Many Groups Organize Measures Against Global Warming

Many Groups Organize Measures Against Global Warming

Although there is much evidence that global warming is the result of human activity, this evidence is not completely accepted by all of the experts. The evidence does not have to be positive in order to take positive steps against global warming. There are many steps to take against global warming. First of all, people can work to reduce the use of fossil fuels including gasoline in their cars. People can join a carpool so they are not driving alone in their car. There are now fuel efficient cars that conserve on the fuel used to get any distance. More people should try to drive these cars that use less fuel. The companies that manufacture cars should concentrate on making cars that are more fuel efficient.

People can try to use alternative means to heat their water and their homes during the winter. Solar energy is from a renewable source of energy so people should try to use these alternatives if possible. People should try to recycle paper for these efforts could make a significant difference to the environment. People should try to make sure that their public servants in charge of the forests are replacing the trees that are taken from the forest.

Positive Actions Against Global warming

Positive Actions Against Global warming

Many people and their elected officials are taking positive steps against global warming so the world will be a better place for their children and grandchildren. There is a great deal of information on the effects of global warming, and the experts on the subject have provided positive steps that people can make against global warming. Scientists have studied the progress of global warming, and some of these scientists have come up with information on the problem to keep the public informed. Along with the information on the problem, these experts have also outlined the steps that people can take to work against global warming.

Global warming seems to be a problem, and the facts show that the temperatures are rising every year since the records were first kept sometime in the middle of the nineteenth century. The problem seems to be getting worse every year. Glaciers seem to be melting more rapidly, and the snow seems to be less every year. There also seems to be a rise in the level of the sea. This is particularly frightening because some of the populated land could one day become completely submerged. Many scientists now believe that these changes in the world are the result of human activity.

Steps taken by all the countries to reduce global warming?

Yes, the steps are :

1. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Do your part to reduce waste by choosing reusable products instead of disposables. Buying products with minimal packaging (including the economy size when that makes sense for you) will help to reduce waste. And whenever you can, recycle paper, plastic, newspaper, glass and aluminum cans. If there isn't a recycling program at your workplace, school, or in your community, ask about starting one. By recycling half of your househ

2. Use Less Heat and Air Conditioning

Adding insulation to your walls and attic, and installing weather stripping or caulking around doors and windows can lower your heating costs more than 25 percent, by reducing the amount of energy you need to heat and cool your home.

Turn down the heat while you're sleeping at night or away during the day, and keep temperatures moderate at all times. Setting your thermostat just 2 degrees lower in winter and higher in summer could save about 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide each year.

3. Drive Less and Drive Smart

Less driving means fewer emissions. Besides saving gasoline, walking and biking are great forms of exercise. Explore your community mass transit system, and check out options for carpooling to work or school.

When you do drive, make sure your car is running efficiently. For example, keeping your tires properly inflated can improve your gas mileage by more than 3 percent. Every gallon of gas you save not only helps your budget, it also keeps 20 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.

5. Buy Energy-Efficient Products

When it's time to buy a new car, choose one that offers good gas mileage. Home appliances now come in a range of energy-efficient models, and compact florescent bulbs are designed to provide more natural-looking light while using far less energy than standard light bulbs.

Avoid products that come with excess packaging, especially molded plastic and other packaging that can't be recycled. If you reduce your household garbage by 10 percent, you can save 1,200 pounds of carbon dioxide annually.

6. Use Less Hot Water

Set your water heater at 120 degrees to save energy, and wrap it in an insulating blanket if it is more than 5 years old. Buy low-flow showerheads to save hot water and about 350 pounds of carbon dioxide yearly. Wash your clothes in warm or cold water to reduce your use of hot water and the energy required to produce it. That change alone can save at least 500 pounds of carbon dioxide annually in most households. Use the energy-saving settings on your dishwasher and let the dishes air-dry.

Fluorescent Light Bulbs

Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs: Change a Light Bulb and Change the World

If you want to change the world, start by changing a few light bulbs. It is one of the best things you can do for the environment—and your budget. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, if every U.S. household replaced just one regular incandescent light bulb with a compact fluorescent light bulb, it would prevent 90 billion pounds of greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, the equivalent of taking 7.5 million cars off the road. And the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says that by replacing regular light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs at the same minimal rate, Americans would save enough energy to light more than 2.5 million homes for a year.

