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In your individual blog, write about your difficulties in doing the product and how you have contributed in completing the product.
We do not have much time to do the our product because many of us aren't able to stay back after school. Our form teacher always make us stay back for recess and after school. The past week have also been busy and as there have been school events like NAPFA on thursday and friday.
The group has discussed and decided that suta and I would be making the characters and the background. Thus, the both of us have already discussed about the different ideas on the characters background. After doing that, we would be able to put it into our product.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Lesson 12 Reflection (Tai Jun Rong 34)
In your individual blog, write about your difficulties in doing the product and how you have contributed in completing the product.
Firstly, one of the difficulties is time constraint. Last week, we had to stay back almost everyday, due to CCAs, Napfa Test and some extra classes held by teachers. We could also do it during reccess time but Ms Lum, our form teacher made us stay back for every reccess for about 10-15minutes, and after finished eating, we would be left with no more than 10minutes time to complete our project.
Next, is how I have contributed to the project. I gave our group leader, Dominic Ss, some improvements and initiated some ideas. For example, I told them to plot a line graph on how the temperature and the carbon emissions have increased for the past ten years. I find that this form of graph, the line graph, is more efficient than other forms of graph like the pie chart and the bar graph.
V-Formation Guys!
Firstly, one of the difficulties is time constraint. Last week, we had to stay back almost everyday, due to CCAs, Napfa Test and some extra classes held by teachers. We could also do it during reccess time but Ms Lum, our form teacher made us stay back for every reccess for about 10-15minutes, and after finished eating, we would be left with no more than 10minutes time to complete our project.
Next, is how I have contributed to the project. I gave our group leader, Dominic Ss, some improvements and initiated some ideas. For example, I told them to plot a line graph on how the temperature and the carbon emissions have increased for the past ten years. I find that this form of graph, the line graph, is more efficient than other forms of graph like the pie chart and the bar graph.
V-Formation Guys!
Lesson 12 reflection (Jun Xiang)™
In your individual blog, write about your difficulties in doing the product and how you have contributed in completing the product.
There are some difficulties I faced while doing the product. For Example, our class have to stay back almost everyday (90 %) during recess and after school to wait for Ms Lum to come to the class. By this act, we would not have enough time to do our project. We also have our NAPFA and 5-Items tests on thurs and fri respestively. This takes up almost the whole afternoon and I am sure that we would not be in the right attentiveness ad thinking if we should do the group discussion after the tests. Thirdly, our group had held a group discussion for the project on Fri morning, 6.45. Only me and DSS were on time. However, gregory, who usually comes early to play soccer, didnt come early that day as he was banned from soccer by Ms Lum for a week. Maybe this is why he did not come early that day. As for the rest, they were ok.
I have written out the character sheet, etc... , and the storyline we are going to do. (about global warming) Going to collaborate further information from other team member on Monday before presenting the comic life product, and the research papers.
(PS: Gregory plz do yr work)
Lesson 12 Reflection(Dominic)
In your individual blog, write about your difficulties in doing the product and how you have contributed in completing the product.
We have started working on the comic prototype. We have divided our jobs equally among our members. I would be doing the characters with Brendan and the whole group did the story information and we would finalise the prototype on Monday.
What I find most difficulty was we only had 6 days to complete the prototype. And all of us had NAPFA and CCA on this week so It was hard for us to find the time to discuss about the prototype.
We have started working on the comic prototype. We have divided our jobs equally among our members. I would be doing the characters with Brendan and the whole group did the story information and we would finalise the prototype on Monday.
What I find most difficulty was we only had 6 days to complete the prototype. And all of us had NAPFA and CCA on this week so It was hard for us to find the time to discuss about the prototype.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
reflection 11{gregory}
1. What you know about your project?
- we are making a project that will include making a comic strip to inform the others that do not know global warming about it and we would research more on the global warming and greenhouse effect on the earth.
2. What you think the direction your group should be taking?
- we are going to improve our lifestyle a nd improve our way of living till it is comfortable and would be eco-friendly.and thus we are going to make the world a green place to live in.
3. What you have learnt about the product?
- there is nothing much to learn about it although there will be a lot of information about the greenhouse effect and how do we work our way against it.
4. What would you be doing to improve on the product?
- i would like to make our product a continuous one where we can make different episodes of our comic strip to bring the reading to want to know more about global warming and greenhouse gases
2. What you think the direction your group should be taking?
- we are going to improve our lifestyle a nd improve our way of living till it is comfortable and would be eco-friendly.and thus we are going to make the world a green place to live in.
3. What you have learnt about the product?
- there is nothing much to learn about it although there will be a lot of information about the greenhouse effect and how do we work our way against it.
4. What would you be doing to improve on the product?
- i would like to make our product a continuous one where we can make different episodes of our comic strip to bring the reading to want to know more about global warming and greenhouse gases
Monday, April 19, 2010
Lesson 11 Reflection (Brendan)
1. What you know about your project?
- I knew that we would be making a comic relating to our topic "Global Warming". I also knew that we would be using an application called "Bannedstory" to make the characters in the background.
The comic would inform students about the effects of global warming and its causes.
2. What you think the direction your group should be taking?
- I think my group should have a positive attitude towards making the comic. If everybody does their research, I am sure we would come up with a good and well-explained comic.
3. What you have learnt about the product?
- I have learnt that the product would be able to tell teenagers more about global warming. It would also be great if teenagers learn from the comic, and do their part to prevent global warming.
4. What would you be doing to improve on the product?
- I would research more about the topic to improve the content of the comic. I will also be concentrating more on the comic so that we would have a interesting comic.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Researched on Climate Changed Edited(Dominic)
Introduction
I am a student of Maris Stella high school doing a research on Climate Changes. We were supposed to choose a topic and find out more about it. After researching, we were supposed to choose a product that we want to make and present about our finding.
My group name is V Formation and my group members are (Dominic SS), (Jun Xiang), (Brendan Tan) and (Gregory Tay). We have chosen Global warming for the main topic, and how greenhouse gases contribute to it for the sub topic. As for our product, we have decided to do a comic strip to educate the public more about global warming and research paper to educate the public about what we have found out during the project.
Findings
General Relationship of Temperature and Photosynthesis
C Field & D Lobell. Environmental Research Letters, 2007:
A 1oC increase reduces global cereal grain crop yields by 6-10%. So, a rise of 2oC could mean 12-20% fall in global production.
What is green house effect?
Energy from the sun drives the earth's weather and climate, and heats the earth's surface; in turn, the earth radiates energy back into space. Atmospheric greenhouse gases (water vapor, carbon dioxide, and other gases) trap some of the outgoing energy, retaining heat somewhat like the glass panels of a greenhouse.
What caused Global warming?
Natural changes in climate take place over many years; this allows animals and plants to adapt to new environments. Scientists have discovered that the earth’s temperature is increasing too rapidly and that’s due to the amount of Carbon Dioxide that is released in to the atmosphere.
