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Greenhouse Effect
Every year our Earth is getting hotter and the sea levels continue to rise - all because of the greenhouse effect and climate change!
If we fail to act, vast areas of our planet will become uninhabitable due to heat, flood and drought (see, we told you it wasn’t good). But don’t just switch off to that message because you have heard it before. Think about every word in that statement and picture it in your mind's eye.
"Our choices at all levels—individual, community, corporate and government—affect nature. And they affect us."
David Suzuki
Myths
The greenhouse effect is completely bad and is entirely the fault of recent human behaviour.
Facts
Despite what you may have heard lately, the greenhouse effect is not all bad – we actually need it. If we did not have heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere, Earth's average temperature would be –18 degrees. Great for penguins (and things that eat penguins); absolutely horrible for us!
The two most common gases in the air are oxygen and nitrogen. These two gases do not hold heat; it passes straight through them (like a bright idea through Britney’s brain). The problem gases are the greenhouse gases – water, methane, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and sulphur hexafluoride. These all trap heat (like a woolly jumper), which is okay to a point. But we have long passed that point!
Our Earth is wearing too many jumpers!
The main gas responsible for the man-made climate change that we now 'enjoy' is carbon dioxide. It is also known by its scientific name CO2. Every year humans spew out 25 billion tonnes of polluting CO2 into our atmosphere. In Victoria we are producing around 40% more pollution per day than we did in 1990.
If we fail to act, vast areas of our planet will become uninhabitable due to heat, flood and drought.
Now ask the question – where will the people that live there move to? Remember Hurricane Katrina? Remember how hard it was for a relatively small number of people to be cared for and relocated – and that happened in the world’s richest, most developed country. Consider what it would mean on a global scale and consider changing they to I ... Where will I move to?
Articles
Journey through Climate History
December 11th, 2009
It's a simple fact of life that humans are fascinated by our weather and climate. We've been studying it, analysing it, watching it and talking about it since we took our first steps on this earth. Indeed we've become so obsessed with climate and weather that we've even started watching it on other planets like Mars and Saturn.
Picturing the Greenhouse Effect
August 19th, 2009
Getting your head around what the greenhouse effect is and what is causing it can be tricky. Sometimes words are not enough. That's when a picture can help.
What are greenhouse gases?
July 2nd, 2009
Carbon dioxide gets all the press, as it is the most abundant of the problem gases and drifts around in the atmosphere for over one hundred years trapping heat. Water vapor is also a greenhouse gas, but it is mostly irrelevant, as it falls as rain within a few hours, or days at most. The exception is the water vapor expelled by aircraft at high altitudes where it lingers around trapping heat in the higher atmosphere.
Belief In Climate Change Hinges On Worldview
February 25th, 2010
When it comes to climate change, some look at the facts presented and see a coming catastrophe, others see a hoax. This difference in interpretation, social scientists say, has more to do with each individual's existing outlook than the facts.
Emissions Trading
July 2nd, 2009
Professor Garnaut has described Climate Change as a ‘diabolical’ policy problem. It may well be but the introduction of an emissions trading system will be a gentle, rather than a shock, transmission from a carbon economy to a renewable one.
The Story of Cap & Trade
December 7th, 2009
The Story of Cap & Trade is a fast-paced, fact-filled look at the leading climate solution being discussed at Copenhagen and on Capitol Hill. Host Annie Leonard introduces the energy traders and Wall Street financiers at the heart of this scheme and reveals the "devils in the details" in current cap and trade proposals. If you’ve heard about cap and trade, but aren’t sure how it works, this is the film is for you.
Snapshot
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Quik Quiz
