Global warming

Global warming fix could threaten food chain

Researchers say plan could jeopardize oceans by introducing toxins into the food chain

An experimental plan to fight global warming could cause blooms of poisonous algae in seafood-rich stretches of the open ocean, say researchers at the University of South Carolina.

For more than 20 years, scientists have discussed whether adding iron to the sea could effectively keep carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere by causing the increased growth of phytoplankton, a tiny ocean plant that absorbs the greenhouse gas from air.

Don't Let it Happen to Us... Let do Recycling

SAVE THE EARTH, PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT

Save the earth, save the environment

by Roger on Nov.13, 2009

How can you save the Earth ? Saving the environment is actually quite simple, when you come to think about it. It does not have to be a complex process… If you (and everyone) follow these simple tips, it will still be quite a breakthrough in helping out the Earth and the environment :

RECYCLING FACTS

GLASS

• Glass never wears out -- it can be recycled forever.
• We save over a ton of resources for every ton of glass recycled -- 1,330 pounds of sand, 433 pounds of soda ash, 433 pounds of limestone, and 151 pounds of feldspar.
• Most bottles and jars contain at least 25% recycled glass.
• Recycling one glass bottle saves enough electricity to light a 100-watt bulb for four hours.
• Most bottles and jars contain at least 25% recycled glass.

PRESS RELEASE:

Philippines urged to speak out in favor of recycling at climate meet in China

4 October 2010, Quezon City.  As government representatives converge in Tianjin, China for a crucial week-long climate meeting starting today, an environmental health and justice alliance urged negotiators from the Philippines and elsewhere to acknowledge the huge climate and livelihood benefits of recycling, and to recognize and respect informal recyclers. The Tianjin climate change conference is the last leg of negotiations before the final summit in Cancun, Mexico in November 2010.

Taking Just A Moment

Taking just a moment to put your newspaper, soda can and glass spaghetti jar in the recycling bin will save everyone years in environmental harm from production of new materials, over crowded landfills and the depletion of our natural resources.

[WASTE SEGREGATION]

A Way To Reduce, Reuse And Recycle The Garbage

By: alona Rudnitsky ... Click on author's name for more of their articles Article Source

The mounting garbage is an eyesore. But there is an even more harmful effect of the garbage - Mother Earth is grieving. Pollution around caused by your trash, which because they are thrown haphazardly without following proper waste disposal, become toxin producers that harm the environment. How many tons of garbage do people throw every day? How many people get sick because of this garbage?

GLOBAL WARMING

Tayo ang may Kagagawan, Bawat isa AY may Pananagutan

BAYANIHAN AT BOLUNTARISMO

SPREAD THE WORD

Share what you know. If you notice abundant trash in your neighborhood start spreading the word and your experience with recycling and if there isn’t already one in place strive to get a city recycling pick up program started. The fact is many of our resources as well as our Earth is not renewable and we have to start taking control of our selves beginning with the world we live in.    

Global warming is no longer viewed as a theory by scientists and has sadly become a fact. The change needed must be in your actions today in order to ensure a bright (not too hot) tomorrow.

[FACTS ON RECYCLING]

10 facts on recycling

by Roger on Feb.10, 2010

From aluminum soda cans and glass jars to old newspapers and rolled-up magazines, the most commonly recycled materials are household products and everyday items no longer of any use. Recycling not only transforms waste into valuable resources, but also benefits the environment on both a local and global level.
The effort saves energy, prevents pollution, decreases greenhouse gases and conserves natural resources.

1. Aluminum Cans

In the United States, used aluminum beverage cans are the most recycled item, but other types of aluminum are just as worthy. Siding, gutters, car components, storm window frames and lawn furniture are often overlooked recyclable items. Recycling one aluminum can saves the equivalent of a ½ gallon of gasoline or enough energy to watch television for 3 hours. Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a TV for three hours! 350,000 aluminum cans are produced every minute! More aluminum goes into beverage cans than any other product. Once an aluminum can is recycled, it can be part of a new can within six weeks. During the time it takes you to read this sentence, 50,000 12-ounce aluminum cans are made. There is no limit to the amount of times aluminum cans can be recycled. We use over 80,000,000,000 aluminum pop cans every year. At one time, aluminum was more valuable than gold !

