Fossil Fuels April 27, 2007

Fossil fuel is the generalized term given to such energy sources as oil, natural gases and coal. Fossil fuels are all hydrocarbons (consisting solely of hydrogen and carbon), and are also known as mineral fuels. They are given this name due to the process by which they are created; when a creature dies, let’s take plankton, its body starts to decompose. It then, along with other plankton which have died, accumulate at bottom of the sea it lived in. The organic remains of these plankton then mix with mud and other substances found at the bottom of the sea, and start to form layers. As time passes, sedimentations, consisting mostly of minerals, are formed on top of these layers and thus engulf them in solid rock. Due to this, the pressure and heat exerted on the organic remains increases. Under these conditions, the organic remains from the plankton begin to break down into hydrocarbons, one of them being methane (CH₄), which is the most abundant hydrocarbon. What first occurs is the process of metamorphism where the organic waste is broken down to a viscous substance known as kerogen, after that the process of catagenesis takes place and the kerogen is broken down to into liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons. It is from these underground deposits of hydrocarbons which we humans gather fossil fuels and burn them.

            Fossil fuels are currently necessary for the human race since we use them in order to travel (by air, water, land and even space), run machinery and thus create a wide selection of products and also to get warmth and energy. The major consumers of fossil fuels at the moment are the energy companies, transforming natural gases and crude oils etc. into energy for our households, as well as the transport business, traveling all over the earth using petroleum. All these businesses require the burning of fossil fuel, and thus its release of energy to function.

One wide problem with fossil fuels is the fact that they are not rechargeable; once we burn them there is no simple way to get it back and use it again. Humanity has to wait for another fossil fuel deposit to be created (assuming we have already found all current ones) and that procedure takes many thousand years. The fact that the amount of remaining fossil fuels is unknowns generates an impending issue to great for many to face.

This liquid petroleum, commonly known as crude oil and sometimes referred to as “Black Gold”, is one of the most frequently used fossil fuels. Petroleum is made up of many hydrocarbons, most of them being alkanes, (organic chain of single bonded carbons) and naturally combines with nonmetallic elements such as oxygen, sulfur and nitrogen. The different hydrocarbon chemicals can be subject to distillation, where it is broken down to jet fuel, gasoline along with other hydrocarbons. The general formula for these hydrocarbons are C_nH_2n+2, one example of these is isooctane (C₈H₁₈) which reacts with oxygen (O₂) to give an exothermic reaction:

C₈H₁₈(aq) + 12.5O₂(g) → 8CO₂(g) + 9H₂O(g) + heat ¹

These are the reactions humans require so much in order to keep our current society functioning. Through this particular reaction 48 kJ per gram of isooctane of energy is gained. However, if this reaction was to be incompletely combusted (not enough oxygen), the byproducts would  be gases such as nitric oxide (NO) or carbon monoxide (CO) which can both be harmful to humans.

Work Cited

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerogen, unknown author, unknown date

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/fossil_fuels, unknown author, unknown date

http://www.umich.edu/~gs265/society/fossilfuels.htm, University of Michigan, date unknown.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroleum, unknown author, unknown date.

¹ The reaction along with the “general formula” were taken from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/petroleum, heading Formation, subheading Chemistry. 

Global Warming: what might happen if left to ravage? April 27, 2007

Many view global warming as the great impending doom of our earth and many scientists are convinced that such is the case.

Recently the company IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) predicted that by the year 2100, the sea level would have increased with over 50 cm’s!

Paleoclimatic Evidence for Future Ice-Sheet Instability and Rapid Sea-Level Rise, a  scientific report released in the “Journal Science”, claims that an even greater increase is anticipated. “The increased rate of which the Antarctic pole, Artic pole along with the Greenland glaciers will melt and thus increase the rise of the sea level will possibly result in a 3 feet (1m) increase”¹.Hurricanes and other natural disasters are said to be increasing due to global warming, however, some scientist think otherwise.In September of 2005, a scientist named Roger Pielke Jr, working at theUniversity of
Colorado, wrote an article in the “Bulletin of The American Meteorological Society” claiming that are hardly any signs of global warming affecting Hurricane patterns.This view was not accepted by all scientists and still there is much controversy whether global warming really has the great impact it is predicted to have.During January in 2005, Christopher Landsea (one of the most respected Hurricane Scientists in existence) quit the IPCC in an act of protest, after the director of the panel, Rajenda Pauchari, officially supported the statements claiming that hurricanes were increasing in multitude and strength due to global warming. 

