Also Try Polar Ice Caps Lesson Plans Air Pollution (NASA Sample) Provides studies for kids to explore air pollution. 4-00 Multimedia Movie: The 11th Hour (11thhouraction.com) AL Gore states: "My friend Leonardo DiCaprio has just produced an amazing documentary on this subject. The film was created using over 150 hours of interviews with some of the brightest minds on the planet, including physicist Stephen Hawking and Nobel Prize winner Wangari Maathai. Moreover, Leo himself is very eloquent and persuasive in this movie. I recommend it highly." 08-07 News -001 Report: Carbon Pollution to Grow by 40 Percent (MSNBC News) "The amount of heat-trapping carbon dioxide seeping into the atmosphere will increase by nearly 40 percent worldwide by 2030 if ways are not found to require mandatory emission reductions, a U.S. government report said Wednesday." "The EIA report said that "much of the increases in carbon dioxide emissions is projected to occur among the developing nations" including China and India." "It said 94 percent of the world's expected increase in industrial energy use between now and 2030 is expected in the economically developing countries, with Brazil, Russia, India and China expected to account for two-thirds of that growth." 05-09 -001 Report: Threat from Melting Permafrost (MSNBC News) "Eventually, in between 15 and 50 years, those plants [absorbing the carbon from the melting permafrost] 'can't keep up' and get overwhelmed, said study lead author Ted Schuur, a University of Florida ecologist." "At that point, a billion tons of carbon a year can be released into an atmosphere that is already warming because of carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, cars, and other industrial activities, Schuur said. That would contribute the same amount to global warming as the deforestation of the tropics, he said." "Making matters worse is that much of the gas trapped in permafrost is methane, which is more than 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide." 05-09 -01-26-09 Desperate Times, Desperate Scientists (Salon.com) "For the first time in six years, more than 2,000 of the world's top scientists reviewed and synthesized all of the scientific knowledge about global warming. The Fourth Assessment Report makes clear that the accelerating emissions of human-generated heat-trapping gases has brought the planet close to crossing a threshold that will lead to irreversible catastrophe. Yet like Cassandra's warning about the Trojan horse, the IPCC report has fallen on deaf ears, especially those of conservative politicians, even as its findings are the most grave to date." 01-09 -02-02-07 U.N. Report: Evidence for Global Warming Is "Unequivocal" (PBS News) "The evidence for global warming is 'unequivocal' and it is 'very likely' that human actions are to blame for rising temperatures, an international panel of climate experts said Friday.” 01-07 -02-27-06 Voluntary Cuts in Greenhouse Gases Not Working (ABC News) "U.S. emissions of gases blamed for global warming rose 1.7 percent in 2004, as the country burned more fossil fuel for transportation and electricity, according to federal environment regulators." "The EPA did not indicate how U.S. emissions would fare in the future, but climate researchers say voluntary cuts won't trim overall greenhouse output in the United States." 02-06 -03-27-06 Is It Too Late to Stop Global Warming? (ABC News) "A prime example: decayed vegetation in the Arctic, which contains massive amounts of carbon, used to be protected by the perpetual cold. As the climate warms — sped along by human beings burning fossil fuels that release carbon dioxide — scientists say the vegetation will dry out and break down, releasing even more carbon dioxide." " 'Humans are putting about 6 or 7 billion metric tons of carbon in the atmosphere a year, and we're standing on 200 billion tons here," says [biologist Walter] Oechel. 'Any significant portion comes out, that's worse than current human injection into the atmosphere. And once that runaway release occurs, there would be no way to stop it.' " 03-06 -06-11-06 China's Coal Burning May Be Biggest Threat (New York Times) "Unless China finds a way to clean up its coal plants and the thousands of factories that burn coal, pollution will soar both at home and abroad. The increase in global-warming gases from China's coal use will probably exceed that for all industrialized countries combined over the next 25 years, surpassing by five times the reduction in such emissions that the Kyoto Protocol seeks." 06-06 -08-28-05 Simulation Results: Temperature Rise Caused a Mass Extinction (BBC News) "A computer simulation of the Earth's climate 250 million years ago suggests that global warming triggered the so-called 'great dying'." "A dramatic rise in carbon dioxide caused temperatures to soar to 10 to 30 degrees Celsius higher than today, say US researchers." "Some 95% of lifeforms in the oceans became extinct, along with about three-quarters of land species." 