2. Paper

According to the EPA, recycle 1 ton of paper and save 7,000 gallons of water, 3 cubic yards of landfill space, 2 barrels of oil, 4,100 kilowatt-hours of electricity and 17 full-grown trees. Overall, recycling paper instead of using new materials produces 74 percent less air pollution and uses 50 percent less water. During World War II when raw materials were scarce, 33% of all paper was recycled. After the war, this number decreased sharply. Americans use 85,000,000 tons of paper a year: about 680 pounds per person. In 1993, U.S. paper recovery saved more than 90,000,000 cubic yards of landfill space. In 1993, nearly 36,000,000 tons of paper in the U.S.-twice as much in 1980. 27% of the newspapers produced in America are recycled.

START RECYCLING TODAY

Start Today

Recycling is a very environmentally green activity; however, there are ways that you can make it greener as well as building a strong beginning if you do not currently recycle.

Many people beginning a recycling program look around and wonder what they can put in the recycling bin; there is so much information available on this site, so don't panic.

By reusing your recycled storage containers you save on the environmental impact as well. Paper and plastic bags are good for recycling storage; however, a plastic reusable bin is even better.

Be Creative

Many useful items can be made from our everyday trash; the cardboard tubes left over from paper towel and toilet paper can make useful storage containers for our extra extension cords and prevents a tangled mess in the Christmas lights.

If your going to throw these out don't just throw it in the rubbish bin, put it the recycling bin.

Baby jars can become snow globes the kids can make and give as gifts, old Christmas cards can become new hand made cards and a glass or plastic bottle along with some clear oil and food coloring and a few other common household items can become a groovy lava lamp! The possibilities are endless and instructions can be found in books and on the internet.

4000 Years

When we do not recycle at least our glass or aluminum we cost the earth in power usage, water and oil usage and landfill usage; glass takes up to 4000 years to decompose in a landfill yet can be recycled indefinitely.

RECYCLING FACTS AND THE BENEFITS OF RECYCLING

Everyone today has heard of how important it is to recycle and most cities offer a recycling program, but what exactly is recycling and how beneficial is it really to us and the environment?

What are the recycling facts and benefits?

Recycling is the process of turning one products useful parts into a new product; this is done to conserve on the consumption of resources, energy and space used in landfills.

By recycling1 plastic bottle not only saves anywhere from 100 to 1000 years in the landfill but also saves the environment from the emissions in producing new bottles as well as the oil used to produce that bottle. For every1 ton of plastic that is recycled we save the equivalent of 2 people’s energy use for 1 year, the amount of water used by 1 person in 2 month’s time and almost 2000 pounds of oil.

Today the most common products in cities recycling programs are paper products, cardboard, plastic, glass and aluminum. 

Approximately 60% of our rubbish thrown away today could be recycled.

A survey was done and 9 out of 10 people surveyed said they would recycle more if it was easier.

Odd as it seems there are many people who do not realize that plastic bottles our water comes in is made out of oil. 

This is the same oil that is used to make gasoline. It's the same oil that is in such high demand and is not an unlimited resource.

Green revolution, vanishing jobs and "danger zones" in the Philippines?

Episode on October 24, 2009
Saturday, 8:30 PM
Official website: kapusomojessicasoho.tv


MOST DANGEROUS PLACES TO LIVE IN THE PHILIPPINES?

Danger lurks even in our supposedly safest haven --- home. A passenger airplane suddenly crashed at a quiet residential area In Baranggay Aldana, Las Piñas. In Merville Subdivision, Parañaque, residents complain of the deafening noise coming from a nearby airstrip. Meanwhile, people in Guinobatan, Albay had to deal with the hazards of living with their most threatening neighbor. Mayon Volcano!

 GREEN IS IN!





Humans constantly disrespect the environment --- and now, it is fighting back! But for some, the recent environmental catastrophes also serve as a good wake up call. For members of the Tzu Chi Foundation, instead of throwing away plastic water containers that are non-biodegradable, they transform it into blankets! In Lipa City , Batangas, smoke-belching is not a problem with their bamboo bicycles! And since Christmas is just around the corner. what is the perfect gift we can give to mother nature? Solar Christmas lights!

VANISHING JOBS




With the advent of modern technology, a lot of jobs that require manual labor are slowly being phased out. For some, the fight to keep their craft going continues: just like how history was etched by the church documents penned by the last escribiente of San Fabian, Pangasinan. While the painters of giant movie billboards look up to each work as a masterpiece fit for the celebrities they show!

[GLOBAL WARMING SOLUTIONS]

What Can We Do?