Work Cited 

http://www.reason.com/news/show/32958.html, Reason Online, August 17, 2005.

http://www.ecobridge.org/content/g_tht.htm, EcoBridge, unknown date.

Global Warming: Is it occurring or not? April 27, 2007

One of the major debates, if not the biggest, concerning global warming has been on whether it is actually going to happen or not. Many scientists claim that what we are experiencing is simply due to changes in solar activity and furthermore that volcanic eruptions slowly having their tow on global temperature. Others claim that these kinds of changes are part of an environmental cycle. However, there are those who believe us humans are the cause of these changes, and as such should do what we can do inhibit their growth.

Dr.
Thomas Schafer, a geologist and teacher at IEG, Sweden, and also a believer that the global warming is caused by humans, claims “there have been significantly greater changes before but over longer periods of time, over thousands or even millions of years. The changes we are facing today will occur in a matter of decade.” When asked what the results of these fluctuations may be he replies “take this into consideration: 15 000 years ago the average temperature was approximately 5ºC lower than it is now. At that time,
Sweden, had 2000 meters of glacier covering the land.” The current average temperature is approximately 15ºC.In search for proof concerning global warming and whether we are causing it or not, Dr. Tim Barnett and his team at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in California, have managed to put forth evidence to support that we really are the cause. “Over the past 40 years there has been considerable warming of the planetary system and approximately 90 per cent of that warming has gone directly into the oceans,” Says Dr. Barnett, it is through this knowledge that they were able to conclude what is causing global warming. By investigating above 7 million recordings of oceanic temperatures around the world, approximately 2 million recordings of salinity (saltiness) and also by using the expected results of two computer simulations to compare with temperatures at different depths worldwide, they came to a conclusion; the catalyst must been human. The results indicated that not solar changes, volcanic eruptions or any of the “natural” causes could’ve, solely, resulted in this incredible heat increase; it must be the greenhouse effect (C02 trapping heat). In the movie An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore, he puts forth evidence that proves that C02 is what causes global warming. By showing a graph, depicting the levels of C02 as well as the fluctuations of earths average temperature over 650,000 years, Al Gore clearly shows that there is a direct link between temperature and the amount of C02 in the atmosphere. And since, according to the movie, humans are responsible for the increase of C02, we are also to blame for the global warming.However, there is another film which aims to disprove what Al Gore has claimed, The Great Global Warming Swindle by Martin Durkin. According to this movie, there is a direct link between C02 and temperature, but in the opposite way that Al Gore believes. Actually, C02 increases as a result of the temperature rising, not the other way around.With huge participants as Patrick Moore, co-founder of Greenpeace, claiming that Global Warming is just a political stunt to gain popularity and Dr. John Christy (receiver of N.A.S.A. award for Exceptional Scientific Achievement as well as a special award from the Meteorologist Society) putting forth evidence that C02 is not the cause, the movie delivers a fatal blow to the believers. The movie explains that if the global warming was due to greenhouse effects, there would be a significant increase of temperature in the troposphere (since the gases would trap more heat here). However, weather balloon recordings as well as satellite data does not support this. Furthermore, they claim that whilst all human industries combined put out approximately 6.5 gigatons (1 gigatons = 1,000,000,000 tons) of C02 whilst all animal life puts out a staggering 200 gigatons. Throughout the movie, they do not only put down the common belief that C02 is the cause of it all, they also investigate what could really be the cause.Piers Corbyn, a British meteorologist, claims he has found a way of predicting weather as well as the answer to the question “what is causing the temperature rise?”.Dr Corbyn believes that the reason for this is increased solar activity. In The Great Global Warming Swindle Corbyn reveals hard evidence showing the correlation of solar sunspots (which indicate a high amount of solar activity) and the average temperature of the earth. The theory that sunspots are correlated with solar activity has been around for a long time and scientists have noted the amount of sunspots with temperature for over 200 years. It is with the help of these documents that Dr Corbyn has been able to establish his theory.
(Recordings from 1797 – 1997)To conclude, there are a lot of probable theories with many scientists backing them up, claiming completely opposite things. Even though The Great Global Warming Swindle, disproves many current scientific theories, there is no way we can really check the authenticity of all the research all they’ve conducted.  

