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The Science
of Global Climate Change in Seven
Easy Facts
Solutions
to Global Climate Change in Seven Easy Steps
Climate
Change Personal Action Chart
What's
Your Carbon Footprint?
United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC)
Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) - Issued Feb. 2, 2007
IPCC Home
Page
Summary
for Policy Makers ( PDF
- 2.2MB)
UN
framework convention on climate change
Media Reports on the IPCC Report
New York Times: Science
Panel Calls Global Warming ‘Unequivocal’
The Economist: Heating
up: A gloomy UN-backed report is published
The Guardian: Q&A:
The IPCC report on global warming
Climate
Change: Editors' Picks
Christian Science Monitor: Calls
mount for global response
PBS: Humans
to Blame for Global Warming, U.N. Report Say
Climate
Ark Climate Change and Global Warming News Database: IPCC
The Guardian: Interactive guides
Global
warming
The
slowdown of the Gulf Stream
The Stern Review Report on the Economics of Climate Change
This report, issued in October 2006, predicts massive economic
disruption if climate change is not addressed. IT projects
that one percent of global GDP is required to be invested
per year in order to mitigate the effects of climate change,
and that failure to do so could risk global GDP being up
to twenty percent lower than it otherwise might be. The
report is named for Sir Nicholas Stern, Head of the U.K.
Government Economics Service and Adviser to the Government
on the economics of climate change and development. Stern
Review final report
90
Canadian scientists urge national climate strategy
The
Science of Global Climate Change in Seven Easy Facts
Fact 1: The
Earth has a natural greenhouse effect which traps heat
Fact 2: The Earth has
a natural carbon cycle
Fact 3: Fossil fuels come
from ancient carbon
Fact 4: We are burning
most of that ancient carbon in just 200 years
Fact 5: The Earth’s CO2
and other greenhouse gas levels are rising
Fact 6: As the CO2 rises,
Earth’s temperature rises
Fact 7: The increasing
heat is bringing increased turmoil
What about the film, "The
Day After Tomorrow"? Could it really happen?
Fact 1: The Earth has a natural greenhouse
effect which traps heat
The Earth has a natural greenhouse effect which regulates
the planet's temperature. Water vapour, CO2, and methane
in the atmosphere trap the sun's incoming heat, creating
a mantle of warmth. Mars, which has a very thin atmosphere,
has an average temperature of -50 C. Venus, which has vast
quantities of CO2 in its atmosphere, has an average temperature
of +420 Celsius.
See www.grida.no/climate/vital/01.htm
www.grida.no/climate/vital/03.htm
Fact 2: The Earth has a natural carbon
cycle
The Earth has a natural carbon cycle which has been relatively
stable for the past 12,000 years. Plants, forests, soils
and ocean organisms absorb carbon while they grow, and release
it when they die.
See www.grida.no/climate/vital/13.htm
Fact 3: Fossil fuels come from
ancient carbon
Fossil fuels come from ancient carbon that accumulated
millions of years ago when dead plants, trees and sea creatures
became trapped, so that their carbon was not released into
the natural carbon cycle. Over these millions of years,
underground heat and pressure turned them into coal, oil
and gas. When we dig up these ancient life-forms and burn
them, we release their stored carbon into the atmosphere,
where it mixes with oxygen to form CO2, and traps heat from
the sun.
See http://www.energyquest.ca.gov/story/chapter08.html
Fact 4: We are burning most of that ancient
carbon in just 200 years
As a result of our modern dependency on fossil fuels, we
are taking carbon that accumulated over millions of years,
and releasing it all into the atmosphere in just 200 years.
See www.grida.no/climate/vital/09.htm
www.grida.no/db/maps/collection/climate6/
Fact 5: The Earth’s CO2 and other greenhouse
gas levels are rising
As a result of this fossil fuel bonfire, the level of CO2
in the Earth’s atmosphere is increasing every year. From
its pre-industrial average of 280 parts per million, it
has now reached 370 ppm, and is rising by 1.5 ppm a year.
We know from ice-core research in the Antarctic that this
is the highest it has been for 420,000 years. Scientists
think it is probably the highest it has been for 20 million
years. The levels of the other greenhouse gases are also
increasing.
See www.grida.no/climate/vital/02.htm
www.grida.no/climate/vital/06.htm
www.grida.no/climate/vital/07.htm
Fact 6: As the CO2 rises, Earth’s temperature
rises
The Earth's temperature has risen by 1.1 C since 1750,
and is projected to increase by around 4 C in this century.
The world’s climate scientists have examined every other
possible cause for the current dramatic rise in temperature,
and concluded that it is our own human influence that is
primarily responsible.
See www.grida.no/climate/vital/17.htm
www.grida.no/db/maps/prod/level3/id_1461.htm
Fact 7: The increasing heat is bringing
increased turmoil
As the temperature rises, more water evaporates from the
Earth’s oceans. As a result of this and other climate-change
effects, we are experiencing more floods, droughts, and
heat waves; more forest fires, insect damage, and smog;
more ice-melt, ecosystem disruptions, and weather-related
disasters. The global sea level is rising as a result of
thermal expansion and melting glaciers. Conservation biologists
from the University of Leeds in England reported in January
2004 that if temperatures continue to increase as predicted
until 2050, between 15% and 37% of all land-based animals
and plants will become extinct.
