone, created by high concentrations of pollution and daylight UV rays at the earth's surface, can harm the human respiratory system.
As you can see we are putting a toxic mess into our atmosphere, soil and water systems. This accounts for many health issues and premature deaths in society. Our planet can no longer support the rate that humans place emissions into our atmosphere. We need to find solutions to this issue. One solution is clean energy. Clean energy typically produces no emissions, which is one of its most significant benefits. We need to make urgent choices to help save the planet for future generations.
Clean energy typically produces no emissions, which is one of its most significant benefits
CO2 & Global Warming
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is one of the most common greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and is regulated through the natural carbon cycle, where carbon dioxide is emitted into the air and reabsorbed by vegetation and water. This cycle is upset by the emission of additional carbon dioxide from human activities. Because natural cycles cannot absorb these additional emissions, a large portion of carbon dioxide remains in the atmosphere and increases climate change. Carbon dioxide is produced by all animals, plants, fungi and microorganisms during respiration and is used by plants during photosynthesis Carbon dioxide is not a bad thing, in fact it is essential for life. The problem is the amount that is put into our atmosphere. The primary human source of carbon dioxide is the burning of fossil fuels for electricity, heat, and transportation. Small changes as a result of human activities can have a large impact on this delicate balance.
The rate at which humans are pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere has more than doubled since the 1990s, according to Australian research in the latest report warning about the high rate of emissions accumulating in the atmosphere. The United States is the one of the largest emitters of carbon dioxide emissions. Also in the top five countries are China and India. Of the carbon dioxide emissions arising from fossil fuel combustion around 40% is a result of electricity generation, with coal-fired generation being the leading sector. Other stationary sources include industrial, emissions resulting from oil extraction, refinement and transportation, and domestic and commercial fossil fuel use. Globally, transport-related emissions of carbon dioxide are growing rapidly. Road transport dominates these emissions, though off-road, air and marine transport emissions are also significant. The use of petroleum as a fossil fuel for transportation dominates carbon dioxide emissions from this source. About two-thirds of this is from gasoline consumption by motor vehicles and the remainder coming from diesel and jet fuel use in trucks and aircraft... Carbon dioxide is probably the most significant of the greenhouse gases as it accounts for the largest proportion of the 'trace gases' and is currently responsible for 60% of the 'enhanced greenhouse effect'. Carbon dioxide stays in the atmosphere for approximately 100 years. Small changes as a result of human activities can have a large impact on this delicate balance.
We can reverse the trend of rising carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere. Driving more fuel efficient vehicles would be a huge step. With the rise in the price of oil we may be forced into this measure. In our homes we can change to more efficient energy sources along with "reuse, reduce and recycle". We can also make companies more environmentally accountable by patronizing companies that are environmentally friendly instead of doing business with environmentally irresponsible ones...
Global Warming Effects on Agriculture
Climate is the most significant factor in determining plant growth and productivity. Climate change is any long-term significant change in the average weather that a given region experiences. Average weather may include average temperature, precipitation and wind patterns.Without intervention to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, global average surface temperature is projected to increase by about 0.2°C per decade during the 21st century. This swift change in climate will have major implications for agriculture around the globe.
Moisture and water availability will be affected by a temperature increase, regardless of any change in rainfall. Higher temperatures increase the evaporation rate, thus reducing the level of moisture available for plant growth, although other climatic elements are involved. Warming of the earth's atmosphere will significantly affect the wheat and maize yields across the globe. Reduced moisture availability would only add to the existing problems of infertile soils, soil erosion and poor crop yields.
Although climate changes may have some adverse impacts on agricultural production around the world, the increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations could be beneficial. Plants grow as a result of photosynthesis - the mechanism whereby the plant converts carbon dioxide from the atmosphere into food. With higher levels of carbon dioxide stimulating the rate of photosynthesis, the growth rate and productivity of plants could be expected to increase. This would be beneficial for global food stocks. Most crops grown in cool, temperate regions respond positively to an increased concentration of carbon dioxide, including some of the current major food staples such as wheat, rice and soybean. Some studies have shown that growth rate in these crops may increase up to 50% if carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is doubled. Crops grown in the tropical regions of the world, including sorghum, maize, sugar cane and millet, which combined, account for about one fifth of the world's food production, do not respond as well to increases in carbon dioxide.
In order to maintain agricultural output to meet the demand for a growing world population, farmers will have to adjust and adapt to compensate for a changing climate. Higher temperatures would increase the demand for irrigation of agricultural land. Unfortunately, in many arid and semi-arid regions of the world the demand for water already exceeds supply. Increased spread of pests and disease may also place additional demands on the need for fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides which are costly and unhealthy. The ability to adapt to the effects of climate change will vary greatly between regions. Economic and technological constraints will limit the rate of adaptability, with poorer economies lagging behind. Without planning and intervention, climate change will likely widen the gap between the rich and deprived areas of the world.
US & Canada are the major part of the problem
Here are some of the facts:
· The US consumes 20 million barrels of oil each day.