8-05 -11-16-08 Global Warming Causes Release of Ocean Methane (Scientific American) "Since time immemorial, methane and oil have seeped from beds buried beneath the ocean sediment off the California coast. The methane bubbles up and out of the sea, adding to the store of greenhouse gases in the earth's atmosphere. The oil floats up as well and, over time, breaks down into tar that settles back into the marine sediment layer. Now new research into that tar residue seems to show that such seeps are influenced by ocean temperatures, and therefore by the very global warming they help to engender." 11-08 -11-16-08 Stabilization of Methane (Scientific American) " 'The trends of major man-made sources such as rice fields and cattle have greatly slowed down over the last two decades,' notes physicist Aslam Khalil of Portland State University. 'As these--rice and cattle--were once big sources, their lack of continued increase would then cause atmospheric methane to stop increasing as well.' " 11-08 -Editorial: Is This Humanity's First Planetary Emergency? (ABC News) "Please don't shoot the messenger. Those of us who cover global warming already have enough to think about as we consider some of the latest assessments coming from established scientists." "And it's important to mention at the outset that most of these scientists say there may still be a chance for humanity to avoid the worst if we get our global act together immediately — though they do say we are in for at least some very rough times." 06-06 Report: Global Warming Cause and Effects (CBS News) "The study traces global temperatures and so-called greenhouse gases going back thousands of years. It shows a gradual variation until the Industrial Revolution begins, when fossil fuel use skyrockets, as do temperatures, CBS News correspondent Mark Phillips reports." 01-07 Serious Claims Against Global Warming (ABC News) "Not one scientist of any credibility on this subject [of global warming] has presented any evidence for some years now that counters the massive and repeated evidence — gathered over decades and come at in dozens of ways by all kinds of professional scientists around the world — that the burning of fossil fuels is raising the world's average temperature." "Or that counters the findings that the burning of these fuels is doing so in a way that is very dangerous for mankind, that will almost certainly bring increasingly devastating effects in the coming decades." "One small group of special interest businesses leaders — those of some fossil fuel companies — have been well documented by journalist Ross Gelbspan and others to have been fighting a PR campaign for 15 years to keep the American public confused about the wide and deep scientific consensus on this." "They've aimed, as Gelbspan explains, to keep us thinking that (to borrow the president's words this morning) 'There's a debate over whether it's manmade or naturally caused' — though no open and thorough journalism this reporter knows of can find any such thing." 06-06 Soot Important in Global Warming (Scientific American) "Greenhouse gases have taken much of the blame for rising global surface temperatures over the past century. The results of a new study suggest that soot has done a fair amount of damage as well." "In a paper published online today by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, James E. Hansen of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies and Larissa Nazarenko of Columbia University report that soot may have caused fully 25 percent of the warming observed since 1880." 12-03 Papers -Sources of Carbon Dioxide Emissions in the USA (EIA.doe.gov) Shows the sources of carbon dioxide emissions in the USA with the primary two causes shown to be: 1) coal-fired electricity plants (81 percent of 2343.9 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions from energy-generation plants) and 2) use of petroleum in the transportation sector (98 percent of 1,990.1 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions). 06-08 Carbon Dioxide Contributions (Earth Trends) "Emissions from the burning of fossil fuels are responsible for roughly 80 percent of yearly carbon dioxide emissions worldwide." 06-08 Carbon Dioxide Contributions (Woods Hole Research Center) "Most of the increase in atmospheric CO2 concentrations came from and will continue to come from the use of fossil fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas) for energy, but about 25% of the increase over the last 150 years came from changes in land use, for example, the clearing of forests and the cultivation of soils for food production [Figure 1]." "The concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere has already increased by about 30% since the start of the industrial revolution sometime around the middle of the 19th century and will continue to increase unless societies choose to change their ways." 07-08 Carbon Dioxide and Global Warming (ARIC) Describes carbon dioxide's role in global warming. 