Many efforts are being made by various nations to cut down the rate of global warming. One such effort is the Kyoto agreement that has been made between various nations to reduce the emissions of various green house gases. Also many non profit organizations are working for the cause. Al Gore was one of the foremost U.S. politicians to heave an alarm about the hazards of global warming. He has produced a significantly acclaimed documentary movie called "An Inconvenient Truth," and written a book that archives his advice that Earth is dashing toward an immensely warmer future. Al Gore, the former vice president of United States has given various speeches to raise an awareness of global warming. He has warned people about the ill effects of Global warming and its remedies.
But an interesting side of the global warming episode is that there are people who do not consider global warming as something that is creating a problem. Skeptics of global warming think that global warming is not an ecological trouble. According to the global warming skeptics, the recent enhancement in the earth's average temperature is no reason for alarm. According to them earth's coastlines and polar ice caps are not at a risk of vanishing. Global warming skeptics consider that the weather models used to establish global warming and to forecast its impacts are distorted. According to the models, if calculations are made the last few decades must have been much worse as compared to actually happened to be. Most of the global warming skeptics believe that the global warming is not actually occurring. They stress on the fact the climatic conditions vary because of volcanism, the obliquity cycle, changes in solar output, and internal variability. Also the warming can be due to the variation in cloud cover, which in turn is responsible for the temperatures on the earth. The variations are also a result of cosmic ray flux that is modulated by the solar magnetic cycles.
India will not compromise on key principles: Jairam
Save the earth: Tens of thousands of activists on Saturday marched to the Bella Centre in Copenhagen, where the U.N. climate summit is being held, demanding a strong treaty to tackle global warming. Archbishop Desmond Tutu (right) addresses the activists during a candle-light vigil as the former Irish President, Mary Robinson (second from left), and others look on.
Copenhagen: With climate change talks set to enter the crucial second stage here, India on Sunday rejected points in the draft treaty that wants all countries to cut emissions, agree to a peaking year and subject their mitigation actions to international scrutiny.
With the official draft treaty circulated on Friday creating clear divisions among 194 countries, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said he would use the draft as a “starting point for further negotiations.”
However, he made it clear that India would not compromise on its three key principles — no legally binding emission cuts, no peaking year and no international review of domestic-funded mitigation actions.
“India will not compromise on its ‘teen-murti’,” he said, adding that the outcome of the talks must be within the U.N. Framework on Climate Change, stick to the Kyoto Protocol and abide by the Bali Action Plan. “We must get an agreement in 2010,” Mr. Ramesh said and hinted at a political statement at the end of the 12-day talks, which will be attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. “I have clearly and categorically stated on behalf of the government of India that our Prime Minister is not coming here to negotiate the text,” he said.
Ministers get together
Meanwhile, the Environment Ministers haggled behind closed doors in their first major get-together of the summit, as they were warned of the catastrophic consequences of failure to reach a deal. The meeting is tasked with turning the problem-plagued blueprint into a landmark deal that can be endorsed on Friday by about 120 world leaders.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told AFP that he was “cautiously optimistic” on the outcome as he flew into Copenhagen for the final days of the conference. — Agencies
Copenhagen: With climate change talks set to enter the crucial second stage here, India on Sunday rejected points in the draft treaty that wants all countries to cut emissions, agree to a peaking year and subject their mitigation actions to international scrutiny.
With the official draft treaty circulated on Friday creating clear divisions among 194 countries, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said he would use the draft as a “starting point for further negotiations.”
However, he made it clear that India would not compromise on its three key principles — no legally binding emission cuts, no peaking year and no international review of domestic-funded mitigation actions.
“India will not compromise on its ‘teen-murti’,” he said, adding that the outcome of the talks must be within the U.N. Framework on Climate Change, stick to the Kyoto Protocol and abide by the Bali Action Plan. “We must get an agreement in 2010,” Mr. Ramesh said and hinted at a political statement at the end of the 12-day talks, which will be attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. “I have clearly and categorically stated on behalf of the government of India that our Prime Minister is not coming here to negotiate the text,” he said.
Ministers get together
Meanwhile, the Environment Ministers haggled behind closed doors in their first major get-together of the summit, as they were warned of the catastrophic consequences of failure to reach a deal. The meeting is tasked with turning the problem-plagued blueprint into a landmark deal that can be endorsed on Friday by about 120 world leaders.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told AFP that he was “cautiously optimistic” on the outcome as he flew into Copenhagen for the final days of the conference. — Agencies
Kyoto Protocol negotiations on greenhouse gas emissions
Post-Kyoto negotiations refers to high level talks attempting to address global warming by limiting greenhouse gas emissions. Generally part of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), these talks concern the period after the first "commitment period" of the Kyoto Protocol, which is due to expire at the end of 2012. Negotiations have been mandated by the adoption of the Bali Roadmap and Decision 1/CP.13 ("The Bali Action Plan").
UNFCCC negotiations are conducted within two subsidiary bodies, the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention (AWG-LCA) and the Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-KP) and are expected to culminate in the United Nations Climate Change Conference taking place in December 2009 in Copenhagen (COP-15); negotiations are supported by a number of external processes, including the G8 process, a number of regional meetings and the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate that was launched by US President Barack Obama in March 2009. High level talks were held at the meeting of the G8+5 Climate Change Dialogue in February 2007[1] [2] and at a number of subsequent G8 meetings, most recently leading to the adoption of the G8 leaders declaration "Responsible Leadership for a Sustainable Future" during the G8 summit in L´Aquila, Italy, in July 2009.
