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Our Thoughts on Climate Change Facts
There is so much talk about global warming, climate change and carbon footprint in the media, that we decided to try and show our customers what we think are the facts about climate change and how it impacts on our lives.
Global Warming – this is the gradually warming of Earth caused by more “greenhouse” gases in the atmosphere which creates a reflection back of UV rays from the sun, heating up the planet. Experts predict a 5 degree centigrade increase by 2100 at the current rate of increased emissions. However, with the advent of the previously Third World countries now becoming more “Westernised”, like China, this rate will probably increase even higher.
Climate Change – as a result of global warming we are experiencing climate change across the whole of the planet as evidenced by freak weather conditions, massive flooding problems in UK and abroad as well as melting ice caps. This situation will get worse over the next century resulting in the UK weather being hotter & drier in the summer but milder & wetter in the winter. The sea level is predicted to rise between 25cms up to 85cms during this time due to melting ice caps, which will mean large scale flooding in low lying areas of the UK like the Fens where the sea will reclaim some land. It will also mean that deserts will become bigger and freak weather conditions like tornadoes will become more prevalent. This is natures way of addressing the eco balance!
Greenhouses Gases – there are several of these that have different affects on the planet, listed below:
CO2 – this is present in the atmosphere anyway and is absorbed by trees & plants naturally but no-one really knows at what rate, but experts believe that 1 tree will absorb the CO2 emitted by one trans-atlantic flight over a period of 100 years !! CO2 is put into the atmosphere by plant decay, animal respiration & the burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil, gas, petrol , diesel etc.). The amount of CO2 in the atmosphere compared to pre the Industrial revolution levels will have doubled by 2045 and also accounts for about 65% of the global warming impact.
Methane – this is naturally present in the atmosphere and accounts for about 20% of the global warming effect. It appears to have increased by 2.5 times since the Industrial Revolution but expert believe it to be in balance at the moment, but not enough is known about it.
Nitrous Oxide - this is naturally present in the atmosphere and accounts for about 5% of the global warming effect. It appears to have increased by 16% since the Industrial Revolution but is 200 times more effective at keeping heat in than CO2.
Fossil Fuels – these are contained within the Earth’s core and are coal, oil & gas. The burning of these generates CO2 into the atmosphere because they have been created over thousands of years. There is also only a finite amount of fossil fuels that are available and some experts are predicting that they will run out in 30 years time! Also when we take these out of the Earth, what fills the hole? Or will it all collapse because we have just left holes?
Renewable Energy – these are sources that can be replaced or used for free, the main ones are water, sun & wind but timber is also classed as this because we can grow trees, however, this tends to negate the idea of trees & plants absorbing CO2. There has been a drive to increase the use of wind turbines, solar panels & hydro dams, but we need to continue to push this forward at an increasing rate as well as lowering the costs so everyone can convert to renewable energy.
Carbon Footprint – This is a measure of how much CO2 a business or home (including vehicles, flights, power consumption) is emitting into the atmosphere in terms of tonnes and compared against the UK average & World average. The UK government have got an official one see our Eco Links page.
Carbon Neutral – this term is used when a business or home or building is deemed to not have overall emissions of CO2 into the atmosphere by using renewable energy, reduced power consumption and carbon offsetting. Where renewable energy exceeds demand this can be fed back into the “grid” helping to balance the usage at other times for example summer vs winter for solar energy. Carbon Offsetting then becomes the balancing figure in the equation, but in all reality this is a false belief, see below.
Carbon Offset – this has become more popular over the past few years and is an attempt to get people to pay money towards tree conservation projects & energy reduction in Third World countries. The idea is that paying money towards these projects will offset the CO2 emissions caused by flights & vehicle journeys. But as CO2 remains in the atmosphere for 100 years and takes trees an enormous amount of time to absorb, this is just a way of “masking” the impact and reducing people’s guilt. The biggest problem with CO2 is in Europe and North America, so how does planting trees in Africa help? The idea is reduce the amount of CO2 emitted into the atmosphere, this view on the problem doesn’t tackle that issue.
Random Thoughts – the whole Green/Eco/Carbon argument is not clearly understood with enough robust data to make accurate predictions over the future of the planet, but we have all noticed the change to “freak” weather along with the increased natural disasters like flooding in UK. Coupled with the limited fossil fuel resource, it is clear that something has to be done regarding the fuel required to generate the energy needed to continue the current lifestyle of the world today.
And therein lies the problem, we are all in a technology lifestyle that in all reality most people would prefer to continue. Given the choice of today’s lifestyle or eliminating the use of fossil fuels immediately and going back to non-motorised transport without the many technology products we all enjoy (TV’s, mobiles, computers, iPods etc …..), then in our hearts of hearts most people would plump for today’s lifestyle.
So how do we change our reliance on fossil fuels, which appears to be causing all of the problems we face for a secure future on this planet we call Earth? The answer appears to be fairly simple on the face of it, reduce energy usage and find renewable energy sources. So how do we get people to realise that changes have to be made? Governments have started, there is the Kyoto agreement which is a start and also businesses are looking at renewable energy options but business is always reluctant to change something that may impinge on their profits.
So as individuals lets consider the climate change facts, how it effects our lives and what we can do to make our lifestyles more eco friendly .......
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