World Expedition - Index

World Expedition - booklet - Index

global warming
Rising temperatures, drought and water shortages, melting
glaciers and icecaps and extreme weather conditions bring
the problem of global warming into our collective
consciousness. The need to address this global concern,
both on an individual, business and government level, has
never been more immediate. We must act now to build a
future that is less reliant on fossil fuels for energy and
instead harness the efficiencies of renewable resources to
fuel our homes, businesses and modern lifestyles.
What causes global warming?
The industrialized world along with our modern lifestyle
has largely led to the warming of our planet. The earth’s
atmosphere is delicate and thin, and we humans have
changed its composition by increasing the amount of
greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
Greenhouse gases are gases in the atmosphere that hold
in heat, such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous
oxide. These gases play the important role of maintaining
the earth’s temperature at a comfortable
15 o C (59 o F) and without these gases the
earth’s surface temperature would drop to
-18 o C (0 o F). However, our industrialised
and modern world produces too much
greenhouse gas to maintain this balanced
arrangement. It is estimated that 80% of
the greenhouse gases we produce are
C02 . When we burn fossil fuels such as
oil, natural gas and coal we release C02 into the atmosphere.
When the sun’s
energy enters the
atmosphere,
instead of heating
the earth and reradiating
the
excess heat back
into space the extra
greenhouse gases
trap more heat and
as a result the temperature of the earth’s atmosphere
and oceans is getting dangerously high.
potential impacts of global warming
Global warming, according to the Stern Review: The
Economics of Climate Change will have the following
impacts on the globe if we do not act now:
� Melting glaciers will initially increase flood risk and then
strongly reduce water supplies, eventually threatening
one-sixth of the world’s population, predominantly in the
Indian sub-continent, parts of China, and the Andes in
South America.
� Declining crop yields, especially in Africa, could leave
hundreds of millions without the ability to produce or
purchase sufficient food. At mid to high latitudes, crop
yields may increase for moderate temperature rises (2
to 3°C), but then decline with greater amounts of
warming. At 4°C and above, global food production is
likely to be seriously affected.