GLOBAL WARMING

1
GLOBAL WARMING

• BASIC INFORMATION ON A GLOBAL ISSUE

2
Carbon Dioxide Increase Over Time

• 1000 AD --- 180 ppm
• 1800 AD --- 280 ppm
• 2010 AD --- 390 ppm
• 2050 AD --- 450 ppm
• 2100 AD --- 550 ppm

3
Highest CO2 Levels In History

• Carbon dioxide levels are now higher on the
  planet Earth than they have been for the past
  650,000 years.
• Human civilization has been in existence for
  about 12,000 years.

4
CO2 Rate of Increase

• Carbon Dioxide is increasing at the rate of 2.5
  parts per million each year at this rate carbon
  dioxide levels will exceed 400 parts per million
  by the year 2014. This is a level not seen by
  the Earth for several hundred thousand years.

5
OCEAN LEVEL RISE

• The ocean is presently rising at the rate of one
  centimeter every five years. At the present
  rate, the ocean will rise about 19 centimeters
  between now and the year 2100.

6
GLOBAL TEMPERATURE RISE

• Over the past 140 years, average global
  temperatures have risen 0.6 degrees Celsius or
  1.1 degrees Fahrenheit.

7
RATE OF TEMPERATURE INCREASE

• The global temperature is presently increasing at
  the rate of 0.2 degrees Celsius per decade.

8
CRITICAL CONCENTRATION OF CARBON DIOXIDE

• Scientists believe that a concentration greater
  than 450 ppm of carbon dioxide in the Earths
  atmosphere will lead to a runaway greenhouse
  effect with catastrophic consequences for life on
  Earth.

9
CO2 PRODUCERS

• Only one percent of the worlds countries (which
  is two countries) are producing 55 of the
  worlds carbon dioxide emissions. What are those
  two countries?

10
THATS RIGHT

• The United States and China, in fact, China has
  just surpassed the United States as the worlds
  greatest emitter of carbon dioxide. China is
  presently bringing coal-fired power-plants on
  line at the rate of one or two a week.

11
THE 20TH CENTURY

• The 20th Century was the warmest century in the
  past 1000 years.

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GLOBAL WARMING GASES

• Carbon Dioxide
• Methane
• Nitrous Oxide
• Chlorofluorocarbons
• Water Vapor

13
Watch Out For These Two

• Methane is 23 times more powerful by weight in
  warming the atmosphere than is carbon dioxide
• Nitrous Oxide is 310 times more powerful than
  carbon dioxide in warming the planet

14
WARMEST YEARS ON RECORD

• 11 of the 12 hotest years on record have occurred
  in the last twelve years.

15
OCEAN WARMING

• The Earths ocean has warmed 0.5 to 1.0 degrees
  Fahrenheit since 1906.

16
SOURCE OF CO2

• Two-thirds of the carbon dioxide entering the
  Earths atmosphere comes from natural sources
  such as animal respiration and volcanoes, while
  one-third is anthropogenically caused.

17
AFRICAN GLACIERS

• Glaciers in East Africa, including those on Mount
  Kilimanjaro, have been receding since 1880.

18
SUNS WARMING IS PROBABLY INSIGNIFICANT

• Over the past 50 years, the troposphere (layer of
  atmosphere next to Earths surface) has been
  steadily warming while the stratosphere has been
  steadily cooling. This is the opposite of what
  would be expected if the sun were having a
  pronounced effect on Earths warming.

19
SCIENTISTS EXPOUND

• Recently, 600 scientists from 40 countries said
  with 90 certainty, that the Earths present
  global warming is being primarily caused by human
  activity.

20
DIFFICULT TO MODEL

• The Earths atmosphere and climate are embedded
  with a high degree of randomness and uncertainty,
  making it difficult to differentiate between
  normal events and abnormal trends. Cloud
  formation and behavior, for example, is extremely
  difficult to model.

21
AND SO THE SAGA CONTINUES

• No one knows what is going to happen to this
  spherical petri dish with the microbe, Homo
  sapiens, living upon it. Will the microbe upset
  its living environment and exterminate itself, or
  will it manage to survive. Stay tuned for the
  greatest adventure of all time Will the human
  race save itself from itself?