Archive for the ‘Climate’ Category

Let me first say that I’m by no means a member of the environmental movement. I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about “green” issues and I take part in many activities that would probably shock the extreme environmentalist (for example, eating food that has been flown halfway around the world at great carbon cost). Having said all of this, neither am I one of the world’s great polluters or Jeremy Clarksons. For one thing, I don’t drive and I at least try to recycle as much as I possibly can.

The issue of climate change, or “global warming”, is surrounded with hyperbole, hysteria and histrionics. On one side you have the so-called “deniers”, who reject the conclusion that climate change is anthropogenic and say that it is just part of our planet’s natural cycle, and on the other side you have the eco-warriors, who fight day-in and day-out to save us from supposed doom. Neither side particularly appeals to me.

A large proportion of the “green” movement has taken on many of the characteristics of the apocalyptic cultists, with a belief that man is essentially evil, that the End Times are coming and that certain propitiations have to be made to save us. The practice of offsetting your carbon emissions can be compared with the sale of indulgences in the Catholic Church that so offended Martin Luther when he initiated the Protestant Reformation. And too much of the “denial” camp seems to be solely concerned with self-interest and a desire to maintain the status quo.

Personally, I would place myself in-between these two warring factions. Not being a scientist myself, I cannot competently question the veracity of the scientific community’s conclusions that climate change is indeed man-made. But whatever the truth is, I firmly believe that prudence is the best course of action. Make that the only course of action.

Much like Blaise Pascal’s Wager (in which he says that even though the existence of God cannot be determined through reason, a person should wager as though God exists, because living life accordingly has everything to gain and nothing to lose*), I believe we should assume that climate change is our responsibility and that there’s something we can do about it.

*Not to undermine my point but, when it comes to God, I believe he/she/it would prefer honesty.

If we reject the idea that climate change is mankind’s fault and deny responsibility, we may find ourselves in very grave circumstances indeed if this proves to be an incorrect belief. However, if we assume that climate change is our responsibility, and live our lives according to this belief, then we have nothing to lose. If our influence on climate change is non-existent, we would have at least succeeded in recycling a little bit more and polluting the world a little bit less. And if we are proven right – well, we would have saved the world.

Put simply, the risks of not doing something about climate change far outweigh the risks of doing something about it.

This video made by Greg Craven explains this reasoning in far more detail.

The second point to make is that this is not our planet to spoil. We share this planet with an extraordinary abundance of animal and plant life – life that would suffer too if our actions are as damaging as many scientists say they are.

Whether you think I am shamefully hedging my bets or not, the risk of damaging our planet irreparably is too important to ignore and is an issue on which none of us can remain neutral.

You can read this blog post here: Betting on a Change

Author: Dominic Stapleton
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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The world is getting smaller everyday because of the technological advancements of mankind. However, the same factors responsible for making human life and the human race better is also responsible for the degradation of the environment.

Man has been exposed to a more comfortable life and he wants more. He may have everything he needs to live a better and more comfortable life but he is becoming greedy to the point of wanting more than what Mother Nature can afford.

The environmental disasters that are reported in different countries almost every day should serve as a wake up call to humanity that perhaps, they should now be more considerate of the environment. Mother Nature may be generous but she can also become angry and vindictive when she has reached the saturation point.

The strong typhoon, earthquake, soil erosion leading to the collapse of residential areas are just some of the common disasters that are actually caused by men. Illegal logging, the throwing of industrial wastes in the rivers, increased used of un-biodegradable materials are only among the few sins mankind has committed against nature.

Evidence will point out to the fact that environmental retribution will most likely behold mankind soon and he should be prepared for a major disaster brought about by climate change anytime now or in the future.

The issue on the greenhouse effect is not just propaganda in order for environmentalist groups to earn their funding requirement. Global warming is upon us and this can be gleamed from the major environmental changes like too much heat, too much cold and other phenomenon that mankind is faced with.

But no matter what mankind does now, he can ever revert global warming; he can only delay it. What is important is mankind knows the possible effects of climate change and what can be done to alleviate the negative effects.