Works Cited 

Dr.
Thomas Schafer, interview. “The Great Global Warming Swindle”, created by Martin Durkin, Broadcasted on Channel 4, March 8, 2007. 

www.abd.org.uk/climate_change_truths.htm, by ABD (The Association of British Drivers), June 10, 2006.  http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article516033.ece, Times Online, February 18, 2005. 

Acid Rain April 27, 2007

by Nakita Leigh Wright

What is acid rain?

Acid rain occurs when nitrogen oxides (NO_x) and sulphur dioxide (SO₂) enter into the atmosphere and mix with oxygen, water and other chemical which form nitric and sulphuric acid. The main sources of these acids are because of fossil fuels combustion e.g. when gas and smoke from burning coal mix together with the moisture in the air.
     Once the chemicals have combined and produced nitric and sulphuric acids they are absorbed by water droplets in clouds. The acidic droplets then fall towards earth in forms of rain, mist, snow, hail or sleet (snow that melts while falling).
     pH scales are commonly used in measuring the acidity of liquid like waters such as rain; in different regions Acidic rain has a pH of between 0 and 5. Clean rain has a pH of 5.3, which is slightly acidic because of the carbon dioxide dissolving into it which is normal because it’s found in the atmosphere.

Effects of acid rain

Acid rain effects us and our environment in so many different ways such as our trees and historical artifacts being destroyed (destroying history), animals as their habitats are also being destroyed, our animals and lakes being poisoned which can result in the death of many animals and can also effect humans that eat fish from these poisoned lakes.
     When factories, power plants and other sources release nitrogen oxides and sulphur dioxides the wind can blow them over hundreds of miles effecting different countries, which will affect animals and humans.

Main effects of acid rain:

·        Trees – Trees are a very important natural resource. They provide homes and forests to wildlife, they control local climate and provide wood. When acid rain falls on these trees they become damaged and loose their leaves and needles. When trees absorb soil that has come in contact with acid rain it can affect the trees as well such as, they can suffer from damaged bark and leaves which could make them very vulnerable to diseases and insects. 

·        Lakes – Lakes are also very important to both animals and humans. Lakes provide food such as fish to both animals and humans. When acid rain pollutes lakes, fish start to die or become very sick depending on the acidity of the rain, birds and frogs can also die from the poisoned lakes, such as when the birds eat the toxic fish and insects. Acid rain can affect the growth of fish and reproduction. Acid rain can affect humans; as well such as if we were to eat a toxic fish it could result in blood poisoning, brain damage and kidney problems.

What can society do about acid rain: First of all, we need to understand the affects of acid rain, and how it affects our environment and our future. We can reduce the burning of fossil fuels, which include electricity and oil-fired power plants and use different energy sources such as nuclear power, wind and solar energy. We could also use battery-powered cars, fuel cells and natural gas powered cars. These changes can be very expensive so for those who can’t afford it they could make sure that when they are not using certain things they should turn them off such as turning off lights and appliances. They could also walk, bicycle or take public transport if planning on going somewhere.
Other things society can do to prevent acid rain:

·        Buy locally grown foods, they don’t require transportation.

·        Run the dishwasher only when it is full

·        Hang your wet clothes instead of tumble drying them

·        Don’t use air conditioners

·        Insulate your house better so you don’t have to use heaters as often

References:

http://www.ecokids.ca/pub/eco_info/topics/forests/global_warming.cfm
http://www.ace.mmu.ac.uk/eae/english.html
http://images.google.com/images?svnum=10&hl=en&lr=&q=acid+rain – pictures (Effects of Acid Rain and Cycles of How Acid Rain*)
http://www.ec.gc.ca/acidrain/
http://www.epa.gov/acidrain/what/index.html 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acid_rain 
http://www.policyalmanac.org/environment/archive/acid_rain.shtml
http://www.geocities.com/narilily/acidrain.html
http://parentingteens.about.com/cs/homeworkhelp/l/blscpro30.htm
http://www.ec.gc.ca/acidrain/done-you.htmlWhat is Acid Rain?

Global Warming and the Animal Kingdom April 27, 2007

by Nakita Leigh Wright 

How Global Warming is affecting the Animal Kingdom and Plants.