Copenhagen climate summit: 1,200 limos, 140 private planes and caviar wedges
Copenhagen is preparing for the climate change summit that will produce as much carbon dioxide as a town the size of Middlesbrough.
On a normal day, Majken Friss Jorgensen, managing director of Copenhagen's biggest limousine company, says her firm has twelve vehicles on the road. During the "summit to save the world", which opens here tomorrow, she will have 200.
"We thought they were not going to have many cars, due to it being a climate convention," she says. "But it seems that somebody last week looked at the weather report."
And the total number of electric cars or hybrids among that number? "Five," says Ms Jorgensen. "The government has some alternative fuel cars but the rest will be petrol or diesel. We don't have any hybrids in Denmark, unfortunately, due to the extreme taxes on those cars. It makes no sense at all, but it's very Danish."Ms Jorgensen reckons that between her and her rivals the total number of limos in Copenhagen next week has already broken the 1,200 barrier. The French alone rang up on Thursday and ordered another 42. "We haven't got enough limos in the country to fulfil the demand," she says. "We're having to drive them in hundreds of miles from Germany and Sweden."
The airport says it is expecting up to 140 extra private jets during the peak period alone, so far over its capacity that the planes will have to fly off to regional airports – or to Sweden – to park, returning to Copenhagen to pick up their VIP passengers.
As well 15,000 delegates and officials, 5,000 journalists and 98 world leaders, the Danish capital will be blessed by the presence of Leonardo DiCaprio, Daryl Hannah, Helena Christensen, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Prince Charles. A Republican US senator, Jim Inhofe, is jetting in at the head of an anti-climate-change "Truth Squad." The top hotels – all fully booked at £650 a night – are readying their Climate Convention menus of (no doubt sustainable) scallops, foie gras and sculpted caviar wedges.
At the takeaway pizza end of the spectrum, Copenhagen's clean pavements are starting to fill with slightly less well-scrubbed protesters from all over Europe. In the city's famous anarchist commune of Christiania this morning, among the hash dealers and heavily-graffitied walls, they started their two-week "Climate Bottom Meeting," complete with a "storytelling yurt" and a "funeral of the day" for various corrupt, "heatist" concepts such as "economic growth".
The Danish government is cunningly spending a million kroner (£120,000) to give the protesters KlimaForum, a "parallel conference" in the magnificent DGI-byen sports centre. The hope, officials admit, is that they will work off their youthful energies on the climbing wall, state-of-the-art swimming pools and bowling alley, Just in case, however, Denmark has taken delivery of its first-ever water-cannon – one of the newspapers is running a competition to suggest names for it – plus sweeping new police powers. The authorities have been proudly showing us their new temporary prison, 360 cages in a disused brewery, housing 4,000 detainees.
And this being Scandinavia, even the prostitutes are doing their bit for the planet. Outraged by a council postcard urging delegates to "be sustainable, don't buy sex," the local sex workers' union – they have unions here – has announced that all its 1,400 members will give free intercourse to anyone with a climate conference delegate's pass. The term "carbon dating" just took on an entirely new meaning.
At least the sex will be C02-neutral. According to the organisers, the eleven-day conference, including the participants' travel, will create a total of 41,000 tonnes of "carbon dioxide equivalent", equal to the amount produced over the same period by a city the size of Middlesbrough.
The temptation, then, is to dismiss the whole thing as a ridiculous circus. Many of the participants do not really need to be here. And far from "saving the world," the world's leaders have already agreed that this conference will not produce any kind of binding deal, merely an interim statement of intent.
Instead of swift and modest reductions in carbon – say, two per cent a year, starting next year – for which they could possibly be held accountable, the politicians will bandy around grandiose targets of 80-per-cent-plus by 2050, by which time few of the leaders at Copenhagen will even be alive, let alone still in office.
Even if they had agreed anything binding, past experience suggests that the participants would not, in fact, feel bound by it. Most countries – Britain excepted – are on course to break the modest pledges they made at the last major climate summit, in Kyoto.
And as the delegates meet, they do so under a shadow. For the first time, not just the methods but the entire purpose of the climate change agenda is being questioned. Leaked emails showing key scientists conspiring to fix data that undermined their case have boosted the sceptic lobby. Australia has voted down climate change laws. Last week's unusually strident attack by the Energy Secretary, Ed Miliband, on climate change "saboteurs" reflected real fear in government that momentum is slipping away from the cause.
In Copenhagen there was a humbler note among some delegates. "If we fail, one reason could be our overconfidence," said Simron Jit Singh, of the Institute of Social Ecology. "Because we are here, talking in a group of people who probably agree with each other, we can be blinded to the challenges of the other side. We feel that we are the good guys, the selfless saviours, and they are the bad guys."
As Mr Singh suggests, the interesting question is perhaps not whether the climate changers have got the science right – they probably have – but whether they have got the pitch right. Some campaigners' apocalyptic predictions and religious righteousness – funeral ceremonies for economic growth and the like – can be alienating, and may help explain why the wider public does not seem to share the urgency felt by those in Copenhagen this week.
In a rather perceptive recent comment, Mr Miliband said it was vital to give people a positive vision of a low-carbon future. "If Martin Luther King had come along and said 'I have a nightmare,' people would not have followed him," he said.