Climate change can lead to emergencies like the increasing level of the sea water, forest fires and other manifestations. When this happens, the scientists and world leaders should have an emergency program that they can implement to make sure that lives are not lost and properties are not wasted.

The first thing to do is to launch a massive information campaign to make the whole world aware of what is happening in the environment as a result of climate change. People should know what to expect in terms of the possible environmental disasters as well as the possible diseases that may be caused by climate change.

The best emergency preparation kit for people all over the world is knowledge. Knowledge on what is about to befall them once the effects of climate change becomes manifest in our environment would help societies lessen the brunt of the anger of Mother Nature.

Every country should prepare for any emergency brought about by climate change. Even the first world countries that have all the technology would have a hard time facing this disaster. How much more the third world countries that are not even past the problem of providing food resources for their citizens?

Every household should be taught how to prepare for climate change emergencies. They should no longer rely on their governments to see them through the effects of climate change because once that happens, there may be a possibility that even government will become debilitated to act.

Everyone has to act now. They do not have a choice.

Adam Creshy runs his own online ebook business at [http://www.thealphasource.com]

Author: Adam Creshy
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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There is all this talk about Climate Change. I guess we all want to know how much of it is true and how relevant is it to my business? This article discusses what has happened, is happening and some of the predictions so you can assess the importance for yourself. It also discusses the causes of this and includes some discussion of available options.

Global warming is a fact. It is likely to speed up, with near record growth in greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere.

The recent UK Stern Report warned that if we ignore this we are likely to have an economic impact equivalent to the combined first and second world wars plus the great depression, and that is without considering millions of people displaced around the world.

To put climate change into perspective, during the last ice age global temperatures were only 5°C lower than today and much of Canada, Europe and northern Russia was covered in massive ice sheets several kilometres thick.

Half of the 65 species unique to the Australian Wet Tropics will become extinct with a 3.5°C increase in temperature. A 2-3°C change is expected to cause 80% of Kakadu wetlands to be lost.

Weather extremes and greater fluctuations in rainfall and temperatures caused by climate change are liable to change productive landscapes and exacerbate food, water and energy scarcities in a relatively short time span. Particularly worrying is sea-level rise because of the density of coastal populations and the potential for the large-scale displacement of people in Asia.

Climate change will cause health security consequences, since some infectious diseases will become more widespread as the planet heats up.

Rising global temperatures will see more fires, droughts and flooding over the next 200 years, according to climate scientists from the UK’s University of Bristol.

It is predicted that climate change will contribute to destabilising, unregulated population movements in Asia and the Pacific. While most of population movement is likely to be internal, there will be flow on effects requiring cooperative regional solutions.

Increasingly extreme weather patterns will result in greater death and destruction from natural disasters, and add to the burden on poorer countries and even stretch the coping ability of more developed nations.

For a handful of small, low-lying Pacific nations, climate change is the ultimate security threat, since rising sea-levels will eventually make their countries uninhabitable.

Even if we stopped emitting greenhouse gases now, researchers predict Eurasia, eastern China, Canada, Central America and Amazonia are at risk of forest loss. Global warming of less than 2°C would create a 30% probability of deforestation, while more than 3°C would double the likelihood of loss. (UK research)

Now about the Causes
There are three main gases that are responsible for causing the Greenhouse Effect.
The data for this has been taken from ice cores giving thousands of years of information.

- Carbon Dioxide CO2
- Nitrous oxides – often called NOX
- Methane

All three are increasing exponentially at present. We are now sitting a long way outside the concentrations that have ever occurred in the past and we don’t know what will happen.

Who is to blame for this? My little bit can’t make all that difference. Twenty-seven per cent of carbon emissions come from homes which means the rest comes from business in some form or other and a large percentage of business involves small to medium enterprises and farms, just like most of us.

Air traffic is currently blamed for about 3.5% of the human activities that cause climate change and is the fastest growing source of emissions. Its share of total CO2 impact is expected to grow to 5% by 2050.