The evidence that humans are causing global warming is strong, but the question of what to do about it remains controversial. Economics, sociology, and politics are all important factors in planning for the future.

Even if we stopped emitting greenhouse gases (GHGs) today, the Earth would still warm by another degree Fahrenheit or so. But what we do from today forward makes a big difference.  Depending on our choices, scientists predict that the Earth could eventually warm by as little as 2.5 degrees or as much as 10 degrees Fahrenheit.

Photograph by Paul Nicklen

A commonly cited goal is to stabilize GHG concentrations around 450-550 parts per million (ppm), or about twice pre-industrial levels. This is the point at which many believe the most damaging impacts of climate change can be avoided.  Current concentrations are about 380 ppm, which means there isn't much time to lose.  According to the IPCC, we'd have to reduce GHG emissions by 50% to 80% of what they're on track to be in the next century to reach this level.



Is this possible?

Many people and governments are already working hard to cut greenhouse gases, and everyone can help. Researchers Stephen Pacala and Robert Socolow at Princeton University have suggested one approach that they call "stabilization wedges." This means reducing GHG emissions from a variety of sources with technologies available in the next few decades, rather than relying on an enormous change in a single area.  They suggest 7 wedges that could each reduce emissions, and all of them together could hold emissions at approximately current levels for the next 50 years, putting us on a potential path to stabilize around 500 ppm.

There are many possible wedges, including improvements to energy efficiency and vehicle fuel economy (so less energy has to be produced), and increases in wind and solar power, hydrogen produced from renewable sources, biofuels (produced from crops), natural gas, and nuclear power.  There is also the potential to capture the carbon dioxide emitted from fossil fuels and store it underground—a process called "carbon sequestration."

In addition to reducing the gases we emit to the atmosphere, we can also increase the amount of gases we take out of the atmosphere.  Plants and trees absorb CO2 as they grow, "sequestering" carbon naturally.  Increasing forestlands and making changes to the way we farm could increase the amount of carbon we're storing.

Some of these technologies have drawbacks, and different communities will make different decisions about how to power their lives, but the good news is that there are a variety of options to put us on a path toward a stable climate. http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/gw-solutions.html 

[THE EFFECTS OF GLOBAL WARMING]

Global Warming Impacts and Effects
 
The effects of Global Warming can already be seen
The IPCC's Third Assessment Report finds that in the last 40 years, the global average sea level has risen, ocean heat content has increased, and snow cover and ice extent have decreased, which threatens to inundate low-lying island nations and coastal regions throughout the world.

Effects of global warming already being felt on plants and animals worldwideGlobal warming is having a significant impact on hundreds of plant and animal species around the world -- although the most dramatic effects may not be felt for decades, according to a new study in the journal Nature.

"Birds are laying eggs earlier than usual, plants are flowering earlier and mammals are breaking hibernation sooner,"

"Clearly, if such ecological changes are now being detected when the globe has warmed by an estimated average of only 1 degree F (0.6 C) over the past 100 years, then many more far-reaching effects on species and ecosystems will probably occur by 2100, when temperatures could increase as much as 11 F (6 C)."


Global Warming Effects that will happen in the future:

Global warming will have serious impacts on the environment and on society. Higher temperatures will cause a melting of ice in Greenland and Antarctica. This will accelerate the rise of sea level. The speed at which global warming is expected to occur in the 21st century is faster than most plant and animal species will be able to cope with. Some will adapt but others will suffer and may become extinct.
Global warming will affect agriculture. New crops will be able to be grown in areas that are currently too cold to support them. However, more pests and diseases may offset any benefits higher temperatures may have. Water resources will also be affected. Some reservoirs may dry up if temperature increases, especially if rainfall also decreases. Rising sea levels may pollute fresh groundwater supplies with salt water.

Global warming will also affect human health. There may be more heat-related illnesses in hotter summers, and increased breathing problems as higher temperatures increase air pollution in cities, reducing air quality. The malaria mosquito may also be able to spread to other regions of the world where it is currently too cold to survive and breed.

More extreme weather, for example storms, floods and droughts will have severe impacts on the environment and on society. The poorest people in society will unfortunately be those least able to cope with the impacts of global warming.

[FACTS ON GLOBAL WARMING]

FACT: There is no debate among scientists about the basic facts of global warming.

FACT: Although water vapor traps more heat than CO2, because of the relationships among CO2, water vapor and climate, to fight global warming nations must focus on controlling CO2.