The earth is warming drastically, and humans are the ones to blame. Unfortunately, it’s not only us that are affected horribly by global warming but also the Animal and Plant Kingdom.
     It is said that in a century or so, a great amount of the animals and plants will be extinct. In 2003 and 2004 many different scientists in the journal Nature published information about this extinction problem. They suggested that by mid-twenty first century about a third of animals and plants will be pushed close to extinction. The study showed that about 1103 species in many habitats would not be able to survive the drastic climate change and is likely to be the major threat of extinction for most species.
     Today one of the biggest problems is the melting ice, growing deserts and the effect of warm seas. It is said that the warming of the seas has already affected the migration routes of birds, fish and turtles. Some species such as the loggerhead turtle and red mullet have increasingly been seen in the UK, which is unusual as they are normally linked with southerly oceans such as the Indian Ocean.
     Other animals such as the Ringed Plover, a typical migrating bird, spend their winters in the east of Britain instead on the west coast, and Chiff-Chaffs are remaining in the UK instead of migrating to the south.
     Some other species that are going to have problems finding homes in the near future are the alpine plants. This is because as the sea level rises the plants are forced to move upwards, unfortunately the only land upwards are rocks.
     Early Hibernation is also a problem for many animals and plants. The climate is bringing animals and plants out of hibernation to early, making animals lose weight and making them stressed, while at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, looked at records on the normal springtime of blooming flowers and showed that out of one hundred about eighty-nine were blooming early. The common lawn weed deadnettle was photographed at the National Arboretum, and is blooming 39 day earlier than in 1970.
     A major problem with animals hibernating too early is that their feeding and breeding patterns are being messed with and that they are loosing weight. Birds such as the sparrow are losing weight as the try to adjust with the changes in the environment.  The sparrow including other birds are also being made to fight for their food as they are beginning their spring cycle much earlier than their prey such as insects, berries, flowers and seeds. Some other animals such as the marmots have been seen coming out of hibernation 23 days too early also putting a lot of stress on them, as they also has to fight and find food.
    These are just the early signs of extinction and problems. Imagine the world in 2100….a world of desserts or a world of sea, or both, but unfortunately unavailable for humans, plants and animals to survive!

Interesting fact: “Harlequin Frogs are dying because of Global Warming. A very deadly fungus is growing on them. The atmosphere is heating up and that is making the fungus grow. This fungus makes some frogs lose their legs or grow more legs.” – http://www.tqnyc.org/NYC063192/animals.html
 References:

http://www.tqnyc.org/NYC063192/animals.html

http://images.google.com/images?svnum=10&um=1&hl=en&gbv=2&q=alpine+plants+global+warming

http://www.guardian.co.uk/climatechange/story/0,,1792631,00.html

http://www.worldviewofglobalwarming.org/pages/temperate-zone.html

http://www.worldviewofglobalwarming.org/

http://www.goglobalwarmingawareness2007.com/are-animals-affected-by-global-warming.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4313726.stm

http://www.livescience.com/environment/050621_warming_changes.html

http://images.google.com/images?svnum=10&hl=en&gbv=2&q=ringed+plover

http://images.google.com/images?svnum=10&hl=en&gbv=2&q=chiff-chaff

http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0215471/global_warming.htm

http://www.show.me.uk/site/news/STO903.html

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/01/0107_040107_extinction.html

Movie / Documentary An Inconvenient Truth – Al Gore.