A recent report stated that agriculture is responsible for 40% of greenhouse gasses,

- 70% of total methane,
- 80% of NOX – this comes from biochemical processes in soils. There are large losses of N from fertilizers – between 15and 50% of N fertilizer goes missing. If you use N fertilizer, you need to improve the efficiency of use.

There are 1.4 billion cows worldwide, each producing 500 litres of methane a day and accounting for 14% of all emission of the gas

There is now 5 times the historic concentration of fertilizers in the sea off the coast of Queensland. This causes and increased growth of algae and algae feed Crown of Thorns starfish larvae. The combination of higher temperatures and Crown of Thorns Starfish is seriously threatening the Great Barrier Reef.

Impacts on water
Global warming is expected to intensify the water cycle, with increased risk of floods and droughts. One of the effects of global warming is likely to be changes in the seasonality of river flows in regions where winter precipitation falls as snow. Additionally, rising sea levels will damage the quality of fresh water available from coastal aquifers and wetlands.

Less freshwater is likely to be available in West Africa, Central America, southern Europe, the eastern US and southern Australia. Other regions, particularly tropical Africa and northwest South America, will be at significant risk of excessive runoff as trees are lost, increasing the chances of severe flooding.

We need to preserve our water quality. There are more of us and fresh water is deceasing. Anything discharged into drains ends up in lakes, dams, rivers or the sea. Do any rivers or lakes near your business have algal problems? A wetland can remove up to 90% of sediments, nutrients and bacteria from stormwater.

When we go boating we really enjoy being in the environment but have we thought about the impact we may be having on water quality. Two-stroke engines produced up to 10 times more water pollution than four-stroke. They acidify waterways and release heavy metals from sediments resulting in underwater pollution up to 1000 per cent worse with two-stroke engines.

What can we do about this?
We can think about our buildings and try to reduce energy use there. Eighty-four per cent of property owners, architects and consultants are involved in green development to some degree, but there are still limited choices of green building products, according to the first major survey of attitudes to sustainability.

While governments are seen as having the greatest influence on society’s reaction to climate change, 65% of surveyed people expected the private sector to take the lead in coming years.

Wind power could supply one third of the world’s electricity by 2050 and save 113 billion tones of CO2 emissions, according to a report by the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) and Greenpeace.

We can think about our waste
When our waste breaks down in land fills, it generates large amounts of methane gas. Some of the newer landfill sites have been carefully designed to prevent leaching into the water table and to capture the methane gas generated. In Victoria in 2004-5, 5.4 million tonnes of waste was recycled. This is a 7% increase from the previous year it showed recycling saved over 78 million gigajoules of energy, 52 GL of water and 4 million tonnes of greenhouse gasses. 55% of the total solid waste stream was recovered.

Germany has become the 18th country to join the international “Methane To Markets Partnership”, an initiative to turn the toxic greenhouse gas in the coalmining, landfill, agricultural, and oil and gas sectors into a clean energy source.

India wants industry to use waste-to-energy technologies to both generate electricity and help address waste disposal challenges in various core industries including pulp and paper industry, breweries, textile mills, rice mills and solvent extraction units.

The paper industry is eminently suited for power co-generation as 75-85% of energy is to heat the process and 15-25% as electrical power. “The large quantity of wastewater generated in pulp and paper industry can be used for generating biogas which can be used to produce thermal energy electricity.”

And we can consider using other fuels as well as how far we transport things and whether the transport is efficient.

The biggest initiatives here are alternative fuels such as harnessing solar and wind energy and also using fuels made from plants and other biological sources instead of fossil fuels. This is logical because fossil; fuels are just fossilised forests from the past.

Victoria’s wind farms are saving more than 250,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per year, according to an independent study. A typical 2 MW wind turbine reduces greenhouse emissions by about 6,000 tonnes per year, with 1,000 MW of installed wind able to displace around 600 GWh of brown coal generation per annum.

A meat works in Victoria, is investigating the use of animal fat from its abattoir operations for making biodiesel. The potential 10 ML of biodiesel a year would fuel the company’s own transport fleet, with the excess sold on the open market. In Australian biodiesel is being made from canola but sugar would be another good source.