The primary factors underlying environmental degradation include: economic growth, broad technological changes, demographic shifts and governance structures. These can give rise to:
Increased demand for natural resources and energy
Market imperfections, e.g., subsidies that lead to the inefficient use of resources and act as a barrier to the market penetration of climate sound technologies; the lack of recognition of the true value of natural resources; failure to appropriate the global values of natural resources to the local level; and the failure to internalize the social costs of environmental degradation into the market price of a resource
Limited availability and transfer of technology, inefficient use of technologies, and inadequate investment in research and development for the technologies of the future
–Failure to manage adequately the use of natural resources and energy
The sun’s rays penetrate our atmosphere and keep the planet warm. Unfortunately because the Earth’s big gassy blanket is so thick, no heat can escape. The Earth retains the suns heat causing the planet to warm up more quickly than it should.
What is Global Warming?
We have most likely all heard that the climate is getting warmer and areas of the globe are having more “intense” weather systems, e.g. drought in Australia, fires in California, Hurricane in New Orleans, Earthquake and Tsunami in Indonesia etc. Has Britain’s weather changed? Has anyone noticed any local effects? E.g. Spring coming early, unusually wet Summer/dry Winter, flowers blooming early, etc.
-The Earth receives energy from the Sun in the form of radiation.
-The Earth reflects about 30% of the incoming solar radiation. The remaining 70% is absorbed, warming the land, atmosphere and oceans.
-For the Earth's temperature to be in equilibrium so that the Earth does not rapidly heat or cool, this absorbed solar radiation must be very nearly balanced by energy radiated back to space in the infrared wavelengths.
-The figure on the left shows the absorption bands in the Earth's atmosphere (middle panel), I.e. the wavelength spectrum (UV, IR, visible light) that is absorbed by the atmosphere, and the effect that this has on both solar radiation (energy from the sun) and upgoing thermal radiation (energy reflected from the Earth) (top panel).
-Individual absorption spectrum for major greenhouse gases are also shown.
-You can see that high amounts of UV and IR wavelengths from the sun are absorbed by the atmosphere, whereas much of the visible light spectrum passes through (allowing us to see!). Of the up-going thermal radiation (blue) a budget of IR wavelengths pass through the atmosphere to be lost to space.
-The figure on the right is a simplified, schematic representation of the flows of energy between space, the atmosphere, and the Earth's surface, showing how these flows combine to trap heat near the surface and create the greenhouse effect.
-Energy exchanges are expressed in watts per square meter (W/m2); values from Kiehl and Trenberth (1997).
-The sun provides an annual average of ~235 W/m2 of energy to the Earth’s surface. If this were the total heat received at the surface, then we would be expect to have an average global temperature of -18°C. Instead, the Earth's atmosphere recycles heat coming from the surface and delivers an additional 324 W/m2, which results in an average surface temperature of roughly +14 ° C.
-Of the surface heat captured by the atmosphere, more than 75% can be attributed to the action of greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide etc.) that absorb thermal radiation (the up-going energy emitted by the Earth's surface).
-The atmosphere in turn transfers the energy it receives both into space (38%) and back to the Earth's surface (62%), where the amount transferred in each direction depends on the thermal and density structure of the atmosphere.
-This process by which energy is recycled in the atmosphere to warm the Earth's surface is known as the greenhouse effect and is an essential piece of Earth's climate.
-Under stable conditions, the total amount of energy entering the system from solar radiation will be exactly the same as the amount being radiated into space, thus allowing the Earth maintain a constant average temperature over time. However, recent measurements indicate that the Earth is presently absorbing 0.85 - 0.15 W/m2 more than it emits into space (Hansen et al. 2005). This increase, associated with global warming, is believed to have been caused by the recent increase in greenhouse gas concentrations.
References:
-Kiehl, J. T. and Trenberth, K. E. (1997). "Earth's Annual Global Mean Energy Budget". Bulletin of the American Meteorological Association 78: 197-208.
-Hansen, J., et al. (2005). "Earth's Energy Imbalance: Confirmation and Implications". Science 308 (5727): 1431-1435.
-Climate is defined as the weather averaged over a long period of time.
-The standard averaging period is 30 years but other periods may be used depending on the purpose. Climate also includes statistics other than the average, such as the magnitudes of day-to-day or year-to-year variations.
-Therefore, climate is “the average and variations of weather over long periods of time”.
-•Different “Climate Zones” such as tropical, temperate or polar can be defined using parameters such as temperature and rainfall.
The Earths surface temperature has been slowly increasing for the last 15,000 years, since the last Ice age.
Global warming simply refers to an increase in temperature of the Earths surface.
What are some solutions for reducing the impact of transportation on climate change?
Climate Change and Geopolitical Security
“Climate change of the order and time frames predicted by climate scientists poses fundamental questions of human security, survival and the stability of nation states which necessitate judgments about political and strategic risks as well as economic cost.”
Heating Up the Planet: Climate Change and Security.
Dupont A, Pearman G, Lowy Institute Paper 12, 2006
How do we know about climate systems in the past?
-A record of past local environmental conditions may be preserved in early rock art and sculpture.
-For example, rock paintings from Tassili N´Ajjer in Algeria show that the region in Neolithic times was moist and fertile, with abundant water and wildlife. The art depicts herds of cattle, large wild animals including crocodiles, and human activities such as hunting and dancing.
-This area now hosts a sandstone mountain range located in a desert.
-More than 15,000 drawings and engravings record the climatic changes, the animal migrations and the evolution of human life on the edge of the Sahara from 6000 B.C. to the first centuries of the present era.
-Geomorphology is the study of landforms, including their origin and evolution, and the processes that shape them.
-Studying of surface features such as valleys, mountains, river beds, ancient dune and lake deposits can tell you what the environment was like in the past.
-For example, the Lake District in North West England has many valleys shaped like a “U”. They have flat bottoms and steep sides. (As opposed to River Valleys that are typically “V” shaped).
-These were formed by the passage of glaciers that carved their way through the landscape. There are no glaciers there today but from the physical features they left behind we can tell that the area was once covered in ice.
-The Geological record can tell us a lot about past climates.
-Fossils of plants and animals can provide evidence of what the past ecosystem was like.
-For example, fossils of plants and animals in Antarctica show that during the Cambrian period Antarctica had a mild climate. West Antarctica was partially in the northern hemisphere, and East Antarctica was at the equator, where sea-floor invertebrates and trilobites flourished in the tropical seas
-Fossils also show that during the Mesozoic era (250-65 Mya), as a result of continued warming, the polar ice caps melted and the Antarctic Peninsula began to form. Ginkgo trees and cycads were plentiful during this period, as were large reptiles and dinosaurs, though only two Antarctic dinosaur species have been described to date.
-Sediments are a good record of past environments. They can tell a geologist what type of environment deposited them, e.g. a beach, river, desert, ocean etc. And fossils preserved in the sediments will provide information about the biota.
-To sample sedimentary layers deep in the Earth scientists often have to drill for them. The right hand photos show an example of drill core recovered from the ocean floor in the Caribbean. Each dark and light layers represents progressively older sedimentary layers.
Negative Impact of Global Warming
Effects of Temperature Rise on Dengue Transmission
-Shorten viral incubation period in mosquito
-Shorten breeding cycle of mosquito
-Increase frequency of mosquito feeding
-More efficient transmission of dengue virus from mosquito to human
-Other effects of global warming include changes in agricultural yields, glacier retreat, species extinctions and increases in the ranges of disease vectors (carriers).