Over the next two weeks, that positive vision may come not from the overheated rhetoric in the conference centre, but from Copenhagen itself. Limos apart, it is a city filled entirely with bicycles, stuffed with retrofitted, energy-efficient old buildings, and seems to embody the civilised pleasures of low-carbon living without any of the puritanism so beloved of British greens.
And inside the hall, not everything is looking bad. Even the sudden rush for limos may be a good sign. It means that more top people are coming, which means they scent something could be going right here.
The US, which rejected Kyoto, is on board now, albeit too tentatively for most delegates. President Obama's decision to stay later in Copenhagen may signal some sort of agreement between America and China: a necessity for any real global action, and something that could be presented as a "victory" for the talks.
The hot air this week will be massive, the whole proceedings eminently mockable, but it would be far too early to write off this conference as a failure.
Tracking sea Levels
The researchers modelled the changes that would occur if moderate projections made by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – a doubling of carbon dioxide levels between 2000 and 2100 – were to become reality.
The team found that as the oceans warm and expand, more water will be pushed up and onto the Earth's shallower ocean shelves. Over the next century, the subtle effect is expected to cause the northern pole of Earth's spin axis to shift by roughly 1.5 centimetres per year in the direction of Alaska and Hawaii.
The effect is relatively small. "The pole's not going to drift away in a crazy manner," Landerer notes, adding that it shouldn't induce any unfortunate feedback in Earth's climate.
But he says the motion is strong enough that it needs to be taken into account when interpreting shifts in Earth's axis. Tracking the motion of the poles could help place limits on the total amount of sea level rise over decades.
"The oceans take up at least 80 per cent of the heat that is added from greenhouse gases," Landerer told New Scientist. "They have a huge heat capacity, so this effect is going to be there for quite a bit."
Global warming could change Earth's Tilt
Warming oceans could cause Earth's axis to tilt in the coming century, a new study suggests. The effect was previously thought to be negligible, but researchers now say the shift will be large enough that it should be taken into account when interpreting how the Earth wobbles.
The Earth spins on an axis that is tilted some 23.5° from the vertical. But this position is far from constant – the planet's axis is constantly shifting in response to changes in the distribution of mass around the Earth. "The Earth is like a spinning top, and if you put more mass on one side or other, the axis of rotation is going to shift slightly," says Felix Landerer of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
The changing climate has long been known to move Earth's axis. The planet's north pole, for example, is migrating along 79 °W – a line of longitude that runs through Toronto and Panama City – at a rate of about 10 centimetres each year as the Earth rebounds from ice sheets that once weighed down large swaths of North America, Europe, and Asia.
The influx of fresh water from shrinking ice sheets also causes the planet to pitch over. Landerer and colleagues estimate that the melting of Greenland's ice is already causing Earth's axis to tilt at an annual rate of about 2.6 centimetres – and that rate may increase significantly in the coming years.
Now, they calculate that oceans warmed by the rise in greenhouse gases can also cause the Earth to tilt – a conclusion that runs counter to older models, which suggested that ocean expansion would not create a large shift in the distribution of the Earth's mass.
Rise Temperature Between 1960 to 2009
We know that global warming has taken place because millions of temperature measurements have been taken over many decades from all points on the earth. The measurement of global warming is of a wide variety of statistics over a period of time and therefore can be quite difficult to explain and understand.
The global average air temperature shows a linear trend of 0.74 [0.56 to 0.92] °Cfor the 100-years from 1906-2005
This sounds like a small increase and is easily misinterpreted
For example some would say that when 2006 is described as being "the hottest in Britain since 1659" (when temperatures began to be recorded in central England) it simply means that it was as warm in 2006 as it was in 1659 and there wasn't any worry about global warming then, so why is there now?
 | Hottest since 1659 means that was when temperatures started to be recorded - not that 1659 was the 2nd hottest year ever. |
| Past record years have come pretty much at random and certainly not in groups. The fourth hottest year in Britain since 1659 was 1949, 8 of the 10 hottest years since 1860 have all occurred in the last decade. |
| Daily variations in temperature can commonly be from 5°C to 10°C which makes the average 0.74°C rise difficult to spot by the individual in the shorter term. |
| Some parts of the world are showing the effects of warming more than others. The Northern hemisphere for instance appears to be warming more than the Southern hemisphere, possibly because there is more land in the north and more sea in the south |
Northern hemisphere average annual temperatures compared to the 1961-1990 average
50 tips to control global warming
- Replace a regular incandescent light bulb with a compact fluorescent light bulb (cfl)
CFLs use 60% less energy than a regular bulb. This simple switch will save about 300 pounds of carbon dioxide a year.
- Install a programmable thermostat
Programmable thermostats will automatically lower the heat or air conditioning at night and raise them again in the morning. They can save you $100 a year on your energy bill.
- Move your thermostat down 2° in winter and up 2° in summer
Almost half of the energy we use in our homes goes to heating and cooling. You could save about 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide a year with this simple adjustment.
- Clean or replace filters on your furnace and air conditioner
Cleaning a dirty air filter can save 350 pounds of carbon dioxide a year.
- Choose energy efficient appliances when making new purchases
Look for the Energy Star label on new appliances to choose the most energy efficient products available.
- Do not leave appliances on standby
Use the "on/off" function on the machine itself. A TV set that's switched on for 3 hours a day (the average time Europeans spend watching TV) and in standby mode during the remaining 21 hours uses about 40% of its energy in standby mode.