In New Zealand biofuel is being made from algae grown in sewage ponds. This is important because a major obstacle to biodiesel is the fact that the same land used to grow biodiesel crops is also needed to grow food.

Trading carbon is a sensible strategy so that people who do use large amounts of carbon based energy can pay other people who are growing trees. One of my clients has a forestry project to enable their business to be carbon neutral. My business donates a portion of all our income to Trees for Life to support them growing seedling native trees for farmers and other land owners to plan each year.

Governor Schwarzenegger says California, the world’s 12th largest carbon emitter, will become a global leader in greenhouse emissions reduction following agreement on a cap and trade system.

So how does this affect me?
Personally I feel deep concern about the future my grandchildren and their friends face. I think we all need to take the many small steps that may seem to “not make much difference” to try to reduce the overall load on the system. I use low energy fluorescent bulbs in table lamps instead of the ceiling full of halogen lights in both my home and my office. I chose to live in a well insulated north facing place so that I get winter sun coming under my verandah but no summer sun and I seldom use the air conditioner. I used heating for only for 4 hours last winter and that was when the ground outside was white with frost. In summer 40oC outside translated to 29 oC inside and I decided I was comfortable as it was under 30 oC. I drive a duel fuelled car and walk or ride my bike when this is possible.

These are little steps to reduce our foot print and if we all do this in both our businesses and our homes we do have a cumulative effect. We can choose “green power” in most places. In our business we can think carefully about all the impacts we have just discussed and work out how to save green house gas use and remember this also saves us money.

Obviously we also need to take big steps as well and new technologies must also be developed as existing technologies are not adequate to “solve” the problem, but we can reduce the load and the rate of global warming by all taking our small steps and we need to start now.

Helping the environment can be a real win-win.

Author Bio
——————–

Hi I am Jean Cannon and my passion is helping small and medium businesses to fully realise the amazing help and protection a management system can bring. I am especially excited about the win-win of environmental management systems, when I help clients like you truly understand that reducing environmental impacts also saves time and money.

I am also an extremely pragmatic business person who knows that small business is under enormous pressure. My unusually wide background as a business person, consultant, trainer, marine biologist, teacher, speaker, auditor and author provide a wide knowledge base to give you better service.

Building a management system is really easy! Yes, I will admit that up front it does take some time but we keep it simple and use tools to minimise this and once in place you soon find it SAVES time and money!

Please visit our website at http://www.enviroaction.com.au/default.asp

Author: Jean Cannon
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Recent news of record level floods, worsening winter and even bigger hailstorms reported from all around the world have again reminded us of the climate change alarm bells that have been ringing all the while through the news media, documentaries and online media. Several prominent climate change experts have repeatedly told us that the earth future looks grim if we do not change our habits right now as our Mother Earth is starting to show many “flu” symptoms that we cannot choose to ignore. The ice coverage at the Arctic Ocean is reducing at an alarming rate over the past 30 years. Greenland will one day not be covered by any ice and that will definitely bring up the sea level around the world thus submerging some of the vulnerable coastal island countries like Maldives and small pacific islands that are only a few metres above sea level.

With the overall climate outlook looks increasingly grim, what should one as an individual do to help our mother earth? Experts have come forward and recommend vegetarianism as the way to solve the climate change crisis. Producing meat as food for mankind has been very inefficient and causes wide spread pollution in the farm areas. For example, it it takes 2.6 pounds of corn to produce only one pound of beef. Besides that, rearing of farm animals causes nitrates to leak into ground water through animal wastes and this causes direct pollution into the precious water source. Livestock-rearing have reportedly found to be main contributor of green house gases as compared to motor vehicles as their waste also produce methane gas which is 30 times more effective than carbon dioxide in trapping heat.