Article continues

The Betty Example April 26, 2007

There are countless things we do everyday that impacts the environment but, let us focus on carbon exposition. Let the following example of Betty enlighten you in this field. However, goods and wares considered in this article are mainstream and non-ecological every day consumer products. Betty is also a generalized person, so is the values described herein of carbon dioxide emissions, based on different sources. It is common sense that these values can not be hundred percent accurate, they are only meant to give some sort of idea of how much a person really impacts the environment a year.
     Betty is a single woman, living alone in her apartment in central Stockholm. She owns a car that she takes to her job every day, 10 kilometers there and back again. On a working day Betty wakes up when her clock radio says 06:50 a.m. The clock by the way was manufactured in Japan, 8 200 kilometers away and whose parts have been manufactured elsewhere around Asia. The manufacturing process of each part releases carbon dioxide, as with anything else manufactured. Along with transport costs before the radio was assembled and afterwards, the total released carbon dioxide is somewhere around 4 kilos for just that one radio. Of course the real amount of carbon dioxide is more since this goes only for one radio out of a production of 3 000 a year.
     Next thing Betty does is to take a shower; the water is electrically heated, which consumes about 200kg of carbon dioxide a year just for our Betty. The water too has been both transported to a water purification plant and then transported to Betty’s taps through pressure pumps. This also costs carbon dioxide, roughly 600 grams each time Betty takes a shower, that’s 220kg a year. Next Betty puts on some clothes, mostly cotton based but also some polymer clothing. A typical cotton field with continuos crop (not rotary) will produce 0.7mg Carbon per hectare per year. Normal casual clothing can consist of cotton that when produced releases as much as 1 kg carbon only that. Just add transport costs and refining procedures and you reach 2 kilograms for a new set of clothing each day.
     Betty needs some good breakfast before she goes to work. Hers comprises corn flakes and milk and a banana to that. Cornflakes are from corn; (maize) often originating from South America and by this fact leads to lots of exhausted carbon dioxide when transported to refineries. Corn is cheap to produce in fact, though you need a lot of it and especially if you are to make Cornflakes (by far the most popular breakfast cereal in the world). This also leads to strain on the environment by as much as 100g of carbon dioxide per Cornflakes a person and year. The milk is better for the environment since it is produced locally; nevertheless, it contributes to global warming. The pastures, apart from over-fertilizing the soil, covers large land areas. If left at nature’s will, lush forests would grow there instead and they tend to absorb more carbon dioxide than grasslands, therefore there is a net increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
     When Betty eats her banana, it ends its cycle after having first been produced by poor farmers in either South America, West Indies or Africa, then stored in a cool container on alternating bus, air plane, truck and boat, until it reaches Betty’s mouth. We have to add to that the fact that banana plantations are impossible without major deforestation of the rainforest that normally stand for absorption of tons of carbon dioxide every year, along with erosion. We end up with 15 kg of carbon dioxide every year for every banana Betty eats during the course of one year.
     Now Betty has to go to work and she drives the mentioned car, at the same time releasing about 3 kg of carbon dioxide in the process. Had she taken the train it would have been questions of just few grams if taken into account just the carbon ‘cost’ just to travel. Modern commuter trains are 96% recyclable meaning less waste and also carbon emissions than a used automobile. Betty also has to drive back, mind you, totaling 6kg of carbon dioxide every working day for her trips.
     Hopefully, she will avoid drinking coffee at work, as it is not good for your health, nor the environment. In fact coffee is the single most transported product from the plant kingdom in the world; therefore, the single biggest reason for carbon emissions from that same kingdom. Coffee takes time to produce but the net gain net loss of carbon dioxide when cultivating coffee is roughly the same. However, refining, roasting, grinding etc. coffee beans is also a major cause for release of carbon dioxide.
     Betty works on her computer most of her working day. Computers are power-consuming devices and may be up to ten thousand times more power-consuming than a light bulb if left on all day. This leads to yet another butt-load of carbon dioxide emissions since the electricity is most often produced in coal or oil based power plants.
     Finally, the working day is over; Betty needs some food, the grocery store has what she needs. Most of the products you already know will have emissions of carbon dioxide through manufacturing processes and transport. But did you know that 15% of carbon dioxide emissions actually comes from unused foods? Many of the foodstuffs bought Betty will never consume. Instead, she throws them in the trash, without proper sorting of the different sources. So most of her waste is burned for energy and thus releases green house gases. In Sweden, 500 000 tons of unused groceries are thrown away each year, when it would have been better to just have eaten them up instead – humans don’t emit pure carbon dioxide the same way as combustion of waste does.
     This article can be further elaborated and expanded in to almost infinity but for the purposes of this project it ends here. It was meant to illustrate and give thought about our daily consumerist lives. How in the end small differences can make a big differences. The lamest excuse of all is ‘I do it because everybody else is doing it’. In this context it means that you should not act as if you can not make a change to the global climate because your efforts would be insignificant. The very thing people are missing is just this, everyone contributes and therefore it is everyone’s responsibility. We are all just living on this planet a short while and we are just ‘borrowing’ it from future generations. The question is whether or not to make a change, because it is our duty, instead the question is where do I start. So, hopefully this article along with the rest in Project Environment will help you to make a start and start preserving this beautiful blue marble of the Solar System.

