Larissa, Marina, and Trevor S.

Is Earth’s Climate Warming? Yes, the Earth’s climate is warming. This is because of greenhouse gases, which act as a blanket for the Earth. When there is a natural level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, the right amount of heat from the Sun stays trapped in the atmosphere. But, when there is too many greenhouse gases in the air, too much heat stays trapped under the ‘blanket’ from the Sun, causing global warming and destroying (eventually) life on Earth if we don’t do something about it.

What are the Causes of Global Warming? The causes of Global Warming are as follows: Sun Greenhouse Effect Fossil Fuels Industrial Manufacturing Plants

Did Humans Have Any Impact? If So, How? Humans DO have an impact in the following ways: Industrial Transportation Residential use of electricity Power Plants

The consequences of climate change are as follows: Rising Sea Level; it hurts coastal human settlements and marine life Extreme Weather; hurts flora, fauna, humans, and their settlements and way of life; may cause extinction in one area for a period of time More El Nino’s and El Nina’s will occur-they are changes in ocean temperature; El Nino water temperature is hotter; El Nina is cooler water temperature; it will hurt drinking water and marine life, which we sometimes depend on for food. The impact of all of these things will cause a ripple of catastrophe through the whole Food Web, causing worldwide starvation, dehydration, and extreme weather-all devastating effects. What are the Consequences of Climate Change?

What are the Consequences of Climate Change? (cont.)

What Choices do Humans Have for Responding to Global Climate Change? Choices humans have for responding to climate change are as follows: Plant trees (Coldplay-Mango Trees) Alternate Energy Sources (AES’s) such as Geothermal, Hydropower, Wind, Solar, and Biomass Carpooling or Public Transportation (Subway, Bus, Train, etc.) Biking or Walking instead of riding in a car If possible, do work from home Don’t take plane trips as often

What Choices do Humans Have for Responding to Global Climate Change? (Continued) Turn off lights and electrical appliances when not in use Replace incandescent light bulbs with CFL’s (Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs) Reuse and Reduce Pass down clothes to youngsters instead of buying new ones; or, if there are no youngsters to be found, pass your unwanted clothes to charities like Purple Heart or the Salvation Army

Choices for Responding at the Personal, Business, and Political Levels The choices for responding at the personal level are in the previous two slides The choices for responding at the business level are as follows: Replace all incandescent lightbulbs with CFL’s Arrange for employees to carpool to work Arrange for employees to bike or walk to work Use packaging that requires little material, and is not wasteful

Choices for Responding at the Personal, Business, and Political Levels (cont.) Use modes of transportation that don’t pollute as much, such as trucks that run on biomass gasoline, solar-powered cars, and electric cars that are charged by wind-power, geothermal, or hydroelectric methods of renewable energy Do as much in-office work as possible so that transportation isn’t needed very much Even better, do as much work at home as possible, to further avoid commuting from work costs Use renewable sources of energy to run in-store or in-office appliances such as computers

Choices for Responding at the Personal, Business, and Political Levels (cont.) Choices for responding at the political level are as follows: Send a letter to a politician explaining who you are, what your purpose for writing to them is, and what you would like them to do about the issue Use scientific data to prove a point Debate about whether or not to do something about global warming, and, if so, debate over what to do about it Exploit a campaign to raise awareness and to help solve global warming!

The Pros and Cons of These Different Choices The pros of planting trees are that they take lots of CO2 out of the air The cons are that some people want more space on their lawn for other things, and that some people think they (trees) look ugly The pros of Alternate Energy Sources (AES’s) such as Geothermal, Hydropower, Wind, Solar, and Biomass are that they don’t pollute the air and that they are clean, and don’t need fossil fuels to use

The Pros and Cons of These Different Choices (cont.) The cons of AES’s are that they can’t be used in some places, such as geothermal cannot be used in Michigan. Some people think that wind turbines look ugly, and birds and bats sometimes fly into them. Hydropower requires dams to be built, which sometimes disrupts the ecosystem, and some people don’t want solar panels installed on their roof and lawn. Some people think getting energy from poop (biomass) is gross. Biomass