FACT: Any beneficial effects of global warming will be far outweighed by damage and disruption.

MYTH: Global warming is just part of a natural cycle. The Arctic has warmed up in the past.

FACT: The global warming we are experiencing is not natural. People are causing it.

FACT: Although humans as a whole have survived things such as drought, stretches of warmth and cold and more, entire societies have collapsed from dramatic climatic shifts.

FACT: While different pockets of different countries have experienced some cold winters here and there, the overall trend is warmer winters.

FACT: In most parts of the world, the retreat of glaciers has been dramatic. The best available scientific data indicate that Greenland's massive ice sheet is shrinking, less ice leads to more warming and feeds global warming.

FACT: Climate prediction is fundamentally different from weather prediction, just as climate is different from weather.

FACT: Global warming and the ozone hole are two different problems.

IS GLOBAL WARMING REALLY HAPPENING?

Yes. The Earth is already showing many signs of worldwide climate change.

• Average temperatures have climbed 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit (0.8 degree Celsius) around the world since 1880, much of this in recent decades, according to NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies.

• The rate of warming is increasing. The 20th century's last two decades were the hottest in 400 years and possibly the warmest for several millennia, according to a number of climate studies. And the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports that 11 of the past 12 years are among the dozen warmest since 1850.

• The Arctic is feeling the effects the most. Average temperatures in Alaska, western Canada, and eastern Russia have risen at twice the global average, according to the multinational Arctic Climate Impact Assessment report compiled between 2000 and 2004.

][The Causes of Global Warming][

Global warming is caused by several things, which include man-made or anthropogenic causes, and global warming is also caused by natural causes.

Natural Causes

Natural causes are causes that are created by nature. One natural cause is a release of methane gas from arctic tundra and wetlands. Methane is a greenhouse gas and a very dangerous gas to our environment. A greenhouse gas is a gas that traps heat in the earth's atmosphere. Another natural cause is that the earth goes through a cycle of climate change. This climate change usually lasts about 40,000 years.

Man-made Causes of Global Warming

Man-made causes probably do the most damage to our planet. There are many man-made causes of global warming. Pollution is one of the biggest man-made problems. Pollution comes in many shapes and sizes. Burning fossil fuels is one thing that causes pollution. Fossil fuels are fuels made of organic matter such as coal, or oil. When fossil fuels are burned they give off a green house gas called CO2. Also, mining coal and oil allows methane to escape. How does it escape? Methane is naturally in the ground. When coal or oil is mined you have to dig up the earth a little bit. When you dig up the fossil fuels you dig up the methane as well letting it escape into the atmosphere.

Another major man-made cause of Global Warming is population. More people means more food, and more methods of transportation.  That means more methane because there will be more burning of fossil fuels (if you're into gas burning cars like our planet is), and more agriculture. If you've been in a barn filled with animals and you smelled something terrible, you were smelling methane. Another source of methane is manure. Because more food is needed to feed the population we have to raise food. Animals like cows are a source of food which means more manure and hence more methane. Another problem with the increasing population is transportation. More people means more cars, and more cars means more pollution. Also, many people have more than one car. There are definitely ways of raising animals and farming that use no manure and no methane. Once we realized the problem we should have stopped immediately using manure. Instead we choose to continue killing the planet. We are a very stubborn race.

Since CO2 contributes to global warming, the increase in population makes the problem worse because we breathe out CO2. Also, the trees that convert our CO2 to oxygen are being cut down because we're using the land that we cut the trees down from as property for our homes and buildings. We are not replacing the trees (trees are a very important part of our eco-system), so we are constantly taking advantage of our natural resources and giving nothing back in return.

[RP among top 5 in volunteer work vs climate change]

INQUIRER.net First Posted 10:36:00 12/06/2009 


MANILA, Philippines—The country registered more than one million hours of effort to tackle climate change and other environmental issues, the United Nations office here said.

The top five countries are India, which registered 53,917 hours, followed by Pakistan, 40,710, Nigeria, 31,647, Kenya, 32,277, and Philippines, 26,112.
The others on the top 10 are: Ethiopia, 19,165, United States, 17,157, Nepal, 16,742, Cameroon, 14,317, and Democratic Republic of Congo, 13,361.

