It is not the time to be complacent or apathetic. What we need to do is to act positively and constructively. There is disaster and devastation looming. We should not shy away from the truth, however ‘inconvenient the truth’ may be. It is time we put our shoulders to the wheel and focused with all our concentration. Because global warming is coming to swallow us up. And if we waste too much time, it will really engulf us. Then there will be only blackness around. We will be beset by the greatest catastrophe imaginable, something that we have only talked about and seen enacted in exciting cinemas until now, in reality. If global warming spreads its tentacles over us, you will not be able to read this article anymore. Because mankind will be extinct!

Understanding Global Warming

Global warming is a phenomenon that has been taking place for quite some time. Our blue planet is getting hotter due to an increase in the volume of carbon dioxide in it. Tons and tons of carbon dioxide have been produced due to the burning of fossil fuels and non-renewable resources such as coal, natural gas, petroleum, crude oil, oil shale, etc. The use of fossil fuels on a widespread basis started from the 16th century during the advent of the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain and in the colonies of Great Britain. The Industrial Revolution witnessed the discovery of the steam engine, which was operated with the help of fossil fuels. But over the centuries, scientists gradually discovered that burning fossil fuels leads to a high degree of air pollution. The combustion of fossil fuels results in a high proportion of noxious gases such as carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, etc. to be emanated into the atmosphere. These poisonous gases have an adverse impact on the climate and the ecology of our planet. They also affect our health negatively.

Oxides of sulfur and nitrogen when dissolved in water form corrosive acids, which are capable of wreaking irreparable damage on mausoleums and historical edifices that are made of marble.

Sulfur dioxide plus water gives sulfuric acid (highly corrosive acid)
Nitrogen dioxide plus water gives nitric acid (highly corrosive acid)

Sustainable Development

Hence, when such toxic gases dissolve in and form a mixture with rainwater, the inevitable outcome is an acidic kind of rain popularly called acid rain. This acid rain can eat away the surfaces of architectural splendors as has been mentioned above. A refinery near the Taj Mahal of Agra, India had been releasing such deadly gases into the air above the mausoleum. These gases led to the formation of acid rain that had an atrophying effect on the spotless white marble surfaces of the Taj. The destruction was so alarming that the management of the refinery had to be hauled up by the Government of India and by environmental activists. The refinery was told to lower its emissions by using high-end manufacturing techniques and to shut down some of its operations to prevent the fabulous monument and tomb of Mogul Emperor Shah Jehan and his wife Mumtaz Mahal (after whom the monument is named) from crumbling totally into dust. The refinery did its best by modernizing some of its manufacturing methods, by planting myriad trees, by developing an ecological park that is currently the habitat of many migratory and rare species of birds. Such a sincere response from the refinery to protect one of the seven modern wonders of the world from decay placated the government and the activists. However, environmental watchdogs must not sleep. There are hundreds of industries across the world, which violate environmental laws and norms, everyday. Steps towards safeguarding the environment must be executed on a long-term basis. Short-term environmental projects and sudden forays into ‘environmental protection schemes’ for the sake of publicity and image-boosting are neither desirable nor useful. Sustainable development and environmental conservation are the only weapons that we have to fight global warming.

Greenhouse Effect

The temperature of our planet is rising due to the greenhouse effect. The burning of fossil fuels leads to the emission of greenhouses gases. Carbon dioxide, water vapor and methane are some well-known greenhouse gases. These greenhouse gases absorb and give out infrared radiation. Greenhouse gases have a tendency to trap heat and elevate the temperature of our planet. Hence, it is due to these greenhouse gases, that our planet is getting heated up by a tremendous extent and global warming is setting in. This continuous rise in temperature can have cataclysmic and far-reaching consequences for our planet and on our lives. The hot air causes glaciers to melt and snow capped mountain peaks to thaw. If the heat is very intense, ice and snow of most massifs around the world will melt very fast. The melted ice and snow will flow in streams into rivers and finally into seas thus causing an unprecedented rise in sea levels. Rivers will swell and seas will overflow onto and inundate the land. Coastlines will disappear, submerging entire countries. Besides a global deluge, extreme weather patterns, such as heat waves and cold waves, floods and droughts, and violent storms, are other upshots of global warming.

Deforestation

Deforestation is another aspect that precipitates global warming as it causes an unusual increase in the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Global warming has already set in on our planet. However, when global warming will set in, in full swing, it will uproot all existing forests of our planet and cause the complete annihilation of marine life. So, deforestation triggers global warming and global warming, in its turn, causes forests to dwindle. What a vicious circle!

Ozone Depletion

The ozone layer that shields our planet from the direct and unforgiving ultraviolet (UV) rays of the sun is getting depleted gradually. Certain gases better known as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) or freons and bromofluorocarbons or halons that are produced by our manufacturing industries are eating into the ozone layer. Aerosols manufactured by various industries are causing the ozone layer to wear away too. This eating away of the ozone layer is creating a hole or a depression in the ozone layer, commonly called the ozone hole. As the ozone hole is increasing in area, it is permitting more UV rays to penetrate into the Earth’s atmosphere. The increased concentration of UV light in the Earth’s atmosphere is rendering our planet uninhabitable. Excessive exposure to UV light causes skin cancer and cataracts in humans. Excessive exposure to UV light also causes irrevocable harm to various species of animals and plants. The fallout of this is an irremediable problem in the food chain. The depletion of the ozone layer is a very controversial issue as it has pros as well as cons. The irony of the ‘(w)hole’ matter is that ozone is a greenhouse gas. Too much of it will give rise to global warming while too little of it will result in a human population that is rife with skin cancer.

Meltdown

This meltdown is different from the economic meltdown that we recently experienced. While we have proved repeatedly that we can bounce back from a recessionary meltdown, we still haven’t proved to ourselves or to anybody that we can remain unfazed or unaffected if all the icecaps and glaciers of the world melt and if we are consumed by this all-encompassing and horrifying phenomenon of global warming.

Are We Prepared…?

Sadly, we are not in the least prepared to tackle a disaster of such a great magnitude. We are divided amongst ourselves about which nations should cut down emissions and by what extent. In various meetings and summit conferences, we only bicker about figures, levels and percentages while the Earth’s biological clock keeps ominously ticking away. There is no unity whatsoever between the developed, the developing and the underdeveloped nations on the score of global warming. All agree that global warming is a threat that spells universal disaster and devastation. But the main bone of contention is which country is responsible and which country should take the initiative to curtail emissions drastically. Blame games and passing the buck are rampant, and pointing accusatory fingers, putting the onus, and making recriminations and counter recriminations seem to be the order of the day, while global warming steadily continues to rend our planet. Developed nations invariably endeavor to pressurize and bully the less developed nations while the less developed nations cry hoarse to rally support in order to pin down developed nations. The mercury shows no signs of abating. It keeps shooting up at a frightening pace while politics, one-upmanship, heated debates, power and orations reign.

The Real Enemy

What on earth are we all doing, all of us? Time will never wait. Arise, awake, all of you from your slumbers and quit this wrangling and infighting. Do we want another calamity like the one that happened 65 million years ago and obliterated all the dinosaurs from the planet? No. We certainly do not want to be wiped out. Then what is stopping us from uniting against a common cause? What is stopping us from leaving our individual cares aside? After all, in truth, we have all been created by the same Creator. Instead of highlighting this fact, why are we choosing to forget it and concentrate on our various disparities, the various walls that we have built that separate nation from nation, state from state, race from race and human from human? Is there a greater enemy than global warming? An enemy that lies within us?
The choice is ours. Either we join hands and make a concerted effort to defeat global warming or let the enemy within us create more factions amongst us and defeat us all. If we cannot keep the enemy within us at bay, it will ultimately conquer us all. And, if we, humans of the 21st century who reside on this beautiful Earth are mean and vile enough to prefer to protect power and politics, vested interests, and racism, instead of our endangered planet, we should be vanquished by global warming. Because our real adversary, it seems, is not global warming but we ourselves.

Damien Ghosh

What do you think could come in as more important to our basic human needs such as food, shelter, medicine, education or even the need for affection? There could be one issue that would predetermine everything that will transpire on the planet, and that is the planet’s condition. If the world were on the brink of destruction, saving it would be the priority of every single individual. And save it we must. Although the threat is still not at a life and death level, there is an alarming truth that there are several problems that are now bugging the place that we live in. Say hello to global warming. And try to say bye – stop global warming!

Global warming, which is also known as the greenhouse effect, has been here long before you or anybody else out there existed. It’s been here for thousands of years. And through those thousands of years, the earth’s temperature has increased, and so has the effects of global warming. Time magazine has actually coined this problem as a planetary emergency.

There are major solutions that have been done worldwide to cope, alleviate or altogether stop the effects of this major problem. But among these choices, the obvious choice that the human race is supposed to concentrate on is how to stop global warming. Since we have all contributed to the occurrence of global warming (in our own little ways), then we should also join forces in combating this dilemma.

1. Join organizations that promise to educate you about the effects of global warming and what you can do to put a stop to this problem. Be an activist on this matter. After all, everything begins with you.

2. The next step is to conserve energy. And yes, there are so many ways that an individual can save energy. Let’s list some here: car pooling, turning off appliances that are not in use; unplugging any electronic devices that are not in use; buying energy-efficient lamps; keeping the filters of your air-conditioning unit clean; taking a walk (instead of driving); turn off the faucet when enough water has been consumed; do not use appliances or products that release chlorofluorocarbons into the atmosphere (examples are hairsprays and refrigerators that have CFCs); use EEF appliances; start planting trees, etc. These are basic things that we have learned even from grade school and yet, tend to forget the most.

3. If you are a slave of your profession, then, cut on those work hours to help save energy. For every individual that would cut down an hour from his work, there would be millions worth of energy saved. Learn to maximize your time and to properly manage it. I guess you never imagined before that this could also stop global warming, huh?

4. Recycle. Need we elaborate on that?

5. Use environment-friendly fuels and vehicles. They may be a little bit more expensive but they do not contribute to pollution. Honda was the first to come up with a vehicle that is cell-powered, thus, there are no harmful emissions. If you cannot afford cell-powered vehicles just yet, you can opt for those that can run thirty miles in just a gallon of fuel. This way, carbon monoxide is greatly reduced.

6. If you can, harness the power of the sun, wind and water to generate electricity. There are equipments in the market that can be used to harness solar, wind or geothermal energy. These sources of energy are clean and reusable. If, again, you can’t afford to tap on the power of these sources, then, at least, choose an electric provider that does not pollute the environment by the use of fossil fuels.

7. Insulate your home to prevent excessive use of heaters. During summer, dress lightly to minimize the use of air-conditioning units.

Most people would argue that these, altogether, would not stop global warming. Well, maybe for now that is true. But with the collective efforts of each and everyone in the planet, and if everyone would be disciplined enough to care for environmental issues such as this, then even two degrees off the present global temperature would be such a major feat. The most important thing is for all of us to do something, as you have noticed, we only have one planet to save. Beyond this, there are no second chances.

Nathalie Fiset

What Exactly Is Global Warming?

In simple terms, global warming refers to an overabundance of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. This carbon dioxide traps heat and acts like a blanket warming the earth. Humans are contributing to the excess amounts of carbon dioxide present in our atmosphere in many ways.
The emissions from the cars we drive The polluting factories used to make everyday items The power plants that produce non-renewable electricity for our every day lives

All of these things that we rely on and typically take for granted are making the earth a less friendly environment for us… for our children.

Global Warming is not a question of if, but when? Our actions today have an enormous effect on the answer to that question. Every decision, every purchase, every action you do will either help or hurt the future of life on our planet.
Do you want to HELP or HURT?

I can only assume that if you are reading this you want to HELP stop global warming. And I am going to give you some simple ways to help stop global warming. A few small changes today can be the difference between a healthy or unhealthy planet for our children and grandchildren.

If you are just starting to learn ways you can stop global warming, you can start small, and start immediately. After you have the basics down, you can take it a step further and do even more.

These simple actions are easy ways to stop global warming. You can start today with no investment of additional time or money. Just a few minor changes to make in your everyday life.

Turn off Lights, Appliances and Other Items Operated by Electricity When They Aren’t in Use

It seems like common sense, but even I have caught myself leaving a room without turning off the light. Pay closer attention to your family’s habits. Then become more insistent that items are OFF when not in use.

Savings: 1000 pounds of carbon dioxide and $256 per year.

Unplug Appliances and Electric Items When Not in Use

Most people are likely unaware that even when an item is switched off, some current continues to be pulled by the cords. This is especially true of items that have the large AC adapter units incorporated on their cords. This wastes electricity creating more pollution and costing you more money.

Savings: 1000 pounds of carbon dioxide and $256 per year.

Run Your Dishwasher Only When it is Full

Again, it seems like common sense, but it is also an important step to conserving both water and electricity. Not only does the dishwasher itself run on electricity, but remember that the water has to be heated and causes additional energy consumption. Always run it on the lowest setting possible. There’s no need to run a cycle for pots and pans in you have a load of only dishes. And if you have time, and your dishwasher is equipped, allow the load to air dry.

Savings: 100 pounds of carbon dioxide and $40 per year.

Run Your Washer and Dryer For Full Loads of Laundry Only

Basically the same reasoning as the dishwasher. Use cold water whenever possible and consider allowing your clothes to air dry (it will keep them from shrinking too).

Savings: 700 pounds of carbon dioxide and $75 per year.

Take Shorter Showers

Showers account for 2/3 of all water heating costs. Shorten your daily shower (or even skip a day if you can).

Savings: 350 pounds of carbon dioxide and $99 per year.

Check the Thermostat on Your Water Heater

Keep it at 120? Fahrenheit or below. Not only is this a good idea for environmental reasons, it also helps protect our kids (and even some of us adults) from being scalded by water that is too hot.

Savings: 550 pounds of carbon dioxide and $30 per year.

Check Your Home Thermostat

Instead of turning up the heat in the winter, wear sweaters and heavier clothing inside so that you can turn it down 2 degrees. Do this along with turning it up 2 degrees in the summer.

Savings: 2000 pounds of carbon dioxide and $98 per year.

Keep Your Tires Inflated

Check your car tires each month to ensure they are properly inflated. Under inflated tires wastes gasoline and wears your tires out faster.

Savings: 250 pounds of carbon dioxide and $850 per year.

Buy Local Produce

Shop local farmer’s markets or check your grocer’s shelves for products grown in your area. This reduces transportation requirements to bring these items to your area from other areas of the country or even the world. In addition, buy only seasonal produce to reduce demand for un-seasonable fruit and veggies that are imported from other areas.

Savings: hundreds of pounds of carbon dioxide and hundreds of dollars per year.

Carpool

To work, to school to the shopping mall. Share a ride with a friend or co-worker and keep unnecessary cars off the road (maybe traffic will improve as well).

Savings: 750 pounds of carbon dioxide and hundreds of dollars per year.

Be Idle Free

Contrary to popular believe, allowing your car to idle instead of turning off the engine for short stops is NOT better for your vehicle. If your car idles for more than 10 seconds, it is equivalent to the fuel required to restart it. So if you are planning to stop longer than 10 seconds, turn off your engine. So when you are at the drive through window or picking your child up from school, turn off the engine.