- Wrap your water heater in an insulation blanket
You’ll save 1,000 pounds of carbon dioxide a year with this simple action. You can save another 550 pounds per year by setting the thermostat no higher than 50°C.
- Move your fridge and freezer
Placing them next to the cooker or boiler consumes much more energy than if they were standing on their own. For example, if you put them in a hot cellar room where the room temperature is 30-35ºC, energy use is almost double and causes an extra 160kg of CO2 emissions for fridges per year and 320kg for freezers.
- Defrost old fridges and freezers regularly
Even better is to replace them with newer models, which all have automatic defrost cycles and are generally up to two times more energy-efficient than their predecessors.
- Don't let heat escape from your house over a long period
When airing your house, open the windows for only a few minutes. If you leave a small opening all day long, the energy needed to keep it warm inside during six cold months (10ºC or less outside temperature) would result in almost 1 ton of CO2 emissions.
- Replace your old single-glazed windows with double-glazing
This requires a bit of upfront investment, but will halve the energy lost through windows and pay off in the long term. If you go for the best the market has to offer (wooden-framed double-glazed units with low-emission glass and filled with argon gas), you can even save more than 70% of the energy lost.
- Get a home energy audit
Many utilities offer free home energy audits to find where your home is poorly insulated or energy inefficient. You can save up to 30% off your energy bill and 1,000 pounds of carbon dioxide a year. Energy Star can help you find an energy specialist.
- Cover your pots while cooking
Doing so can save a lot of the energy needed for preparing the dish. Even better are pressure cookers and steamers: they can save around 70%!
- Use the washing machine or dishwasher only when they are full
If you need to use it when it is half full, then use the half-load or economy setting. There is also no need to set the temperatures high. Nowadays detergents are so efficient that they get your clothes and dishes clean at low temperatures.
- Take a shower instead of a bath
A shower takes up to four times less energy than a bath. To maximize the energy saving, avoid power showers and use low-flow showerheads, which are cheap and provide the same comfort.
- Use less hot water
It takes a lot of energy to heat water. You can use less hot water by installing a low flow showerhead (350 pounds of carbon dioxide saved per year) and washing your clothes in cold or warm water (500 pounds saved per year) instead of hot.
- Use a clothesline instead of a dryer whenever possible
You can save 700 pounds of carbon dioxide when you air dry your clothes for 6 months out of the year.
- Insulate and weatherize your home
Properly insulating your walls and ceilings can save 25% of your home heating bill and 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide a year. Caulking and weather-stripping can save another 1,700 pounds per year. Energy Efficient has more information on how to better insulate your home.
- Be sure you’re recycling at home
You can save 2,400 pounds of carbon dioxide a year by recycling half of the waste your household generates.
- Recycle your organic waste
Around 3% of the greenhouse gas emissions through the methane is released by decomposing bio-degradable waste. By recycling organic waste or composting it if you have a garden, you can help eliminate this problem! Just make sure that you compost it properly, so it decomposes with sufficient oxygen, otherwise your compost will cause methane emissions and smell foul.
- Buy intelligently
One bottle of 1.5l requires less energy and produces less waste than three bottles of 0.5l. As well, buy recycled paper products: it takes less 70 to 90% less energy to make recycled paper and it prevents the loss of forests worldwide.
- Choose products that come with little packaging and buy refills when you can
You will also cut down on waste production and energy use... another help against global warming.
- Reuse your shopping bag
When shopping, it saves energy and waste to use a reusable bag instead of accepting a disposable one in each shop. Waste not only discharges CO2 and methane into the atmosphere, it can also pollute the air, groundwater and soil.
- Reduce waste
Most products we buy cause greenhouse gas emissions in one or another way, e.g. during production and distribution. By taking your lunch in a reusable lunch box instead of a disposable one, you save the energy needed to produce new lunch boxes.
- Plant a tree
A single tree will absorb one ton of carbon dioxide over its lifetime. Shade provided by trees can also reduce your air conditioning bill by 10 to 15%. The Arbor Day Foundation has information on planting and provides trees you can plant with membership.
- Switch to green power
In many areas, you can switch to energy generated by clean, renewable sources such as wind and solar. In some of these, you can even get refunds by government if you choose to switch to a clean energy producer, and you can also earn money by selling the energy you produce and don't use for yourself.
- Buy locally grown and produced foods
The average meal in the United States travels 1,200 miles from the farm to your plate. Buying locally will save fuel and keep money in your community.
- Buy fresh foods instead of frozen
Frozen food uses 10 times more energy to produce.
- Seek out and support local farmers markets
They reduce the amount of energy required to grow and transport the food to you by one fifth. Seek farmer’s markets in your area, and go for them.
- Buy organic foods as much as possible
Organic soils capture and store carbon dioxide at much higher levels than soils from conventional farms. If we grew all of our corn and soybeans organically, we’d remove 580 billion pounds of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere!
- Eat less meat
Methane is the second most significant greenhouse gas and cows are one of the greatest methane emitters. Their grassy diet and multiple stomachs cause them to produce methane, which they exhale with every breath.
- Reduce the number of miles you drive by walking, biking, carpooling or taking mass transit wherever possible
Avoiding just 10 miles of driving every week would eliminate about 500 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions a year! Look for transit options in your area.
- Start a carpool with your coworkers or classmates
Sharing a ride with someone just 2 days a week will reduce your carbon dioxide emissions by 1,590 pounds a year.