Promoting vegetarianism maybe one of the key solution as it helps in reducing the amount of livestocks demanding for food and produces wastes. Generally, human are able to benefit their health through more consumption of more vegetables and also by having more vegetables in the planet, that will means having more plants to absorb the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. What we now need is probably the will power to change our meat eating habit so that we can have a better place to live in for many generations to come…

Mr Chee Ming Ho
Do your part! Learn what you can do with alternate energy!
http://www.earthenergytoday.info/

Author: Chee Ming Ho
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Climate Change – There is no doubt that the planet is warming up. Surface temperature measurements taken over the past 200 years show that the 7 hottest years have occurred in the 10 years and early indications are that the year 2009 will be amongst the warmest on record. Land based ice and glacier snow coverage around the world are showing visible signs of rapid decline which in turn leads to rising sea levels in low lying areas. The continual warming trend has also resulted in an unprecedented rise in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events such as tropical storms, cyclones, floods, droughts and bushfires. The warming has played havoc with nature, resulting in the loss of species. It also impacted the health of humans through the spread of tropical deceases such as dengue fever and malaria, which are now spreading to new areas as temperatures rise.

Who is to blame? The cause of climate change is still fiercely debated however the majority of the scientific community is now of the opinion that climate change is not only real but it has been caused by humans since the dawn of industrialization. The theory is that gasses such carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide are forming a blanket around the atmosphere thus allowing less heat to escape, similar to the impact of a Greenhouse or Glasshouse. Carbon dioxide, a by- product of burning fossil fuels such as coal for our electricity needs, is singled out as the major culprit as it remains in the atmosphere for over 100 years. This theory is supported by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) who are made up of the top climate experts from around the globe.

Issues for Small Business – However, even if you agree that climate change is a result of human behavior or you have a view that climate change is a factor of nature – it is somewhat irrelevant. The fact is that Climate Change and the adoption of environmentally friendly practices is now a major worldwide issue that has capture the attention of governments, business and consumers. The global financial crisis has taken over as the major concern of most business sectors in the past 18 months however with encouraging signs of economic improvement – the environment will again become the number one issue. This will strengthen as we get closer to the major global summit on climate change, taking place in Copenhagen, later this year. The “green train” is well and truly ready to leave the platform and the decision for your business is whether to board the train now or remain back at the platform, potentially watching your competitors satisfy the rapidly growing band of “green consumers”.

Next Steps – Over the next few articles, I will examine the business reasons for going green; discuss the risks in doing nothing and also the risks of getting it wrong. I will then step through a number of easy strategies you can develop to minimize your carbon footprint that will also help reduce your operating costs and/or increase business revenue.

Tony Innes – http://www.sustainabledirections.com.au

Author: Tony Innes
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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The current global climatic changes are a source of serious worry to mankind. Life on earth is becoming increasingly threatened with extinction as a result of damaging changes in the earth’s climate. Many have not come to the realization that it is possible for man to go extinct. But there are evidences in the past and even today that extinction is not a myth.

Paleogeological discoveries show that certain flora and fauna species have gone extinct in the past. Conspicuous among them are the dinosaurs. The dinosaur extinction theories have it that it was caused by abrupt, harsh and sustain climatic changes to which this animal species could not adapt to.

Today, our climate is noticing very serious changes. Changes that are inimical to the continuous existence of man. Melting of the polar ice, heavily polluted atmosphere and water bodies, serious depletion of forests resources, and therefore alteration of the carbon oxide:oxygen balance, changes in rainfall pattern with some areas getting too much and others getting almost none. These are caused mainly by human activities – aggressive industrialization, urbanization, intensive agriculture, poor waste management techniques and other environmental-unfriendly practices.

At present, people in some major cities of the world do not have the privilege of a clean air or water. People wear gas masks during the day in heavily industrialized cities. China is an example. With time if not watched, we might not have any air to breathe.

To Avoid Extinction
We therefore need to have a rethink. We need to slow down and watch our steps in everything we do – our policies, development plans, energy utilization, daily living and waste generation pattern and disposal methods.

To avoid extinction man must begin to place the environment first in everything he does. Proper environment impact assessment must be carried out before any project is executed. Also, concerted effort must be made by government and industrialists to cut down on the emission of polluting gases to tolerable levels. Internationally agreed standards for emissions and waste discharges from industries must be kept to.