See www.grida.no/climate/vital/19.htm
www.grida.no/climate/vital/18.htm
www.climatehotmap.org
www.nature.com/nature/links/040108/040108-1.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3375447.stm
www.pacinst.org/wildlife.html
What about the film, "The Day
After Tomorrow"? Could it really happen?
No. See www.tyndall.ac.uk/media/press_releases/pr_33.shtml
Solutions
to Global Climate Change in Seven Easy Steps
Step 1: Replace
Fossil Fuels with Sustainable Energy
Step 2: Stop Global
Deforestation
Step 3: Stop Releasing
so much Methane Gas
Step 4: Stop Releasing
Nitrous Oxide (N2O)
Step 5: Phase out all
the ‘F’ Gases
Step 6: Plant New Forests
and Build Organic Soil
Step 7: Become Personally
and Politically Active
A Note on Radiative Forcing
More Links
Step 1: Replace Fossil Fuels with Sustainable
Energy
Overall, our use of fossil fuels is responsible for 66%
of global climate change. (34% from CO2; 3% from methane;
16.5% from black carbon from diesel and other fossil fuel
pollutants; 10% from ozone caused by our use of fossil fuels;
and 2% from nitrous oxide from the use of fossil fuels in
transport and industry.) There is enough potential clean,
renewable energy in the world to meet all our energy needs
from sources such as solar, wind, geothermal, microhydro,
biomass, biodiesel, tidal, and wave energy, integrated through
smart grid applications, and though hydro, hydrogen, compressed
air, and other means of energy storage. The technologies
are ready, and we already know the policies that are needed
to accelerate their uptake. Using today’s available technologies,
we could also double the efficiency of every building, appliance,
car, business and industry, reducing the amount of energy
needed by half.
See www.bcsea.org/sustainableenergy
Step 2: Stop Global Deforestation
The release of CO2 from global forest destruction is responsible
for 10% of global climate change. Ending this involves stopping
the corporations and timber thieves from logging the world’s
forests, and ending our own appetite for tropical hardwoods.
See www.ran.org
Step 3: Stop Releasing so much Methane
Gas
Methane is responsible for 14% of global climate change.
If we capped every landfill, stopped the leakage from fossil
fuel extraction, made every hog farm harvest the methane
from its wastes, cut our consumption of beef in half (since
cows release methane from both ends), and stopped building
big new hydroelectric dams (which trap biomass and release
its carbon as methane), we could reduce our emissions by
50%.
See http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/trends/meth/methane.gif
Step 4: Stop Releasing Nitrous Oxide
(N2O)
Nitrous oxide is responsible for 4.5% of global climate
change. Most of it comes from the use of heavy diesel fuels
in shipping, and poor soil management on farms (excessive
use of nitrogen fertilizers). By switching to organic means
of farming, we can end this unnecessary leaching, store
more carbon in the world’s soils, and produce much better
quality food for everyone.
See http://ciesin.columbia.edu/TG/AG/fertapp.html
www.bbc.co.uk/climate/evidence/nitrous_oxide.shtml
Step 5: Phase out all the ‘F’ Gases
These are the industrial gases, the CFCs, HFCs, PFCs, and
SF6, which are collectively responsible for 10% of global
climate change. They could all be phased out by skillful
legislation. The world has already started with the CFCs
(through the Montreal Protocol), and Denmark has set a date
to phase out some of the others, showing that it can be
done.
See www.bbc.co.uk/climate/evidence/halocarbons.shtml
www.climnet.org/EUenergy/Fgasesfactsheet.htm
www.climnet.org/EUenergy/Fgas.html
Step 6: Plant New Forests and Build Organic
Soil
Both of these measures will take carbon out of the atmosphere,
and store it in new forests and topsoil, while improving
the quality and sustainability of our farms and forests.
See www.organicconsumers.org/organic/globalwarming101003.cfm
Step 7: Become Personally and Politically
Active
All of these steps require lifestyle changes, social changes,
technological changes, and political changes. The biggest
barrier to the effective implementation of change is resistance
by vested interests, primarily from the coal, oil and auto
companies, and the politicians they influence or control.
The solution is to create a stronger and better informed
influence from ordinary citizens, sending the message that
global climate change poses a clear and present danger,
which requires immediate action. And reduce your own emissions!
See www.bcsea.org/getinvolved
One Tonne Challenge: http://www.eartheasy.com/article_canada_challenge.htm
A Note on Radiative Forcing
The factors that lie behind global climate change are measured
in terms of their ability to increase "radiative forcing",
i.e. the solar heat that reaches the ground in watts per
square meter (Wm2). Here is the current state of scientific
understanding:
Carbon dioxide CO2 +1.46 Wm2 = 44%
Methane CH4 +0.48 Wm2 = 14.5%
Nitrous oxide N2O +0.15 Wm2 = 4.5%
F Gases +0.34 Wm2 = 10%
Ozone +0.35 Wm2 = 10%
Black carbon +0.55 Wm2 = 16%
Total +3.33 Wm2 = 100%
See http://ess.geology.ufl.edu/ess/Notes/070-Global_Warming/IPCC_GH_observ.htm
More Links
Credit
Written by Guy Dauncey, for the BC Sustainable Energy
Association
Last major update November 12, 2004
Links updated October 12, 2007
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