Global Warming
Desember 1st, 2007 by indramm
The Earth as an ecosystem is changing, attributable in great part to the effects of globalization and man. More carbon dioxide is now in the atmosphere than has been in the past 650,000 years. This carbon stays in the atmosphere, acts like a warm blanket, and holds in the heat — hence the name ‘global warming.’
The reason we exist on this planet is because the earth naturally traps just enough heat in the atmosphere to keep the temperature within a very narrow range - this creates the conditions that give us breathable air, clean water, and the weather we depend on to survive. Human beings have begun to tip that balance. We’ve overloaded the atmosphere with heat-trapping gasses from our cars and factories and power plants. If we don’t start fixing the problem now, we’re in for devastating changes to our environment. We will experience extreme temperatures, rises in sea levels, and storms of unimaginable destructive fury. Recently, alarming events that are consistent with scientific predictions about the effects of climate change have become more and more commonplace.
The massive ice sheets in the Arctic are melting at alarming rates. This is causing the oceans to rise. That’s how big these ice sheets are! Most of the world’s population lives on or near the coasts. Rising ocean levels, an estimated six feet over the next 100 years or sooner, will cause massive devastation and economic catastrophe to population centers worldwide.
The United States, with only four percent of the world’s population, is responsible for 22% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. A rapid transition to energy efficiency and renewable energy sources will combat global warming, protect human health, create new jobs, protect habitat and wildlife, and ensure a secure, affordable energy future.
Malaria. Dengue Fever. Encephalitis. These names are not usually heard in emergency rooms and doctors’ offices in the United States. But if we don’t act to curb global warming, they will be. As temperatures rise, disease-carrying mosquitoes and rodents spread, infecting people in their wake. Doctors at the Harvard Medical School have linked recent U.S. outbreaks of dengue fever, malaria, hantavirus and other diseases directly to climate change.
Super powerful hurricanes, fueled by warmer ocean temperatures are the “smoking gun” of global warming. Since 1970, the number of category 4 and 5 events has jumped sharply. Human activities are adding an alarming amount of pollution to the earth’s atmosphere causing catastrophic shifts in weather patterns. These shifts are causing severe heat, floods and worse.
The world cannot afford to wait any longer before tackling global warming.Without immediate action climate change could cost the global economy up to 20 percent per annum,now and forefer.But taking action now to reduce green house gasses could cost as little as 1 percent of global gross domestic product.we must go on doing business as usual as well as adding a lot of greenhouse gasses every year,they build up in the atmosphere and cause global warming and climate change.It’s not simply the temperature that is the problem,it’s what happen to the climate that means storms,floods,drought and se level rise.developing countries would be the most vulnerable partly because they’re already living in low latitudes,so they feel it stronger since it already a warmer climate.But they are also more vulnerable because they are less wealthy less able to defend themselves in erms of straightening infrastructure roads and irrigation schemes that have to be stronger.
For around percent of world GDP,we would be able to reduce those risks very radically.What we’re arguing in the report is that the savings you make around the world in those reduced risks would be much larger than the cost of action.It’s very good investment to make.
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We have the technology and ingenuity to reduce the threat of global warming today. Solutions are already available that will stimulate the American economy by creating jobs, saving consumers money, and protecting our national security. By investing in renewable energy and energy efficiency, and increasing the efficiency of the cars we drive, we can take essential steps toward reducing our dependence on oil and other fossil fuels that cause global warming. Using energy more efficiently and moving to renewable energy (wind, solar, geothermal, and bioenergy) would significantly reduce our emissions of heat-trapping gases. The United States currently produces 70 percent of its electricity from fossil fuels such as coal, natural gas, and oil, but only two percent from renewable sources. Since the burning of fossil fuels releases large amounts of carbon dioxide—the leading cause of global warming—but renewable energy does not, increasing the share of our electricity generated from renewable resources is one of the most effective ways to reduce global warming emissions. Cars and trucks are another significant source (25 percent) of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions. A serious effort to address global warming must therefore reduce emissions from cars and trucks. Many technologies already exist that can do this, while also creating new jobs in the U.S. automotive sector and other industries throughout the country. In addition, American consumers would save billions of dollars on gasoline, and we would reduce our dependence on foreign oil. By putting energy efficiency, renewable energy, and vehicle technology solutions in place at the federal level, we can reduce our contribution to global warming while creating a stronger, healthier, and more secure nation. |
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The black line represents observed surface temperature changes for the globe and each continent (based on temperatures recorded by measuring stations around the world). The blue band represents how the climate would have evolved over the past century in response to natural factors only (according to 19 computer simulations derived from five different climate models); the brown band represents how the climate would have changed in response to both human and natural factors (according to 58 computer simulations derived from 14 different climate models). The overlap of the brown band and black line suggests that human activity very likely caused most of the observed increase since the mid-20th century. Temperature change is plotted relative to the corresponding average for the 1901 to 1950 time period. Source: Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis—Summary for Policymakers.
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Projected Globally Averaged Surface Warming and Sea-Level Rise at the End of the 21st Century
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Temperature Change |
Sea-Level Rise |
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*THE SOLUTION:
No global warming solution will succeed unless we can control emissions from cars. While there is no technology to remove C02 from a car’s exhaust, we can make them pollute less by making them more fuel efficient. By using today’s best technology, car makers could dramatically increase the fuel economy of their cars and trucks. In fact, off-the-shelf technology can change the nation’s best-selling SUV, the Ford Explorer, from a 19 mpg gas-guzzler to an efficient 34 mpg vehicle. Gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles, such as the 70 mpg Honda Insight and 55 mpg Toyota Prius, can be used to obtain significant improvements in fuel economy. If we are to make any progress in slowing global warming, we must make our cars go farther on a gallon of gas.
Clean up our electrical power plants. We also need to clean up our electrical power plants. Most electric utilities still use coal to produce electricity, spewing millions of tons of carbon dioxide and other pollution into the atmosphere every year. Part of the problem could be solved by converting these plants to burn cleaner natural gas.
We could do much more to save energy in our homes and office buildings. More energy efficient lighting, heating and air-conditioning could keep millions of tons of carbon dioxide out of our air each year.
Step up the use of clean wind and solar energy. Harnessing the clean, abundant energy of the sun and wind is critical to solving the global warming problem. Technological advances have brought the cost of electricity generated by the wind down by 82 percent since 1981. Solar energy technology has made remarkable progress as new photovoltaic cells have been developed to convert even greater amounts of sunlight directly into electricity. Today the costs of wind and solar power are becoming competitive with dirty coal-fired plants.
Midwestern states in particular hold enormous potential as sources of renewable energy.
The carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of our modern consumer-oriented society are a major contributor to rapid climate change. When fossil fuels are burned, carbon that has been locked away for millions of years is released into the air, causing the Earth’s temperature to rise and significant climatic changes to take place. We are already seeing an increase in extreme weather events, and indicators of imminent large-scale climate change, with serious implications for the world as we know it.
As trees and other plants play a vital role in the balancing of CO2 and oxygen levels, widespread deforestation has also had a negative impact, releasing more CO2 into the atmosphere.
The most important solution to global warming is to reduce CO2 emissions. Minimising the use of fossil fuels, and living more lightly on the Earth are eminently feasible - all that is required is for each of us to have the commitment to put those principles into practice.
However, it is not possible to eliminate all CO2 emissions immediately, so in the interim we can help to reduce the impact of those emissions that are unavoidable by planting trees. By supporting forest restoration, you will be helping to absorb some of the excess CO2 in the atmosphere, as well as providing habitat for a wide range of very special wildlife, and giving it a better chance of adapting to climate change. However, it is essential that this be combined with effective action from each of us to reduce our CO2 emissions
IT’S VERY GOD..BYE..SEE YOU.
wow,, makasih ya,, aku butuh baget nih untuk tugas kuliah…..