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Hearts & MindsSM - Information for ChangeSM
Global Warming
Facts and stats
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CAUSES
Carbon dioxide (CO2)
Carbon dioxide in our atmosphere is up 30% in the past 100 years.
Source:
www.sierraclub.org/globalwarming/overview.asp
Power plants are responsible for 36% of CO2
emissions in the USA. Nuclear power plants and alternative energy sources of
energy such as wind and solar do not create greenhouse gases.
If Texas were to be considered independently from the
U.S. it would rank seventh in the world for carbon dioxide emissions.
Source:
www.citizen.org/texas/Global_Warmi/Causes_of_Gl/index.cfm
Cars and other vehicles give out 20% of the world’s CO2
pollution. In the USA, federal fuel economy save 3 million barrels of oil a
day. Other standards can cut back CO2 pollution by 600 million tons.
Source:
www.sierraclub.org/globalwarming/overview/culprits.asp
Cutting trees
Trees remove carbon dioxide from the air as they grow. When they are cut
down and burned CO2 is released back into the atmosphere. Massive
deforestation around the globe is releasing large amounts of CO2 and
decreasing the forests’ ability reabsorb this CO2 from the
atmosphere.
Source: www.uspirg.org/uspirg.asp
Pollution
Since the Industrial Revolution, burning of fossil fuels such as coal and
oil has put about twice as much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than is
removed naturally by the oceans and forests. This has resulted in carbon
dioxide levels building up in the atmosphere.
Source: Rainforest Action
Network
EFFECTS
 Global
warming is already affecting all of us, and children and future
generations are the most vulnerable
Rise in temperature
A steady increase of 1-degree Fahrenheit has been recorded since the late
19th Century.
There has also been a warming of the atmosphere, the
oceans, and even warming below ground.
Several sources including:
www.yosemite.epa.gov/oar/globalwarming.nsf/content/ClimateUncertainties.html
Other affects on climate
There has been an increase in severe storms such as hurricanes, cyclones,
and typhoons.
Source: Rainforest Action
Network
Precipitation is expected to increase over the 21st
century, most noticeably at northern mid-high latitudes although the trends
may be more variable in the tropics. Snow and sea-ice are also projected to
decrease in the Northern Hemisphere, and glaciers and ice caps are expected
to continue to decline.
Source: Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change
Melting Ice
The Arctic ice pack has lost about 40% of its thickness over the past four
decades. The Arctic ice cap is decreasing 9% per decade.
Source:
www.nrdc.org/globalwarming/f101.asp
A section of Antarctic ice as big as Rhode Island
broke off and disintegrated in March of 2001.
Since 1900 there has been a 50% reduction in glacier
ice in the European Alps.
Source: www.uspirg.org/uspirg.asp
Mount Kilimanjaro will be ice-free in just fifteen
years.
Source:
www.eces.org/archive/ec/globalwarming/
Montana’s Glacier National Park will have no glaciers
in 70 years if current trends continue.
Source:
www.eces.org/archive/ec/globalwarming/
 You
can help protect unspoiled rivers and streams all over the world
(stream off Yangtze River, China)
Water
Compared to the previous 3,000 years, global sea level is rising about three
times faster over the past 100 years. A growing number of studies show
plants and animals changing their range and behavior in response to climate
shifts.
Source–
www.ucsusa.org/global_environment/global_warming/index.cfm
Warmer water temperatures might lead to changes in
major ocean currents. Their paths have a heavy affect climate and the
distribution of ocean temperatures and nutrients that sustain marine life.
Entire marine ecosystems could be disrupted.
Source:
www.globalwarming.enviroweb.org/
Animals
The disruption of habitats could drive many plant and animal species to
extinction. Source:
www.nrdc.org/globalwarming/default.asp
Farming and food production
Fresh water aquifers might become contaminated with salt-water from rising
sea level, placing both agriculture and fisheries at risk.
Source: Rainforest Action Network
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This web page - http://www.heartsandminds.org/environment/warmingfacts.htm
- latest
text changes December 27, 2005, latest update Aug 10, 2006 |