- Don't leave an empty roof rack on your car
This can increase fuel consumption and CO2 emissions by up to 10% due to wind resistance and the extra weight - removing it is a better idea.
- Keep your car tuned up
Regular maintenance helps improve fuel efficiency and reduces emissions. When just 1% of car owners properly maintain their cars, nearly a billion pounds of carbon dioxide are kept out of the atmosphere.
- Drive carefully and do not waste fuel
You can reduce CO2 emissions by readjusting your driving style. Choose proper gears, do not abuse the gas pedal, use the engine brake instead of the pedal brake when possible and turn off your engine when your vehicle is motionless for more than one minute. By readjusting your driving style you can save money on both fuel and car mantainance.
- Check your tires weekly to make sure they’re properly inflated
Proper tire inflation can improve gas mileage by more than 3%. Since every gallon of gasoline saved keeps 20 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, every increase in fuel efficiency makes a difference!
- When it is time for a new car, choose a more fuel efficient vehicle
You can save 3,000 pounds of carbon dioxide every year if your new car gets only 3 miles per gallon more than your current one. You can get up to 60 miles per gallon with a hybrid! You can find information on fuel efficiency on FuelEconomy and on GreenCars websites.
- Try car sharing
Need a car but don’t want to buy one? Community car sharing organizations provide access to a car and your membership fee covers gas, maintenance and insurance. Many companies – such as Flexcar - offer low emission or hybrid cars too! Also, see ZipCar.
- Try telecommuting from home
Telecommuting can help you drastically reduce the number of miles you drive every week. For more information, check out the Telework Coalition.
- Fly less
Air travel produces large amounts of emissions so reducing how much you fly by even one or two trips a year can reduce your emissions significantly. You can also offset your air travel carbon emissions by investingin renewable energy projects.
- Encourage your school or business to reduce emissions
You can extend your positive influence on global warming well beyond your home by actively encouraging other to take action.
- Join the virtual march
The Stop Global Warming Virtual March is a non-political effort to bring people concerned about global warming together in one place. Add your voice to the hundreds of thousands of other people urging action on this issue.
- Encourage the switch to renewable energy
Successfully combating global warming requires a national transition to renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and biomass. These technologies are ready to be deployed more widely but there are regulatory barriers impeding them. U.S. citizens, take action to break down those barriers with Vote Solar.
- Protect and conserve forest worldwide
Forests play a critical role in global warming: they store carbon. When forests are burned or cut down, their stored carbon is release into the atmosphere - deforestation now accounts for about 20% of carbon dioxide emissions each year. Conservation International has more information on saving forests from global warming.
- Consider the impact of your investments
If you invest your money, you should consider the impact that your investments and savings will have on global warming. Check out SocialInvest and Ceres to can learn more about how to ensure your money is being invested in companies, products and projects that address issues related to climate change.
- Make your city cool
Cities and states around the country have taken action to stop global warming by passing innovative transportation and energy saving legislation. If you're in the U.S., join the cool cities list.
- Tell Congress to act
The McCain Lieberman Climate Stewardship and Innovation Act would set a firm limit on carbon dioxide emissions and then use free market incentives to lower costs, promote efficiency and spur innovation. Tell your representative to support it.
- Make sure your voice is heard!
Americans must have a stronger commitment from their government in order to stop global warming and implement solutions and such a commitment won’t come without a dramatic increase in citizen lobbying for new laws with teeth. Get the facts about U.S. politicians and candidates at Project Vote Smart and The League of Conservation Voters. Make sure your voice is heard by voting!
- Share this list!
Send this page via e-mail to your friends! Spread this list worldwide and help people doing their part: the more people you will manage to enlighten, the greater YOUR help to save the planet will be (but please take action on first person too)!
Building Compost Bin
by: FerdinandEmy
The compost bin had better be placed near enough to your home so that it would not be a chore to bring materials to it, but then again the compost bin need not be too close to the home because it is going to be unsightly and will cause bad odor.
The compost bin had better be placed near enough to your home so that it would not be a chore to bring materials to it, but then again the compost bin need not be too close to the home because it is going to be unsightly and will cause bad odor.
Building a compost bin yourself will see to it that you have incisively the sort of bin that will meet your own particular needs. Compost bins shouldn't be higher than 36" or you can find that you have difficultness managing it.
When selecting wooden pallets for building a compost bin its important to ascertain you recognize what type of wood the pallets were formulated from. When building your compost bin, it is important to think with regards to placement before you actually get started developing the bin. Many woods are more resistant to rot than others and you must ascertain that you choose a wood that is resistant for building a compost bin.
This means that you might need to modify the existing pallets in order for them to be at the right height. As unmanageable as it can be to believe, softwoods like pine are often times more resistant to rot than hardwoods. The reason that wooden pallets are so frequently used is because theyre considerably inexpensive and may once in a while even be found utterly free. The last thing that you want is to be fined and/or should remove your compost bin because you failed to check such ordinances basic before building your bin. composting may be a neat way to aid the planet in addition as to manufacture swell organic material for your garden.
One of the most frequent methods for building a compost bin is to utilize wooden pallets. Wooden pallets are in generally 40" to 44" in height. Do ascertain that you give heedful thought and considerateness to where you will place it when building a compost bin, because once you have it constructed you can find that its too heavy and unmanageable to move at a later date. likewise, before building a compost bin you likewise must ascertain that you check your local and city ordinances to determine whether or not there are any building permits required or whether there can be any limitations that would employ. When building a compost bin, its essential to perceive more than one initial guidelines.