· The US has 5% of the world population, but contributes over 20% of greenhouse gas emissions.
· The US Has 30% of the world's automobiles.
· Canada has more registered cars than people.
When you put some of these figures together it is not hard to see that Canada and the United States are the major problem and source of global warming issues in the world. However, it goes much deeper then that. A few days ago as I was discussing to one of my friends about the global issues we face today, he said, "It is going to be a different world in 50 years" and I replied, "it will be a different world with or with out these issues". However it got me thinking about what it was like 50 years ago and how we got into this global warming and environmental mess today.
We have created a culture of perceived wants and have made them into needs. When I was growing up in Canada, as a child we didn't have cell phones, cameras, ipods, computers, and we didn't have televisions in every room. In fact, if we had one television in the house we were fortunate. Times have certainly changed. I found that a lot of parents from the 1980s and beyond period grew up with the attitude I am going to give my kids everything I have never had. Everything means material items! Now as a result, kids now believe that a cell phone is now a need, a computer and television in the bedroom is now a need, and all the latest technology gadgets are a need as well. I can also remember a time when a family would have 3 or more kids and it was not unlikely for them to be sharing a bedroom with their brother or sister, well we don't do that anymore. So now we build bigger houses with more bedrooms. Now when kids turn 16 they all want a car because their friends have one. The list goes on and on, and you know exactly what I am talking about if you are a parent. We have peer pressure to encourage our children to have everything they want. Furthermore, the media on televisions, the internet and billboards bombard us with the message to consume, consume, and consume more.
We have spoiled our youth to the point that they now believe it is their god given right to have all the toys and wonderful things life has to offer. I often hear them saying that we deserve this or that. I have huge issues with that type of attitude when over a billion people in other parts of the world are starving and don't have adequate drinking water. We have created a culture of greed and have redefined it as what we want and made it a "perceived need". The United States and Canada are consuming more then any other country on the planet, and our hunger for consumer items is forever increasing. In essence we have a generation of spoiled materialistic people running these rich nations, and we are going to destroy ourselves with greed.
I live in Canada and I have to admit we are a major part of the problem. Here in North America we are the major producers of CO2 emissions, and contribute to creating more global warming issues then any other country on the plant. We are creating a culture of consumption and waste and have a huge appetite for fuel, oil and the luxuries of life. Each generation seems to want more and more. We seem to have lost our way in a materialistic society. We need to change our way of life if we want to solve the global warming and climate change issues.
Global Warming and the Artic Ice Melt
The Arctic is the measuring stick for global warming. The Artic is an extremely sensitive region, and it's being greatly affected by the changing climate. Most scientists view what's happening now in the Arctic as a hint of things to come. Average temperatures in the Arctic region are rising twice as fast as they are elsewhere in the world. Arctic ice is getting thinner, melting and rupturing. For example, the largest single block of ice in the Arctic, the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf, had been around for 3,000 years before it started cracking in 2000. Within two years it had split all the way through and is now splitting into pieces. The Arctic is warming at double the rate of the rest of the world and ice shrank to a record low in 2007, leading to concerns that it could pass a point of no return. Less than three decades ago, there would still be seven million square kilometers or 2.5 million square miles of ice left at the end of an Arctic summer. That's now dropped by almost forty percent.
Drastic changes are occurring in the Artic region, affecting the ice both in the open ocean and the ice, which is attached to the coast. Many scientists believe that the Artic will have ice-free summers in 2013, which is earlier than previously predicted. The Artic is experiencing vast ice melts from the retreat of the glaciers, to the melting of the sea. The fate of the massive ice blocks is viewed as a key indicator of global warming and climate change. When ice shelves break apart, they drift offshore into the ocean as "ice islands", transforming the geography of coastlines. Temperatures in the artic region have risen noticeably during the past few decades. The Arctic climate varies naturally, but the researchers confirmed that human-influenced global warming is partially responsible. They warn the shrinkage could lead to even faster melting in coming years. The melting may also contribute to even higher arctic temperatures in the future. Some scientists are concerned that melting Arctic sea ice will dump enough freshwater into the North Atlantic to interfere with sea currents. They believe that the thawing of sea ice covering the Arctic could disturb or even halt large currents in the Atlantic Ocean, which are responsible for warmer airflows. Retreating ice cover exposes more of the ocean surface, allowing more moisture to evaporate into the atmosphere and leading to more precipitation. Ice cover loss can influence winds and precipitation on other continents, possibly leading to less rain in the western United States.. This could actually result in lower temperatures for some areas, particularly Europe and the eastern part of North America. There would be more rain and snow in these regions. More violent storms are also more likely as a result of the melting artic ice.
