Global Warming
What is it?
What is Global Warming and What
is the Greenhouse Effect?
• Global Warming: Global warming refers to an average increase in
the Earth's temperature, which in turn causes changes in the global
climate.
• The Greenhouse Effect: The warming of the atmosphere by the
trapping of long wave radiation being radiated to space. The gases
most responsible for this effect are water vapor and carbon dioxide.
• But how does the Greenhouse Effect work?
A Greenhouse Effect we can all relate to!
The Greenhouse Effect
• The Greenhouse Effect is unquestionably real and helps to
regulate the temperature of our planet. It is essential for life on Earth
and is one of Earth’s natural processes.
• Without a natural greenhouse effect, the temperature of the Earth
would be about (-18°C) instead of its present (14°C).
• The concern is not with the fact that we have a greenhouse effect,
but whether human activities are leading to an enhancement of the
greenhouse effect
• The Concern is real and the reality is that we are in deed
enhancing the greenhouse effect!!!
What are the Greenhouse Gases?
• Many chemical compounds found in the Earth’s atmosphere act as
“greenhouse gases.” These gases allow sunlight to enter the
atmosphere freely. When sunlight strikes the Earth’s surface, some
of it is reflected back towards space as infrared radiation (heat).
Greenhouse gases absorb this infrared radiation and trap the heat in
the atmosphere.
• There are many gases which exist that either directly or indirectly act
as greenhouse gases. Furthermore, some gases have more
dramatic effects then others.
Direct Greenhouse Gases
Carbon Dioxide (CO2)
- Carbon dioxide is without doubt the most well known greenhouse
gas. It is also the greenhouse gas man contributes to most, primarily
through burning fossil fuels. Since the industrial revolution
concentrations of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere have increased
at an even faster rate.
• So how quickly are CO2 levels rising?
Main Sources of CO2
1) Stationary energy consumption (eg. power stations)
- coal fuelled power generation is the worst culprit for carbon dioxide emissions
-Oil and gas fuelled energy generation tends to have a lower carbon dioxide
emission but due to its high use, still accounts for about half of all human
caused C02 emissions.
- Even those energy generation strategies without apparent use of fossil fuels
generally have some associated carbon dioxide emissions. Nuclear power, for
instance, relies on large amounts of electricity for fuel processing and so
indirectly results in carbon dioxide emissions.
Main Sources of CO2
•
2) Transportation
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Globally, transport related emissions of carbon dioxide are growing rapidly.
The use of petroleum as a fossil fuel for transportation dominates carbon
dioxide emissions from this source.
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Despite the rising costs of fuel, fuel consumption levels continue to rise.
The large consumption of gas through vehicles is impacted by many factors
including the following; number of vehicles on the road, types of vehicles on
the road (SUV’s, smart cars, transport trucks, etc), traffic conditions, urban
sprawl (distance vehicles have to travel), and maintenance of vehicles
(emissions tests, oil changes).
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Energy use (stationary and transportation) are the main contributors to
human made CO2.
Direct Greenhouse Gases
Methane (CH4)
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Sources: Natural - Wetlands,
Termites, the Oceans
Human Made - Ruminants
(livestock), Waste Treatment, Rice
Agriculture, Biomass Burning
Direct Greenhouse Gases
Nitrous Oxide (N2O)
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Sources: Natural – The Oceans,
the Atmosphere, Soils
Human Made – Agricultural soils,
Biomass burning, Livestock,
Transportation
Other Direct Greenhouse Gases
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Tropospheric Ozone
Water Vapor (in the stratosphere)
CFC’s Chlorofluorocarbons
HFC’s Hydrofluorocarbons
Perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and sulphur
hexafluoride (SF6) with atmospheric
lifetimes of more than 1000 years.
Indirect Greenhouse Gases
•
Nitrogen oxides (NOx) act as indirect greenhouse gases by producing the
tropospheric greenhouse gas 'ozone' during their breakdown in the
atmosphere.
•
Carbon monoxide (CO) - can lead to the formation of the tropospheric
greenhouse gas 'ozone'.
•
Hydrogen (H2) - hydrogen increases the lifetime of some direct
greenhouse gases, such as methane.
•
Volatile organic compounds or VOCs - encompasses many compounds
including hydrocarbons, alcohols, and organic acids. Man-made emissions
tend to be concentrated in highly populated areas such as cities
What Might Happen?
Cause and Effects
1) Global temperatures will rise!!!
• Is the climate warming? YES!
• Global surface temperatures have increased about 0.6°C since the
late-19th century, and about 0.2 to 0.3°C over the past 25 years
• How about each year, how hot is it really getting? Lets take a look
at the average temperatures since the 1880’s and see the
projections of where we are going.
• Then we can look at the top 20 hottest ever recorded yearly
temperatures!