12-00 Carbon Emissions for the Future (Time.com) "About 97% of the world's new carbon emissions will come from outside the United States and Europe, largely from China, India and the Middle East, who will consume about half the world's energy by the year 2030. Before global habits begin to change permanently, greenhouse gas output will keep rising, probably at least until 2020. By which time the financial crisis of 2008 might seem like ancient history." 11-08 Causes of Global Warming (GCRIO - United Nations Environment Programme) Provides a chart and description of how human activities have contributed to the warming (and cooling) of the planet. 8-00 Corn Ethanol May Accelerate Global Warming (Time.com) "Worldwide investment in biofuels rose from $5 billion in 1995 to $38 billion in 2005 and is expected to top $100 billion by 2010, thanks to investors like Richard Branson and George Soros, GE and BP, Ford and Shell, Cargill and the Carlyle Group. Renewable fuels has become one of those motherhood-and-apple-pie catchphrases, as unobjectionable as the troops or the middle class." "But several new studies show the biofuel boom is doing exactly the opposite of what its proponents intended: it's dramatically accelerating global warming, imperiling the planet in the name of saving it. Corn ethanol, always environmentally suspect, turns out to be environmentally disastrous. Even cellulosic ethanol made from switchgrass, which has been promoted by eco-activists and eco-investors as well as by President Bush as the fuel of the future, looks less green than oil-derived gasoline." 04-08 Global Warming - Explanation for Kids (Environmental Protection Agency) Provides information on global warming for kids. 12-00 Global Warming - Likelihood and Effects (National Geographic Society) Provides a summary of findings of scientists regarding the amount of global warming that has begun, the causes, and the likely effects. 3-01 Global Warming - Questions and Answers (GCRIO - United Nations Environment Programme) Provides answers to the most commonly asked questions about global warming. 8-00 Global Warming Admitted by Bush Administration (WhyFiles) Reports that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has found that global warming is real and that it is probably caused by human use of fossil fuels. "Nonetheless, the report did not call for measures to combat warming, like conserving fossil fuels or finding alternative sources of energy. Rather, it said Earth and earthlings should adapt to warming." 6-02 Global Warming Causes (Solcomhouse.com) Provides diagrams and explanations of global warming. Identifies the top ten nations causing global warming. Also provides indicators for global warming. 6-01 Greenhouse Effect - Human Contribution (UMAC - OCP) Shows the amount and types of greenhouse gases contributed by humans. 4-02 Greenhouse Effect in a Diagram (UMAC - OCP) Describes the "energy budget" of our atmosphere. 4-02 Greenhouse Gas Emissions (Global Change) Greenhouse Gas Emissions by Country (Pacific Institute) Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the US from 1987 - 1994 Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the US in 1995 (Energy Plug) Greenhouse Gases (ARIC) Describes the most important greenhouse gases that are responsible for global warming. Provides charts showing how the levels of methane, carbon dioxide, and nitrous oxide have increased greatly over the past 100 years. 12-00 Industry Leader in Coal Refuses to Use New Technology (New York Times) "Many scientists say that sharply reducing emissions of these gases [from coal processing] could make more difference in slowing climate change than any other move worldwide. And they point out that American companies are best positioned to set an example for other nations in adopting a new technique that could limit the environmental impact of the more than 1,000 coal-fired power projects on drawing boards around the world." "But most in the industry are not making that bet. Among them is Gregory H. Boyce, chief executive of Peabody Energy, the largest private-sector coal producer in the world thanks in part to its growing operations here in Wyoming and with aspirations to operate coal-fired plants of its own. Mr. Boyce's company alone controls reserves with more energy potential than the oil and gas reserves of Exxon Mobil." 05-06 Methane-Caused Warming (ScienceDaily.com) "Methane is the greenhouse gas which has the second greatest effect on climate, after carbon dioxide. The concentration of methane in the atmosphere has almost tripled in the last 150 years. Methane is best known as natural gas, currently an important energy source. Nonetheless, only part of the methane uptake in the atmosphere is due to industrial activities connected to energy production and use. More important for the increase of methane in the atmosphere is the increase in so-called 'biogenic' sources, e.g., rice cultivation or domestic ruminants related to the rise in the world's population. Nowadays, methane in the atmosphere in fact is largely of biogenic origin." "The largest anoxic sources of methane are wetlands and rice fields, as well as the digestion of ruminants and termites, waste disposal sites, and the gas produced by sewage treatment plants." 