driving ghg
we are driving greenhouse gas emissions. Are you driving an SUV to get a croissant? Are you in a t-shirt in Winter while your home heating is on high? coal-fired power plants to make electricity?!
ghg hello _
the world is getting hotter by the year. Increased levels of carbon dioxide and other anthropogenic def. caused or produced by humans emissions being released into the atmosphere is creating a greenhouse effect, causing global surface and ocean temperatures to rise at unprecedented speed.
the sun's light shines onto the surface, while the gases trap the heat that reflects back from the surface inside the Earth's atmosphere. The greenhouse gases absorb the infrared radiation energy. A warming climate will eventually make the Earth uninhabitable.
global emergency
this is a global emergency. Humans burning fossil fuels like oil, gas and coal. We made the air so bad that it is trapping heat in the atmosphere causing global warming. Climate crisis.
the Earth's troposphere (the lowest layer of the atmosphere) is filled with a combination of gases, which are normally just doing their thing. The problem is that we have overloaded the troposhere with noxious greenhouse gases from our coal-powered machines and gasoline engines.
global warming is the result of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. def. caused or produced by humans. We are wastefully leaking dangerously high levels of methane into the atmosphere.
carbon dioxide CO2 methane CH4 nitrous oxide N2O ozone O3 and water vapor
global levels of carbon dioxide CO2 passed 400ppm. 100ppm is a healthy level, and 300ppm is a hazardous concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. We have exceeded all levels of global greenhouse gas emissions.
| world's largest emitters of ghg | |
|---|---|
| 1 | China |
| 2 | U.S. |
| 3 | India |
| greenhouse gas | |
China's greenhouse gas emissions exceeded world: China 27%, US 11%, India 6.6%, EU 6.4%
ghg
annual greenhouse gas index NOAA climate.gov
sources of ghg
sources of ghg: the combustion of fossil fuels 27 cars, truck, ship, train, airplane; gas and diesel 25 energy; electricity production 24 industry 13 heating; commercial, residential 11 ag food production, cows
sources of ghg emissions EPA.gov
commercial air travel accounts for 3% of total U.S. ghg emissions. concrete is 5%. Cement mfg contributes ghg in production of carbon dioxide when calcium carbonate is thermally decomposed, producing lime and carbon dioxide.
are you driving an SUV to get a croissant?
what is the greenhouse effect?
global warming is the result of the greenhouse effect which is the way in which heat is trapped close to the Earth's surface by greenhouse gases ghg in the atmosphere.
the sun's light passes through the atmosphere and heats the ground. The infrared rays radiate from the ground and cannot pass through the ghg layer and are reflected back to the Earth heating the atmosphere.
CO2 carbon dioxide, CH4 methane, N2O nitrous oxide, and O3 ozone, and water vapor.
some greenhouse gases occur naturally and enter the atmosphere as a result of both natural processes (such as decomposition of organic matter) and human activity (such as burning fossil fuels and agriculture). Greenhouse gases that occur both naturally and from human activities include water vapor, carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O) and ozone (O3). Other greenhouse gases have essentially no natural sources, but are side products of industrial processes or manufactured for human purposes such as cleaning agents, refrigerants, and electrical insulators. These include the fluorinated gases: chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), hydrofluorocarbons (HCFCs), bromofluorocarbons (halons), perfluorcarbons, PFCs, nitrogen trifluoride, NF3, and sulfur hexafluoride, SF6.
burning fossil fuels
greenhouse gases ghg are produced from fossils fuels; the extraction, processing, and industrial carbon emissions from burning oil, fossil gas and coal.
air too toxic to breathe
by burning coal to make electricity for the cities we are producing large amounts of carbon emissions making the air too toxic to breathe.
hyper climate
the Earth is heating from an atmosphere of greenhouse gas and producing a hyper climate causing wildfires and floods, drought and sea level rise, hurricanes and heat waves.
numerous studies in recent years have linked bigger U.S. wildfires to global warming. Climate change has made California much drier. A drier California means plants are more flammable.
Paris 12 December 2015
the goal of the Paris Climate Agreement is to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius (1.5° C) by reducing greenhouse gas. The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change. This is within reach if we treat this crisis as a crisis. Words that sound great, and action is required now.