The 20 Hottest Years on Record
2) The Ice is Melting!
• The Ocean waters are already rising due to increases in the earths
temperature (warm water expands!)
• Icebergs don't raise sea levels when they melt because they're
floating, which means they have displaced all the water they're ever
going to.
• Ice on land, like Greenland's, is a different matter. Pour that into
oceans and you deluge shorelines.
• Just an FYI, the melting permafrost will release vast amounts of
trapped carbon (CO2/CH4) into the air.
• Another FYI, glaciers, which have a very high albedo, are
diminishing, so more heat is being absorbed by the earth which will
result in higher temperatures.
Ice is thinning
Antarctica, home to these Adélie penguins, is heating up. The annual
melt season has increased up to three weeks in 20 years.
At sea, in the Canadian high Arctic, a polar bear negotiates what was
once solid ice. Bears are drowning as warmer waters widen the
distance from floe to floe
Upsala Glacier, Argentina, which was once one of the grandest glaciers
to ever exist, continues to shrink on a yearly basis
3) Oceans Currents
• Warmer oceans can be mean colder continents within a hotter
globe.
• Larger amounts of fresh water are being added to our oceans.
• If oceans becomes diluted by freshwater, the salt concentration
drops, and the water gets lighter, idling on top and stalling some
currents.
• Ocean currents running between warm and cold regions serve as
natural thermoregulators, distributing heat from the equator toward
the poles.
4) Drought
• An increase in the occurrence of drought – Areas that lack
precipitation over a long period of time.
• As fast as global warming is transforming the oceans and the ice
caps, it's having an even more immediate effect on land.
• People, animals and plants living in dry, mountainous regions like
the western U.S. make it through summer thanks to snowpack that
collects on peaks all winter and slowly melts off in warm months.
Lately the early arrival of spring and the unusually blistering
summers have caused the snowpack to melt too early, so that by
the time it's needed, it's largely gone.
• Global warming is tipping other regions of the world into drought in
different ways. Higher temperatures bake moisture out of soil faster,
causing dry regions that live at the margins to cross the line into fullblown crisis.
5) Flora and Fauna
• Hot, dry land can be murder on flora and fauna, and both are taking
a bad hit. Wildfires in such regions as Indonesia, the western U.S.
and even inland Alaska have been increasing as timberlands and
forest floors grow more parched. The blazes create a feedback loop
of their own, pouring more carbon into the atmosphere and reducing
the number of trees, which inhale CO2 and release oxygen.
• With habitats crashing, animals that live there are succumbing too.
Environmental groups can tick off scores of species that have been
determined to be at risk as a result of global warming.
• In Alaska, salmon populations are at risk as melting permafrost
pours mud into rivers, burying the gravel the fish need for spawning.
Small animals such as bushy-tailed wood rats, alpine chipmunks
and piñon mice are being chased upslope by rising temperatures,
following the path of the fleeing trees.
Pacific salmon populations fell sharply in 1997 and 1998,
when local ocean temperatures rose 6 degrees F.
Costa Rica announced that two-thirds of 110 species of colorful
harlequin frogs have vanished in the past 30 years
The Quiver tree (S. Africa), is starting to die off as it struggles to survive
in arid conditions that are now worsening
6) Extreme Weather
• As the world warms, some extreme climate events, like the
frequency of heat waves and very heavy precipitation, are expected
to increase.
• Blizzards and snow storms may actually increase in intensity and
frequency in some colder locations
• As climate change gathers pace, devastation caused by extreme
weather is becoming more common.
• Many extreme weather events require energy, often in the form of
heat. As temperatures increase, extreme weather events will tend
to increase in severity.
• The number of hurricanes that occurred in 2004 was the thirdhighest number in the 1950-2004 window.
• The 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the most active Atlantic
hurricane season in recorded history
Bushfires are becoming more and more common due to intense heat
and long periods without precipitation. Bushfire numbers are especially
on the rises in countries like the US and Australia
Tornadoes are increasing in number and in severity, perhaps an effect
of global warming
Hurricanes are increasing in numbers and in severity, Hurricanes
require warm ocean temperatures in order to form.
What’s being Done?
• In 1992 nations from around the world met at the United Nations
Earth Summit in Rio and agreed to voluntarily reduce greenhouse
gas emissions to 1990 levels by the year 2000. The Rio Treaty was
not legally binding and, because reducing emissions would likely
cause great economic damage, many nations will not meet the goal.
• Nation representatives met again in December of 1997 at a
conference in Kyoto to sign a revised agreement.
• Since then, a number of negotiations on Kyoto have taken place in
Buenos Aires, Argentina, Bonn, Germany, the Hague, Netherlands,
and in Kyoto again.
