Global WarmingThe scientific community has reached a consensus that global warming is real and that human activities are causing the warming trend. Global temperatures have steadily risen over the last century, with 4 of the 5 warmest years occurring in the past 5 years. According to scientists, 2005 was the warmest year on record, and the warming trend is expected to continue through the 21st century and beyond. The warmer temperatures will have serious effects and consequences for the world, including rising sea levels, changes in climate patterns, extinctions, and more severe weather including stronger storms, droughts, and heat waves.Causes Global warming is being caused, at least in part, by greenhouse gas emissions including carbon dioxide that are released from human consumption of fossil fuels. In the current environment, fossil fuels are the main source of energy used by humans for industry, travel, home heating, electricity and other activities requiring power. Humans drive cars, fly in planes, heat homes, consume electricity, and work in industries such as steel mills; all of these activities consume fossil fuels and release greenhouse gasses. The greenhouse gasses trap heat in the earth’s relatively thin atmosphere and cause global temperatures to rise. In addition, humans deforest the planet, which further increases carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. In urban areas, forests are replaced with parking lots and other paved spaces that further capture heat. A typical car will release 50 tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere over its lifetime. Coal fired power plants, which produce most of our electricity, release enormous amounts of carbon dioxide into the air to produce our power. One acre of trees will absorb 2-3 tons of carbon dioxide per year. It’s a simple conclusion: more cars, more electricity consumption, and fewer forests results in more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. This carbon dioxide traps heat in the atmosphere and is the primary cause of global warming. As carbon dioxide continues to be realeased into the air, the greenhouse effect will continue to make the planet hotter indefinitely. Solutions To curb global warming trends, the focus has to be on reducing global consumption of fossil fuels. America and the rest of the planet must eliminate its dependence on oil and coal to power its economy. In addition to conservation on the part of individuals, the world must have leadership committed to developing an energy infrastructure beyond oil and other fossil fuels. Alternative energy sources are available. Unfortunately, the tremendous profits from the current economy’s consumption of oil and other fossil fuels enable huge lobbying efforts to prevent conservation measures and limit investment in alternatives. America has the ability to become energy independent and develop an energy infrastructure based on renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, and hydrogen. America must make significant investments in these power sources, and Americans must demand leadership that encourages a transition to these clean power sources. America must demand leadership that requires reductions in pollution from industry and increases fuel efficiency requirements for vehicles. In addition, America and the rest of the world need to demand leadership that preserves natural resources to limit the effects humans have on the health of the global ecosystem. The Challenge Politicians tend to be focused on election cycles. An individual tends to focus on his/her own lifetime. Corporations are focused on profit. America is already feeling the effects of global warming in the form of events like hurricane Katrina, yet the warming trend continues. Oil companies have been funding junk science and biased research designed to confuse and misinform the public by creating uncertainties about the realities of global warming. The Detroit auto industry has spent millions lobbying Washington to prevent increased fuel-efficiency standards. The logging industry has advocated for and received permission from the republican administration to log in the American national forests in the name of a "Healthy Forest Initiative". Americans get wider freeways rather than good public transportation systems. The burden of the decisions made today will fall on future generations. Those who take steps to preserve the planet's health through conservation and by standing up and demanding more efficient technologies and less pollution from industry are making a selfless decision to preserve a high quality of life for our descendents. This is a moral issue; the aftermath of decisions made today will be dealt with not by this generation, but by future generations. Move Forward Do your part by reducing consumption. Demand leadership to move us beyond an oil economy. Demand leadership that is not focused on drilling for oil, corporate profits, and war, but rather on peace and fossil fuel independence. Demand leadership that preserves forests. Demand leadership that produces incentives for fuel-efficient vehicles and transportation. Demand leadership that will stand with the rest of the world and develop solutions that will stop global warming. |