Reasons to Switch to Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs

On top of that, replacing one regular light bulb with an approved compact fluorescent light bulb would save consumers $30 in energy costs over the life of the bulb. Compact fluorescent light bulbs use at least two-thirds less energy than standard incandescent bulbs to provide the same amount of light, and they last up to 10 times longer. Compact fluorescent light bulbs also generate 70 percent less heat, so they are safer to operate and can also reduce energy costs associated with cooling homes and offices. The only real drawback to using compact fluorescent bulbs is that each one contains about 5 mg of mercury, a toxic heavy metal that can cause serious health problems if inhaled or ingested over a period of time or in large enough doses. As a result, many environmentalists and other experts recommend recycling compact fluorescent bulbs to make sure they don't end up in landfills.

How Much Can You Save by Using Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs?

For most people, switching from incandescent to compact fluorescent bulbs offers a lot of opportunity for energy and cost savings. Lighting accounts for 20 percent of the electric bill in the average U.S. home, and the average home has approximately 30 light fixtures. (Calculate your personal energy and cost savings with this handy online calculator, and find out how much you will be helping the environment.)

To save the most energy and money by using compact fluorescent light bulbs, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recommends replacing standard bulbs in areas where lights are used frequently and left on for a long time, such as family rooms, living rooms, kitchens, dining rooms, and porches.

Choosing the Right Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs

To make sure you get the same amount of light when replacing standard bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs, check the lumen rating on the light you are replacing and purchase a compact fluorescent light bulb with the same lumen rating. (A lumen rating is the measure of light the bulb puts out.) Wattage varies greatly between standard light bulbs and compact fluorescent light bulbs. Compact fluorescent light bulbs typically use about one-quarter of the wattage used by standard bulbs to produce the same amount of light. So to replace a traditional 60-watt bulb, look for a compact fluorescent light bulb that is about 15 watts. Compact fluorescent light bulbs are available in many different sizes and shapes to fit in almost any fixture—from three-way lamps to dimmer switches—for both indoor and outdoor use. Compact fluorescent light bulbs also come in a variety of color temperatures, which helps determine the color and brightness of the light each bulb provides. (Learn more about the brightness,color and light quality of compact fluorescent light bulbs.)

Keeping It Simple

None of this is as daunting as it may seem. But to make it really simple, the environmental group Environmental Defense has put together an easy-to-use web site that lets you search for the compact fluorescent light bulbs according to where you want to use them or by shape, brightness, color of light or other features. The site also features user reviews of specific bulbs, and side-by-side photos of energy-saving compact fluorescent light bulbs with incandescent bulbs to help you determine whether the fluorescent bulbs will fit your light fixture. With all of the choices now offered by compact fluorescent technology, saving energy, saving money, and protecting the environment is as easy as changing a light bulb.

Incandescent

Emitting visible light as a result of being heated.

Glowing or white with heat.

Greenhouse gases

The greenhouse effect is the process by which absorption and emission of infrared radiation by gases in the atmosphere warm a planet's lower atmosphere and surface. It was discovered by Joseph Fourier in 1824 and was first investigated quantitatively by Svante Arrhenius in 1896. Existence of the greenhouse effect as such is not disputed, even by those who do not agree that the recent temperature increase is attributable to human activity. The question is instead how the strength of the greenhouse effect changes when human activity increases the concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Naturally occurring greenhouse gases have a mean warming effect of about 33 °C (59 °F). The major greenhouse gases are water vapor, which causes about 36–70 percent of the greenhouse effect; carbon dioxide (CO₂), which causes 9–26 percent; methane (CH₄), which causes 4–9 percent; and ozone (O₃), which causes 3–7 percent. Clouds also affect the radiation balance, but they are composed of liquid water or ice and so are considered separately from water vapor and other gases.

Human activity since the Industrial Revolution has increased the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, leading to increased radiative forcing from CO₂, methane, tropospheric ozone, CFCs and nitrous oxide. The concentrations of CO₂ and methane have increased by 36% and 148% respectively since 1750. These levels are much higher than at any time during the last 650,000 years, the period for which reliable data has been extracted from ice cores. Less direct geological evidence indicates that CO₂ values higher than this were last seen about 20 million years ago. Fossil fuel burning has produced about three-quarters of the increase in CO₂ from human activity over the past 20 years. Most of the rest is due to land-use change, particularly deforestation.

CO₂ concentrations are continuing to rise due to burning of fossil fuels and land-use change. The future rate of rise will depend on uncertain economic, sociological, technological, and natural developments. Accordingly, the IPCC Special Report on Emissions Scenarios gives a wide range of future CO₂ scenarios, ranging from 541 to 970 ppm by the year 2100 (an increase by 90-250% since 1750). Fossil fuel reserves are sufficient to reach these levels and continue emissions past 2100 if coal,tar sands or methane clathrates are extensively exploited.