Government should formulate policies that would encourage green living and environment conservation and preservation. Industries whose activities pollute the environment should be made to pay adequately for its clean up and restoration through a functional Polluter-Pay-Policy.

People should adopt climate -friendly lifestyle. For instance, aerosol-based air freshener and insecticides should be avoided. Garbage and rubbishes should not be burnt in the open but rather should be property incinerated if at all it should be.

Adopting a green living ideology is the way cut, it would cut-down most drastically the impact of human activities on our climatic and so ensure the continuous existence of man, Let us act today to secure our climate. A threaten climate means a threaten population.

Fortune Ihunweze is a professional Environmental Resources Manager with a passion for the environment. His passion for the environment made him study Environmental Resource Management in his Masters program and since he finished in 2003, he has been committed to the course of a healthy and better environment. His views and articles on the environment are shared in his website: http://www.environmenthighlight.com The website is part of his effort to help mankind recover our damaged, degraded and threatened environment.

Author: Fortune Ihunweze
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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The unproven theory that global warming is being caused by mans’ industrial activities is a theory being supported by Alarmists. Their opponents, the Realists, regard the theory as being completely unproven but are prepared to listen to anything that may confirm the theory.

This international debate is the cause of much controversy with the Alarmists insisting their position is solid, whilst the Realists say much more concrete evidence is needed. Looking at the Alarmists’ position two questions need to be asked – are they scientifically ignorant, or are they engaged in deception?

More accurate data needed before trends can be ascertained

What the Alarmists need to do is provide more compelling evidence to support their position. All they rely on at the moment is current data and compare it to climatic events since the 1890s when modern recording of temperatures began.

The major problems with this constricted approach are twofold:

Firstly, the instruments used today to measure such attributes as air temperature, sea temperature etc. are infinitely more accurate and sophisticated than those in use 50 years ago, never mind 110 years ago. So that begs the question – how accurate is any data older than say 10 years? The Alarmists have yet to clarify this point.

The second problem concerns the time period over which the current data has been collected. 110 years may provide a start, buy that’s all it is, a start. Realistically though, 110 years in comparison to the scientifically recognized age of the earth being – 4.5 billion years – is statistically unsustainable.

To get a valid and meaningful understanding of recent changes in the worlds’ temperature and the future trends in the area of climate change, the absolute minimum time frame to analyze such data should be no less than a thousand years.

As this is just not possible, the Alarmists are being too free and easy with the very limited information at their disposal. They’re making a mountain out of a molehill, and the susceptible people in our societies are taking all this in and making the loudest noise. Hysteria is well under way.

The role of the UN in this deception

Recent reports issued by the UN’s committee on climate change laid the blame for this perceived problem clearly at the feet of the industrial western world. Two reports made in early 2007 pointed to the damage being caused by industrial pollution leading to an increase in greenhouse gases, and an imbalance between the CO2 and oxygen in the worlds’ atmosphere. The UN said quite clearly that this problem was caused by the ever-increasing expansion of industrial activity by the established western nations and the emerging industrial countries, notably China and India.

No mention was made of other factors that could be responsible for this atmospheric imbalance – factors that could have a profound influence.

Firstly no mention was made of the practice prevalent in third world countries of mass deforestation. ie the clearing of forests to enable land to be used for agriculture. As trees emit oxygen and take in CO2 they’re able to keep in balance the relationship between these two gases. Trees help in controlling greenhouses gases, something the UN has not yet accepted.

The other factor the UN failed to mention was the explosion in the worlds’ population over the past 50 years. In that time world population has grown from 2 billion to over 6 billion. As the human body converts oxygen into CO2, the omission of this from the UN reports add suspicion to their motives.

So if man is responsible for any increase in greenhouse gases, then more than industrial pollution is the cause. If the UN were to take a more responsible attitude to this, then they’d be a whole lot more credible.

Why are the Alarmists deceiving Us?

Why? What have they got to hide?

Why do they continually tell the world that of the ten hottest years on record, six have occurred within the past 10 years? This has been seen to be false. NASA recently reported that these 10 hottest years occurred before 1950, with the hottest decade being the 30s.