When selecting wooden pallets for building a compost bin its important to ascertain you recognize what type of wood the pallets were formulated from. When building your compost bin, it is important to think with regards to placement before you actually get started developing the bin. Many woods are more resistant to rot than others and you must ascertain that you choose a wood that is resistant for building a compost bin.
This means that you might need to modify the existing pallets in order for them to be at the right height. As unmanageable as it can be to believe, softwoods like pine are often times more resistant to rot than hardwoods. The reason that wooden pallets are so frequently used is because theyre considerably inexpensive and may once in a while even be found utterly free. The last thing that you want is to be fined and/or should remove your compost bin because you failed to check such ordinances basic before building your bin. composting may be a neat way to aid the planet in addition as to manufacture swell organic material for your garden.
One of the most frequent methods for building a compost bin is to utilize wooden pallets. Wooden pallets are in generally 40" to 44" in height. Do ascertain that you give heedful thought and considerateness to where you will place it when building a compost bin, because once you have it constructed you can find that its too heavy and unmanageable to move at a later date. likewise, before building a compost bin you likewise must ascertain that you check your local and city ordinances to determine whether or not there are any building permits required or whether there can be any limitations that would employ. When building a compost bin, its essential to perceive more than one initial guidelines.
Why Earth Friendly Products?
by: FerdinandEmy
Earth Friendly Products is a company dedicated to helping the average person convert their lifestyle so that they minimize the expanse of damage done to the environment. By searching for environmentally safe choices to products such as bleach, Earth Friendly Products has taken huge steps towards protecting the rain forests and minimizing the environs footprints left in the average home.
Earth Friendly Products is a company dedicated to helping the average person convert their lifestyle so that they minimize the expanse of damage done to the environment. By searching for environmentally safe choices to products such as bleach, Earth Friendly Products has taken huge steps towards protecting the rain forests and minimizing the environs footprints left in the average home.
In order for Earth Friendly Products to be considered for manufacturing, there is a procedure the company goes through to insure their products are as green as possible. Prior to manufacturing starts, the scientists and workers demand many questions. Does gathering the materials for this product damage the rain forest? Does this product remove the habitat of endangered species? Will making this product cause pollution? If all of the answers to these questions, as well as numerous more, are no, then research and development of the product continues. If the answer is yes to any of these, Earth Friendly Products will not employ the materials. This philosophy has ensured that Earth Friendly Products upholds the highest standard of quality for their products and the protection of the environment.
Earth Friendly Products focus on five distinct categories of household cleaners. Bathroom care, Laundry, general Household, Kitchen and for pets. All of their products are cleaning agents that lack chlorine, petroleum, bleach and caustics, so they are social both to the surroundings and towards your health. Nevertheless, its consequential to realize that there are items such as coconut oil in Earth Friendly Products. If you have allergies to coconuts and other natural oils, you should read the ingredient label warily.
When you utilize Earth Friendly Products, you can be ensured that the cleaning agents are safe for employ. Nonetheless, it is still unwise to drink these products. They are not meant for human consumption. While environmentally cozy, Earth Friendly Products are not necessarily human digestible. Please keep all Earth Friendly Products out of the reach of young children and pets so that you can avoid them from becoming ill on them.
One of the most significant Earth Friendly Products that you can buy is their Ice Melt compound. Working to -13 Fahrenheit, this product is safe for pets and vegetation. Unlike salts, which will severely damage plants and can make animals sick, this line of Earth Friendly Products is revolutionary in assisting with the safety of those near your home and the environments.
Earth Friendly Products are accessible online or through local retailers.
About the Author
You ought to be Anti Global Warming just like every other responsible citizen of the world, learn the better practices to adopt in order to curtail this global scourge
Earth Friendly Products focus on five distinct categories of household cleaners. Bathroom care, Laundry, general Household, Kitchen and for pets. All of their products are cleaning agents that lack chlorine, petroleum, bleach and caustics, so they are social both to the surroundings and towards your health. Nevertheless, its consequential to realize that there are items such as coconut oil in Earth Friendly Products. If you have allergies to coconuts and other natural oils, you should read the ingredient label warily.
When you utilize Earth Friendly Products, you can be ensured that the cleaning agents are safe for employ. Nonetheless, it is still unwise to drink these products. They are not meant for human consumption. While environmentally cozy, Earth Friendly Products are not necessarily human digestible. Please keep all Earth Friendly Products out of the reach of young children and pets so that you can avoid them from becoming ill on them.
One of the most significant Earth Friendly Products that you can buy is their Ice Melt compound. Working to -13 Fahrenheit, this product is safe for pets and vegetation. Unlike salts, which will severely damage plants and can make animals sick, this line of Earth Friendly Products is revolutionary in assisting with the safety of those near your home and the environments.
Earth Friendly Products are accessible online or through local retailers.
About the Author
You ought to be Anti Global Warming just like every other responsible citizen of the world, learn the better practices to adopt in order to curtail this global scourge
Simple Ways to Reduce Your Family's Carbon Footprint...
In addition to recycling, reducing one's carbon footprint has become one of the major ways that individuals can contribute to saving the planet, but the words "carbon footprint" are often thrown around without a clear explanation.