The destruction of stratospheric ozone by chlorofluorocarbonsis sometimes mentioned in relation to global warming. Although there are a few areas of linkage, the relationship between the two is not strong. Reduction of stratospheric ozone has a cooling influence, but substantial ozone depletion did not occur until the late 1970s. Ozone in the troposphere (the lowest part of the Earth's atmosphere) does contribute to surface warming.

Temperature changes

The most common measure of global warming is the trend in globally averaged temperature near the Earth's surface. Expressed as a linear trend, this temperature rose by 0.74 ± 0.18 °C over the period 1906–2005. The rate of warming over the last half of that period was almost double that for the period as a whole (0.13 ± 0.03 °C per decade, versus 0.07 °C ± 0.02 °C per decade). The urban heat island effect is estimated to account for about 0.002 °C of warming per decade since 1900. Temperatures in the lower troposphere have increased between 0.13 and 0.22 °C (0.22 and 0.4 °F) per decade since 1979, according to satellite temperature measurements. Temperature is believed to have been relatively stable over the one or tw0 thousand years before 1850, with regionally varying fluctuations such as the Medieval Warm Period and the Little Ice Age. Estimates by NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies and the National Climatic Data Center show that 2005 was the warmest year since reliable, widespread instrumental measurements became available in the late 1800s, exceeding the previous record set in 1998 by a few hundredths of a degree. Estimates prepared by the World Meteorological Organization and the Climatic Research Unit show 2005 as the second warmest year, behind 1998. Temperatures in 1998 were unusually warm because the strongest El Nino in the past century occurred during that year. Global temperature is subject to short-term fluctuations that overlay long term trends and can temporarily mask them. The relative stability in temperature from 2002 to 2009 is consistent with such an episode.

Temperature changes vary over the globe. Since 1979, land temperatures have increased about twice as fast as ocean temperatures (0.25 °C per decade against 0.13 °C per decade). Ocean temperatures increase more slowly than land temperatures because of the larger effective heat capacity of the oceans and because the ocean loses more heat by evaporation. The Northern Hemisphere warms faster than the Southern Hemisphere because it has more land and because it has extensive areas of seasonal snow and sea-ice cover subject to ice-albedo feedback. Although more greenhouse gases are emitted in the Northern than Southern Hemisphere this does not contribute to the difference in warming because the major greenhouse gases persist long enough to mix between hemispheres.

The thermal inertia of the oceans and slow responses of other indirect effects mean that climate can take centuries or longer to adjust to changes in forcing. Climate commitment studies indicate that even if greenhouse gases were stabilized at 2000 levels, a further warming of about 0.5 °C (0.9 °F) would still occur.

ozone layer

A region of the stratosphere, between 15 and 30 kilometres in altitude, containing a relatively high concentration of ozone; it absorbs most solar ultraviolet radiation. The "ozone layer" contains more than 90% of the earth's ozone. Ozone is a corrosive, light blue gas with a smell something like burning electrical wiring. The atmosphere at this altitude is still about 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and the peak ozone concentration is about 9 ppm (or 0.0009%). Other things (water vapor, carbon dioxide, argon, and so on) are present there in small concentrations too.

Ozone itself is a triatomic molecule, composed of three oxygen atoms that bonded, unlike the oxygen we breathe, which are diatomic molecules, meaning two oxygen atoms.
The ozone layer is a region high in the atmosphere, containing this ozone, (concentrated in the lower stratosphere to a maximum of 9 ppm) that filters out most of the sun's dangerous ultraviolet rays (UV-B). UV-B is also absorbed by the DNA in all surface dwelling life on Earth, which causes cataracts, cancer, mutation, and reduces crop yields, and arable land.
An ozone hole also periodically forms, since ozone is unstable. The word "hole" is somewhat misleading. This is actually a diminished concentration of ozone due to the lack of sunlight and not a complete absence. An ozone hole forms over a pole, then later heals, once each year at the pole that is not receiving UV-C light from the Sun. The southern polar hole is larger than the northern polar hole, due to the polarity of Earth's magnetic field. Contaminants are suspected of making the hole larger, last longer, and contain less ozone, which is only an indication of the general "health" of the ozone layer. The hole itself forms in areas that are receiving no UV-B from the Sun either, so there are no lifeforms at risk from our Sun "beneath the hole"... every surface organism is at risk from a thinned ozone layer, but only when the Sun is above them.
The ozone layer is a region of the atmosphere where enough oxygen (and nitrogen too for some ozone production) is present to interact with very short wave UV (UV-C), and recombine to form some ozone. The ozone then blocks longer wave UV (UV-B). This layer is located roughly between 10 and 4 miles above the surface of the earth (depending on whether above the equator or above the poles), with highest ozone concentrations in a region that is alternatively called the "lower stratosphere", the "tropopause", or the "ozone layer".
If you took all the ozone in an entire column from the ground to infinity, and compressed it to STP (standard temperature and pressure, or 0°C at 1 atmosphere pressure) it would be a layer about 3 mm thick. Less than 1/3 as much in the Antarctic ozone hole when it is winter there.

