Possible solutions for the warming problem

It would not be nice of me if I don't tell the possible solutions after telling the problem. So it is time for us to look on the things that we can possibly follow so as to mitigate the effects of warming. We can only mitigate global warming and we cannot eliminate it completely. Half of the destruction has already been done. It is time to safeguard ourselves. A commonly cited goal is to stabilize greenhouse gas(GHG) concentrations around 450-550 parts per million (ppm), or about twice pre-industrial levels. This is the point at which many believe the most damaging impacts of climate change can be avoided.According to the IPCC, we'd have to reduce GHG emissions by 50% to 80% of what they're on track to be in the next century to reach this level.

Depending on our choices, scientists predict that the Earth could eventually warm by as little as 2.5 degrees or as much as 10 degrees Fahrenheit.

Individual's attention towards mitigation:

If we people are sensible enough , we can do it by reducing our own carbon footprint. We should all become aware of the real situation in this case to act.We have to think and be conscious about the amount of energy we waste in our everyday lives. Take for example the electrical appliances we use. We won't be using them but still it will be connected to the power supply. This is called as the "Vampire mode".

Unplug your laptop's AC adapters when it's not in use. If left plugged in, the transformer in the adapter draws power continuously, even when the laptop is not connected to the adapter. If we don't put them in this mode we can save so much of power each year. A small change in everybody's daily life can bring about a huge change. Replacing incandescent bulbs by compact fluorescent bulbs we can reduce the amount of energy that we use in a year and also save a lot of money.

The second method is by planting a lot of trees and doing something called as carbon sequestration. This is something that is known to a lot of people. It is planting a lot of trees so that it absorbs all the carbon in the atmosphere for its photosynthesis there by "sequestering" carbon as it grows. Each tree can absorb nearly 1 tonne of carbon in 100 years.

By using more mass transportation systems rather than own vehicles, we can save upto $7000 a year for a person in the US.

New techniques being developed:

The scientists have come up with a unique method to fight the global warming.
The method includes firing trillions of mirrors in to the space to deflect the sun's rays forming a 100,000 square mile 'sun shade'. As told by astronomer Dr Roger Angel, at the University of Arizona, the mirrors would have to be fired one million miles above the earth using a huge cannon with a barrel of 0.6 miles across.The gun is 100 times more powerful than the conventional weapons and need an exclusion zone of several miles before being fired. The coast of the entire execution will amount to 350 trillion dollars, this is one of the other major setbacks faced by the project.

A group of scientists in Bangalore came up with the idea of spraying a type of aerosol which would cool down the earth. But the practicality of such an idea is under research and is being done.

Fuel economy increase:

One of the leading pre-treatment companies is CoalTek. The firm reduces the moisture content in coal to optimize plant efficiency and make the coal "cleaner" before combustion.
Novomer, a competitor to CoalTek, is a green chemistry company using carbon dioxide as an ingredient for a chemical process that produces uniform polymers, plastics and other chemicals. Its goal is to turn these materials into green environmentally friendly materials. Dow Chemical Company is another actor in this field. And there is also Microcoal, which process cleans up coal pre-combustion by basically microwaving it.

Development of fuel efficient vehicles and use of hybrid vehicles should increase so that dependency on the fossil fuels decreases considerably. If we make our cars more efficient over the next ten years, we'll cut global warming pollution by more than 350 million metric tons and save 2 million barrels of oil a day.

Research on the development of a nuclear fusion reactor which can produce huge amount of energy is being done.
Dependency on the unconventional resources of energy such as solar, wind, geothermal hydrogen produced from renewable sources, biofuels (produced from crops), natural gas, and nuclear power should increase, though these are not the perfect solutions. These are good options when compared to the conventional fossil fuels.

An idea of mine:

A weird idea, but people in some countries are trying to do it. Energy from lightning. Yes. It may become a reality one day. You never know.
Recycling and reducing of waste would mean a lot for reducing its effect.

Already people around the world have started to make some progress in reducing the effects. The jerseys of players in world cup foot ball 2010 is made up only of recycled waste. Things like this should atleast motivate us to think and act to save this planet.

