The evidence that humans are causing global warming has been established, but the question of what to do about it remains controversial. Economics, sociology, and politics are all important factors in planning for the future. There are also those in power but simply not informed and somewhat lazy to get informed and they’d rather close their eyes and hope it’ll go away. Well it won’t. Global warming is here and it will get worse. Ignorance only delays progress so it is up to us to get informed and then we’ll know what to do and what not to do.
Even if we stopped emitting greenhouse gases (GHGs) today, the Earth would still warm by another couple of degrees or so because with it we’d also be clearing our atmosphere giving us the full impact of what global warming is. At present we are protected from the full impact by what is called “global dimming”. Without global dimming Africa experienced so far on record 58.7°C (137.66°F). 11 million Africans are affected by the famine due to the drought.
Here in Canada where we are used to cooler temperatures we hit a record 48+°C (120°F) +humidity where trees and plant life clearly showed signs of stress. Trees and plant life, the oxygen givers, if they come under stress a fungus named Rhizoctonia – (as a rule harmless to healthy trees and plants), but if stressed their immunity weakens and the fungus overwhelms weakened trees and plants. Without oxygen giving, CO2 absorbing trees and plants the world would quickly become a desert like hot wasteland.
Current concentrations are about 392.39 ppm (July 2011) of CO2 in our atmosphere, the safe amount of ppm is 350, which means there isn't much time to lose. According to the IPCC, we'd have to reduce GHG emissions by 50% to 80% of what they're on track to be in the next century to stabilize global warming.
Is this possible?
Many people and governments are already working hard to cut greenhouse gases, and everyone can help.
Researchers Stephen Pacala and Robert Socolow at Princeton University have suggested one approach that they call "stabilization wedges." This means reducing GHG emissions from a variety of sources with technologies available in the next few decades, rather than relying on an enormous change in a single area. They suggest 7 wedges that could each reduce emissions, and all of them together could hold emissions at approximately current levels for the next 50 years, putting us on a potential path to stabilize.
There are many possible wedges, including improvements to energy efficiency and vehicle fuel economy (so less energy has to be produced), and increases in wind and solar power, hydrogen produced from renewable sources, biofuels (produced from crops), natural gas, and nuclear power. There is also the potential to capture the carbon dioxide emitted from fossil fuels and store it underground—a process called "carbon sequestration."
In addition to reducing the gases we emit to the atmosphere, we can also increase the amount of gases we take out of the atmosphere. Plants and trees absorb CO2 as they grow, "sequestering" carbon naturally. Increasing forestlands and making changes to the way we farm could increase the amount of carbon we're storing.
Right now in Africa more prominent than elsewhere, although elsewhere are just as guilty instead of planting and growing trees to combat global warming they are cutting them down to have crop fields, just that the crops are drying out where crop, land animals and wildlife die from heat exhaustion and thirst because no trees cause a desert like heat which in turn evaporates water which in turn results in no crop farms what they cut down the trees for in the first place. But hey 20 years ago we were all screaming out don’t cut down the trees, the amazon rain forest provides 20% of the world’s oxygen, the Canadian Boreal Forest combined with the Taiga Forest in Canada throughout Siberia and Greenland replenishes the world’s oxygen “Daily”, increasing in oxygen output and CO2 intake during the growing season in the spring.
From my personal experience alone, living in the realm of the Taiga Forest where I allow trees to grow (in the back of the land) instead of having a manicured landscape over my entire land, plus we plant trees every year. In comparison to my neighbour’s land (same size) his asphalt backyard (never has to deal with the mud season) and manicured landscape my summer temperatures are by 20°F lower in comparison to his. He doesn’t live in another province he’s my next door neighbour, same weather, different temperature, thanks to my trees. I also have not lost any well water in the span of 30 years, he has gone dry 3 times in the span of 30 years and needed to drill for a new well each time. THIS IS THE DIFFERENCE TREES MAKE!!!
We each can contribute towards healing our planet in our own way, whatever that way might be, or how small you might think your contribution is, if we all work together we can accomplish a world of difference.
Wish you all a very good and safe weekend
Wabbit
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