How to implement simple steps against global warming

Global warming already disrupts millions of lives daily in the forms of destructive weather patterns and loss of habitat. What is already happening is only the tip of the melting iceberg, for it is our children and grandchildren who may suffer most from the effects of global warming. Hundreds of millions of people may be exposed to famine, water shortages, extreme weather conditions and a 20 - 30% loss of animal and plant species if we do not reduce the rate of global warming and reduce GHG emissions.

On the other hand, having warmer winters means longer growing seasons in temperate and subarctic climes, sometimes allowing an additional crop to be planted and harvested each year, or simply making the existing crops more productive. This article outlines some ways that you can act to help prevent the Earth from warming further. While humankind has the ability to destroy the planet, we can also help protect and sustain it.

Reducing your carbon and greenhouse gas emissions will not only make your personal living space more sustainable but it will also save you money in both the short- and long-term. Global warming is occurring more rapidly than it was originally expected to -- only forty years ago, the big worry was global cooling. Even if you remain a cynic, however, and disagree with the consensus of scientists, you will benefit from reduced pollution, a more healthful lifestyle and increased savings from enacting these simple activities that will not reduce the quality of your life.

Get educated.

Educate yourself about global warming. The more facts that you have as to what mainstream science says about it, the more you can persuade others to make simple yet effective changes in daily behavior. Energy-saving techniques either are initially expensive (for example, solar power) or take extra time (for example, recycling), so many people need to be convinced that their efforts matter. Always keep in mind that you are aiming to demonstrate the benefits of these activities and highlight how each person can play a vital role in helping to reduce global warming. Remember that "civil society does not respond at all well to moralistic scolding." Use education to enlighten, not frighten.

But now I will do something about it. I pledge.

I will use CFLs, not incandescent bulbs.

I will set the AC to 25, not 22.

I will take a train or bus instead of a car.

I will use less energy that heats up the earth.

I will use bicycle always for short distance

Global Warming Likely to Significantly Affect Rainfall Patterns

Climate models project that the global average temperature will rise about 1°C by the middle of the century, if we continue with business as usual and emit greenhouse gases as we have been. The global average, though, does not tell us anything about what will happen to regional climates, for example rainfall in the western United States or in paradisical islands like Hawai'i. Analyzing global model warming projections in models used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a team of scientists headed by meteorologist Shang-Ping Xie at the University of Hawaii at Monoa's International Pacific Research Center, finds that ocean temperature patterns in the tropics and subtropics will change in ways that will lead to significant changes in rainfall patterns. The study will be published in the Journal of Climate this month, breaking ground on such regional climate forecasts.
Scientists have mostly assumed that the surfaces of Earth's oceans will warm rather evenly in the tropics. This assumption has led to "wetter-gets-wetter" and "drier-gets-drier" regional rainfall projections. Xie's team has gathered evidence that, although ocean surface temperatures can be expected to increase mostly everywhere by the middle of the century, the increase may differ by up to 1.5°C depending upon the region.
"Compared to the mean projected rise of 1°C, such differences are fairly large and can have a pronounced impact on tropical and subtropical climate by altering atmospheric heating patterns and therefore rainfall," explains Xie. "Our results broadly indicate that regions of peak sea surface temperature will get wetter, and those relatively cool will get drier."
Two patterns stand out. First, the maximum temperature rise in the Pacific is along a broad band at the equator. Already today the equatorial Pacific sets the rhythm of a global climate oscillation as shown by the world-wide impact of El Niño. This broad band of peak temperature on the equator changes the atmospheric heating in the models. By anchoring a rainband similar to that during an El Nino, it influences climate around the world through atmospheric tele connections. A second ocean warming pattern with major impact on rainfall noted by Xie and his colleagues occurs in the Indian Ocean and would affect the lives of billions of people. Overlayed on Indian Ocean warming for part of the year is what scientists call the Indian Ocean Dipole that occasionally occurs today once every decade or so. Thus, the models show that warming in the western Indian Ocean is amplified, reaching 1.5°C, while the eastern Indian Ocean it is dampened to around 0.5°C. "Should this pattern come about," Xie predicts, "it can be expected to dramatically shift rainfall over eastern Africa, India, and Southeast Asia. Droughts could then beset Indonesia and Australia, whereas regions of India and regions of Africa bordering the Arabian Sea could get more rain than today."
Patterns of sea surface temperature warming and precipitation change in 2050 as compared with 2000. Annual mean precipitation change is shown in green/gray shade and white contours in mm/month. Precipitation tends to increase over regions with ocean warming above the tropical mean and to decrease where ocean warming is below the tropical mean (contours of cool colors).

