Saving a forest

Effects of Global Warming!

The planet is warming, from North Pole to South Pole, and everywhere in between. Globally, the mercury is already up more than 1 degree Fahrenheit (0.8 degree Celsius), and even more in sensitive polar regions. And the effects of rising temperatures aren’t waiting for some far-flung future. They’re happening right now. Signs are appearing all over, and some of them are surprising. The heat is not only melting glaciers and sea ice, it’s also shifting precipitation patterns and setting animals on the move.

Some impacts from increasing temperatures are already happening.

• Ice is melting worldwide, especially at the Earth’s poles. This includes mountain glaciers, ice sheets covering West Antarctica and Greenland, and Arctic sea ice.

• Researcher Bill Fraser has tracked the decline of the Adélie penguins on Antarctica, where their numbers have fallen from 32,000 breeding pairs to 11,000 in 30 years.

• Sea level rise became faster over the last century.

• Some butterflies, foxes, and alpine plants have moved farther north or to higher, cooler areas.

• Precipitation (rain and snowfall) has increased across the globe, on average.

• Spruce bark beetles have boomed in Alaska thanks to 20 years of warm summers. The insects have chewed up 4 million acres of spruce trees.

Other effects could happen later this century, if warming continues.

• Sea levels are expected to rise between 7 and 23 inches (18 and 59 centimeters) by the end of the century, and continued melting at the poles could add between 4 and 8 inches (10 to 20 centimeters).

• Hurricanes and other storms are likely to become stronger.

• Species that depend on one another may become out of sync. For example, plants could bloom earlier than their pollinating insects become active.

• Floods and droughts will become more common. Rainfall in Ethiopia, where droughts are already common, could decline by 10 percent over the next 50 years.

• Less fresh water will be available. If the Quelccaya ice cap in Peru continues to melt at its current rate, it will be gone by 2100, leaving thousands of people who rely on it for drinking water and electricity without a source of either.

• Some diseases will spread, such as malaria carried by mosquitoes.

• Ecosystems will change—some species will move farther north or become more successful; others won’t be able to move and could become extinct. Wildlife research scientist Martyn Obbard has found that since the mid-1980s, with less ice on which to live and fish for food, polar bears have gotten considerably skinnier. Polar bear biologist Ian Stirling has found a similar pattern in Hudson Bay. He fears that if sea ice disappears, the polar bears will as well.

Ozone layer. Part 2

Next up is Ozone depletion!..

Initially, it started as thinning of ozone layer... However, observations has shown a slow, steady decline of about 4% per decade in the total volume of ozone in Earth's stratosphere (the ozone layer) since the late 1970s. Durin the same period, stratospheric ozone over Earth's polar regions decline at a much larger, but seasonal, decrease. Latter phenomenon is commonly referred to as the ozone hole.

Cause of Ozone depletion

• Catalytic destruction by atomic chlorine and bromine, known as Halogen
• Main source: Ozone-Depleting Substances (ODS)
• Photodissociation of chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) compounds [aka freons]
• & Photodissociation of bromofluorocarbon compounds [aka halons]

*Photodissociation: chemical reaction in which a chemical compound is broken down by photons

* Photons: elementary particle, the quantum of the electromagnetic interaction, basic "unit" of light and all other forms of electromagnetic radiation

Photodissociation of chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) compounds

CFC → solar energy → Cl atoms

Chlorine atoms destroy ozone molecules:

Cl + O 3 → ClO + O 2

This process is especially troublesome because chlorine monoxide (ClO) reacts with other molecules of the same kind to generate more chlorine atoms:

ClO + ClO → Cl + Cl + O 2

Hence, once CFCs get into the stratosphere and break down, a continuous supply of chlorine atoms is assured where these chlorine atoms destroy ozone molecules.

Ozone layer

Ello guys!..

Did u noe tat there is TWO ozone layer in the atmosphere?!.

However... lets' us noe wad ozone layer is... okay?.. hahas...