As part of its campaign to promote International Volunteer (IV) Day celebrated on December 5, the UN Volunteers (UNV) program launched the global campaign “Volunteering for our Planet” to promote voluntary effort for the environment. Here, activities included cleanup of Marikina River and Manila Bay. Simultaneous environmental awareness and cleanup activities were also held in Naga City, Siquijor, Dumaguete City, Baguio City and Tacloban.

“The decisions and actions of individuals may seem insignificant in the face of global challenges. But when people choose to devote their time and energy they can, together, make a difference,” UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said in his message.

“Volunteerism is a source of community strength, resilience, solidarity and social cohesion. It can bring positive social change by fostering respect for diversity, equality and the participation of all. It is among society’s most vital assets,” he added.

The UN chief also thanked all volunteers worldwide who contribute their time to environmental protection, peace and development.

“In particular, I salute the 8,000 United Nations Volunteers who support the work of the United Nations. In doing so, I would like to pay tribute to the two UNV volunteers who were killed in Afghanistan in October, and all those who have lost their lives volunteering for the United Nations. Their service and dedication to the United Nations will not be forgotten,” he said.

The IV Day is a collaborative effort of foreign and local volunteers: United Nations Volunteers, Australian Youth Ambassadors for Development, Volunteering for International Development from Australia, United States Peace Corps, Korea International Cooperation Agency, Korea Overseas Volunteers, Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers and VSO-Bahaginan.

It is supported by volunteer- and environment-focused government agencies and cities: Philippine National Volunteer Service Coordinating Agency, Department of Natural Environment and Resources, the city government of Marikina, Globe, and Pfizer.

The UNV is the UN organization that promotes volunteerism to support peace and development worldwide.
IV Day was adopted by the UN General on 17 December 1985. Now on its 24th year, governments, the UN system and civil society organizations have successfully joined volunteers around the world in tribute to the thriving volunteer spirit. Learn more at their website.

"ONE EARTH, ONE HOME"

Global Warming Causes, Climate Change Causes

What Causes Global Warming?

Scientists have spent decades figuring out what is causing global warming. They've looked at the natural cycles and events that are known to influence climate. But the amount and pattern of warming that's been measured can't be explained by these factors alone. The only way to explain the pattern is to include the effect of greenhouse gases (GHGs) emitted by humans.
To bring all this information together, the United Nations formed a group of scientists called the International Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC. The IPCC meets every few years to review the latest scientific findings and write a report summarizing all that is known about global warming. Each report represents a consensus, or agreement, among hundreds of leading scientists. 
 

Photograph by Peter Essick

One of the first things scientists learned is that there are several greenhouse gases responsible for warming, and humans emit them in a variety of ways. Most come from the combustion of fossil fuels in cars, factories and electricity production. The gas responsible for the most warming is carbon dioxide, also called CO2. Other contributors include methane released from landfills and agriculture (especially from the digestive systems of grazing animals), nitrous oxide from fertilizers, gases used for refrigeration and industrial processes, and the loss of forests that would otherwise store CO2.

Different greenhouse gases have very different heat-trapping abilities. Some of them can even trap more heat than CO2. A molecule of methane produces more than 20 times the warming of a molecule of CO2. Nitrous oxide is 300 times more powerful than CO2. Other gases, such as chlorofluorocarbons (which have been banned in much of the world because they also degrade the ozone layer), have heat-trapping potential thousands of times greater than CO2. But because their concentrations are much lower than CO2, none of these gases adds as much warmth to the atmosphere as CO2 does.

In order to understand the effects of all the gases together, scientists tend to talk about all greenhouse gases in terms of the equivalent amount of CO2. Since 1990, yearly emissions have gone up by about 6 billion metric tons of "carbon dioxide equivalent" worldwide, more than a 20% increase.  read more...National Geographic  

SAVE OUR ONLY ONE (1) EARTH

Global Warming People are the reason, We are all accountable, We are the Solution in our own little ways- LET'S DO RECYCLE

Global warming

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Global warming Publish Postis the increase in the average temperature of Earth's near-surface air and oceans since the mid-20th century and its projected continuation. According to the 2007 Fourth Assessment ReportIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), global surface temperature increased 0.74 ± 0.18 °C (1.33 ± 0.32 °F) during the 20th century.^[2][A] Most of the observed temperature increase since the middle of the 20th century has been caused by increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases, which result from human activity such as the burning of fossil fuel and deforestation.^[3] Global dimming, a result of increasing concentrations of atmospheric aerosols that block sunlight by the t from reaching the surface, has partially countered the effects of warming induced by greenhouse gases.