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G|oba| warm|ng ls Lhe conLlnulng rlse ln Lhe average LemperaLure of LarLhs
aLmosphere and oceans Clobal warmlng ls caused by lncreased concenLraLlons
of greenhouse gases ln Lhe aLmosphere resulLlng from human acLlvlLles such as
deforesLaLlon and burnlng of fossll fuels 1hls flndlng ls recognlzed by Lhe naLlonal
sclence academles of all Lhe ma[or lndusLrlallzed counLrles and ls noL dlspuLed by any
sclenLlflc body of naLlonal or lnLernaLlonal sLandlng
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1he years Lhrough are marked as Lhe warmesL ever ln Lhe hlsLory of Lhe
LarLh based on daLa supplled by naLlonal AeronauLlcs and Space AdmlnlsLraLlon
(nASA) sclenLlsLs was also Lhe second warmesL LemperaLure recorded slnce


such records were kepL beglnnlng ln 188 was acLually warmesL year ever
recorded AlLhough 8 was Lhe coolesL year recorded durlng Lhe lasL decade and
cllmaLe relaLed resulLs from Lhls year Lend Lo fly ln Lhe face of general global
warmlng predlcLlons and phllosophles Lhe consensus remalns LhaL Lhe effecLs of
global warmlng are now manlfesL 1he general upward Lrend conLlnues of
LemperaLures rlslng aL a raLe of over 1/ degree lahrenhelL per decade A llLLle baslc
arlLhmeLlc creaLes and relaLes a 1 rlse by cenLurles end 8y almosL every sLandard
measuremenL such an lncrease ln overall global LemperaLure would be caLasLrophlc
lL ls lmporLanL Lo noLe LhaL cllmaLe change and global warmlng have been Loplcs for
dlscusslon long before Lhe year buL Lhe sLarL of Lhe new mlllennlum seems Lo
be a cruclal polnL ln envlronmenLal awareness and as such we have creaLed Lhls
focused Llmellne for Lhe decade
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1he prlmary cause of global warmlng ls Carbon uloxlde emlsslons CC ls belng
pumped lnLo our aLmosphere aL an lnsane pace 8 bllllon Lons of CC enLered Lhe alr
lasL year Cf course some of Lhls ls due Lo naLural acLlvlLy such as volcanlc erupLlons
and people breaLhlng 8uL Lhe LarLh ls equlpped Lo easlly absorb Lhose lnLo Lhe
normal regeneraLlve process no Lhe beglnnlng of global warmlng was caused by
fossll fuels belng burned and emlLLlng plenLy of CC
CurrenLly ln Lhe world of all CC emlsslons are caused by power planLs 1hese
are burnlng coal naLural gas and dlesel fuel Some power planLs burn garbage Some
burn meLhane made from garbage And dlscounLlng Lhose super green elecLrlcal
generaLlng planLs deslgned Lo lssue negllglble polluLanLs all of our power planLs leL
loose lnLo Lhe aLmosphere CC
of all Lhe CC senL forLh ls Lhe producL of cars and Lrucks lnLernal combusLlon
englnes burnlng fossll fuelsgasollne and dlesel spew forLh a reLchlng amounL of
CC
of all CC emlsslons are released from alrcrafL Lravellng our frlendly skles
unforLunaLely [eLs and oLher alrcrafL dellver Lhelr payload of polluLanLs dlrecLly lnLo
Lhe Lroposphere

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1he effecLs of global warmlng are ln some ways less deflnable Lhan Lhe causes lL
seems odd LhaL such huge manlfesLaLlons of change such as rlslng sea levels glacler
reLreaL and ArcLlc shrlnkage somehow manage Lo fllLer down so LhaL when
members of wesLern clvlllzaLlon safely Lucked away ln homes and aparLmenLs look aL
Lhe effecLs Lhey are so remoLe as Lo become lnvlslble WhaL we may well bear
waLchlng are Lhe effecLs of Lhe effecLs of global warmlng 1hese secondary resulLs
are so nonllnear as Lo be a random harvesL of envlronmenLal and economlc
dllemmas LhaL when fully formed and ln place presenL a deflnlLlve shorLLerm
danger
SLlll leL us once agaln follow a chaln of evenLs so as Lo be able Lo compleLely envlslon
Lhe scale and scope of Lhe problem

k|s|ng sea |eve|s
8lslng sea levels are an easlly measurable effecL of global warmlng As olar lce melLs
down Lhe waLer creaLed obvlously musL go somewhere Aslde from LhaL lce whlch


[olns lnland fresh waLer reservolrs Lhe vasL ma[orlLy of melLed lce [olns Lhe pool of
Lhe oceans MosL people mlsundersLand Lhe effecL of polar melLdown and conslder
LhaL Lhls addlLlon Lo our oceans creaLes Lhe overall rlse ln sea levels 1hls ls hardly
Lhe case 1he rlse ln sea levels due Lo global warmlng ls prlmarlly caused by Lhermal
expanslon ln shorL when you heaL a llquld (such as sea waLer) lL expands Sea levels
are currenLly on a pace Lo rlse aL a raLe of approxlmaLely 1 lnch every Len years Such
a small change seems as lf lL could never affecL quallLy of llfe for people llvlng ln such
dlsLanL from Lhe oceans locaLlons as uenver Colorado
?eL Lhls ls preclsely Lhe scenarlo by whlch we are all affecLed Cbvlously people llvlng
ln low laylng areas such as coasLal llorlda and Loulslana wlll mosL dlrecLly be affecLed
A one hundred year model LhaL allows for Lhe currenL progresslon of global warmlng
facLors would resulL ln mllllons of acres of land mass losL ln Lhese areas SLlll we have
seL our vlewpolnL ln Lhe 8ocky MounLalns noL Polland or Lhe easLern coasL of
Lngland boLh of whlch are LeeLerlng aL or below sea level


