CO2

How much CO₂ really is in the air and how much is actually going up into the atmosphere?  Right now, the ocean is taking up 2/7 of our carbon emissions and is helping regulate the amount that is being released but scientists worry that the ocean may possibly not be able to take in as much if the temperature of the ocean continues to increase.  Our atmosphere and world are trying to regulate the temperatures but may no longer be able to keep the temperatures steady.  We need to continue researching about global warming and see what can be done to lower the amount of carbon being released into the atmosphere.

Global Warming

This article talks about global warming in general.  It discusses that global warming it increasing the chance of natural disasters. 

“Earlier this year, the IPCC published its final report on the likely extent of global warming. It concluded that average global temperatures could rise by as much as 6.4C by the end of the century if carbon emissions continue to increase. A rise of 4C was most likely, the panel said.” 

It’s a scary thought because we still do not know what the main cause of global warming is and will probably not know until more time passes and more experiments and studies are done. One effect that is almost always discussed by the ICPP and other people is that Global Warming is soon going to cause extinction in some plants and animals, droughts in some places, and floods in others.  I believe time is only going to teach us enough about global warming.

Interview w/ Joe Bastardi

An interesting clip that I found on AccuWeather.com talked about how Global Warming may have direct effects on children such as increase in death/injury, increase in vector borne illnesses, and increase in asthma/respiratory illnesses.  Joe Bastardi talks about that hurricanes are “part of the weather pattern” and that you have to look at the bigger picture.  He wants people to look at tall the possible causes of Global Warming.  Bastardi thinks that our natural processes are trying to equal out the temperatures.  Bastardi says that these models that scientists are producing cannot be tested.  Only time can tell you if their predictions are right. 

Land Clearing = Higher Temperatures

Scientists in Queensland, Australia have studied the increasing temperatures and believe that clearing native vegetation is causing increasing temperatures.  These scientists have “found native vegetation moderates the intensity of climate fluctuations and reflects more solar radiation back to space than broadacre crops, keeping the temperaure lower.”  They also claim that clearling these vegetations has the same effect as greenhouse gases.  It’s a interesting thing to look at because it gives you something to think about.  I would have never thought that clearing vegetation would cause increased temperatures.

Global Warming Debate

 

In this global warming debate Daniel Botkin, emeritus professor of ecology at UC Santa Barbara, argues in the Wall Street Journal that global warming will not have much impact on Earth.  People on RealClimate decide to respond to some of his statements.  Botkin states “The warm climates in the past 2.5 million years did not lead to extinctions.”  The response was that we did not have enough good evidence and data to rely on the past processes of earth.  David, the writer, says that we have a new climate and that it has changed greatly compared to the climate hundreds and millions of years ago.  David’s belief is that we may face extinction due to global warming later, but it is not the bigger issue right now—humans are.

Cleaner Fuel

Thanks acannon for the information on cleaner fuel.  I am also very glad to see that Virgin Atlantic Airways is trying to use cleaner fuels  for buses, trains, cars and airplanes.  It’s great knowing that there are some who are trying to help the environment even though it may be very costly.  Another thing that I am very excited to hear is that a billionaire, Richard Branson, is using his money towards a good cause instead of just misusing his money.

A good solution to CO2 content?

 

This Article dicusses the possible solution presented by scientist Paul Crutzen said to ”inject chemicals into the stratosphere would form sulfate aerosols and hence block out sunlight.”  He suggest this would be a good fix if we cannot lower the CO2 content in the atmosphere.   The issue has  been discussed on Real Climate and people are stating that this would come with a lot of negative consequences.  It may be a good idea, but not quite the best one.

Is Global Warming Real?

A very interesting eight minute clip on 20/20 is about the real causes of global warming.  John Stossel Dares to Question Global Warming.  He discusses some of the data that has been reported wrong.  Stossel points out that in Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” he says temperatures are directly related to the increase of carbon levels.  Stossel looks more closely at the graphs and sees that the temperatures had increased before the carbon levels had increase in his graph.  Stossels main reason for creatina this short clip about global warming is to show that not all of this data that has been shown to us, may be correct.  At the end, he talks with scientists that had once been part of the ICPP and did not agree with the data that had been published while they were on it.  Those scientist say that the ICPP is run more by the government and that the government publishes what they want to publish.  It’s a great short movie with so much information about all topics of global warming.

I am very surprised to hear that for the first time in the nation, that a state regulatory agency in Kansas turned down the proposal to permit a new large coal-fired power plant.  It has said that the emission of coal gases is the number one cause of depleting the ozone layer.  I think it’s a great idea to start decreasing the amount of gases we emit into the atmosphere.  Whether or not humans are the main cause of global warming, I do think that we need to be more aware of how many gases we are emitting and possibly start controlling the amounts.  Even if we find out that global warming is a naturally occuring process, we should be careful of what we are doing to our environment and what could possibly happen in the future because of it. 

 Something that really grabbed my attention was an article in the Washington Times called “A warm and fuzzy feeling” by Richard W. Rahn.  Rahn discusses the fact that the government may be in part to blame for the hype of global warming.  He believes that the goverment may be making global warming into a bigger issue than it possibly may be.  His belief is that if global warming isn’t as serious as they are making it sound, the goverment will have to lower taxes and some government workers may loose their jobs over it.  This is something I would have never thought of on my own.  I do think it could be some what a possibility but on the other hand, I don’t know whether it could be so true. Here is an exerpt from his article:

“U.S. taxpayers now pay about $4 billion per year to global change scientists and government bureaucrats associated with global warming. If global warming were found to be not much of a problem, what do you think would happen to the budgets, employment and advancement opportunities of those with a vested interest in global warming? (We have even had calls for the forcible silencing and imprisonment of global warming skeptics by some global warming doomsayers.  Such calls and intimidation of those seeking honest answers can only lead to biased research or worse.)”