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The 
  
, encompasses all living and non-living things occurring

naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the

interaction of all living species. The concept of the ›
  › ›

›
can be

distinguished by components:

Complete ecological units that function as natural systems without massive human

intervention, including all vegetation, microorganisms, soil, rocks, atmosphere and

natural phenomena that occur within their boundaries.

Universal natural resources and physical phenomena that lack clear-cut boundaries,

such as air, water, and climate, as well as energy, radiation, electric charge, and

magnetism, not originating from human activity.

The natural environment is contrasted with the built environment, which comprises

the areas and components that are strongly influenced by humans. A geographical

area is regarded as a natural environment, if the human impact on it is kept under a

certain limited level.

Because of the imbalance usage of our natural resources and abuse to our

environment, we start to experience global warming and climate change. Global

warming is when the earth heats up (the temperature rises). It happens when

greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, water vapor, nitrous oxide, and methane) trap

heat and light from the sun in the earth·s atmosphere, which increases the

temperature. This hurts many people, animals, and plants. Many cannot take the

change, so they die.

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-GLOBAL WARMING

Many things cause global warming. One thing that causes global warming is electrical

pollution. Electricity causes pollution in many ways, some worse than others. In most

cases, fossil fuels are burned to create electricity. Fossil fuels are made of dead

plants and animals. Some examples of fossil fuels are oil and petroleum. Many

pollutants (chemicals that pollute the air, water, and land) are sent into the air when

fossil fuels are burned. Some of these chemicals are called greenhouse gasses.

We use these sources of energy much more than the sources that give off less

pollution. Petroleum, one of the sources of energy, is used a lot. It is used for

transportation, making electricity, and making many other things. Although this

source of energy gives off a lot of pollution, it is used for 38% of the United States·

energy.

Some other examples of using energy and polluting the air are:

!? Turning on a light

!? Watching T.V.

!? Listening to a stereo

!? Washing or drying clothes

!? Using a hair dryer

!? Riding in a car

!? ueating a meal in the microwave

!? Using an air conditioner

!? Playing a video game

When you do these things, you are causing more greenhouse gasses to be sent into the

air. Greenhouse gasses are sent into the air because creating the electricity you use

to do these things causes pollution. If you think of how many times a day you do

these things, it·s a lot. You even have to add in how many other people do these

things! That turns out to be a lot of pollutants going into the air a day because of

people like us using electricity. The least amount of electricity you use, the better.

When we throw our garbage away, the garbage goes to landfills. Landfills are those

big hills that you go by on an expressway that stink. They are full of garbage. The

garbage is then sometimes burned. This sends an enormous amount of greenhouse

gasses into the air and makes global warming worse.

Another thing that makes global warming worse is when people cut down trees. Trees

and other plants collect carbon dioxide (CO2), which is a greenhouse gas.

Carbon dioxide is the air that our body lets out when we breathe. With fewer trees, it

is harder for people to breathe because there is more CO2 in the air, and we don·t

breathe CO2, we breathe oxygen. Plants collect the CO2 that we breathe out, and

they give back oxygen that we breathe in. With less trees and other plants, such as

algae, there is less air for us, and more greenhouse gases are sent into the air. This

means that it is very important to protect our trees to stop the greenhouse effect,

and also so we can breathe and live.

This gas, CO2, collects light and heat (radiant energy), produced by the sun, and this

makes the earth warmer. The heat and light from the sun is produced in the center

of the sun. (The sun has layers just like the earth.)
The dirty yellow color on outside is the surface. The light and dark yellow colored

area is the convection zone. The orange colored area is the radiative zone, and the

red colored area is the core. The squiggle lines represent radiant energy.

-CLIMATE CuANGE

Climate change is an effect of global warming but more often than not, people use

them interchangeably as they relate to one another. All across the world and in our

state, people are taking action because climate change has serious impacts, locally

and globally. For example, in 2007, scientists from the International Panel on Climate

Change (IPCC) predicted that warming oceans and melting glaciers due to global

warming and climate change could cause sea levels to rise 7-23 inches by the year

2100. Worldwide, densely populated coastal communities and infrastructure that

supports them would be affected (such as city buildings and homes, roads, ports and

wastewater treatment plants). Some would be flooded or more vulnerable to storm

damage. In flat terrain, the shoreline could move many miles inland.