There is a lot more that you can do to reduce the GHG and hence the effects of warming. They are in the following link.
http://www.bakersfield.com/news/local/x117684952/Save-the-planet

"Let's make it a better place to live in"

-SATZ

Global warming- It is a warning!!!

This is not something new for us. We've been following this for a long time and have been experiencing its effect globally. There is no need to define this term. It is all already happening in front of us. The following picture gives us the indication of what we've done for so many years.

The first picture is how it is today and the bottom one show how it was during 1956. There is a huge difference. People ask "What's the big deal in the glaciers' melting?" sometimes. There is a huge deal in fact. Billions of lives depend on the fresh water from the glaciers in the name of rivers like the Ganges. After all the only source for fresh water is the Himalayan glaciers for 3 countries namely India, Nepal and China. Himalayan glacier is the only fresh water source other than the Polar Ice caps.

There is a term called carbon space that should be noted, when we talk about emissions. Carbon space is the amount of carbon that we can emit, so that even after the emissions there will be no difference in the global temperatures. We can, actually emit a certain level of carbon by still maintaining the temperature of our planet. Normally, the carbon range can be around 250 ppm to 450 ppm. We will have temperatures changing only when it is either below or above this level. If we have it less than 250 ppm, then we will have lower temperatures. If we have the emission levels less than 450ppm, then we will have to face a temperature rise. So it is safe to keep it to 350 ppm.

There is a percentage of carbon space given to each country according to the growth of the country. It is said that nearly 83% of the carbon space is being provided to the Annex-I countries(developed countries), in which nearly 29% of the carbon space is provided to the United States. The rest of it is divided among the other Annex-I countries. So a country with just roughly 5% of the world population is given with so much of carbon space.
Now in the rest of the 17% is shared among the developing and the third rate countries. In that nearly 12% is allotted to the developing countries. Of that 5% is allotted to India, which is a developing country with a growing economy and nearly 17% of the world's population. It is logical that more the population, more the emission in the form of carbon footprint. Developed nations are having a good time in their country and the developing and the third rate countries are the victims of global warming. We're the victims for what we've not done. It is first going to affect the poor nations. What did they do to face such a pathetic state? India is now emitting 386ppm roughly. India can certainly bring it down to 350ppm through political regulations.
What can the developed countries do?
Can they stop their growth and allow other countries to grow? A question that needs an answer quickly.

Our planet is just 0.8 degree Celsius warmer. But it is not far for our planet to reach a 2 degree Celsius raise. A 4 degree raise would make the sea levels rise. Bangaladesh would not be there in the world map. Venice will submerge in water. America's financial capital, the New York city would be in water. There will be floods. Africa would become desert without a single forest. A 6 degree Celsius raise would mean that our planet's geography will be changed. As you can see in the above figure. This is what is going to happen to us in another 100 years. We can't even imagine the weather patterns of the world. It would be extreme. Something which we are not yet ready for. Environmentalists say that we'll have extreme drought and extreme flood conditions because of temperature rise. The fact about global warming is that all the effects occurs suddenly without a warning.Just like the 2004 tsunami that hit the coastal areas of Sumatra,Andamanand India, storms like the Katrina, Rita, Laila, Phet, the floods in Orissa, the 2005 drought of Africa, the forest fires of Africa in the same year, etc. There will be mass destruction.
We live here. We use everything. So it is out duty to put everything in its place before going. It is still not too late. What we need to do is efficient planning. A plan that will comprise of a new technology implementation. A technology to replenish whatever we had, in a better way. It is a matter of being conscious about what we're doing. Cutting of individual carbon footprint would help in reducing it globally. We've got to make sure that we use fuel in an efficient manner by developing fuel efficient vehicles. People say that we need 2 million wind turbines to replace the coal powered plants of the world. But is wind the ultimate solution for energy? Is it really greener as they say? It is up to the engineers to make it happen. Develop new and good products. Plant trees. Adopt green technologies. Develop new green technologies and safe guard the planet. Saving this planet is our duty. It is like repaying for what we've had in our lives.

"Let's make it a better place to live in!!"

-SATZ