01-06 Ozone Depletion (Nature - Ball) Methyl chloride, which depletes ozone, is building up faster than hydroxl free radicals in the air can neutralize it. This paper explores the causes. 1-00 Polar Caps Melting Fast (Time.com) "The climate is crashing, and global warming is to blame." 08-06 Pollution Adding to Severe Global Warming (CNN - Associated Press) Provides an article about a report by scientists globally that the earth is warming much faster than believed to be the case five years ago. 10-00 Report: USA, China, Malaysia, and Saudi Arabia Are the Worst Offenders (CBS News) "Sweden, Britain and Denmark are doing the most to protect against climate change, but their efforts are not nearly enough, according to a report released Monday by environmental groups." "The United States — the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases — ranked at 53, with only China, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia doing worse." 11-06 Research: Amazon Forest Crisis Can Create "Incalculable Consequences" for Earth (The Independent) "The vast Amazon rainforest is on the brink of being turned into desert, with catastrophic consequences for the world's climate, alarming research suggests. And the process, which would be irreversible, could begin as early as next year." "Scientists say that this would spread drought into the northern hemisphere, including Britain, and could massively accelerate global warming with incalculable consequences, spinning out of control, a process that might end in the world becoming uninhabitable." 07-06 Scientific Information on Global Warming Suppressed (New York Times) "The resignation [of Bush appointee George C. Deutsch] came as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration was preparing to review its policies for communicating science to the public. The review was ordered Friday by Michael D. Griffin, the NASA administrator, after a week in which many agency scientists and midlevel public affairs officials described to The New York Times instances in which they said political pressure was applied to limit or flavor discussions of topics uncomfortable to the Bush administration, particularly global warming." "Yesterday, Dr. [James E.] Hansen said that the questions about Mr. Deutsch's credentials were important, but were a distraction from the broader issue of political control of scientific information." " 'On climate, the public has been misinformed and not informed,' he said. 'The foundation of a democracy is an informed public, which obviously means an honestly informed public. That's the big issue here.' " 02-06 Scientists: Arctic Ice Loss Triggering Global Warming (BBC News) " 'September 2005 will set a new record minimum in the amount of Arctic sea ice cover,' said Mark Serreze, of the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), Boulder, Colorado.' " "The current rate of shrinkage they calculate at 8% per decade; at this rate there may be no ice at all during the summer of 2060." " 'These dark areas absorb a lot of the Sun's energy, much more than the ice, and what happens then is that the oceans start to warm up, and it becomes very difficult for ice to form during the following autumn and winter.' " " 'It looks like this is exactly what we're seeing - a positive feedback effect, a "tipping-point".' " "The idea behind tipping-points is that at some stage the rate of global warming would accelerate, as rising temperatures break down natural restraints or trigger environmental changes which release further amounts of greenhouse gases." "The Arctic Climate Impact Assessment, a four-year study involving hundreds of scientists, projected an additional temperature rise of 4-7C by 2100." 9-05 Siberian Peat and Global Warming (National Geographic) "Peatlands consist of layer upon layer of partially decomposed plant material. They play a crucial role in governing the atmospheric concentration of the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane, Smith said. Increased concentrations of atmospheric greenhouse gases can accelerate global warming." 12-04 Trade Agreements Affecting the Environment (World Trade Organization) Provides the official WTO Web site. 12-99

Arabic, Chinese-Simple, Chinese-Traditional, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Slovenian, Swedish, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese,   Index, New, Search Engines, Dictionary, Bookstore, Licenses, Email Us, About Us, Link to Us, or Privacy Policy.