A carbon footprint is a measure of how much our day to day activities impact the earth. Specifically, it refers to how much greenhouse gases are produced because of our activities.
Fortunately, there are some simple steps that you can take to reduce your carbon footprint and help prevent greenhouse gases.
- Reduce the Carbon Footprint of Your Food
Consider joining a community sponsored agriculture program (CSA). A CSA puts local farmers and residents in a mutually beneficial situation. The farmers co-op together to provide a weekly basket of locally grown produce. You'll receive a diverse bunch of fruits and vegetables, most of which are organically grown. You can find a CSA in your area by searching online.
If there isn't a CSA in your area, you can shop at a local farmer's market. Local farmers benefit from your financial support and it encourages them to keep growing organic and more environmentally friendly foods. You'll also get a chance to take part in an important community ritual.
- Reduce Your Energy Usage
You can start by replacing your regular light bulbs with compact florescent bulbs. CFLs use much less energy and they last a whole lot longer than traditional bulbs. They come in many different sizes these days so you should be able to find something to fit every outlet in your home.
You can also reduce your use of common energy sucking appliances. Try hang drying your laundry in the summertime so you can reduce your dependence on your dryer. Hand wash small loads of dishes rather than running the dishwasher. Invest in a small toaster oven so you don't have to use your oven to reheat meals. Set your refrigerator's temperature at 36 to 38 degrees and your freezer at 0 to 5 degrees for best energy usage.
These ideas just scratch the surface of what you can do to reduce your carbon footprint in your day to day life. With a little planning, you'll be able to help save the earth as you go about your normal business.
NASA report on global warming
Global Warming
Global warming is an increase in the average temperature of Earth's surface. Since the late 1800's, the global average temperature has increased about 0.7 to 1.4 degrees F (0.4 to 0.8 degrees C). Many experts estimate that the average temperature will rise an additional 2.5 to 10.4 degrees F (1.4 to 5.8 degrees C) by 2100. That rate of increase would be much larger than most past rates of increase.
Scientists worry that human societies and natural ecosystems might not adapt to rapid climate changes. An ecosystem consists of the living organisms and physical environment in a particular area. Global warming could cause much harm, so countries throughout the world drafted an agreement called the Kyoto Protocol to help limit it.
Causes of global warming
Climatologists (scientists who study climate) have analyzed the global warming that has occurred since the late 1800's. A majority of climatologists have concluded that human activities are responsible for most of the warming. Human activities contribute to global warming by enhancing Earth's natural greenhouse effect. The greenhouse effect warms Earth's surface through a complex process involving sunlight, gases, and particles in the atmosphere. Gases that trap heat in the atmosphere are known as greenhouse gases.
The main human activities that contribute to global warming are the burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas) and the clearing of land. Most of the burning occurs in automobiles, in factories, and in electric power plants that provide energy for houses and office buildings. The burning of fossil fuels creates carbon dioxide, whose chemical formula is CO2. CO2 is a greenhouse gas that slows the escape of heat into space. Trees and other plants remove CO2 from the air during photosynthesis, the process they use to produce food. The clearing of land contributes to the buildup of CO2 by reducing the rate at which the gas is removed from the atmosphere or by the decomposition of dead vegetation.
A small number of scientists argue that the increase in greenhouse gases has not made a measurable difference in the temperature. They say that natural processes could have caused global warming. Those processes include increases in the energy emitted (given off) by the sun. But the vast majority of climatologists believe that increases in the sun's energy have contributed only slightly to recent warming.
The impact of global warming
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Thousands of icebergs float off the coast of the Antarctic Peninsula after 1,250 square miles (3,240 square kilometers) of the Larsen B ice shelf disintegrated in 2002. The area of the ice was larger than the state of Rhode Island or the nation of Luxembourg. Antarctic ice shelves have been shrinking since the early 1970's because of climate warming in the region. Image credit: NASA/Earth Observatory |
Harm to ocean life
Through global warming, the surface waters of the oceans could become warmer, increasing the stress on ocean ecosystems, such as coral reefs. High water temperatures can cause a damaging process called coral bleaching. When corals bleach, they expel the algae that give them their color and nourishment. The corals turn white and, unless the water temperature cools, they die. Added warmth also helps spread diseases that affect sea creatures.
Changes of habitat
Widespread shifts might occur in the natural habitats of animals and plants. Many species would have difficulty surviving in the regions they now inhabit. For example, many flowering plants will not bloom without a sufficient period of winter cold. And human occupation has altered the landscape in ways that would make new habitats hard to reach or unavailable altogether.
Weather damage
Extreme weather conditions might become more frequent and therefore more damaging. Changes in rainfall patterns could increase both flooding and drought in some areas. More hurricanes and other tropical storms might occur, and they could become more powerful.
Rising sea level
Continued global warming might, over centuries, melt large amounts of ice from a vast sheet that covers most of West Antarctica. As a result, the sea level would rise throughout the world. Many coastal areas would experience flooding, erosion, a loss of wetlands, and an entry of seawater into freshwater areas. High sea levels would submerge some coastal cities, small island nations, and other inhabited regions.
Threats to human health
Tropical diseases, such as malaria and dengue, might spread to larger regions. Longer-lasting and more intense heat waves could cause more deaths and illnesses. Floods and droughts could increase hunger and malnutrition.
