The average air temperature near the Earth’s surface rose approximately 1.33 degrees Fahrenheit during the last 100 years. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports that “most of the observed increase in globally averaged temperatures since the mid-20th century is very likely due to the observed increase in greenhouse gas concentrations via the greenhouse effect.”

These basic conclusions have been endorsed by at least 30 scientific societies and academies of science, including all of the national academies of science of the major industrialized countries.

The major greenhouse gases are water vapor, carbon dioxide and methane. The atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and methane have increased by 31% and 149% respectively above pre-industrial levels since 1750. These levels are considerably higher than at any time during the last 650,000 years, the period for which reliable data has been extracted from Antarctic ice cores.

Fossil fuel burning has produced about 75% of the increase in carbon dioxide from human activity over the past twenty years. Most of the rest is due to changes in land use, particularly deforestation. Paleoclimatologist William Ruddiman has argued that human influence on the global climate began around 8000 years ago with the start of forest clearing to provide land for agriculture.

The IPPC projects a further 2-11 degree Fahrenheit rise in average global surface temperature during the 21st century. This increase will cause a worldwide rise in sea level (estimated between 4 and 30 inches), and is expected to increase the intensity of extreme weather events and to change the amount and pattern of precipitation. Other effects of global warming include changes in agricultural yields, glacier retreat, reduction in the ozone layer, acidification of the oceans, species extinctions and increases in the ranges of disease vectors.

These factors are likely to pose significant geopolitical and security challenges as countries around the globe compete for water and other increasingly scarce natural resources. Worldwide shifts in population are likely to occur as rising sea levels threaten cities located on lower-lying coastal areas. This may increase the likelihood of armed conflicts as national cohesion may be threatened by loss of population or swelling migration from affected areas.

Although these scientific facts and predictions are daunting, there are reasons for hope. Paul Hawken, in his book Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement in the World Came into Being and Why No One Saw It Coming, believes that we are in the midst of a world-changing rise of activist groups, all “working toward ecological sustainability and social justice.”

This widely diverse, worldwide movement made up of many thousands of nonprofits and community organizations is neither ideological nor centralized, but a coalescence of spontaneous and organic responses to the recognition that environmental problems are social-justice problems.

This is underscored by the award of the Nobel Peace prize in 2007 to former Vice President Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for “their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change.”

We have the knowledge and tools and ingenuity to address this most serious challenge facing humankind. It will require long-range vision, political will to act, and an ability to rise above national self-interest and cooperate on a global scale.

David Yarian

The Alaska chapter of Youth for Environmental Action, a high school program of the National Wildlife Federation, has traveled to Washington, D.C., to deliver a message about global warming to Congress. The group has a multimedia presentation that explains how increased emissions of the byproducts of burning fossil fuels, carbon dioxide and methane gas, have created a reflective greenhouse effect that has caused a rise in temperatures globally.

The teenagers have collected over 5,000 signatures from other Alaska teenagers, endorsing a call to action on the controversial issue of global warming. The immediate effects of global warming can be seen most dramatically in Alaska where the average temperature has risen 3 degrees in the winter and 6 degrees in the summer during the past 30 years.

Among the students who have been traveling and have visited Congress are Verner Wilson of Dillingham, Tim Turner of Anchorage, Charlee Lockwood of Saint Michael, and the group advisor, Polly Carr.

The students traveled throughout Alaska to basketball games, field trips, ski meets, wrestling contests, school breaks, and debate events in 103 Alaska communities. The signatures represent about 10 percent of the teenage population of Alaska.

The students’ program asks Washington congressmen to back a cap-and-trade greenhouse gas program that limits growth of carbon dioxide and methane gas, two of the most harmful of the greenhouse gases, in industry. The teens’ program also calls for increased fuel economy standards for automobiles and trucks, and calls for strong incentives for development and support of renewable energy sources.

Some of the warming effects that have been seen in Alaska include the melting of upper permafrost layers that have caused buildings to sink and tilt and the erosion of the coastline at the village of Shishmaref. The warmer ocean temperatures have resulted in the reduction of the amount of ice near the shore that normally protects the shoreline from harsh winter storms. As a result of the vanishing shoreline, much of the village has been relocated further inland at great expense.

Another result of warming can be seen in the Kenai Peninsula where the largest insect infestation in North America has decimated the growth of white spruce trees. The population of spruce bark beetles has increased tremendously due to the longer length of the warm season in the area.

Glaciers in Alaska are retreating at a rapid rate due to the warmer temperatures. A popular glacier and tourist attraction at Portage could be seen from the road and visitor center 20 years ago, but now it is no longer visible except from a tour boat. The Columbia Glacier in Prince William Sound is retreating 80 to 115 feet per day and has receded more than 6 miles in the past 35 years.

In Barrow, the most northerly village in Alaska, the warmer temperatures mean that there are now mosquitoes where once there were none.