What about the influence of volcanoes on the amount of CO2 in the air?

Why do they keep repeating the line that over 5,000 scientists have signed a document saying that man-made climate change is happening, and ignoring the fact that over 31,000 scientists, including more than 9,000 PhDs have said that this theory is rubbish?

Why do the Alarmists refuse to answer the basic question – what caused climate change in the 12 previous occasions it’s occurred during the life of the earth?

After 12 periods of climate change caused by Mother Nature, or for the religious inclined, God, Allah, Jehovah, why should the activities of man be responsible for present events?

And this last point raises a very important issue – what gives the Alarmists the right to think they can reverse Mother Nature or God? What gives Al Gore and his ilk the right to play God?

And why are the worlds’ religious leaders saying nothing about this?

This is an attempt to put some balance into the ongoing international controversy that is the theory of man-made climate change.

Like most people, the author takes a keen interest in the world-wide controversy of climate change and global warming, and the alleged effect this will have on life on earth. He also takes an interest in more mundane issues such as weight loss tips and the best deals offered by satellite TV.

Author: Gareth Black
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Climatic changes on the African continent are threatening the valuable agricultural and tourism industries. These 2 areas make up a large part of Kenya’s income. A report suggests that tourism in Africa, which makes up for three per cent of the world’s tourism, may change with climate change.

The report says increased warming will induce many changes in the global climate system during the 21st century. The threat of flood risks and water pollution-related diseases in low lying regions and coral reef bleaching due to climate change could impact negatively on tourism. Mozambique is growing as a tourist destination, however in 2000 it was in the world news due to massive floods which took the lives of hundreds of people, these floods have occurred again in early 2007, deterring tourist from the beautiful country.

Africa is home to the best Safari parks in the world, including the Masai Mara Game Reserve in Kenya and the Kruger National Park in South Africa, but due to global warming and climate change it is expected that about 10% of the species current populations are projected to decline in coming years

By 2080 it is estimated that areas of arid and semi arid land in Africa are likely to increase by 5 – 8 %. Crop revenue in Africa could fall by up to 90 per cent by 2100, and wheat production – one of Africa’s greatest sources of income – in Africa might disappear altogether by the 2080.

If sea level was to rise by only 1 meter, the coastal areas of Kenya would loss massive areas which three main crops grow in the country, namely mangoes, cashew nuts, and coconuts, loss of these crops could cost the country almost US$500 million. If sea levels do rise it is feared that costal agriculture could be at risk of inundation and soil salination.

Climate change will also affect human health in Africa. Malaria distribution has already increased in the past decade and is expected to continue to move into these previously cooler areas, it is estimated that by the 2080s an additional 80 million people will likely be at risk of malaria.

Areas of Kenya, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Burundi which have not previously had malaria could also experience changes which will allow malaria carrying mosquitoes to thrive there by the 2050s.

Humans’ ability to recover from disease and illness could also be affected by climate change in Africa. Many countries are already suffering from massive HIV / Aids pandemics, and with changes in moisture and temperature in the continent diseases could become harder to fight.

More about Climate change in Africa

Author: Angela Drummond
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Philippines is one of the most affected and vulnerable countries in the world. It is annually visited by twenty typhoons, bringing heavy rainfall that causes flooding, landslides and mudslides. These in turn destroy valuable agricultural land and settlements, and claim many lives every year. Other hazards such as El Nino aggravate the extent of these damages, which sum up to an annual loss of 0.5% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).

Eastern Visayas, mainly consisting of the islands of Leyte, Samar and Biliran, is one of the most disaster prone regions in the Philippines, experiencing some of the worst typhoons ever recorded in Philippine history, killing over a thousand people through a mudslide in February 2006, and over 6,000 people due to typhoons back in 1990-1991. Disaster preparedness is one of the weaknesses of the region and for the most part, it is still seen as emergency management. The government and the local people are neither sufficiently prepared nor well equipped to implement preventive measures and execute the right actions in the event of an emergency. Furthermore, the archipelagic nature of the country further increases its vulnerability to the rising sea levels brought about by melting polar ice caps. Some of the islands will thus be underwater and marine resources will be extinct within the century, according to United Nations studies.

