Are you Ready for the Sustainability and Greentech Revolutions? Climate Crisis Facts and Dangers

Global Warming

Introduction, Facts, Causes, Data & Consequences, Adaptation andSolution.

Introduction

• Global warming is the increase in the average temperature of the Earth's near-surface air and oceans since the mid-20th century and its projected continuation

• An increase in global temperature will cause sea levels

to rise and will change the amount and pattern of precipitation, probably including expansion of subtropical deserts. The continuing retreat of glaciers ,permafrost and sea ice is expected, with warming being strongest in the Arctic.

• Other likely effects include increases in the intensity of extreme weather  events, species and extinction , and changes in agricultural yields.

Cause of global warming

• Almost 100% of the observed temperature increase over the last 50 years has been due to the increase in the atmosphere of greenhouse gas concentrations like water vapour, carbon dioxide (CO2), methane and ozone.

• Greenhouse gases are those gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect. The largest contributing source of greenhouse gas is the burning of fossil fuels leading to the emission of carbon dioxide.

Greenhouse Emission

Some Facts

• Human population x 4 in 100 years• It took 10000 generations of human beings to

reach 2 B• We have tripled that in less that one lifetime

Some Facts

• A crisis in the relationship between human civilization and planet earth.

• Through the emission of Green House Gases we are creating Global Warming .

• The principles are quite simple :

A reality in pictures

• If a picture is worth a thousand words …

• Before the warming: Glacier National Park, USA 1932

• After the warming: Glacier National Park, USA 1988

A reality in pictures

• Before the warming: Peru, 1980

• After the warming: Peru, 2002

A reality in pictures

• Before the warming: Kilimanjaro, 1970

• After the warming: Kilimanjaro, 2000

A reality in pictures

• Before the warming: Nepal, 1978

• After the warming: Nepal, 2004

A reality in pictures

• Even more obvious from space, this pictures of the North Polar cap from NASA show a melting of 25% in 25 years:

Some unequivocal data• At the end of 2002, the concentration of carbon dioxide was

just above 370ppm.

• This is probably the highest in at least 400,000 years

Some unequivocal data• The Human Effect

Some unequivocal Data

• The number of category 4 and 5 hurricanes has almost doubled in the last 30 years.2

• Malaria has spread to higher altitudes in places like the Colombian Andes, 7,000 feet above sea level.3

• The flow of ice from glaciers in Greenland has more than doubled over the past decade.4

• At least 279 species of plants and animals are already responding to global warming, moving closer to the poles.5

Some unequivocal Data

• Every country bears its share of responsibility, The USA being number one.

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are needed to see this picture.

Source: Footprint Network

No more doubts

• The International scientific community now unequivocally admits that humanity is very likely to be responsible for Global warming 1.

• The Last report of the UN was produced by some 600 authors from 40 countries. Representatives from 113 governments reviewed and revised the Summary line-by-line before adopting it and accepting the report in Paris, February 2, 2007.

The Consequences of sticking to ‘Business As Usual”

• Global sea levels could rise by more than 20 feet with the loss of shelf ice in Greenland and Antarctica, devastating coastal areas worldwide.7.

• The arctic ocean could be ice free in summer by 2050.8.

• Heat waves will be more frequent and more intense.

• Droughts and wildfires will occur more often.

The Consequences of sticking to ‘Business As Usual”

• More than a million species worldwide could be driven to extinction by 2050 and half of all species of life on Earth could be extinct within a 100 years . (today 12% of the birds, 25% of the mammals,32% of the amphibians are directly threatened) 9.

• Coral Reefs: Warmer oceans and increased UV radiation contribute to massive coral reef die-offs.

• Fishing: 90% of the large fish in the world’s ocean are already gone (Nature Magazine)

• Dead zones: low-oxygen areas in the world’s ocean support no marine life. 146 dead zones in the world’s oceans (UN Environment Programme, 2004)

• The income gap between the richest and poorest people on Earth is likely to continue to increase due to the depletion of natural resources.

The Consequences of sticking to ‘Business As Usual”

• The Stern Report 10 :

“Our actions over the coming few decades could create risks of major disruption to economic and social activity, later in this century and in the next, on a scale similar to those associated with the great wars and the economic depression of the first half of the 20th century.”

“One percent of global GDP is required to be invested a year in order to mitigate the effects of climate change, and that failure to do so could risk global GDP being up to twenty percent lower than it otherwise might be”

Adaptation

• Adaptation to global warming consists of initiatives and measures to reduce the vulnerability of natural and human systems against actual or expected climate change effects This is in distinction to the mitigation of global warming

• A wide variety of measures have been suggested for adaptation to global warming. These measures range from the trivial, such as the installation of air-conditioning  equipment, to major infrastructure  projects, such as abandoning settlements threatened by sea level rise .

• Measures including water conservation, water rationing adaptive agricultural practices, construction of flood defenses Martian colonization , changes to medical care,[ and interventions to protect threatened species  have all been suggested.

Necessity for adaptation

• Because of the current and projected climate disruption precipitated by high levels of greenhouse gas emissions by the industrialized nations, adaptation is a necessary strategy at all scales to complement climate change mitigation efforts because we cannot be sure that all climate change can be mitigated.

• And indeed the odds are quite high that in the long run more warming is inevitable, given the geologic evidence of the past's most similar glacial / interglacial cycle which happened about 400,000 years ago.

Adaptation Mechanism

• The effects of climate change vary by region.• The effects of climate change may vary across demographic

groups.• Climate change poses both risks and opportunities.• The effects of climate change must be considered in the

context of multiple stressors and factors, which may be as important to the design of adaptive responses as the sensitivity of the change.

• Adaptation comes at a cost.• Adaptive responses vary in effectiveness, as demonstrated by

current efforts to cope with climate variability.• The systemic nature of climate impacts complicates the

development of adaptation policy.• Maladaptation can result in negative effects that are as

serious as the climate-induced effects that are being avoided.• Many opportunities for adaptation make sense whether or not

the effects of climate change are realized.

Solution

• We have the technology and ingenuity to reduce the threat of global warming today.

• By investing in renewable energy and energy efficiency, and increasing the efficiency of the cars we drive, we can take essential steps toward reducing our dependence on oil and other fossil fuels that cause global warming.

• Using energy more efficiently and moving to renewable energy (wind, solar, geothermal, and bioenergy) would significantly reduce our emissions of heat-trapping gases.

• Since the burning of fossil fuels releases large amounts of carbon dioxide—the leading cause of global warming—but renewable energy does not, increasing the share of our electricity generated from renewable resources is one of the most effective ways to reduce global warming emissions.

Solution

• Cars and trucks are another significant source (25 percent) of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions. A serious effort to address global warming must therefore reduce emissions from cars and trucks. American consumers would save billions of dollars on gasoline, and we would reduce our dependence on foreign oil.

• By putting energy efficiency, renewable energy, and vehicle technology solutions in place at the federal level, we can reduce our contribution to global warming while creating a stronger, healthier, and more secure nation.

We cannot let this happen!

• It is a human reaction to turn to defeatism in front of such a huge issue but this is where we need to show determination.

• Collectively, we have the power to shape events and the global economy.

• We owe it to ourselves, our families, our companies and the world.

• This is no time for small change this is time for a global revolution

• Here in Silicon Valley we have much to contribute.

OUR COMBINED EFFORT CAN SAVE THE EARTH FROM GLOBAL WARMING

Presented By

TOM JOSE

THANK YOU