Some sources (more to be updated):

http://carbonfootprint.com/
http://www.norden.org/webb/news/news.asp?lang=6&id=2536
http://www.ars.usda.gov/research/publications/publications.htm?seq_no_115=181744

‘SVT Rapport’ 19:30 every weekday.

 

Notes from Dr. Schafer April 2, 2007

Notes from the interview with Dr. Schafer.

Yes, there have been previous fluctuations of the earth in temperature, but never have they been as rapid as they are now. There have been significantly greater changes before but over longer periods of time (thousands or even millions of years), the changes we are facing today will occur in a matter of decades.

Causes for previous fluctuations have been volcanic eruptions, or rather the increase in C02 through volcanic eruptions, and also movement in continental plates.As continental plates previously moved, the breaking off from greater parts to smaller parts resulted in an increase of coastal area and smaller continents, with greater amounts of coast the temperature increased.

Another presumed cause has been the galactic year (the cycle in which our solar system orbits the Milky Way) which occurs during a period of 240,000,000 terrestrial years. Presently the universe is estimated to be between 18 and 22 galactic years in age.During this cycle, earth’s interaction with other stars and galaxies may very well have great effects on earth and earth’s temperature.

Not sure what Schafer wanted to demonstrate with the following information concerning oxygen fluctuations, he said that an increase in oxygen would not increase nor decrease the temperature of the earth. I think he used it mainly as proof for the great fluctuations the earth has gone through.

The current amount of oxygen in the atmosphere is 21%, at 34% a single spark would combust the entire earth without a single chance of stopping. Previously, according do geological records, earth has had 31% of oxygen in the atmosphere. This simply proves how great fluctuations may be.

When asked whether the global warming effect is caused by humans and will have devastating effects, he replied that he would be stupid not to agree with the countless scientists claiming just that. Approximately 99%-ish of all scientists working on the subject claim that the global warming effect is not just a normal fluctuation of the earth. However some disagree and claim that this is just the normal cycle of the earth. Concerning those Dr. Schafer commented “Some people still believe that the earth is flat”. As climate change is upon us, the movement of gases across the earth will have a great effect on us. Since the mapping of moving gases is near to impossible, scientists can do nothing else but believe that these rapidly changing gases are the cause to the current increase in catastrophes such as hurricanes. As a demonstration of what the increase of average global temperature will do, take this into consideration: 15 000 years ago the average temperature was approximately 5ºC lower than it is now. At that time,
Sweden, had 2000 meters of glacier covering the land. The current average global temperature is approximately 15ºC.During the last 2,000,000 years there have been four major glaciations which have been documented. Most probably there have been many more in the far past. All results of global fluctuations.The increase of temperature worldwide is not a catastrophe waiting to happen, it has already occurred. According to Dr. Schafer the only thing left to access is how big it will be, “the switch has already been flipped”. However, if nothing at all is done we will not bee seeing the end of these fluctuations for many hundred years. Hopefully, if something is done, it might be over in no more than 20 years. As a result of a runaway greenhouse effect the planet Venus is a good example. If we were to cut down immediately on green house gases, it would not stop the fluctuation from occurring; however it would greatly shorten its lifespan and thus its effect. The greatest producers of green house gases are India and China, together Dr. Schafer estimates they produce over 50% of all greenhouse gases. Methane gas is the second most occurring greenhouse gas, and China’s rice farms greatly contribute to the release of it. In order to counteract global warming, a local change is where it will ultimately start whether or not it will have a great impact.

A local change is what will alter the mentality of on-lookers and hopefully act as an example for other areas looking for a solution to the same problem. According to new scientific papers, the sea level will rise 30 cm in the coming 30 years, directly putting coastal inhabitants in danger. One major country in danger is the Netherlands. Currently 30-40% of the Netherlands’ surface is already below sea level, keeping the water at bay by dams and other means. Through to one of the Netherlands’ surveys, they came to the conclusion that if sea level was to increase by 10 cm, they would have no choice but to abandon the land currently under sea level. Anything else would cost too much money. Another possible victim is Denmark. Research shows that if the global warming was left to ravage our climate, not all areas would increase in heat. Of course the average global temperature would increase, but that does not necessarily mean that all areas would also. Some, however few these areas may be, will most likely become colder. Northern Japan might be one of these areas.

