GLOBAL WARMING

Global Warming is arguably the biggest environmental problem facing humanity in the 21st century.

The Earth is heating up- the early warning signs are everywhere. Human activity has been increasing the concentrations of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere- mostly in the form of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels (coal, gas, oil etc..) The Hydrocarbon economy has increased the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from pre-industrial levels of around 280 parts per million (ppm) to current levels of roughly 370 ppm on average worldwide. This measure is expected to double by 2065 if growth rates continue. Forecasters predict a 3-7 degree farenheit increase by the end of the 21st century.

Since the 19th century, the mean temperature of the earth has increased by about 1 degree farenheit. This has resulted in a dramatic recession of the mountain glaciers of the world, a 40% reduction of the thickness of the Northern Artic Ice pack over the past 4 decades, a global sea level that has risen 3 times faster over the past 100 years than in the last 3000 years, a disruption of the Earth's hydrological weather cycle, and severe flooding and drought conditions in certain parts of the world. Seven of the ten warmest years in the 20th century have occured in the 1990's. 2001 was the second warmest year on record.

Other effects of global warming include an earlier than usual spring arrival, plant and animal range shifts and population declines, coral reef bleaching, heavier than usual downpours, erratic snow pack levels, flooding, droughts and fires and the spread of insect populations and disease. Diseases relayed by mosquitos are among those eliciting the greatest concern as the world warms. Malaria and dengue fever are two of the mosquito-borne diseases most likely to spread dramatically as global tempuratures head upward.

Since 2001, 165 nations around the world have signed on to the 1997 Kyoto Protocols which would regulate carbon dioxide emissions worldwide. The United States of America practically stands alone in its refusal to sign onto the treaty. Since Kyoto, there have been almost yearly Global Warming Summits that have brought about a level of success in working to pull together an international consensus to set standards for reducing carbon emissions worldwide.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change established by the United Nations calculates that halting the ongoing rise of atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases will require a 60- 70 percent reduction of carbon emissions.

Contrary to the US Bush Administration's recent move to open up the Caspian Sea/Kazakhstan oil fields- which are purported to be the richest and most extensive (largest) oil reserves in the world- the nations and peoples of the planet must learn to take command of their own destinies and rapidly help transit our civilization out of the hydrocarbon economy and move immediately towards a decentralized, non-polluting, alternative/free energy based economy for the 21st century.

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Steve Jones
P.O. Box 1141
Boulder, Colorado
80306
USA

E-Mail: firetotheinfidel7@yahoo.com

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SOURCES:

1. NCAR- National Center for Atmosphertic Research
1850 Table Mesa Dr
Boulder, Colorado
80305
USA

Website: http://www.ncar.ucar.edu/

2. European Environment Agency
Kongens Nytorv 6
DK-1050
Copenhagen, Denmark
European Union

Website:http://www.eea.eu.int/

3. Environmental News Network (ENN)
2020 Milvia- #411
Berkeley, California
94704
USA

Website: http://www.enn.com/

4. UNEP- United Nations Environment Programme
United Nations Ave- Gigri
P.O. Box 30552
Nairobi, Kenya
AFRICA

Website:http://www.unep.org/

5. NOAA- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
14th and Constitution Ave- NW
Washington, DC
20230
USA

Website: http://www.noaa.gov/

6. Union of Concerned Scientists
2 Brattle Square
Cambridge, Massachussetts
02238
USA

Website:http://www.ucsusa.org/

7. Earth Island Institute
300 Broadway- Suite 28
San Francisco, California
94133
USA

Website:http://www.earthisland.org/

8. World Resources Institute
10 'G' St- NE
Suite 800
Washighton, DC
20002
USA

Website:http://www.wri.org/

9. New Internationalist Magazine
55 Rectory Rd
Oxford, United Kingdom
OX4 1BW
European Union

Website:http://www.newint.org/

10. Global Warming Information Center
International Headquarters
22W381, 75th St
Naperville, Illinois
60565
USA

Website:http://www.globalwarming.net/

11. Greenpeace International
Keizersgracht 176
1016 DW Amsterdam, Netherlands
European Union

Website:http://www.greenpeace.org/~climate

12. The End of Oil
Website:The End of Oil