Changes in crop yields
Canada and parts of Russia might benefit from an increase in crop yields. But any increases in yields could be more than offset by decreases caused by drought and higher temperatures -- particularly if the amount of warming were more than a few degrees Celsius. Yields in the tropics might fall disastrously because temperatures there are already almost as high as many crop plants can tolerate.
Limited global warming
Climatologists are studying ways to limit global warming. Two key methods would be (1) limiting CO2 emissions and (2) carbon sequestration -- either preventing carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere or removing CO2 already there.
Limiting CO2 emissions
Two effective techniques for limiting CO2 emissions would be (1) to replace fossil fuels with energy sources that do not emit CO2, and (2) to use fossil fuels more efficiently.
Alternative energy sources that do not emit CO2 include the wind, sunlight, nuclear energy, and underground steam. Devices known as wind turbines can convert wind energy to electric energy. Solar cells can convert sunlight to electric energy, and various devices can convert solar energy to useful heat. Geothermal power plants convert energy in underground steam to electric energy.
Alternative sources of energy are more expensive to use than fossil fuels. However, increased research into their use would almost certainly reduce their cost.
Carbon sequestration could take two forms: (1) underground or underwater storage and (2) storage in living plants.
Underground or underwater storage would involve injecting industrial emissions of CO2 into underground geologic formations or the ocean. Suitable underground formations include natural reservoirs of oil and gas from which most of the oil or gas has been removed. Pumping CO2 into a reservoir would have the added benefit of making it easier to remove the remaining oil or gas. The value of that product could offset the cost of sequestration. Deep deposits of salt or coal could also be suitable.
The oceans could store much CO2. However, scientists have not yet determined the environmental impacts of using the ocean for carbon sequestration.
Storage in living plants
Green plants absorb CO2 from the atmosphere as they grow. They combine carbon from CO2 with hydrogen to make simple sugars, which they store in their tissues. After plants die, their bodies decay and release CO2. Ecosystems with abundant plant life, such as forests and even cropland, could tie up much carbon. However, future generations of people would have to keep the ecosystems intact. Otherwise, the sequestered carbon would re-enter the atmosphere as CO2.
Agreement on global warming
Delegates from more than 160 countries met in Kyoto, Japan, in 1997 to draft the agreement that became known as the Kyoto Protocol. That agreement calls for decreases in the emissions of greenhouse gases.
Emissions targets
Thirty-eight industrialized nations would have to restrict their emissions of CO2 and five other greenhouse gases. The restrictions would occur from 2008 through 2012. Different countries would have different emissions targets. As a whole, the 38 countries would restrict their emissions to a yearly average of about 95 percent of their 1990 emissions. The agreement does not place restrictions on developing countries. But it encourages the industrialized nations to cooperate in helping developing countries limit emissions voluntarily.
Industrialized nations could also buy or sell emission reduction units. Suppose an industrialized nation cut its emissions more than was required by the agreement. That country could sell other industrialized nations emission reduction units allowing those nations to emit the amount equal to the excess it had cut.
Several other programs could also help an industrialized nation earn credit toward its target. For example, the nation might help a developing country reduce emissions by replacing fossil fuels in some applications.
Approving the agreement
The protocol would take effect as a treaty if (1) at least 55 countries ratified (formally approved) it, and (2) the industrialized countries ratifying the protocol had CO2 emissions in 1990 that equaled at least 55 percent of the emissions of all 38 industrialized countries in 1990.
In 2001, the United States rejected the Kyoto Protocol. President George W. Bush said that the agreement could harm the U.S. economy. But he declared that the United States would work with other countries to limit global warming. Other countries, most notably the members of the European Union, agreed to continue with the agreement without United States participation.
By 2004, more than 100 countries, including nearly all the countries classified as industrialized under the protocol, had ratified the agreement. However, the agreement required ratification by Russia or the United States to go into effect. Russia ratified the protocol in November 2004. The treaty was to come into force in February 2005.
Analyzing global warming
Scientists use information from several sources to analyze global warming that occurred before people began to use thermometers. Those sources include tree rings, cores (cylindrical samples) of ice drilled from Antarctica and Greenland, and cores drilled out of sediments in oceans. Information from these sources indicates that the temperature increase of the 1900's was probably the largest in the last 1,000 years.
Computers help climatologists analyze past climate changes and predict future changes. First, a scientist programs a computer with a set of mathematical equations known as a climate model. The equations describe how various factors, such as the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere, affect the temperature of Earth's surface. Next, the scientist enters data representing the values of those factors at a certain time. He or she then runs the program, and the computer describes how the temperature would vary. A computer's representation of changing climatic conditions is known as a climate simulation.
In 2001, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a group sponsored by the United Nations (UN), published results of climate simulations in a report on global warming. Climatologists used three simulations to determine whether natural variations in climate produced the warming of the past 100 years. The first simulation took into account both natural processes and human activities that affect the climate. The second simulation took into account only the natural processes, and the third only the human activities.
The climatologists then compared the temperatures predicted by the three simulations with the actual temperatures recorded by thermometers. Only the first simulation, which took into account both natural processes and human activities, produced results that corresponded closely to the recorded temperatures.
The IPCC also published results of simulations that predicted temperatures until 2100. The different simulations took into account the same natural processes but different patterns of human activity. For example, scenarios differed in the amounts of CO2 that would enter the atmosphere due to human activities.
The simulations showed that there can be no "quick fix" to the problem of global warming. Even if all emissions of greenhouse gases were to cease immediately, the temperature would continue to increase after 2100 because of the greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere.
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