Consumerism [Article to be developed] April 2, 2007

Global Warming: Consumerism Brainstorm 

1. Hypothesis: To stop climate changes caused by the green house effect the solution might be social rather than scientific. We must conduct a shift in ideology in our society at a very low level in order to make a change.
2. Background: The western countries are only 20% of the world’s population but they consume considerably more compared to the average inhabitant of this world. This has severe consequences on the environment and climate.
3. Evidence for this: We have become used to buy all sorts of goods at all times of the year, independent of season. This is achieved through high traffic along trade routes around the globe. This results in heavy pollution from trucks, tankers and airplanes.
   To keep the businesses profitable, producers have to expand their land which leads to deforestation. Ecosystems are destroyed and there are less woodland that can absorb carbon dioxide from the air. Producers are also forced to use fertilizers that give large crops but fewer nutrients and environmental hazards. The fertilized crops are more liable to contain toxins due to their weakness against molds diseases. The amount of fertilizers are often not carefully weighed out in relation to how much will be taken up by the plants. The surplus contaminates ground water with heavy metals and toxins, further contributing to the destruction of ecosystems and small human communities.
   Our lives as big consumers lead to extreme amounts of waste products. Millions and millions of tons of disposed electronics, scrapped cars and tires, among other garbage are dumped somewhere out of site.
   Nigeria for example receives shiploads of electronic garbage with lots of still functional electronics. They have to dismantle them without proper procedures and unintentionally tons of heavy metals and CFCs (Chlorofluorocarbons) are released into the environment. This affects the ozone layer, forests and seas negatively and the net effect will be an increased global warming.
4. Countermeasures: The enactment of the CFU (Carbon Footprint Unit) principle. For every purchase a person in the consumer countries make, the amount of carbon released is calculated for that product bought. Everything from the productions of the ware to the transport and packaging of it is taken into account. Every person is given a CFU ration on perhaps a yearly or quarter basis and if you buy stuff that exceeds your CFU ration, you get heavily taxated. The technology for this already exists in the form of payment and credit cards. All that is needed is that a computer program for calculating CFU is written and that each country (håll det lokalt?) is given guidelines with a scientific basis of how many CFU each individual of society is given.
   Arne Naess would probably support this idea in his Deep Ecology theory. It argues that when an individual realizes that he is worse off if species die, people get sick and the climate becomes worse, that individual will start to make changes. The changes can be comprised of changes in life style, transport and consumer patterns. But in general terms it is comprised of a change in ideology, from consumerism to utilitarianism*.
5. Critical thought: If such a system as the CFU principal is put into effect, it will be a huge restriction of your privacy. Since everything you buy will be logged, many people will feel the governments get a higher degree of control over them.
   An argument against this however, is that we are already in control of something more dangerous. Namely the large multi-national corporations. It is their goods we buy the most, they are in control of what we buy and they use methods to keep us addicted to consumerism. The use of commercial advertisements has notable effects in large portions of the population. They create a demand for a product out of nothing really. Keeping us in the consuming circle. Because when you can consume anything you want, as ______ says (from the film Surplus). You feel empty inside, you loose your spark that drives you. The meaning of your life is lost. That is because you are fed with the will to consume since you were little. Maybe this is what Arne Naess talks about in his Deep Ecology. When you have come to this point in life, you will start to care about other things like the environment.
   Yet again there is no absolute assurance that as people will hear the cry of the environment just because they become more tired of consumerism, if enough people will ever do. What we really have to do is to start major campaigns to make people perfectly aware of the dangerous consequences that their consumer habits involve. Otherwise they will never accept the CFU principal for example and there will be no changes on local scales. Because science will never come up with a miracle method to stop the effect on the environment if we continue at the same pace as before. Governments will not be able to make changes or may be unwilling to unless there is pressure from within the population.
   Russia is a terror example. They do not mind the effects of global warming because their country is aligned with the polar circle. They do make money on their fossil fuel resources that they sell worldwide and have no intention of putting in measures to prevent pollution because that would decrease the profit of their energy plants.
   Likewise we have USA which, like
   Russia, has not ratified the Kyoto Protocol that the United Nations set up to limit pollution in 1997. There is no intention from the
   USA to ratify the protocol and as of 2005 they are the largest single emitter of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels.