Global Warming

If your audience largely consists of young people, a story on global warming would be very relevant to them, because they will inherit the world after the older generation messes it up (if that is what we do).

If your audience consists of older people with children or grandchildren of their own, they will find it relevant to know just what kind of world they could be leaving to the children and grandchildren. They will also want to know what can be done to avert a future disaster.

A story on global warming can be relevant to everyone.

Yes, driving produces carbon dioxide (CO2) as a byproduct of burning fuel in the engine. The combustion process releases CO2 into the atmosphere, contributing to greenhouse gas emissions and climate change.

Actually CFCs (Chlorofluorocarbons) don't do much to cause global warming. CFCs destroy ozone, and may cause problems concerning the UV rays coming through the atmosphere. Global warming has to do with carbon dioxide levels and temperature.

True global warming does not decrease temperatures. So, either the model for global warming's effects is hokus-pokus, or global warming as presently claimed, does not exist.

Some global warming followers will have you believe that global warming makes the weather "act crazy". If true, then it is not really global warming, is it.

The human activities of the burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas) and deforestation (cutting down trees which previously removed carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere). These are causing the enhanced (or accelerated) greenhouse effect which is causing global warming.

The increase in CO2 levels over the past 200 years is primarily due to human activities such as burning fossil fuels, deforestation, and industrial processes. These activities release large amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere, leading to the greenhouse effect and global warming.

The Kyoto Accord is an agreement ratified by almost all world countries.

Different countries have their own local policies, for example, Australia has a price on carbon emissions that is paid by the biggest polluters. They are thus encouraged to reduce their emissions.

The planet has a number of huge carbon sinks, removing CO2 from the atmosphere. The largest is the ocean, as CO2 dissolves. This absorbs roughly 80% of all carbon dioxide.

Other sinks are photosynthesis by vegetation and phytoplankton, and the weathering of silicate rock. For more details, read about the carbon cycle.

Currently, sources of carbon must outweigh the sinks because atmospheric CO2 is increasing globally by roughly 2 parts per million by volume per year, as can be seen in the NOAA measurements of atmospheric CO2. CO2 is even higher in cities and industrial areas, in places where fossil fuels are being burnt in quantity.

The easiest way for us to reduce the carbon dioxide levels is to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. This is the scientific consensus view, and is the view held by the IPCC, all major scientific bodies and national academies of science around the world.

Yes bush fires to affect the ozone layer, in a negative way. Combustion of organic material can release chloromethane. 15% of the chlorine-containing compounds in the stratosphere (where the ozone layer is) are chloromethane, not all of which are sourced by burning organic matter. This gas is estimated to produce about 17% of the depletion due to chlorine-containing compounds.

Ice cores contain gases representative of the atmosphere at the time the original snow fell, and thus are used for exploring ancient atmosphere properties. An upper age of about 800 000 years is the limit at present. The ice core also contains dust and radioactive fallout, and these contaminants serve as precise markers in the core. Very old ice does not preserve the annual climate bands that are such an aid to precise dating. CO2 is one of the embedded gases. [The ratio of the various isotopes of oxygen are a proxy for the temperature of the Earth, for the atmospheric mixing is reasonably quick.]

Burning anything releases carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, as most things are largely made of carbon. Burning vegetation is really part of the carbon cycle, but burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas) in industry, transport and the generation of electricity, releases carbon dioxide that has been sequestered underground for 300 million years. This is why carbon dioxide levels are increasing in the atmosphere.

Burning fossil fuels, such as coal, oil, and natural gas, is the action most likely to increase the greenhouse effect. This releases greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which trap heat and lead to global warming.

James Bule is the Minister for Climate Change for Vanuatu.

The Earth would be a much colder place without the heat trapping effect of CO2 and methane, and life would probably never have evolved without it. The recent increase in greenhouse gasses is something we don't need, though. So,we need it to keep us warm.

During that period, carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere were around 180-280 parts per million (ppm), which is similar to pre-industrial levels. The fluctuation in CO2 concentrations over time has been linked to natural factors like volcanic activity and changes in Earth's orbit and axial tilt.

Most animals produce carbon dioxide through a process called cellular respiration. During this process, cells break down glucose to obtain energy, releasing carbon dioxide as a byproduct. The carbon dioxide is then expelled from the body through respiration or other methods like diffusion in aquatic animals.

Hydroelectric dams do not directly produce carbon dioxide. However, construction of dams can result in some carbon dioxide emissions due to activities like land clearing, transportation, and concrete production. Operations of the dams can also have indirect emissions through processes like vegetation decay in flooded areas.

Estimates vary, but the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) projects a likely range of 0.29 to 0.59 meters (11 to 24 inches) of global sea level rise by 2100 under a high emissions scenario. However, the exact amount of sea level rise will depend on future emissions and how quickly we are able to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The overwhelming consensus among climate scientists is that global warming is real and primarily caused by human activities. While there may be a small minority of scientists who question the extent or causes of global warming, the consensus and evidence supporting the reality of climate change are robust.

Many scientists believe that the greenhouses gases have contributed to the climate change due to increased concentrations of the gases in the atmosphere courtesy of human activities such as deforestation, and through fossil fuels.

From 1990 to 2000, the world's most developing economies reduced greenhouse gas emissions from energy production by approximately 17%. This reduction was often achieved through a combination of energy efficiency measures, increased use of renewable energy sources, and adoption of cleaner technologies.

A coal-fired power station can use filters to remove particulate emissions form its smokestack. In theory, it could also capture its carbon dioxide emissions for underground sequestration, but this is an unproven technology and might be neither long-term nor safe storage.

The best way for a power station to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions would be to convert to natural gas or to be replaced by a non-combustion source.