Part of Alaska’s congressional delegation does not agree with the teenagers about the cause of the Alaska warming trend. Representative Don Young has blamed natural occurrences, not human intervention, as the cause of the changes. Senator Ted Stevens feels that the warming trend is due to cyclical geophysical natural forces.

The Alaska students present their petition, a well worded letter, and their multimedia presentation to anyone who will openly listen in hopes of gaining valuable support and creating some positive change.

Garry Gamber

David asked:


Climate Change

Now-a-days we listen Climate Change more often than before. Climate change is a global phenomenon and the term “Climate Change” is indeed a straightforward expression for such a complex subject. In fact, climate change has more than we can comprehend from this phrase and that is why it is quite essential to go at defining climate change in today’s scenario. In the present glossary of researchers and scientists, climate modification as a term is no longer in use and effect. The reason behind this is that we have come to realize the effect of the changes we make to our environment will eventually increase the temperature in many parts of the world, but at the same time will also be decrease in temperature for few parts of the planet. This however, creates a general imbalance in the climate of the world which in turn leads us to the phrase, “Climate Change.”

While wondering the effects of the climate change, the things you know of as climate modification is actually referred to as global a global phenomenon of climate change. However, with all the details and statistics we have in hand at present, we can definitely conclude that the world is unquestionably warming with the temperatures rising like never before. Climate change is a global problem with many natural disasters started taking shape; the general awareness of this factor is really low. For the better understanding of the issues associated with the climate change, we require a simple definition for climate change in relation to the warming of the planet. And this definition needs to be the one that brings us the essence of this problem without compromising the simplicities. However, the easiest and most precise definition is that climate change is the effect greenhouse gases have on the earth’s overall climate. Greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide and methane, but are not limited to these two.

While learning more about climate change, we need to understand few important facts associated with it. The first fact is that climate change is both a natural phenomena and one catalyzed by us. For instance, greenhouse gases are a natural part of the biosphere and would exist if man did not. In fact, these gases are a vital component to the existence of life on this planet. It is due to the existence of the greenhouse gases, the temperature on planet earth does not average zero degrees! These naturally occurring gases help to keep the temperature at a desirable 59 degrees. But, the climate change, which is due to the greenhouse gases, is not indeed natural. In fact, the problem we are facing is the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. These gases act as thermal blankets for the atmosphere. The more gas in the atmosphere, the thicker the blanket and the less heat escapes from earth. In the last 80years, we have been releasing this gases into our atmosphere and thus helping them to form a blanket. On the other hand, we are reducing forests around the planet, which are the natural plant collection that absorb greenhouse gases. This double whammy is starting to show negative results, the increased heating of our world, and thus the beginning of the dreaded climate change.



Auza

Dave Text asked:


Now-a-days we hear about Climate Change more often than before. Climate change is a global phenomenon and the term “Climate Change” is indeed a straightforward expression for such a complex subject. In fact, it has more than we can comprehend from this phrase and that is why it is quite essential to go at defining climate change in today’s scenario.

In the present glossary of researchers and scientists, climate modification as a term is no longer in use and effect. The reason behind this is that we have come to realize the effect of the changes we make to our environment will eventually increase the temperature in many parts of the world, but at the same time will also be decrease in temperature for few parts of the planet. This however, creates a general imbalance in the climate of the world which in turn leads us to the phrase, “Climate Change.”

While wondering the effects of this phenomenon, the things you know of as climate modification is actually referred to as global a global phenomenon of climate change. However, with all the details and statistics we have in hand at present, we can definitely conclude that the world is unquestionably warming with the temperatures rising like never before.

This is a global problem with many natural disasters started taking shape; the general awareness of this factor is really low. For the better understanding of the issues associated with this phenomenon, we require a simple definition in relation to the warming of the planet. And this definition needs to be the one that brings us the essence of this problem without compromising the simplicities.

However, the easiest and most precise definition is that it is the effect greenhouse gases have on the earth’s overall climate. Greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide and methane, but are not limited to these two.

While learning more about this issue, we need to understand few important facts associated with it. The first fact is that it is both a natural phenomena and one catalyzed by us. For instance, greenhouse gases are a natural part of the biosphere and would exist if man did not. In fact, these gases are a vital component to the existence of life on this planet.

It is due to the existence of the greenhouse gases, the temperature on planet earth does not average zero degrees! These naturally occurring gases help to keep the temperature at a desirable 59 degrees. But, the climate change, which is due to the greenhouse gases, is not indeed natural. In fact, the problem we are facing is the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

These gases act as thermal blankets for the atmosphere. The more gas in the atmosphere, the thicker the blanket and the less heat escapes from earth. In the last 80years, we have been releasing these gases into our atmosphere and thus helping them to form a blanket.

On the other hand, we are reducing forests around the planet, which are the natural plant collection that absorb greenhouse gases. This double whammy is starting to show negative results, the increased heating of our world, and thus the beginning of the dreaded climate change.



Bill