1. Environment By Sarah Stevens and Catherine Grenier

2. Background Information Landfills, polluted water, and poor air cause some environmental problems. Climate change is the biggest problem- Temperatures rising- Greenhouse effect. Known as global warming- could have negative effect on humans and living things on earth. Humans are using up all of the available resources- once we use up those resources there will be none left for humans to use. Fun Fact: 2010 was the hottest year on record in the United States with the highest average temperatures. Fun Fact: 200 million people could be displaced by intense droughts, rising sea levels, and flooding by 2080 as a result from global warming.

3. Issue Global warming started because of greenhouse gases, which create a layer in the atmosphere that traps heat radiated by the earth. Sources of greenhouse gases: burning of fossil fuels, clearing forests, raising livestock, volcanic out- gassing and oceanic evaporation. This will cause: melting of polar ice caps, drought and heat waves, warmer waters, more hurricanes and spread of disease. We are also running out of our sources of energy, such as fossil fuels. The earth has limited resources, once we use them up they are gone forever. Using up resources can have an impact on our economy because at some point we will run out and then we will have nothing to export, and we will be spending a lot of money on imports from other countries. If we are not careful, humans can become extinct from natural disasters, famine, rising temperatures, etc.

4. Graph This graph shows the annual rise of average temperatures from 1880 to 2000. Notice how the temperatures rose tremendously from 1980 to 2000.

5. Costs You can’t really put a cost on global warming, but you can put a cost on how much it takes to keep up with global warming and create environmentally friendly products. Solar panels- Range from $25,000- over $300,000 to create and install, depending on size. International Energy Agency estimates that cutting down gas emissions in nuclear power plants and other facilities by 50% by 2050 would cost $45 trillion. This includes new technology that has to be developed. This $45 trillion comes from de- carbonizing energy production. Fossil fuels, for example, account for 85% of the world’s primary energy because they are the world’s least expensive source of energy. So, a carbon- free energy future is much more expensive. This may be a better alternative, however making energy more expensive would be considered catastrophic for the developing world because they cannot afford these expensive changes. Affordable energy brings better economic growth, but expensive energy could “rob the world’s poorest people of opportunities to escape poverty,” as said by the International Energy Agency. If we stopped using our natural resources, economical growth would slow down as the production of material decreases.

6. Impact on Future Rising temperatures cause ice caps to melt and sea levels to rise- leads to flooding, tsunamis, and other natural disasters. Destroys cities. Warmer oceans cause more hurricanes. Greenhouse Effect is getting worse causing higher temps- since last ice age 10,000 yrs ago, temps have risen 9°F. Over past 100 years, pace of global warming has accelerated- the temps increased 1.3°F in past 100 yrs. Temps predicted to rise 0.5°F or more every 10 years. Agriculture can be affected by hot, dry air- crops will die droughts happen often. Europe, for example, will become similar to a desert and will not be able to produce many crops. Some countries with luscious vegetation will become drier as well. Rising temperatures can cause animals that have not adapted to die of heat. Polar bears, for example, will become extinct because of no ice to live on. If we use up our resources, there will be no more left to sustain human life. Ex. Cutting down trees in Amazon Rainforest in Brazil destroys homes for animals, destroys potential medicine, and cuts down trees which produce oxygen. Global warming could wipe humans and all other living things off the face of the earth.

7. Political Viewpoints Hillary Clinton (D) Co- Sponsored grants for beach water pollution under Clean Water Act. –Allows beaches to be tested for pollutants and infected water under grant. Hillary Clinton (D)- voted yes on including oil and gas smokestacks in mercury regulations. –Under the Clean Air Act. –Removal of coal and oil- fired electric generating units. Sarah Palin (R) wanted the polar bears to be taken off of the endangered species list- filed lawsuit Palin encouraged timber, mining, drilling, and fishing to keep up with industry- however it uses up resources. Democrats seem more supportive of finding alternatives to fix global warming, as opposed to the Republicans.

8. Pictures Trees of the Amazon Rainforest are being cleared. http://www.topnews.com.sg/content/2249 8-air-pollution-can-be-dangerous This shows pollution from factories and smokestacks. Pollution is a major contributor to global warming. Factories put out high levels of CO 2 into the air that causes warming.

9. Source Citation Anderson, Scott. Environmental Defense Fund. EDF, 16 Jan. 2007. Web. 12 Feb. 2011. http://www.edf.org/article.cfm?ContentID=5816&source=ggad&gclid=CMLak7HSiKcCFZ065Qod4Ev0hA http://www.edf.org/article.cfm?ContentID=5816&source=ggad&gclid=CMLak7HSiKcCFZ065Qod4Ev0hA "Global Warming." Current Issues: Macmillian Social Science Library. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 9 Feb. 2011. http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/?userGroupName=mlin_m_doversms& http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/?userGroupName=mlin_m_doversms& Gordon, Jesse. On The Issues. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2011. http://www.ontheissues.org/default.htmhttp://www.ontheissues.org/default.htm Wales, Jimmy. "Global Warming." Wikipedia. N.p., Web. 10 Feb. 2011. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming Webmaster, IEA. December 6, 2010 International Energy Agency. Feb. 10, 2011 http://www.iea.org/index.asphttp://www.iea.org/index.asp Rodriguez, Gene. When Did Global Warming Start?. 2011 Life123. 2/9/11 http://www.life123.com/home- garden/green-living/global-warming/when-did-global-warming-start.shtmlhttp://www.life123.com/home- garden/green-living/global-warming/when-did-global-warming-start.shtml