-Remaining scientific uncertainties include the amount of warming expected in the future, and how warming and related changes will vary from region to region around the globe. There is ongoing political and public debate worldwide regarding what, if any, action should be taken to reduce or reverse future warming or to adapt to its expected consequences. Most national governments have signed and ratified the Kyoto Protocol, aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Direct health impacts (heat, extreme events, etc.)
Human Health:
-Injuries/deaths
-Thermal stress
-Infectious diseases
-Malnutrition
-Mental stresses
-Conflict, drugs, etc.
They are indirectly caused by
-Food yields
-Biological & seasonal cycles
-Physical systems
(ice, rivers, etc.)
These affects
Economy: infrastructure, output, growth
Scientists believe that the increased levels of carbon dioxide could cause increased temperatures, changed weather patterns, and rising sea levels.
Other Greenhouse gases include: methane, nitrous oxides, water vapor, and chlorofluorocarbons.
The amount of carbon in the atmosphere has increased by 31% since the start of the industrial revolution in 1750. Levels of Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere are at record highs (higher than any level over the past 420,000 years). Furthermore, the 1990s was the warmest decade since the start of reliable temperature data, possibly the warmest decade in the last 1,000 years.
Most scientists have looked at the increase in greenhouse gas levels, coupled with rising average surface temperatures and decreasing snow and ice coverage, as evidence of the effects of “anthropogenic greenhouse gases” (Source: Third IPCC Report).
The impacts of global warming could have severe consequences for human activities. Many of the consequences have environmental, economic, and health impacts. The changed temperatures and weather patterns can disrupt farming practices across nations, making areas that were once fertile no longer suitable for crop production. Changing temperatures might allow for the spread of tropical diseases, such as malaria, into areas that were at one time too cold to provide a suitable environment in which the disease could thrive. The increased temperatures could lead to heat waves that could threaten at-risk populations (especially the elderly, children, and the sick. As an example, consider the heat waves that hit France in the summer of 2003 and the heat waves in India). Rising sea levels could flood coastal cities. Changed weather patterns and increased temperatures might make natural catastrophes, such as hurricanes, more frequent and more severe. These last two impacts have the potential to cause a great deal of economic damage to the world’s economies. From an environmental standpoint, the changed climate patterns could disrupt the natural habitats of various species that may lead to certain extinctions.
The effect of a change in the weather on plant growth may lead to some countries not having enough food. Brazil, parts of Africa, Southeast Asia and China will be affected the most and many people could suffer from hunger.
Higher sea levels will threaten the low-lying coastal areas of the world, such as the Netherlands and Bangladesh. Throughout the world, millions of people and areas of land will be at danger from flooding. Many people will have to leave their homes and large areas of farmland will be ruined because of floods. In Britain, East Anglia and the Thames estuary will be at risk from the rising sea.
Global average temperatures are expected to increase by about 2-13°F (1-7°C) by the end of the century. That may not sound like a lot, so what’s the big deal? The problem is that small changes in global average temperature can lead to really large changes in the environment. Let’s look at some of the expected changes.
The main tools for both past and present climate analyses are computer climate models. Much like the models used to forecast weather, climate models simulate the climate system with a 3-dimensional grid that extends through the land, ocean, and atmosphere. The grid may have 10 to 60 different levels in the atmosphere and surface grid spacing of about 60 by 90 miles (100 by 150 km)—the size of Connecticut. The models perform trillions of calculations that describe changes in many climate factors in the grid
Sea-level rise projections: a few inches to a few feet
-2 ft: U.S. would lose 10,000 square miles
-3 ft: Would inundate Miami
-Affects erosion, loss of wetlands, freshwater supplies
-Half of the world’s population lives along coasts
Big question: Ice sheets
How to prevent global warming?
Health Co-Benefits from GHG Emissions Mitigation Actions: Revitalised Health Promotion?
Reduce fossil fuel combustion:
Reduce cardio-respiratory deaths/hospitalisations from local air pollution (esp. fine particulates).
Low-emission urban (public) transport system:
Increase physical activity (walking, cycling) à reduce over-weight, improve lipid/endocrine profiles, increase social contact and wellbeing.
Road trauma should decline.
Reduce red (ruminant) meat consumption (livestock sector is major source of GHG emissions, esp. methane)
Reduce risks of some disease: large bowel cancer, ?breast cancer; also heart disease (meat fat content).
More energy-efficient housing
Reduce family costs, and (especially for lower-income households) reduce thermal stress – and debt-related mental stress.
There are lots of things each one of us can do to help combat Global Warming. You can start by always switching lights off when you leave a room.
-Currently, the production of hydrogen fuel uses fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are used to separate hydrogen from the other atoms that it is bonded with—a process called electrolysis. When scientists discover a way to power electrolysis with alternative forms of energy -- such as hydro, wind, solar, or biomass sources -- hydrogen has the potential to be renewable and free of emissions at both the consumption and production ends.
-Hydrogen is the ideal fuel for fuel cells. These cells convert chemicals directly into electricity with a high level of efficiency. Fuel cells are already being used for military purposes and space flights; further research is needed before they are economically competitive with the existing technology.
-Hydrogen fuel cells produce water vapor as their byproduct—they are a very clean source of fuel. Disadvantages: Hydrogen fuel cells are currently handicapped by a high cost, the need for large storage containers to hold the hydrogen on the vehicle, the difficulty of obtaining pure hydrogen, and the challenge of undergoing electrolysis (splitting the hydrogen atoms) by efficiently using alternative fuel sources.
Ethanol is produced from fermented corn. Most cars with little engine modification to reduce ghg emissions can use ethanol blends—gasoline plus 5-20% ethanol—. However, the procedure to produce ethanol is very energy intensive and requires the use of fossil fuels. Several transit agencies have experimented with ethanol buses. Their results prove that the buses consume more fuel and end up costing too much. The buses consume more fuel because the energy content of ethanol is lower than regular fuels. The high cost makes it unlikely that ethanol will ever become a widely used alternative for conventional fuel.
Reducing our greenhouse gas emissions and our use of fossil fuels will not be easy, but it is doable. Here’s how some researchers at Princeton view it.
Our current path is toward doubling CO2 emissions in the next 50 years, with even greater increases beyond that. In order to get off this path, we need to find ways to keep emissions constant for the next 50 years and then reduce them during the second half of the century. This would [9] limit atmospheric CO2 to about 570 ppm—still greater than the roughly 380 ppm in the atmosphere today, but enough to avoid the worst predicted consequences.
A majority (60%) of carbon dioxide emissions in the transportation sector come from personal vehicle use. Encouraging the use and development of public transportation reduces the number of cars on the road and reduces total greenhouse gas emissions.
Many communities do not carefully plan for growth. Carefully planned growth should take into account transportation options so that public transit and alternative forms of transportation can access the neighborhoods easily. Also, neighborhoods should heed the need to use transportation. Businesses, stores, and homes can all be located in the same area, often connected by bike paths and walkways. These planned neighborhoods use land efficiently; because of this, it is possible to drive direct routes (this reduces the amount of fuel wasted and thus reduces the amount of overall GHGs released).
If you are going to drive, don’t drive alone. By sharing a ride, you get to have company and help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by limiting the number of cars on the road.
By making sure your car is in tip-top shape, you can reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Cars that are well kept increase fuel efficiency.