Lxtreme weather
erhaps Lhe mosL commonly concelved noLlon as Lo Lhe effecLs of global warmlng ls
LhaL of caLaclysmlc weaLher ln fervor Lo promoLe Lhe cause Loo ofLen we see
graphlc deplcLlons of raglng floods caLegory 1 hurrlcanes and dozens of Lornadoes
sweeplng Lhe landscape 1hese same deplcLlons seem Lo serve Lhose who accepL Lhe
LhreaL of global warmlng and Lhose who re[ecL Lhe posslblllLy Cne agenda hopes Lo
frlghLen Lhe world lnLo an ausLere program of selfdenlal so as Lo lnsLanLly curb
global warmlng causes 1he oLher facLlon polnLs ouL LhaL currenLly Lhere are no
Lyphoons sweeplng across kansas so Lherefore global warmlng ls a buL a myLh As
always when deallng wlLh sclenLlflc anomalles Lhe LruLh lles nlcely hldden ln
beLween
CaLegory and hurrlcanes have rlsen ln frequency from Lo over Lhe lasL
years Slnce Lhe dawn of Lhe lndusLrlal revoluLlon frequency of hurrlcanes overall
has rlsen by almosL and Lhe Lhose hurrlcanes now maklng landfall deposlL
almosL 1 more ralnfall Lhan Lhelr pre 1 counLerparLs As an effecL of global
warmlng hurrlcanes are sLronger weLLer and more numerous Purrlcane lay from
creaLed masslve floodlng over a dozen sLaLes 1hls lncrease ln sLorm acLlvlLy ls
dlrecLly relaLed Lo a wlder varlance beLween warm and cold ocean waLers Conslder
LhaL Lhe measuremenL of LemperaLure rlse ln ocean waLers ls based on an overall
average SLorms are creaLed by Lhe exLremes LhaL creaLe LhaL average
Clobal warmlng produces as byproducLs varlance ln Lhe [eL sLream wlnd sheer
greaLer quanLlLy of cyclones and droughL




Ac|d|c ceans
Cur Cceans are Lhe LarLh's largesL slnk for Lhe absorpLlon of CC from our
aLmosphere As excess CC ls dealL wlLh Lhe oceans ln an efforL Lo balance Lhe
ecosysLem have become saLuraLed wlLh CC 1hls has resulLed ln producLlon of mlld
carbonlc acld and ls known as ocean acldlflcaLlon Whlle Lhls ls an exLremely sllghL
change ln Lhe ph (acld Lo base) balance of Lhe seas lL does resulL ln damage Lo corals
Coral reefs are home Lo Lhe vasL ma[orlLy of undersea llfe
Ccean acldlflcaLlon colncldes wlLh Cxygen depleLlon ln our oceans Peavler CC
molecules are supplanLlng oxygen Less oxygen equals less flsh


>CO1C>
Look for Lnergy Star
When lL comes Llme Lo replace appllances look for Lhe Lnergy SLar label on new
appllances (refrlgeraLors freezers furnaces alr condlLloners and waLer heaLers use
Lhe mosL energy) 1hese lLems may cosL a blL more lnlLlally buL Lhe energy savlngs
wlll pay back Lhe exLra lnvesLmenL wlLhln a couple of years Pousehold energy
savlngs really can make a dlfference lf each household ln Lhe unlLed SLaLes replaced
lLs exlsLlng appllances wlLh Lhe mosL efflclenL models avallable we would save $1
bllllon ln energy cosLs and ellmlnaLe 1 mllllon Lons of heaLLrapplng gases

L|ght bu|bs matter
lf every household ln Lhe unlLed SLaLes replaced one regular llghL bulb wlLh an
energysavlng model we could reduce global warmlng polluLlon by more Lhan
bllllon pounds over Lhe llfe of Lhe bulbs Lhe same as Laklng mllllon cars off Lhe
road So replace your lncandescenL bulbs wlLh more efflclenL compacL fluorescenLs
whlch now come ln all shapes and slzes ?oull be dolng your share Lo cuL back on
heaLLrapplng polluLlon and youll save money on your elecLrlc bllls and llghL bulbs

|ant a tree
?ou can also make a dlfference ln your own backyard CeL a group ln your
nelghborhood LogeLher and conLacL your local arborlsL or urban foresLer abouL
planLlng Lrees on prlvaLe properLy and publlc land ln addlLlon Lo sLorlng carbon
Lrees planLed ln and around urban areas and resldences can provlde muchneeded
8

shade ln Lhe summer reduclng energy bllls and fossll fuel use

>COJCC> C JCCJCCC
hLLp//wwwgenlorg/globalenergy/lssues/global/envlronmenL/lndexshLml?gclldCn
y?lukClC1wodk[fw
hLLp//enwlklpedlaorg/wlkl/Clobal_warmlng
hLLp//mapsgrldano/go/graphlc/cllmaLe_change_processes_characLerlsLlcs_and_Lhr
eaLs
hLLp//wwwucsusaorg/global_warmlng/whaL_you_can_do/LenpersonalsoluLlonsL
ohLml

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