Savings: hundreds of pounds of carbon dioxide and hundreds of dollars per year.

Each of these is an action item you can take TODAY! You don’t have to invest a dime to make these changes to help stop global warming. And they even save you money. What’s not to like about that?

Dawn Burden Bates

Now a day’s economic crisis news has consumed everyone’s thinking capacity. Day by day people are starting to forget other aspects of like that they should be equally concerned about as the economy. One such ignored aspect of like is global warming. Although more and more people are concerned about global warming, there are very few who actually take it seriously and take “green” actions. A very good example about this controversial topic is my street where I live in California.

There are different kinds of families that live on our street. Few are old, while others have just been married or had their first child. To my friends, I mention my street as a melting pot because of highly diverse community. Out of this mixture, there are differences between peoples thought regarding global warming. To write this article I conducted a survey regarding all the 15 families opinion of global warming.

Data I collected was quite alarming since majority of them did not care about global warming or have never heard. Out of the 3 “golden age” families, 2 of them said that they “do not care as their life expectancy predicted by the government is not much longer any ways” and the other “golden age” couple said, “we are really concerned for our children’s future, but there is very little we can do at this old age”. Majority of the senior citizens in USA have similar disregard for global warming while very few actually have concerns for their children’s future. Now going to 7 families that range from 30 to 50 years old.

A unique aspect of this group of families was that they had gained materialistic and economic wealth which created ego and hence priority for their enjoyment. Two of the families said that they had just bought a fuel-efficient car and plan to continue using similar cars for rest of their life. I asked them what initiated them to buy a fuel-efficient car? They replied, “high gas prices”. Which is a very common thought process for all the people who go to buy a car (MPG). One of the families said that they use Prius for daily commute to their job and a 5 series BMW for late night parties and other social occasions. After a while I understood the reason behind this kind of practice, ego and community status. Remaining 5 families said that they don’t plan to take any different action for global warming. They gave me different reasons for answer: “we are not going to waste our life because of those factory tycoons”, “what is global warming”, “global warming is a myth, I love this ‘cali’ weather”, “I just bought a hummer, so you know my answer” and “I just don’t think it is worth investing in ‘green’ resources right now, they should get cheaper soon”. This group had a well-developed place with strong root for themselves in the earth. They did not care much other then “live life”. Lets take a look at the youngest group.

Out of the next 5 families, 2 of them had been married in past 9 months and 3 of them had at least a child in past 4 years. One the couples said that currently they do not care much about the global warming. Their primary focus is towards “getting [their] marriage working”. Rests of the 4 families were very optimistic about “fight” for global warming. One of them has actually installed solar panels on their roof and plans to buy a Honda hydrogen fuel cell vehicle. Another family has switched all their house fixtures with energy efficient bulbs. All of them have sold their gas guzzling SUVs and have bought or are going to buy a fuel-efficient sedan. Last group of families is most concerned because of learning that they will have the most impact of the circumstances brought forward by global warming.

Putting all together, we have learned that although there is not much active in the sense of “green age”, slowly more people are implementing the conservative plan to save the earth. Young residents of USA are more and more concerned about global warming which does help see a light at the horizon of the dark space.

Jay D Patel

We are well into our alphabetic A to Z journey on global warming. C for Carbon dioxide is one of the main players in the global warming problem. Carbon dioxide, chemical symbol co2 is a chemical compound composed of one carbon and two oxygen atoms.

CO2 is present in Earth’s atmosphere at a low concentration, around 0.038% by volume, and is one of many gases that make up Earth’s atmosphere. CO2 is measured in parts per million by volume of air (PPMV). Atmospheric carbon dioxide comes from many natural sources including volcanic eruptions, the combustion of organic matter, the respiration of living aerobic organisms, and unfortunately from manmade (anthropogenic) sources, which we all know from the news is being linked to global warming and climate change.