New technologies provide another way to reduce emissions. Currently, research is focused on replacing petroleum-based fuels and increasing fuel efficiencies.
Once individuals are aware of how their transportation choices contribute to global climate change, hopefully they will change their habits to reduce emissions.
Most of the rubbish we throw away can be recycled, such as glass bottles and jars, steel and aluminium cans, plastic bottles and waste paper.
Recycling used materials uses less energy than making new ones.
Ask your parents if you have Energy Saving Bulbs in your house, they last much longer than ordinary household bulbs and use much less energy so they are better for the environment.
-Switch lights off when you leave the room.
-Don’t leave anything on standby.
-Walk rather than use the car when possible.
-Cycle more, use you body’s own energy.
-Recycle as much as possible.
To switch equipment off properly it needs to be turned off at the plug.
When you switch off the television with the remote control your TV
Automatically goes into standby or ‘sleep mode’. In ‘sleep mode’ the
TV is still using electricity even though you aren’t watching it.
Of course, you don’t have to take transit or drive to travel from one place to another. Sometimes, the old fashioned methods work out the best in the end anyway. Walking, biking, rollerblading, skateboarding, and other similar activities have almost no impact on the environment. They also have substantial health benefits. Just make sure that you do it safely! For people who live in areas that lack public transportation, walking or biking is a great alternative for individuals who do not want to rely on a personal car. These old fashioned gentlemen were eco-friendly before it was hip to be “green.”
Unplug appliances or plug into a power strip and switch it off
Buy water-saving appliances and toilets; installing low-flow shower heads.
Alcohols can be blended with petroleum fuels as “replacement” fuels this is sometimes called gasohol. No infrastructure change is thus necessary for alcohol. It is compatible with the ubiquitous existing fuel distribution and retailing systems and thus does not have to overcome the transitional barriers faced by alternative fuels.
Public transportation releases fewer greenhouse gas emissions into the air per person than driving does.
§Taking a train or bus is much cheaper than owning a car, and you don’t have to find a parking space once you get to your destination!
Compressed natural gas has been successfully used by transit agencies in New York and Los Angeles. It is gaining popularity across the country because it reduces the emissions of particulate matter and nitrous oxides—two air pollutants that cause much of the urban air pollution. However, CNG may not be effective at reducing GHGs. First of all, CNG’s buses tend to be less efficient than diesel, requiring them to consume more fuel. They are also heavier (CNG requires a heavier fuel tank to keep natural gas pressurized), which again means that they consume more fuel. And most importantly, there is an increase in methane emissions. Methane, a GHG, is much more effective at trapping heat than carbon dioxide. Therefore, a decrease in CO2 emissions can be offset by a very small increase in methane emissions. Transit agencies view CNG as a transitional fuel choice; the most promising replacements for CNG buses are hybrid-electric buses.
Recognition of health risks will potentate true primary prevention – i.e. the reduction of GHG emissions.
Health risks already exist and more are unavoidable. So, we must develop and evaluate adaptive strategies.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, WkGp2 Report (2007): Some Key Findings
Water: 75-250m Africans may face water-shortage by 2020.
Crops:
Crop yields could: increase by 20% in some parts of Southeast Asia … but decrease by up to 30% in Central/South Asia.
Glaciers and snow cover: Expected to decline, reducing supply of melt water to major regions, cities.
Species: 20-30% of all plant and animal species face increased risk of extinction if 1.5-2.5 oC rise.*
Scientific literature review of 29,000 studies of physical and biological changes in natural world: 89% consistent with accompanying warming.
Together, the reported GCM model runs for the 6 IPCC emissions scenarios forecast, for 2100, increases in temperature (central estimate per scenario) of 1.4-5.8 oC.
Most of the uncertainty reflects unknowable human futures (the scenarios); the rest is due to model uncertainties.
A further ~0.7 oC is ‘committed’ (on top of the 0.6oC already realised)
IPCC Fourth Assessment Report (2007) already looks conservative. Recent studies indicate accelerating change.
Political discourse in high-income countries is now starting to acknowledge need for 80+% reduction in emissions relative 2000.
The IPCC Sequence of Key Findings……
IPCC (1990) Broad overview of climate change science, discussion of uncertainties and evidence for warming.
IPCC (1995) “The balance of evidence suggests a discernible human influence on global climate.”
IPCC (2001) “Most of the warming of the past 50 years is likely (>66%) to be attributable to human activities.”
IPCC (2007) “Warming is unequivocal, and most of the warming of the past 50 years is very likely (90%) due to increases in greenhouse gases.”
Governments require information on climate change for negotiations
The IPCC formed in 1988 under auspices of the United Nations
Function is to provide assessments of the science of climate change
Scientific community contributes widely and on a voluntary basis
75% of the authors in WG1 IPCC (2007) did not work on WG1 IPCC (2001)
Substance of IPCC WG1 report in the hands of scientists
-Each report is an assessment of the state of understanding based upon peer-reviewed published work. IPCC assesses published research but does not do research. Each assessment goes through multiple reviews and revision and re-review over a period of years.
-Informal draft prepared, comments sought from 6-12 outside experts for each chapter (Oct 2004 - Mar 2005).
-Formal first order draft (FOD) reviewed by about 600 reviewers worldwide (Sept -Nov 2005).
-Formal second order draft (SOD) re-reviewed by about 600 experts worldwide and by dozens of governments (April-May 2006).
-Govt comments on revised Summary for Policy Makers (Oct-Nov 2006).
-WG1 received and considered over 30000 comments in total.
-The assessment conclusions are not the views of any single scientist, but reflect a much broader process.
The Working Group I Report
-Started 2004
-Completed February 2007
-152 Authors
-~450 contributors
-~600 expert reviewers
-30,000+ review comments
-Contents
-Summary for Policymakers
-Technical Summary
-11 Chapters
-Frequently Asked Questions
-~5000 literature references
-~1000 pages
http://ipcc-wg1.ucar.edu
opportunities of green businesses clean energy, green energy, and green buildings, to combat climate change.
1.Energy Meter
If you put an energy meter inside a home and show people total usage in real time, a miraculous thing happens, they use about 10% less energy.
By Andrew S. Winston
2.Strategic Approach to Climate
Companies that persist in treating climate change solely as a corporate social responsibility issue, rather than a business problem, will risk the greatest consequences.
By Michael E. Porter and Forest L. Reinhardt
3.Investing in Global Security
Companies can help vulnerable regions plan for climate change combat, reducing their own risks of making proactive investment and supporting policy initiatives that might have resisted in the past, such as tougher local air and water quality standards.
By Peter Schwartz
4.Natural Capitalism
Business strategies built around the radically more productive use of natural resources can solve many environmental problems at a profit
By Paul Hawken, Amony B. Lovins and L. Hunter Lovins
5.Companies will increasingly feel the effects of climate change
Companies that manage and mitigate their exposure to climate change risks while seeking new opportunities for profits will generate a competitive advantage over rivals in a carbon-constrained future.
By Jonathan Lash and Fred Wellington
6.Systemic Model
Shai Agassai’s start-up electric-vehicle services company in Israel, aims to make electric transport as easy, reliable and affordable as patrol-powered cars
7. Secrets to Successful Strategy Execution
Researches shows that enterprise fails at execution because they go straight to structural reorganisation and neglect the most powerful drivers of effectiveness-decision rights and information flow.