The Pros and Cons of These Different Choices (cont.) The pros of Carpooling or Public Transportation (Subway, Bus, Train, etc.) are that they use the same amount of fuel to get more people to a place, and that they are also convenient because there are lots of them, and they take you anywhere you need to go. Also, tied with the thing below, there are lots of people to help you if you get into Stranger Danger. The cons of public transportation is basically Stranger Danger, as a lot of weirdoes hang out in subway stations, begging for money and acting sketchy. The same is true for any other public transportation method.

The Pros and Cons of These Different Choices (cont.) The pros of Biking or Walking instead of riding in a car are that they don’ t use any fossil fuel to get you where you want to go, other than your own energy The cons of biking or walking are that they can get tiring after long distances, and that there is always Stranger Danger out in the open The pros of doing work from home are that you don’t need to commute to work every day, which means that you don’t have to use your fuel-burning car as often. Also, you don’t have to worry about being late. And, there is one less computer on at the office.

The Pros and Cons of These Different Choices (cont.) The cons of doing work from home is that you have to keep the phones and computers and lots of other electronic devices on all day, including all of the lights, which would normally be off if you commuted to work every day like all the other millions of people in the world The pros of not taking as many plane trips as often are that not as much CO2 will be released into the atmosphere because one less plane will be flying The cons of not taking as many plane trips as often are that you might not get the work done that you need for your business because you wouldn’t be able to take as many business trips

The Pros and Cons of These Different Choices (cont.) The pros of turning off lights and electrical appliances when not in use is that they won’t suck up unneeded energy when you’re not using them, and that there won’t be noise in the background from electrical appliances while you are trying to do work The cons of turning off lights and electrical appliances when not in use is that at night, the house may be pitch-black, and you need a night-light to see

The Pros and Cons of These Different Choices (cont.) The pros of replacing incandescent light bulbs with CFL’s (Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs) are that you will save lots of energy and money by using them The cons of replacing incandescent light bulbs with CFL’s are that there is always a risk that you could drop them and they could break, releasing the small amount of concentrated mercury vapor inside The pros of reusing and reducing are that not as many new products will need to be manufactured, therefore requiring less energy to be used, and polluting the air less

The Pros and Cons of These Different Choices (cont.) The pros of passing down clothes to youngsters instead of buying new ones or if there are no youngsters to be found, passing your unwanted clothes to charities like Purple Heart or the Salvation Army are that the clothes can be used many, many times and not thrown in landfills as waste. Also, by not being thrown in landfills, it saves space. The cons of reusing and reducing are that after awhile, some things may start to get unusable, such as moldy food containers, or threadbare cloth

The Pros and Cons of These Different Choices (cont.) The cons of passing down or donating clothes is that after awhile, they may get threadbare and too ratty to wear The pros of carpooling to work are that it takes the same amount of gas to get, say, 4 people to work in one car that it does if one person was in that car The cons of carpooling to work are that it may be crowded, the car may stink and might be dirty and disgusting

How Will These Choices Affect the Economy, Public Policy, our Lifestyles, and the Kinds of Technologies Used? These choices will affect the economy because some of them are more expensive to operate, therefore improving the economy These choices will affect our lifestyles because some require extra money, such as getting energy from renewable sources, or using CFL’s. Also, some choices will require us to live our life differently, such as biking, walking, or carpooling These choices will affect the public policy because it will bring dramatic differences in how we get and use energy

How Will These Choices Affect the Economy, Public Policy, our Lifestyles, and the Kinds of Technologies Used? (cont.) These choices will affect the kinds of technologies used because we will be using different sources of energy, which require new technologies to harvest, such as solar, wind, and hydropower energy, which require solar panels, wind turbines, and dams to harvest the energy required. Also, CFL’s are a new kind of technology which uses less energy to produce the same amount of light.