The Philippines account for only 1/3 of 1% (0.3%) of all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions all over the world, and it seriously suffers from the other 99.7% GHG produced by other countries. This is why the big GHG emitting countries, namely the United States, China, Russia, Japan and members of the European Union, must take the lead in initiating and continuing actions to help prepare third world communities and people toward climate change preparedness, adaptation and mitigation while uplifting the people’s economic and organizational capacity to withstand its adverse effects.

Because of these human-made problems, people around the world, including those in vulnerable countries such as the Philippines, are ready for action. And one of the best ways to do this is for communities around the world to be:

1. Educated: People should individually study the various aspects of climate change, including the scientific basis, environmental and social impacts, policy and strategy options, and operational measures, most especially those related and applicable to their own communities.

2. United: Key representatives from the different sectors of the society should unite themselves in an organization to discuss and express their concerns about climate change-related problems, and present and represent the people’s needs to higher authorities such as the local governments. Climate change initiatives all over the world should also be united for their actions to be more efficient and all encompassing.

3. Cooperative: When the government and non-government organizations initiate climate change programs, communities should more willingly help and cooperate with them, for they are in fact the beneficiaries of all these efforts.

Each of us has the power to make the transition to a better, more sustainable future for us, our children and the generations to come. Together, our efforts will help solve the climate crisis.

Mary Bernadette Egloso is a medical student and climate change advocate who’s mission is to use her wisdom, love and creativity to help and bless others to live their God-given purposes. She’s currently the organizer of The Eastern Visayas Climate Project in the Philippines. You can check out this project at https://sites.google.com/site/evclimateforum/.

Author: Mary Bernadette Egloso
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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The effects of climate science reach into every part of our day. It is a constant force in our society. You see it in the weather reports on the TV channels, and the analysis of weather patterns. Hurricane and storm warnings for cities on the coast have become an important part of weather prediction. Every day, climate science is essential to weather reports, yet it has other functions too. Climate science keeps an eye on global temperatures and the bigger picture.

Whether global warming is actually a reality is disputable. So climate science is needed to provide solid facts and educate people so the right decisions can be made. However, there is a lot of arguments raging around global warming and the effects it is or isn’t having, and it seems that even the work climate science is doing isn’t shining enough light to really illuminate this topic for us. There are solid facts and measurable changes being measured by science of the increase in temperatures. However, what is not known is how much man is responsible for those weather changes.

There are some foundational points, however, that have been proved. Temperatures in the sea and average temperatures of near-surface air have been shown by climate science to have increased. Of course, the effect of greenhouse gases, as well as carbon dioxide, also plays a part, as they seem to surround the earth’s atmosphere. In a way, this forms a kind of blanket that traps the solar radiation, which cannot then escape Earth’s atmosphere.

Carbon dioxide emissions are actually unavoidable, and are a normal consequence of life on earth, and climate science has proved that they are natural waste products. However, mankind is only responsible for the slightest levels of carbon dioxide in the bigger picture (just one percent). For us to really understand what global warming is all about, and to understand the arguments, further study and concrete facts are needed.

In gathering this evidence, the history and the present need to be taken into account when studying the climate. This will make the job of climate science easier, which is discovering the true extent of damage global warming is or isn’t having, and what relationship it has to the changing weather patterns. More consistent research is needed, so that more accurate information can be discovered and the right conclusions drawn.

Climate science will no doubt continue to be an umbrella science for researching global warming and weather changes. Everyone holds out hope that the right facts will be found, so that we can take positive steps for helping the environment. It will go a long way to soothing the arguments, and motivating everyone to create some future goals and ideals we can work toward making this planet a green, healthy, safe place to live for the generations to follow.

Terje Brooks has written articles online for many years and likes to write about environmental issues, home improvement, families and other topics. He has written solar water panel reviews on his solar electric panels site.

Author: Terje Brooks
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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