By Garry L. Neilson, Karia L. Marin, and Elizabeth Powers.
8.To be continued
Reflection week 11 (Dominic)
1. What you know about your project product.
I knew that it would be a comic done by BannedStory (an application) to inform the other students about how important it is to prevent global warming and the effects of global warming.
2. What you think the direction your group should be taking.
I think we are doing well heading toward our goal. Since all team members are showing high enthusiasm doing the project research, we would come up with a good comic in no time with everyone putting in their best efforts
3. What you have learnt about the product.
I learnt that BannedStory are great at making comic, it could be able to generate characters and even background pictures too. We have not started on the script yet but I know that the group would work together and produce a detailed and easy to understand comic.
4. What you would be doing to improve on the product.
Firstly, I would do more research and finds out more details about effect global warming that are not commonly available, so the reader would not find the story of the comic boring.
Secondly, I would ask teachers for guidance after finishing the script to make sure there is no error and the story is knowledgeable as to ensure that the reader would enjoy the story and learn about global warming at the same time and have a long and lasting positive impact on their lifestyle.
I knew that it would be a comic done by BannedStory (an application) to inform the other students about how important it is to prevent global warming and the effects of global warming.
2. What you think the direction your group should be taking.
I think we are doing well heading toward our goal. Since all team members are showing high enthusiasm doing the project research, we would come up with a good comic in no time with everyone putting in their best efforts
3. What you have learnt about the product.
I learnt that BannedStory are great at making comic, it could be able to generate characters and even background pictures too. We have not started on the script yet but I know that the group would work together and produce a detailed and easy to understand comic.
4. What you would be doing to improve on the product.
Firstly, I would do more research and finds out more details about effect global warming that are not commonly available, so the reader would not find the story of the comic boring.
Secondly, I would ask teachers for guidance after finishing the script to make sure there is no error and the story is knowledgeable as to ensure that the reader would enjoy the story and learn about global warming at the same time and have a long and lasting positive impact on their lifestyle.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Lesson 11 Reflection (Tai Jun Rong 34)
1. What do you know about your project product?
- It helps to educate the young on global warming
2. What direction your group should be taking?
- We should be well finished with the project in the coming weeks. (Goal: A week after SA1)
Whht have you learnt about the product?
- The product requires much data and time to have it completed.
What will you be doing to improve the product?
- Summarise the words of the product an omit unneccesary data so that the reader will not be bored.
-Make the research paper and the comic life more interesting (eg. print out in colour, add more pictures) to attract people's attention.L
- It helps to educate the young on global warming
2. What direction your group should be taking?
- We should be well finished with the project in the coming weeks. (Goal: A week after SA1)
Whht have you learnt about the product?
- The product requires much data and time to have it completed.
What will you be doing to improve the product?
- Summarise the words of the product an omit unneccesary data so that the reader will not be bored.
-Make the research paper and the comic life more interesting (eg. print out in colour, add more pictures) to attract people's attention.L
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Lesson 11 reflection (Jun xiang ™)
1. What do you know about your project product?
- I know that our product will be expressed in the form of comic life and >Detailed research notes.
2. What direction your group should be taking?
- I feel that the group should be more attentive and actively participating during group discussions, etc.. They should be working together as a team. Also, they should carry out their assisgned roles (e.g. Printing out 50 copies of the survey Qns) rather than not keeping to his promises. They should be in V Formation!
Wht have you learnt about the product?
- I have learnt that the product can capture teenager's attention so as to encourage them to help prevent global warming.
What will you be doing to improve the product?
- I would be checking for any unnessasary words and information to be included
- I would be adding some additional pictures to improve the quality of the product
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Product for Global Warming
Hi
We are going to make use of "bannedstory" to create our comic stripe. This application is able to create characters and backgrounds based on the game "maplestory".
This is an example :
(Taken from google images)
From what we have researched, we are going to include the fact about global warming and what teenageers can do to prevent global warming. (e.g. launching campaigns, taking public transports & car pool)
research [Gregory]
RESEARCH ON GLOBAL WARMING AND GREENHOUSE GASES
The world's most common greenhouse gases are:
water vapor
carbon dioxide
Atmospheric methane
nitrous oxide
ozone
chloroflorocarbons
water vapor, which contributes 36–72%
carbon dioxide, which contributes 9–26%
methane, which contributes 4–9%
ozone, which contributes 3–7%
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.
Global warming
Global warming is the increase in the average temperature of Earth's near-surface air and oceans since the mid-20th century and its projected continuation. Global surface temperature increased 0.74 ± 0.18 °C (1.33 ± 0.32 °F) between the start and the end of the 20th century. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concludes that most of the observed temperature increase since the middle of the 20th century was very likely caused by increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases resulting from human activity such as fossil fuel burning and deforestation. The IPCC also concludes that variations in natural phenomena such as solar radiation and volcanic eruptions had a small cooling effect after 1950. These basic conclusions have been endorsed by more than 40 scientific societies and academies of science, including all of the national academies of science of theProxy-Connection: keep-alive
Cache-Control: max-age=0
ajor industrialized countries.
Adaptation to Global warming
wide variety of measures have been suggested for adaptation to global warming, including: water conservation, water rationing, adaptive agricultural practices, including diversification, construction of flood defenses, changes to medical care, and interventions to protect threatened species. The capacity and potential for human systems to adapt is unevenly distributed across different regions and populations. The economic costs of adaptation are potentially large, but also largely unknown. Across the literature, there is wide agreement that adaptation will be more difficult for larger magnitudes and higher rates of climate change.
the scientific prediction come true
Scientists in the 1970s started to shift from the uncertain leanings in the 1960s to increasingly a prediction of future warming. A survey of the scientific literature from 1965 to 1979 found 7 articles predicting cooling and 44 predicting warming, with the warming articles also being cited much more often in subsequent scientific literature.
Several scientific panels from this time period concluded that more research was needed to determine whether warming or cooling was likely, indicating that the trend in the scientific literature had not yet become a consensus. On the other hand, the 1979 World Climate Conference of the World Meteorological Organization concluded "it appears plausible that an increased amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere can contribute to a gradual warming of the lower atmosphere, especially at higher latitudes....It is possible that some effects on a regional and global scale may be detectable before the end of this century and become significant before the middle of the next century."
The mainstream news media at the time did not reflect scientific opinion. In 1975, Newsweek magazine published a story that warned of "ominous signs that the Earth's weather patterns have begun to change," and reported "a drop of half a degree [Fahrenheit] in average ground temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere between 1945 and 1968." The article continued by stating that evidence of global cooling was so strong that meteorologists were having "a hard time keeping up with it." On October 23, 2006, Newsweek issued an update stating that it had been "spectacularly wrong about the near-term future".
Since about 1750 human activity has increased the concentration of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Measured atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide are currently 100 ppmv higher than pre-industrial levels. Natural sources of carbon dioxide are more than 20 times greater than sources due to human activity, but over periods longer than a few years natural sources are closely balanced by natural sinks such as weathering of continental rocks and photosynthesis of carbon compounds by plants and marine plankton. As a result of this balance, the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide remained between 260 and 280 parts per million for the 10,000 years between the end of the last glacial maximum and the start of the industrial era.