Since the industrial revolution particularly the mid nineteenth century, the burning of fossil fuels for energy to provide electricity, power factories, homes and for all our transport needs has released massive amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere. Not only the burning of fossil fuels, but changes in the use of the land for agriculture and deforestation has further added to global manmade CO2 levels. According to the World Wildlife fund some 29 gigatons which is 29 billion metric tons of CO2 was added to the atmosphere in 2004 alone from burning coal, oil and gas.

If we go back 250 years or so, to pre- industrial times, usually taken to be around 1750, CO2 levels in the atmosphere were around 280 parts per million by volume (ppmv). However levels of the gas have been increasing steadily ever since.

HOW DO WE KNOW THIS?

Well, pioneering scientist Charles Keeling (1928-2005) started taking atmospheric CO2 measurements in 1958 from Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii. Those measurements have been recorded and are now known as The Keeling Curve. Charles Keeling was the professor of oceanography at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography (SIO) which is in San Diego, USA, and he followed the work of another eminent scientist and director of the SIO, Roger Revelle. Dr Revelle was instrumental in creating the Geophysical Year in 1958 and SIO’s first programme looking at atmospheric CO2 back in 1956.

Monthly CO2 measurements were collected from a height of 3397 metres (11,140 feet) at the Mauna Loa Observatory situated on the slopes of Earth’s largest volcano, Mauna Loa in Hawaii which was chosen for its remoteness to populations and vegetation so as not to skewer the readings.

Measurements have been taken over a 50 year period between 1958 and present, which show a rise in CO2 levels of 70 ppmv from around 315 ppmv to around their current level of 385 ppmv. The effects of CO2 in the atmosphere can even be measured on a cyclical basis, and this can be seen in the saw toothed keeling graph. Because there is greater land area, and thus far more plant life in the Northern Hemisphere compared to the Southern Hemisphere, there is an annual fluctuation of about 5 ppmv peaking in May and reaching a minimum in October. This corresponds to the Northern Hemisphere growing season. The amount of CO2 in the atmosphere drops towards spring when uptake by the plants and trees by photosynthesis is greatest. The opposite occurs in winter when the plants die off and CO2 levels increase again.

Continuous readings in this way have only been taken since 1958, however scientists have discovered that prior to the industrial era, circa 1750, CO2 levels stood at around 280 ppmv and this data has been revealed from air trapped in ice core records, taken from both the Antarctic and Arctic. Perhaps the most startling is the fact that CO2 levels are now around 85 ppmv higher than at any time during the last 650,000 years. Data from ice core records go back that far and have shown atmospheric CO2 levels to range from 180-300 ppmv during that period. The level of CO2 in our atmosphere now stands at 385 ppmv, and is increasing steadily.

The Keeling curve has become one of the most recognisable images in modern science as it shows with no uncertainty the effects of humankind’s fossil fuel pollution of Earth’s atmosphere.

CO2 levels have increased by 37% since pre-industrial times and have been increasing by an average of almost 1.4 ppmv a year since measurements began in 1958, although some months the figure has been higher, sometimes lower. In the last ten years however, the average increase appears to be around 1.9 ppmv each year, which indicates the rate of increase is increasing.

Whilst CO2 is a natural greenhouse gas, and important in natural concentrations to maintain Earth’s climate, anthropogenic CO2 is now pushing up Earth’s temperature. Earth’s natural sinks, like the Amazon rainforest and the oceans struggle to absorb the additional CO2 now being added to the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels. It is a know scientific fact that higher levels of greenhouse gases, of which CO2 is a component cause a warming of Earth’s atmosphere. If CO2 is not kept in check and continues to rise at current levels it will eventually cause Earth’s temperature to increase to levels which maybe critical to life on Earth.

Earth’s temperature has already increased by 0.74 degrees Celsius (1.33 Fahrenheit ) during the last 100 years……

Simon Rosser