About Global Warming:

Global Warming & Climate Change

It's literally one of the hottest environmental questions of our time: Are the waste gases produced by the burning of fossil fuels combining with other air pollutants to make our planet's atmosphere warmer than it should be? And if so, is this warming changing the world's climate? For the vast majority of scientists, the answer to both questions is in front of our eyes.

Here is the very basic science involved: When radiation from the sun hits our planet's surface, much of it is reflected back into space. However some of this heat is captured and retained by atmospheric gases, predominately carbon dioxide (CO²). In a process called the greenhouse effect, just the right amount of heat is captured by just the right amount of gases, and the surface of the earth is warmed just enough to comfortably support life1. Without this vital process, the average temperature of our world would be a chilly 0° Fahrenheit is too cold for most plants and animals2. Its a fragile balance, and one that most experts now agree is being altered by human activities around the globe.

The most critical of these activities is the burning of fossil fuels. When materials like oil and coal are burned for energy, CO² is produced. Since the world's oceans and forests can only absorb so much excess CO², any amount produced above these natural limits remains in the atmosphere where it slowly accumulates, trapping more and more heat as time passes. The result is a slow global warming. Surprisingly, even though we add some 16 million tons of CO² to the atmosphere every day3, human-produced CO² accounts for just 4% of annual global emissions4. But even that small amount is upsetting the complex checks and balances of the Earth’s climate system. This tiny percentage, added annually in slowly increasing amounts since the industrial revolution, has increased atmospheric concentrations of CO² by 25% over natural, pre-industrial levels5.

Evidence that global warming is real can be found all around us. Over the last 135 years, the average surface temperature of the Earth has risen about 1.5°Fahrenheit6. (If that doesn't seem like much keep in mind that it takes very little average temperature change to alter the climate. During the last ice age, for example, such temperatures were only 5-9°F cooler than today7). According to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the 1990s are likely to end up being the warmest decade on record and 1998 the warmest year ever. In fact, recent data suggests that the global warm-up experienced in the 20th century is likely to be the largest of any century during the last 1,000 years8. Other symptoms of global warming, all of which have occurred in just the last hundred years, include a loss of roughly 10% of the earth’s snow cover, widespread retreat of glaciers around the world, dramatic decreases in sea ice at the north pole, a rise in sea levels, increasing ocean temperatures, and winters shortened by two weeks (as measured by the duration of lake and river ice)9.

What You Can Do

It's clear we need to do everything we can to reverse these trends and equally clear that there are plenty of highly effective actions everyone can take. Because fighting global warming is largely a matter of using less fossil fuel and conserving energy, these steps can make a difference:

1. · Use recycled paper. Every pound saves approximately 4 lbs. of carbon dioxide because recycled paper requires less energy to manufacture10.
   · Use energy efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs. Each one keeps about 1,500 lbs. of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere over its lifetime11.
   · Make your next car a high fuel efficiency model. A car that gets 20 mpg emits 50 tons of carbon dioxide over the course of its lifetime. A 40 mpg gallon vehicle emits half that12.
   · Plant trees “they remove CO² from the atmosphere. Planting shade trees near buildings lowers the need for heating and cooling which saves energy to keep further CO² out of the atmosphere.
   · Contribute in some way to efforts to save the earth's rainforests. Each hectare of rainforest (2.47 acres) absorbs a ton of carbon dioxide each year13
   · Wrap your water heater in an insulating blanket. The energy savings will prevent the release of 1,000 lbs. of CO² each year14.
   · Paint your home a light color if you live in a warm climate and a dark color if you live in a cold one and save 5,000 lbs. of carbon dioxide per year through reduced heating and cooling needs15.
   · Whenever possible, walk, bike, carpool or use mass transit. You will prevent the release of 20 lbs. of carbon dioxide for every gallon of gasoline you save16.
   · Wash laundry in warm or cold water, not hot. At two loads per week, you'll save 500 lbs. of CO² annually.