In Asia, atmospheric levels of CO2 continue to rise, partly a sign of the industrial rise of Asian economies led by China. Over the 2000–2010 interval China is expected to increase its carbon dioxide emissions by 600 Mt, largely because of the rapid construction of old-fashioned power plants in poorer internal provinces.
potential global warming
The global warming potential (GWP) depends on both the efficiency of the molecule as a greenhouse gas and its atmospheric lifetime. GWP is measured relative to the same mass of CO2 and evaluated for a specific timescale. Thus, if a gas has a high GWP on a short time scale (say 20 years) but has only a short lifetime, it will have a large GWP on a 20 year scale but a small one on a 100 year scale. Conversely, if a molecule has a longer atmospheric lifetime than CO2 its GWP will increase with the timescale considered.
Examples of the atmospheric lifetime and GWP for several greenhouse gases include:
Carbon dioxide has a variable atmospheric lifetime, and cannot be specified precisely. Recent work indicates that recovery from a large input of atmospheric CO2 from burning fossil fuels will result in an effective lifetime of tens of thousands of years.Carbon dioxide is defined to have a GWP of 1 over all time periods.
Methane has an atmospheric lifetime of 12 ± 3 years and a GWP of 72 over 20 years, 25 over 100 years and 7.6 over 500 years. The decrease in GWP at longer times is because methane is degraded to water and CO2 through chemical reactions in the atmosphere.
Nitrous oxide has an atmospheric lifetime of 114 years and a GWP of 289 over 20 years, 298 over 100 years and 153 over 500 years.
CFC-12 has an atmospheric lifetime of 100 years and a GWP of 11000 over 20 years, 10900 over 100 years and 5200 over 500 years.
HCFC-22 has an atmospheric lifetime of 12 years and a GWP of 5160 over 20 years, 1810 over 100 years and 549 over 500 years.
Tetrafluoromethane has an atmospheric lifetime of 50,000 years and a GWP of 5210 over 20 years, 7390 over 100 years and 11200 over 500 years.
Hexafluoroethane has an atmospheric lifetime of 10,000 years and a GWP of 8630 over 20 years, 12200 over 100 years and 18200 over 500 years.
Sulphur hexafluoride has an atmospheric lifetime of 3,200 years and a GWP of 16300 over 20 years, 22800 over 100 years and 32600 over 500 years.
Nitrogen trifluoride has an atmospheric lifetime of 740 years and a GWP of 12300 over 20 years, 17200 over 100 years and 20700 over 500 years.
carbon dioxide, which contributes 9–26%
methane, which contributes 4–9%
ozone, which contributes 3–7%
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.
Global warming
Global warming is the increase in the average temperature of Earth's near-surface air and oceans since the mid-20th century and its projected continuation. Global surface temperature increased 0.74 ± 0.18 °C (1.33 ± 0.32 °F) between the start and the end of the 20th century. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concludes that most of the observed temperature increase since the middle of the 20th century was very likely caused by increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases resulting from human activity such as fossil fuel burning and deforestation. The IPCC also concludes that variations in natural phenomena such as solar radiation and volcanic eruptions had a small cooling effect after 1950. These basic conclusions have been endorsed by more than 40 scientific societies and academies of science, including all of the national academies of science of theProxy-Connection: keep-alive
Cache-Control: max-age=0
ajor industrialized countries.
Adaptation to Global warming
wide variety of measures have been suggested for adaptation to global warming, including: water conservation, water rationing, adaptive agricultural practices, including diversification, construction of flood defenses, changes to medical care, and interventions to protect threatened species. The capacity and potential for human systems to adapt is unevenly distributed across different regions and populations. The economic costs of adaptation are potentially large, but also largely unknown. Across the literature, there is wide agreement that adaptation will be more difficult for larger magnitudes and higher rates of climate change.
the scientific prediction come true
Scientists in the 1970s started to shift from the uncertain leanings in the 1960s to increasingly a prediction of future warming. A survey of the scientific literature from 1965 to 1979 found 7 articles predicting cooling and 44 predicting warming, with the warming articles also being cited much more often in subsequent scientific literature.
Several scientific panels from this time period concluded that more research was needed to determine whether warming or cooling was likely, indicating that the trend in the scientific literature had not yet become a consensus. On the other hand, the 1979 World Climate Conference of the World Meteorological Organization concluded "it appears plausible that an increased amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere can contribute to a gradual warming of the lower atmosphere, especially at higher latitudes....It is possible that some effects on a regional and global scale may be detectable before the end of this century and become significant before the middle of the next century."
The mainstream news media at the time did not reflect scientific opinion. In 1975, Newsweek magazine published a story that warned of "ominous signs that the Earth's weather patterns have begun to change," and reported "a drop of half a degree [Fahrenheit] in average ground temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere between 1945 and 1968." The article continued by stating that evidence of global cooling was so strong that meteorologists were having "a hard time keeping up with it." On October 23, 2006, Newsweek issued an update stating that it had been "spectacularly wrong about the near-term future".
Since about 1750 human activity has increased the concentration of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Measured atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide are currently 100 ppmv higher than pre-industrial levels. Natural sources of carbon dioxide are more than 20 times greater than sources due to human activity, but over periods longer than a few years natural sources are closely balanced by natural sinks such as weathering of continental rocks and photosynthesis of carbon compounds by plants and marine plankton. As a result of this balance, the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide remained between 260 and 280 parts per million for the 10,000 years between the end of the last glacial maximum and the start of the industrial era.
In Asia, atmospheric levels of CO2 continue to rise, partly a sign of the industrial rise of Asian economies led by China. Over the 2000–2010 interval China is expected to increase its carbon dioxide emissions by 600 Mt, largely because of the rapid construction of old-fashioned power plants in poorer internal provinces.
potential global warming
The global warming potential (GWP) depends on both the efficiency of the molecule as a greenhouse gas and its atmospheric lifetime. GWP is measured relative to the same mass of CO2 and evaluated for a specific timescale. Thus, if a gas has a high GWP on a short time scale (say 20 years) but has only a short lifetime, it will have a large GWP on a 20 year scale but a small one on a 100 year scale. Conversely, if a molecule has a longer atmospheric lifetime than CO2 its GWP will increase with the timescale considered.
Examples of the atmospheric lifetime and GWP for several greenhouse gases include:
Carbon dioxide has a variable atmospheric lifetime, and cannot be specified precisely. Recent work indicates that recovery from a large input of atmospheric CO2 from burning fossil fuels will result in an effective lifetime of tens of thousands of years.Carbon dioxide is defined to have a GWP of 1 over all time periods.
Methane has an atmospheric lifetime of 12 ± 3 years and a GWP of 72 over 20 years, 25 over 100 years and 7.6 over 500 years. The decrease in GWP at longer times is because methane is degraded to water and CO2 through chemical reactions in the atmosphere.
Nitrous oxide has an atmospheric lifetime of 114 years and a GWP of 289 over 20 years, 298 over 100 years and 153 over 500 years.
CFC-12 has an atmospheric lifetime of 100 years and a GWP of 11000 over 20 years, 10900 over 100 years and 5200 over 500 years.