The Kyoto Protocol
• What is it? The objective is the "stabilization of greenhouse gas
concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent
dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system
• The Kyoto Protocol is an agreement under which industrialized
countries will reduce their collective emissions of greenhouse gases
by 5.2% compared to the year 1990 (this target represents a 29%
cut).
• The Protocol also reaffirms the principle that developed countries
have to pay, and supply technology to, other countries for climaterelated studies and projects.
Countries Positions
Canada
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On December 17, 2002, Canada ratified the treaty.
Numerous polls have shown support for the Kyoto protocol around 70%
After January 2006, the Liberal Party government was replaced by a
Conservative Party minority government under Stephen Harper, who
previously has expressed opposition to Kyoto.
On April 25, 2006, it was announced that Canada would have no chance of
meeting its targets under Kyoto, and would instead look to participate in
U.S. sponsored Asia Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and
Climate.
• On May 2, 2006, it was reported that environmental funding
designed to meet the Kyoto standards has been cut, while the
Harper administration develops a new plan to take its place.
United States
• The United States of America (USA), although a signatory to the
protocol, has neither ratified nor withdrawn from the protocol.
• The current President, George W. Bush, has indicated that he does
not intend to submit the treaty for ratification, not because he does
not support the general idea, but because of the strain he believes
the treaty would put on the economy
• The position Bush has taken on climate change has shifted with a
gradual increasing acceptance that global warming is a problem,
and that it is partly caused by human activity. The United States has
signed the Asia Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and
Climate, a pact that allows those countries to set their goals for
reducing greenhouse gas emissions individually, but with no
enforcement mechanism.
Australia
• Australia has refused to sign the Agreement due to issues with the
protocol. The Australian Prime Minister, John Howard, has argued
that the protocol would cost Australians jobs, and that Australia is
already doing enough to cut emissions. The Federal Opposition, the
Australian Labor Party, is in full support of the protocol and it is
currently a heavily debated issue within the political establishment.
The opposition claims signing the protocol is a "risk free" prospect
as they claim Australia would already be meeting the obligations the
protocol would impose. As of 2005, Australia was the world's largest
emitter per capita of greenhouse gases.
• The Australian government, along with the United States, agreed to
sign the Asia Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and
Climate at the ASEAN regional forum on 28 July 2005.
India
• India signed and ratified the Protocol in August, 2002. Since India is
exempted from the framework of the treaty, it is expected to gain
from the protocol in terms of transfer of technology and related
foreign investments. At the G-8 meeting in June 2005, Indian Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh pointed out that the per-capita emission
rates of the developing countries are a tiny fraction of those in the
developed world.
• Following the principle of common but differentiated responsibility,
India maintains that the major responsibility of curbing emission
rests with the developed countries, which have accumulated
emissions over a long period of time.
The Kyoto Protocol
• The agreement came into force on February 16, 2005 following
ratification by Russia (55 percent )on November 18, 2004
• As of April 2006, a total of 163 countries have ratified the agreement
• Notable exceptions include the United States and Australia.
• Other countries, like India and China, which have ratified the
protocol, are not required to reduce carbon emissions under the
present agreement.
What Can We Do?
• Knowledge is Power! Just being informed on the issue of global
warming is one huge step forward. Sharing our knowledge with
others and showing them that we care is the best thing we can do.
• The next best thing is to be a leader and to live a life that reflects our
beliefs. We can only provide others with the information we know
but we can not force our beliefs on to them.
• As such, we must make the changes to our own lives that will better
benefit the environment and global warming as a whole. Believe it
or not, one person can make a difference!
So what will you do
?
Top 10 Things You can do to
stop Global Warming
• 10.Plant a couple of additional trees around your
home.CO2 reduction = 20 lbs/year
• 9.Use a push mower to cut your lawn instead of a power
mower.CO2 reduction = 80 lbs/year
• 8.Replace your home’s refrigerator with a high-efficiency
model.CO2 reduction = 220 lbs/year
• 7.Buy food or other products with reusable or recyclable
packaging instead of non-recyclable packaging.CO2
reduction=230 lbs/year
• 6.Replace your washing machine with a low-energy, lowwater-use machine.CO2 reduction = 440 lbs/year
Top 10 Things You can do to
stop Global Warming
• 5. Install a solar thermal system to help provide your hot
water.CO2 reduction = 720 lbs/year
• 4. Recycle all of your homes waste: newsprint,
cardboard, glass and metal.CO2 reduction = 850
lbs/year
• 3.Leave your car at home two days a week (walk, bike or
take public transportation to work instead).CO2
reduction = 1,590 lbs/year
• 2. Insulate your home, tune up your furnace, and install
energy efficient shower heads.CO2 reductions = 2,480
lbs/year
• 1.Purchase a fuel efficient car (rated up to 32 mpg or
more) to replace your most frequently used automobile.