Other effects are also serious. In some places, floods and/or drought could become

more frequent and more severe. Even seemingly less dramatic local changes in

temperature, precipitation and soil moisture could severely impact many things

important to human life and all life around us, including:

* natural ecosystems

* agriculture and food supplies

* human health
 * forestry

* water resources and availability

* energy use

* transportation

Many people are concerned that we are losing time to make a difference. Climate

change and its effects may be irreversible. Life could become very difficult for some

populations³plant, animal and human. Species, cultures, resources and many lives

could be lost.

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Global warming is affecting many parts of the world. Global warming makes the sea

rise, and when the sea rises, the water covers many low land islands. This is a big

problem for many of the plants, animals, and people on islands. The water covers the

plants and causes some of them to die. When they die, the animals lose a source of

food, along with their habitat. Although animals have a better ability to adapt to

what happens than plants do, they may die also. When the plants and animals die,

people lose two sources of food, plant food and animal food. They may also lose their

homes. As a result, they would also have to leave the area or die. This would be

called a break in the food chain, or a chain reaction, one thing happening that leads

to another and so on.

The oceans are affected by global warming in other ways, as well. Many things that

are happening to the ocean are linked to global warming. One thing that is happening

is warm water, caused from global warming, is harming and killing algae in the ocean.

Algae is a producer that you can see floating on the top of the water. (A producer is

something that makes food for other animals through photosynthesis, like grass.) This

floating green algae is food to many consumers in the ocean. (A consumer is

something that eats the producers.) One kind of a consumer is small fish. There are

many others like crabs, some whales, and many other animals. Fewer algae is a

problem because there is less food for us and many animals in the sea.

Global warming is doing many things to people as well as animals and plants. It is

killing algae, but it is also destroying many huge forests. The pollution that causes

global warming is linked to acid rain. Acid rain gradually destroys almost everything

it touches. Global warming is also causing many more fires that wipe out whole

forests. This happens because global warming can make the earth very hot. In

forests, some plants and trees leaves can be so dry that they catch on fire.

The Philippines has experienced temperature spikes brought about by climate change.

It has been observed that warming is experienced most in the northern and southern

regions of the country, while Metro Manila has warmed less than most parts. In

addition, the regions that have warmed the most (northern Luzon, Mindanao) have
also dried the most. Largest precipitation trends are about 10 percent during the 20th

century.

uot days and hot nights have become more frequent. Extreme weather events have

also occurred more frequently since 1980. These include deadly and damaging

typhoons, floods, landslides, severe El Niño and La Niña events, drought, and forest

fires. Adversely affected sectors include agriculture, fresh water, coastal and marine

resources and health.


 
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!? Spread of disease As northern countries warm, disease carrying insects migrate

north, bringing plague and disease with them. Indeed some scientists believe

that in some countries thanks to global warming, malaria has not been fully

eradicated.

!? Warmer waters and more hurricanes As the temperature of oceans rises, so will

the probability of more frequent and stronger hurricanes. We saw in this in

2004 and 2005.

!? uurricanes, an effect of global warming3. Increased probability and intensity of

droughts and heat waves. Although some areas of Earth will become wetter due

to global warming, other areas will suffer serious droughts and heat waves.

Africa will receive the worst of it, with more severe droughts also expected in
 Europe. Water is already a dangerously rare commodity in Africa, and

according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, global warming

will exacerbate the conditions and could lead to conflicts and war.

!? |roughts are an effect of global warming2. Economic consequences Most of the

effects of anthropogenic global warming won·t be good. And these effects spell

one thing for the countries of the world: economic consequences. uurricanes

cause do billions of dollars in damage, diseases cost money to treat and control

and conflicts exacerbate all of these.

!? Economic consequences of global warming

!? Polar ice caps melting The ice caps melting is a four-pronged danger.First, it

will raise sea levels. There are 5,773,000 cubic miles of water in ice caps,

glaciers, and permanent snow. According to the National Snow and Ice |ata

Center, if all glaciers melted today the seas would rise about 230 feet. Luckily,

that·s not going to happen all in one go! But sea levels will rise.Second, melting

ice caps will throw the global ecosystem out of balance. The ice caps are fresh

water, and when they melt they will desalinate the ocean, or in plain English -

make it less salty. The desalinization of the gulf current will "screw up" ocean

currents, which regulate temperatures. The stream shutdown or irregularity

would cool the area around north-east America and Western Europe. Luckily,

that will slow some of the other effects of global warming in that area!Third,
 temperature rises and changing landscapes in the artic circle will endanger

several species of animals. Only the most adaptable will survive.Fourth, global

warming could snowball with the ice caps gone. Ice caps are white, and reflect

sunlight, much of which is relected back into space, further cooling Earth. If

the ice caps melt, the only reflector is the ocean. |arker colors absorb

sunlight, further warming the Earth.