The contraction of the Arctic ice cap is accelerating global warming. Snow and ice usually form a protective, cooling layer over the Arctic. When that covering melts, the earth absorbs more sunlight and gets hotter. And the latest scientific data confirm the far-reaching effects of rising global temperatures. Melting glaciers and land-based ice sheets also contribute to rising sea levels, threatening low-lying areas around the globe with beach erosion, coastal flooding, and contamination of freshwater supplies. A warmer Arctic will also affect weather patterns and thus food production around the world. Arctic ice helps regulate and temper the climate in many areas around the world. The less ice there is, the more dramatic the impact on global weather patterns. Huge sheets of ice reflect solar radiation, keeping our planet cool. When that ice melts, huge expanses of darker, open ocean water absorb the heat instead, warming things up. Although few humans live in the Arctic, the disappearance of this ice cover can have effects far beyond the few residents and the wildlife of this harsh region.
The melting of once-permanent ice is affecting native people, wildlife and plants. Polar bears, whales, walrus and seals are changing their feeding and migration patterns, making it harder for native people to hunt them. And along Arctic coastlines, entire villages will be uprooted because they're in danger of being swamped. The native people of the Arctic view global warming as a threat to their cultural identity and their very survival.
Environmentalists have pointed out the state of the polar bear as a symbol of global warming caused by human activity. The Arctic sea ice melt is a disaster for the polar bears. They are dependent on the Arctic sea ice for all of their essential behaviors, and as the ice melts and global warming transforms the Arctic, polar bears are starving, drowning, even resorting to cannibalism because they don't have access to their usual food sources. Polar bears depend on sea ice as a platform for hunting seals and as a pathway to take them to coastal areas. The ice shrinkage has forced polar bears to cover longer distances between ice and land United States government scientists predict that two-thirds of the world's polar bears will be killed off by 2050 and the entire population gone from Alaska because of thinning sea ice from global warming in the Arctic. The worldwide population of polar bears currently stands between 20,000 and 25,000, broken into groups in Russia, Denmark, Norway, Canada and US state of Alaska. One-quarter to one- fifth of that population occupies waters off the shores off Alaska or the nearby coastlines, with separate groups in the Chukchi Sea off northwestern Alaska, the Northern Beaufort Sea and the Southern Beaufort Sea off the North Slope of Alaska. The most-studied bear population, in the Western Hudson Bay in Canada, dropped over twenty percent from 1987 to 2004, stated the Canadian Fish and Wildlife Service.
When we burn fossil fuels like oil, coal and gas to generate electricity and power our vehicles, we produce the heat-trapping gases that cause global warming. The more we burn, the faster churns the engine of global climate change. Thus the most important thing we can do is save energy. Many experts on the Arctic say that global warming is causing the ice to melt and that the warming is at least partly the result of the buildup in the atmosphere of heat-trapping gases emitted from automobile exhausts and industrial smokestacks.
Global Warming Solutions | Global Warming Prevention
Global warming prevention seems to have taken second place to the causes of global warming. It is very important that we know the causes of global warming in order to stop global warming; however knowing the causes of global warming without applying solutions for global warming prevention is fruitless. A common saying is "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure". This statement could not be truer when talking about global warming. Everywhere we look we can find massive amounts of information on the causes of global warming, global warming facts, the greenhouse effect, etc. Global warming solutions need to be on the top of our to do list. You can only have a leak in the roof for so long before you need to take real action. Global warming is much the same; we need solutions if we are to fight global warming. Preventing global warming may seem simple to some and overwhelming to others. We very much need to all play our part in preventing global warming. We do not want to discourage anyone, or deter you from your efforts, however we need real solutions to global warming, and we need it from the highest levels of world governments. Do we really think that is going to happen by just talking about it, especially in North America (which is the major part of the problem)? It seems very unlikely! Global warming has a future in North America- we are just not so sure about the human future here if we don't act soon. Global warming solutions cannot just be a fad when the price of oil rises or the cost of living goes up. In order to reduce global warming effects it has to become a way of life, a lifestyle. We cannot reduce, prevent or stop global warming in any other way. We as a people and a nation are going to have to make changes to our lifestyle if we are going to make a difference.
Global warming needs to be fought on three different levels. The government must make it easier for companies and individuals to use alternative energy sources and less pollution causing and toxic energy sources like oil and dirty coal. Businesses need to step up and do the right thing as far as preventing global warming and promoting a healthy environment. Finally we as individuals must play a huge part in using alternative energy sources, recycling and cutting down on waste. Governments can only do so much and especially in a democracy, if no one cares about the environment and the consequences of global warming, any green movement initiated by governments will not work. Global warming solutions need to work in harmony between governments, business and individuals.
We need to fight global warming today if we are going to have a greener tomorrow. The longer we wait and ignore global warming and its effects, the harder it will be to reverse the consequences of global warming. The prevention of global warming which involves using alternate fuels such as solar power, wind power and tidal power along with recycling different materials and reducing our waste is crucial if we are to stop global warming and the consequences of it. Whether we realize it or not, global warming and its effects are real and become more so every year. We can't wait for future generations to prevent global warming. Our generation has been handed this task and we must act upon cleaning the planet now. Preventing global warming and climate change will take some work and some sacrifice. We must ask ourselves if it is worth it to leave a greener future for our children and grandchildren. We think the answer is clear and green!
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