We have to cut carbon emissions by 100%. Entirely, if we are to stop global warming, because there is already more than enough Carbon Dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere to start global warming. And many greenhouse gases have a long lifetime in the atmosphere.
We have to move entirely to various mixes of renewable energy that are tried and tested already.
Concentrated solar power is already up and running in Spain and in the US, where the use of molten salt to store the heat means they can provide baseline power 24 hours a day.
Wind farm technology is improving all the time. Hydro power is emission free. Geothermal is working, and more and more sites are being identified.
Britain is moving to a carbon-free future because it makes sense economically as well as environmentally. This is the way of the future!
The future is looking grim. Many people think we have left it too late to do much about global warming. Very few countries have made serious attempts to reduce their emissions.
Pretty much the same as global causes of global warming--the emission of carbon dioxide from the generation of electricity and consumption of fossil fuels in transportation. The UK is responsible for about 1.7% of mankind's CO2 emissions. Since the UK is only 0.9% of earth's human population, they're actually doing pretty good, though we all yet have room for improvement.
Any one person's electricity consumption makes an extremely small contribution to global warming, but any one person can also make a contribution to minimising global warming by reducing electricity consumption as much as possible. Every small increment in greenhouse gas emissions is moving us closer to the future when uncontrolled global warming could have catastrophic effects on our economic and social wellbeing. Electricity is usually generated by burning fossil fuels - coal, oil and gas - releasing additional carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Since carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, the continued release of new carbon dioxide into the atmosphere results in global warming. Global warming, in turn, causes climate change - more frequent storms, flooding, drought, and rising sea levels. If allowed to continue out of control, this will have a catastrophic effect on our economic and social wellbeing.
When we speak of global warming, we usually mean the rise in average global temperatures that has been occurring since the beginning of the Industrial Age. Rising levels of carbon dioxide account for most of this change, followed by methane levels.
CO2 stands for carbon dioxide, one atom of carbon and two of oxygen. It is a greenhouse gas that captures the sun's heat in the atmosphere and too much of it is causing global warming. The problem comes because we cut down forests and are now burning fossil fuels which release the carbon dioxide.
No, men travelling to the moon would have very little effect on global warming. Emissions from spacecraft do add carbon dioxide (CO2) to the atmosphere, but not much more than an aeroplane. Emissions from burning fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas) is the main cause of global warming.
None. Global warming does not cause pollution. In fact, it is the other way round. Carbon dioxide pollution is causing global warming.
Yes they should. However it must be remembered that it was the rich countries that caused the problem, and that the ability of poor third world countries to fight global warming is very limited. If we try to force countries to reduce their carbon emissions when their carbon emissions per person are already much lower than ours, we condemn them to poverty forever. This is a case when we must make compromises for the common good, and try to help third world countries to find ways to participate in the fight against global warming.
Yes, unfortunately. Governments and business have not shown much determination to ban carbon dioxide emissions, nor to encourage renewable energy. There is already enough greenhouse gases in the atmosphere to continue the present warming for at least another hundred years, so global warming will certainly be worse in the future.
No. The amount of sunlight reaching earth has not changed in any significant way in the past few thousand years. Global warming is the result of increase emissions of greenhouse gasses, primarily carbon dioxide, which, simply put, cause the atmosphere to retain more heat.
Too much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is causing global warming. The natural carbon cycle is overwhelmed and can't move out all the extra gas. The extra gas is turning the natural greenhouse effect into an accelerated greenhouse effect, which is causing global warming.
The future is looking grim. Many people think we have left it too late to do much about global warming. Very few countries have made serious attempts to reduce their emissions.
The Amazon Basin has had much of its forests destroyed. These trees used to be a carbon sink, that is, they removed and stored carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Their removal means that global warming is happening more quickly!
Pretty much the same as global causes of global warming--the emission of carbon dioxide from the generation of electricity and consumption of fossil fuels in transportation. The UK is responsible for about 1.7% of mankind's CO2 emissions. Since the UK is only 0.9% of earth's human population, they're actually doing pretty good, though we all yet have room for improvement.
Combustion has the effect of emitting carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide emissions should be released at a stable rate but human beings do it so much that the existing plants on earth cannot soak up all the carbon dioxide on their own.
Solar powered cars are completely pollution free. They have no carbon dioxide emissions. They make no contribution to global warming. They are much much better for the environment than regular cars burning oil.
Here we are speaking of the increase in average global temperatures since the beginning of the Industrial Age. The rise in temperatures is consistent with the rise in greenhouse gas levels, which in turn is consistent with carbon dioxide emissions from human activities. However climate scientists cautiously say that human activities are "substantially" the cause of this global warming, leaving open the possibility that a much less substantial contribution could be found from natural causes. Thus the cautious answer could be that most, if not all, the recent global warming effect is due to human activities.