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It is never too late to save our lives by saving our environment. The Union of

Concerned Scientists gave specific solutions for our problem and following them might

save our lives.

Individual choices can have an impact on global climate change. Reducing your

family's heat-trapping emissions does not mean forgoing modern conveniences; it

means making smart choices and using energy-efficient products, which may require

an additional investment up front, but often pay you back in energy savings within a

couple of years.

Since Americans' per capita emissions of heat-trapping gases is 5.6 tons³more than

double the amount of western Europeans³we can all make choices that will greatly

reduce our families' global warming impact.

1. The car you drive: the most important personal climate decision.

When you buy your next car, look for the one with the best fuel economy in its

class. Each gallon of gas you use is responsible for 25 pounds of heat-trapping gases in

the atmosphere. Better gas mileage not only reduces global warming, but will also
save you thousands of dollars at the pump over the life of the vehicle. Compare the

fuel economy of the cars you're considering and look for new technologies like hybrid

engines.

2. Choose clean power. More than half the electricity in the United States comes

from polluting coal-fired power plants. And power plants are the single largest source

of heat-trapping gas. None of us can live without electricity, but in some states, you

can switch to electricity companies that provide 50 to 100 percent renewable energy.

3. Look for Energy Star. When it comes time to replace appliances, look for the

Energy Star label on new appliances (refrigerators, freezers, furnaces, air

conditioners, and water heaters use the most energy). These items may cost a bit

more initially, but the energy savings will pay back the extra investment within a

couple of years. uousehold energy savings really can make a difference: If each

household in the United States replaced its existing appliances with the most efficient

models available, we would save $15 billion in energy costs and eliminate 175 million

tons of heat-trapping gases.

4. Unplug a freezer.

One of the quickest ways to reduce your global warming impact is to unplug the

extra refrigerator or freezer you rarely use (except when you need it for holidays and

parties). This can reduce the typical family's carbon dioxide emissions by nearly 10

percent.
 5. Get a home energy audit.

Take advantage of the free home energy audits offered by many utilities. Simple

measures, such as installing a programmable thermostat to replace your old dial unit

or sealing and insulating heating and cooling ducts, can each reduce a typical family's

carbon dioxide emissions by about 5 percent.

6. Light bulbs matter.

If every household in the United States replaced one regular light bulb with an

energy-saving model, we could reduce global warming pollution by more than 90

billion pounds over the life of the bulbs; the same as taking 6.3 million cars off the

road. So, replace your incandescent bulbs with more efficient compact fluorescents,

which now come in all shapes and sizes. You'll be doing your share to cut back on

heat-trapping pollution and you'll save money on your electric bills and light bulbs.

7. Think before you drive.

If you own more than one vehicle, use the less fuel-efficient one only when you

can fill it with passengers. |riving a full minivan may be kinder to the environment

than two midsize cars. Whenever possible, join a carpool or take mass transit.

8. Buy good wood.

When buying wood products, check for labels that indicate the source of the

timber. Supporting forests that are managed in a sustainable fashion makes sense for
biodiversity, and it may make sense for the climate too. Forests that are well

managed are more likely to store carbon effectively because more trees are left

standing and carbon-storing soils are less disturbed.

9. Plant a tree.

You can also make a difference in your own backyard. Get a group in your

neighborhood together and contact your local arborist or urban forester about

planting trees on private property and public land. In addition to storing carbon, trees

planted in and around urban areas and residences can provide much-needed shade in

the summer, reducing energy bills and fossil fuel use.

10. Let policymakers know you are concerned about global warming.

Our elected officials and business leaders need to hear from concerned citizens.

Sign up for the Union of Concerned Scientists Action Network to ensure that

policymakers get the timely, accurate information they need to make informed

decisions about global warming solutions.


cc !

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http://www.doe.gov.ph/cc/ccp.htm

http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/sciencetech/5-deadliest-effects-of-global-

warming/276

http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/what_you_can_do/ten-personal-solutions-

to.html