Ozone layer is actually a deep layer encircling the Earth that has large amounts of ozone in it. Ozone is a special form of oxygen, made up of three oxygen atoms rather than the usual two oxygen atoms. It usually forms when some type of radiation or electrical discharge separates the two atoms in an oxygen molecule (O2), which can then individually recombine with other oxygen molecules to form ozone (O3).

1. The "GOOD" ozone layer

• Situated at Stratophere, upper atmosphere
• Protects living things from the harmful ultraviolet (UV-B) rays of the sun
• Formation: 3 O2 + UV -> 2 O3

2. The "BAD" ozone layer

• Situated at Troposphere, Earth surface
• Harmful: Constitutes of smog and poses health risks
• Attacks cells and breaks down tissue
• Decreased ability to breathe, coughing
• Increased susceptibility to respiratory diseases such as pneumonia & bronchitis
• Increased sensitivity to allergens
• May result in Permanent lung damage if long-term exposure
• Greenhouse gas
• Initiates the chemical removal of methane and other hydrocarbon from the atmosphere
• Formation: CO + 2O2 → CO2 + O3
  where OH + CO → H + CO2
  H + O2 → HO2
  HO2 + NO → OH + NO2
  NO2 + hν → NO + O
  O + O2 → O3
  

Climate change.., Today online May 3

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Climate change and the stumbling block of domestic politics

05:55 AM May 03, 2010

by Leong Wee Keat

SINGAPORE - As climate changes and its "catastrophic" effects threaten the globe, governments worldwide face a conundrum - they stay in power by promising citizens better economic growth rates and a better life, but their emphasis on domestic politics has resulted in a stalemate on fighting climate change, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said yesterday.

Thus, the problem with fighting climate change is governments themselves.

Mr Lee was responding at the Inter-Pacific Bar Association Annual Conference yesterday - which picked climate change and legal practice as its theme - on whether last year's United Nations climate change summit in Copenhagen was a failure.

Climate change dominated the hour-long dialogue, with five out of 12 questions posed to Mr Lee focusing on the subject.

While he would not say the Copenhagen Summit was a failure - as it led to a meeting of world leaders' minds on the issue - Mr Lee was pessimistic about future meetings securing a breakthrough in setting commitments on cuts in carbon emissions.

There will be "more dilly dallying internationally", he said, as every country focuses on its own internal problems.

Significant improvements to slow down climate change will depend on the technology that can be discovered. "If it can't be discovered, future generations will have to live with the consequences," said Mr Lee.

While he "will be surprised" if there are any fixed commitments on cuts in carbon emissions at this year's Summit in Cancun, Mexico, Mr Lee said the "difficult, messy series of annual meetings" would serve as stark reminders to the world's leaders.

Noting that Singapore has plans to be a renewal energy hub in South-east Asia, an American participant - who has been living here for 19 years - wondered what the Government's plans to promote solar energy and installing solar panels on buildings here were.

While he noted cities such as Beijing have installed solar panels, Mr Lee said the Government will need to consider the economics of installing solar panels on buildings here. "But what we can do is to minimise our carbon footprint," he added.

The Government has pledged to bring down its level of carbon emission growth. But whether it reaches the target of 16 per cent below the "business as usual" level by 2020 will depend on one thing - a legally binding global deal to fight climate change.

Singapore will also "keep our mouths shut, unless we are asked", said Mr Lee, replying to another participant who wondered if Singapore - cited previously for its influence beyond its relative numbers - could influence the rest of the world, through policies, laws and cultural norms.

This is because "if you are a small country, you act small and humble. If you tell people what to do, they will say, 'you are out of your depth, you don't understand our problems", Mr Lee said. But if asked to help similar sized cities or states, the Republic will share its experiences with others.

The onus on fighting climate change lies with governments, though Mr Lee acknowledged it is easier said than done.

"Everyone knows what has to be done. Every government knows if they do it, they will lose in the next elections," he said.

URL http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC100503-0000078/Climate-change-and-the-stumbling-block-of-domestic-politics

Copyright 2010 MediaCorp Pte Ltd | All Rights Reserved

Biodegrable plastic, times magazine May 10

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