HCFC-22 has an atmospheric lifetime of 12 years and a GWP of 5160 over 20 years, 1810 over 100 years and 549 over 500 years.
Tetrafluoromethane has an atmospheric lifetime of 50,000 years and a GWP of 5210 over 20 years, 7390 over 100 years and 11200 over 500 years.
Hexafluoroethane has an atmospheric lifetime of 10,000 years and a GWP of 8630 over 20 years, 12200 over 100 years and 18200 over 500 years.
Sulphur hexafluoride has an atmospheric lifetime of 3,200 years and a GWP of 16300 over 20 years, 22800 over 100 years and 32600 over 500 years.
Nitrogen trifluoride has an atmospheric lifetime of 740 years and a GWP of 12300 over 20 years, 17200 over 100 years and 20700 over 500 years.
week 10 reflection [gregory]
three things i have learnt-- i learnt that we have to work together to get the best results.next, i too learnt that we have made quite alot of progress during this lesson. lastly, we learnt that we had to do research to be able to make the comic [product].
two things i found interesting--
i found out that global wrming is happening even as we speak and will not stop until we stop being so waste full and stop creating greenhouse gases.
i found that the research will have to be done by next week and it would be intereseting to read and digest from these researches.
it was difficult to do the reasearch cause my internet was down and there was not enough time to finish.
two things i found interesting--
i found out that global wrming is happening even as we speak and will not stop until we stop being so waste full and stop creating greenhouse gases.
i found that the research will have to be done by next week and it would be intereseting to read and digest from these researches.
it was difficult to do the reasearch cause my internet was down and there was not enough time to finish.
Research on Global Warming (Brendan)
Global Warming
Global Warming is defined as the increase of the average temperature on Earth. As the Earth is getting hotter, disasters like hurricanes, droughts and floods are getting more frequent.
Over the last 100 years, the average temperature of the air near the Earth´s surface has risen a little less than 1° Celsius (0.74 ± 0.18°C, or 1.3 ± 0.32° Fahrenheit). Does not seem all that much? It is responsible for the conspicuous increase in storms, floods and raging forest fires we have seen in the last ten years.
Scientist’s data shows that an increase of one degree Celsius makes the Earth warmer now than it has been for at least a thousand years. Out of the 20 warmest years on record, 19 have occurred since 1980. The three hottest years ever observed have all occurred in the last ten years.
But it is not only about how much the Earth is warming, it is also about how fast it is warming. There have always been natural climate changes – Ice Ages and the warm intermediate times between them – but those evolved over periods of 50,000 to 100,000 years.
Greenhouse Effect
Seen from space, our atmosphere is but a tiny layer of gas around a huge bulky planet. But it is this gaseous outer ring and its misleadingly called greenhouse effect that makes life on Earth possible – and that could destroy life as we know it.
The sun is the Earth’s primary energy source, a burning star so hot that we can feel its heat from over 150 million kilometers away. Its rays enter our atmosphere and shower upon on our planet. About one third of this solar energy is reflected back into the universe by shimmering glaciers, water and other bright surfaces. Two thirds, however, are absorbed by the Earth, thus warming land, oceans, and atmosphere.
Much of this heat radiates back out into space, but some of it is stored in the atmosphere. This process is called the greenhouse effect. Without it, the Earth’s average temperature would be a chilling -18 degrees Celsius, even despite the sun’s constant energy supply.
In a world like this, life on Earth would probably have never emerged from the sea. Thanks to the greenhouse effect, however, heat emitted from the Earth is trapped in the atmosphere, providing us with a comfortable average temperature of 14 degrees. However, if there is too much heat is trapped, the earth’s average temperature would increase, causing global warming.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Research on Climate Change (Dominic)
Introduction
I am a student of Maris Stellla high school doing a research on Climate Changes. We were supposed to choose a topic and find out more about it. After researching, we were supposed to choose a product that we want to make and present about our finding.
My group name is V Formation and my group members are (Dominic SS),(Jun Rong), (Jun Xiang), (Brendan Tan) and (Gregory Tay). We have chosen Global warming for the main topic, and how greenhouse gases contribute to it for the sub topic. As for our product, we have decided to do a comic strip to educate the public more about global warming and research paper to educate the public about what we have found out during the project.
Findings
What is green house effect?
Energy from the sun drives the earth's weather and climate, and heats the earth's surface; in turn, the earth radiates energy back into space. Atmospheric greenhouse gases (water vapor, carbon dioxide, and other gases) trap some of the outgoing energy, retaining heat somewhat like the glass panels of a greenhouse.
What caused Global warming?
Natural changes in climate take place over many years; this allows animals and plants to adapt to new environments. Scientists have discovered that the earth’s temperature is increasing too rapidly and that’s due to the amount of Carbon Dioxide that is released in to the atmosphere.
The primary factors underlying environmental degradation include: economic growth, broad technological changes, demographic shifts and governance structures. These can give rise to:
Increased demand for natural resources and energy
Market imperfections, e.g., subsidies that lead to the inefficient use of resources and act as a barrier to the market penetration of climate sound technologies; the lack of recognition of the true value of natural resources; failure to appropriate the global values of natural resources to the local level; and the failure to internalize the social costs of environmental degradation into the market price of a resource
Limited availability and transfer of technology, inefficient use of technologies, and inadequate investment in research and development for the technologies of the future
–Failure to manage adequately the use of natural resources and energy
The sun’s rays penetrate our atmosphere and keep the planet warm. Unfortunately because the Earth’s big gassy blanket is so thick, no heat can escape. The Earth retains the suns heat causing the planet to warm up more quickly than it should.
What is Global Warming?
The Earths surface temperature has been slowly increasing for the last 15,000 years, since the last Ice age.
Global warming simply refers to an increase in temperature of the Earths surface.
What are some solutions for reducing the impact of transportation on climate change?
Effect of global warming
Scientists believe that the increased levels of carbon dioxide could cause increased temperatures, changed weather patterns, and rising sea levels.
Other Greenhouse gases include: methane, nitrous oxides, water vapor, and chlorofluorocarbons.
The amount of carbon in the atmosphere has increased by 31% since the start of the industrial revolution in 1750. Levels of Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere are at record highs (higher than any level over the past 420,000 years). Furthermore, the 1990s was the warmest decade since the start of reliable temperature data, possibly the warmest decade in the last 1,000 years.
Most scientists have looked at the increase in greenhouse gas levels, coupled with rising average surface temperatures and decreasing snow and ice coverage, as evidence of the effects of “anthropogenic greenhouse gases” (Source: Third IPCC Report).
The impacts of global warming could have severe consequences for human activities. Many of the consequences have environmental, economic, and health impacts. The changed temperatures and weather patterns can disrupt farming practices across nations, making areas that were once fertile no longer suitable for crop production. Changing temperatures might allow for the spread of tropical diseases, such as malaria, into areas that were at one time too cold to provide a suitable environment in which the disease could thrive. The increased temperatures could lead to heat waves that could threaten at-risk populations (especially the elderly, children, and the sick. As an example, consider the heat waves that hit France in the summer of 2003 and the heat waves in India). Rising sea levels could flood coastal cities. Changed weather patterns and increased temperatures might make natural catastrophes, such as hurricanes, more frequent and more severe. These last two impacts have the potential to cause a great deal of economic damage to the world’s economies. From an environmental standpoint, the changed climate patterns could disrupt the natural habitats of various species that may lead to certain extinctions.