Rising Sea Levels: Environmental Impact

I discuss the ways in which rising tides can decimate local ecosystems and the environment.
One of the most discussed effects of global warming is the increased rate of sea level rise. The rise is due primarily to higher temperatures, which effect sea levels in two ways. First, if temperatures rise, water gets hotter, causing it to expand. Second, the heat melts ice sheets, caps, and glaciers, causing melt water to flow into the oceans. In a previous article, I discussed the impact of sea level rise on humans; in this article, I will discuss the impact on the environment.

Land Loss
Coastal wetlands are key ecosystems in the biosphere. They support a combination of oceanic species and land species- everything from seagulls to striped bass. They form a “transition zone”, where salt and freshwater fish species like the trout can pass from rivers and streams to the sea. However, rising sea levels are threatening these key habitats. As ocean levels rise, erosion occurs on the shore. As wetlands depend on solid ground for cattails and other aquatic plants to grow, the removal of earth can be devastating. Researchers suggest that by 2080 almost 33% of wetlands will be converted into open water.

Water Salinity
Most aquatic animal and plant species are highly sensitive to salinity levels in their water. As sea levels rise, they flood low-lying freshwater marshes and lakes, making them partially saline. This can kill and damage many native species. The Florida Everglades, for example, are in danger of become salty due to the encroachment of the Atlantic ocean. This would devastate the rich plant and animal life of the Everglades.

Storms
Rising sea levels increase the intensity of storms and floods throughout the world. In high-risk areas like Southeast Asia and Australia, floods could decimate much of the inland plant and animal population. Most ground and burrowing animals, for example, could drown in their dens. Australian researchers have modeled the effects of floods in the future and have discovered that, with the current rate of sea level rise, a storm that now floods 32 square kilometers will flood 71 square kilometers by 2050. So even though sea levels rise only a few millimeters per year, they can have disastrous effects on world ecosystems. It shows just how sensitive nature is- the smallest change can make a world of difference.

Global Warming: Is making carbon 'SAFE' the answer?

Mandating fossil fuel producers to sequester (bury) a steadily increasing fraction of the carbon they extract would be a simple, effective, and fair way of sharing out the pain of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, according to a leading group of climate researchers.

Arguments against global warming

Arguments against global warming

Here we take a look at the arguments against global warming:

• It is argued that global warming is a minor issue because of which major issues like HIV/AIDS, Nuclear proliferation and poverty are not devoted their deserved time and resources.
• Vested interest of scientists. It is argued that scientists exaggerate the effects of global warming because they receive funds from environmental companies.
• Unreliability of computer climate models. It is argued that these models are not able to predict tomorrow’s weather. So how can they predict long-term climate change?
• There are other factors involved in global warming. It is argued that human activities are not the only cause of global warming.
• Newspapers sensationalize global warming in order to sell. It is argued that newspapers distort the picture of global warming when actually that is not the case.
• Scientists have made wrong predictions before. It is argued that science and scientists are not always right. Perhaps they have made an error in their calculations or drawn incorrect conclusions on available evidence.
• The science of global warming is not proved. It is argued that we don’t have long term historical records of weather.
• Water vapor plays a major part in global warming. It is argued that man made emissions like carbon dioxide has only minor effects.
• The global warming is a natural phenomenon. Man has no role to play in it. Only our environment is responsible.
• The temperature increase is very small especially when it is spread over a century.
• The earth was warmer before. That did not have harmful consequences on humans.
• The increase in temperature will help plants grow in currently cold and uninhabitable areas.
• The increase in the level of carbon dioxide will stimulate plant growth.
• Steps to limit global warming will decrease economic growth and hurt the poor.
• People in fossil fuel industries will lose their jobs.
• Climate change has been more rapid in the past.
• Rise in carbon dioxide levels has always come after a temperature change and not before.
• The upsurge in solar activity in the sun has caused global warming.

One realizes that most of the arguments against global warming are factually incorrect or far fetched. People advocating these arguments have a vested interest in activities and industries that contribute to global warming. Unfortunately they are able to sway a section of the population that global warming is not a serious issue. Earnest efforts must be taken to dispel these myths and make the earth a better place to live in.