The effect of a change in the weather on plant growth may lead to some countries not having enough food. Brazil, parts of Africa, Southeast Asia and China will be affected the most and many people could suffer from hunger.
Higher sea levels will threaten the low-lying coastal areas of the world, such as the Netherlands and Bangladesh. Throughout the world, millions of people and areas of land will be at danger from flooding. Many people will have to leave their homes and large areas of farmland will be ruined because of floods. In Britain, East Anglia and the Thames estuary will be at risk from the rising sea.
Global average temperatures are expected to increase by about 2-13°F (1-7°C) by the end of the century. That may not sound like a lot, so what’s the big deal? The problem is that small changes in global average temperature can lead to really large changes in the environment. Let’s look at some of the expected changes.
The main tools for both past and present climate analyses are computer climate models. Much like the models used to forecast weather, climate models simulate the climate system with a 3-dimensional grid that extends through the land, ocean, and atmosphere. The grid may have 10 to 60 different levels in the atmosphere and surface grid spacing of about 60 by 90 miles (100 by 150 km)—the size of Connecticut. The models perform trillions of calculations that describe changes in many climate factors in the grid
Sea-level rise projections: a few inches to a few feet
•2 ft: U.S. would lose 10,000 square miles
•3 ft: Would inundate Miami
•Affects erosion, loss of wetlands, freshwater supplies
•Half of the world’s population lives along coasts
Big question: Ice sheets
How to prevent global warming?
There are lots of things each one of us can do to help combat Global Warming. You can start by always switching lights off when you leave a room.
•Currently, the production of hydrogen fuel uses fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are used to separate hydrogen from the other atoms that it is bonded with—a process called electrolysis. When scientists discover a way to power electrolysis with alternative forms of energy -- such as hydro, wind, solar, or biomass sources -- hydrogen has the potential to be renewable and free of emissions at both the consumption and production ends.
•Hydrogen is the ideal fuel for fuel cells. These cells convert chemicals directly into electricity with a high level of efficiency. Fuel cells are already being used for military purposes and space flights; further research is needed before they are economically competitive with the existing technology.
•Hydrogen fuel cells produce water vapor as their byproduct—they are a very clean source of fuel. Disadvantages: Hydrogen fuel cells are currently handicapped by a high cost, the need for large storage containers to hold the hydrogen on the vehicle, the difficulty of obtaining pure hydrogen, and the challenge of undergoing electrolysis (splitting the hydrogen atoms) by efficiently using alternative fuel sources.
Ethanol is produced from fermented corn. Most cars with little engine modification to reduce ghg emissions can use ethanol blends—gasoline plus 5-20% ethanol—. However, the procedure to produce ethanol is very energy intensive and requires the use of fossil fuels. Several transit agencies have experimented with ethanol buses. Their results prove that the buses consume more fuel and end up costing too much. The buses consume more fuel because the energy content of ethanol is lower than regular fuels. The high cost makes it unlikely that ethanol will ever become a widely used alternative for conventional fuel.
Reducing our greenhouse gas emissions and our use of fossil fuels will not be easy, but it is doable. Here’s how some researchers at Princeton view it.
Our current path is toward doubling CO2 emissions in the next 50 years, with even greater increases beyond that. In order to get off this path, we need to find ways to keep emissions constant for the next 50 years and then reduce them during the second half of the century. This would [9] limit atmospheric CO2 to about 570 ppm—still greater than the roughly 380 ppm in the atmosphere today, but enough to avoid the worst predicted consequences.
A majority (60%) of carbon dioxide emissions in the transportation sector come from personal vehicle use. Encouraging the use and development of public transportation reduces the number of cars on the road and reduces total greenhouse gas emissions.
Many communities do not carefully plan for growth. Carefully planned growth should take into account transportation options so that public transit and alternative forms of transportation can access the neighborhoods easily. Also, neighborhoods should heed the need to use transportation. Businesses, stores, and homes can all be located in the same area, often connected by bike paths and walkways. These planned neighborhoods use land efficiently; because of this, it is possible to drive direct routes (this reduces the amount of fuel wasted and thus reduces the amount of overall GHGs released).
If you are going to drive, don’t drive alone. By sharing a ride, you get to have company and help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by limiting the number of cars on the road.
By making sure your car is in tip-top shape, you can reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Cars that are well kept increase fuel efficiency.
New technologies provide another way to reduce emissions. Currently, research is focused on replacing petroleum-based fuels and increasing fuel efficiencies.
Once individuals are aware of how their transportation choices contribute to global climate change, hopefully they will change their habits to reduce emissions.
Most of the rubbish we throw away can be recycled, such as glass bottles and jars, steel and aluminium cans, plastic bottles and waste paper.
Recycling used materials uses less energy than making new ones.
Ask your parents if you have Energy Saving Bulbs in your house, they last much longer than ordinary household bulbs and use much less energy so they are better for the environment.
•Switch lights off when you leave the room.
•Don’t leave anything on standby.
•Walk rather than use the car when possible.
•Cycle more, use you body’s own energy.
•Recycle as much as possible.
To switch equipment off properly it needs to be turned off at the plug.
When you switch off the television with the remote control your TV
Automatically goes into standby or ‘sleep mode’. In ‘sleep mode’ the
TV is still using electricity even though you aren’t watching it.
Of course, you don’t have to take transit or drive to travel from one place to another. Sometimes, the old fashioned methods work out the best in the end anyway. Walking, biking, rollerblading, skateboarding, and other similar activities have almost no impact on the environment. They also have substantial health benefits. Just make sure that you do it safely! For people who live in areas that lack public transportation, walking or biking is a great alternative for individuals who do not want to rely on a personal car. These old fashioned gentlemen were eco-friendly before it was hip to be “green.”
Unplug appliances or plug into a power strip and switch it off
Buy water-saving appliances and toilets; installing low-flow shower heads.
Alcohols can be blended with petroleum fuels as “replacement” fuels this is sometimes called gasohol. No infrastructure change is thus necessary for alcohol. It is compatible with the ubiquitous existing fuel distribution and retailing systems and thus does not have to overcome the transitional barriers faced by alternative fuels.
Public transportation releases fewer greenhouse gas emissions into the air per person than driving does.
§Taking a train or bus is much cheaper than owning a car, and you don’t have to find a parking space once you get to your destination!
Compressed natural gas has been successfully used by transit agencies in New York and Los Angeles. It is gaining popularity across the country because it reduces the emissions of particulate matter and nitrous oxides—two air pollutants that cause much of the urban air pollution. However, CNG may not be effective at reducing GHGs. First of all, CNG’s buses tend to be less efficient than diesel, requiring them to consume more fuel. They are also heavier (CNG requires a heavier fuel tank to keep natural gas pressurized), which again means that they consume more fuel. And most importantly, there is an increase in methane emissions. Methane, a GHG, is much more effective at trapping heat than carbon dioxide. Therefore, a decrease in CO2 emissions can be offset by a very small increase in methane emissions. Transit agencies view CNG as a transitional fuel choice; the most promising replacements for CNG buses are hybrid-electric buses.
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