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Carbon Dioxide CO2 |
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Carbon = chemically C Oxygen = chemically O Carbon can hold 2 atoms of O = CO2 = carbon dioxide |
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Earth needs balanced biochem-levels! CO2 is a gas and exists in Earth's atmosphere. Today we count about 390 ppm by volume - rising for years.  Atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide fluctuate with the seasons, by seasonal plant growth. CO2 - also carbon dioxide concentrations fall during the northern spring and summer as plants consume the gas, and rise during the northern autumn and winter as plants go dormant, die and decay. Carbon dioxide is a  Greenhouse gastransmitting visible light but absorbs in infrared.CO2 levels would be much higher, but our oceans and seas take out huge amount of carbon dioxide. All the sequestered CO2 has been kept from contributing to global warming. Now it’s beginning to cause more problems than it’s solving, increasing the acidity of the water by 30 percent. And that acidity is starting to dissolve seashells in areas as close to home as the California coast, meaning tragic consequences for many organisms—and the millions more who count on them for food, including us. Plants use / need CO2 Carbon dioxide for photosynthesis to make sugars. It is produced during respiration by plants, and by all animals, fungi and microorganisms that depend on living and decaying plants for food. We know, that today's forests are only one tenth of the forests Earth had before humans started to multiply. CO2 is a major component of the carbon cycle. Humans produce Carbon dioxide while burning fossil fuels and with the rise of this greenhouse gas, Earth temperatures is rising - our climate is changing. Top climate scientist James Hansen from NASA said in an interview: Greenhouse gas emissions must be cut more quickly and deeply than thought only 2 years ago to avoid dire consequences, and a straight-up carbon tax is the only realistic way to do it. New research paints an even gloomier picture of global warming than the already grim report put out in early 2007 by the U.N.'s Nobel-winning scientific panel. Hansen is Director since 1981 of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies. Hansen testified 1988 at U.S. Congress that climate change was already well under way. "What we have realized is that the dangerous level of atmospheric carbon dioxide is much lower than what we thought a few years ago," he said. "To prevent a devastating maelstrom of drought, extreme weather, famine and forced migration by century's end, the concentration of CO2 will have to be kept under 350 parts per million (ppm). We are actually going to have to decrease the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere", Hansen said. The current level -- still rising -- is 390 ppm. Hansen's argument is a simple as it is sobering: continuing to drain Earth's store of fossil fuels -- oil, gas and coal -- will lead humanity straight toward climate calamity. Only an abrupt and profound change in the way we consume energy can reduce the worst global warming affects. A cap-and-trade system, under which progressively stricter "polluting right" exchanged in a carbon market, is likely to be reinforced at U.N. climate talks in Copenhagen to slashing greenhouse gases. The system is already in practice in the European Union, and has been proposed by U.S. President Obama for the United States. But Hansen is highly skeptical that it can work. Hansen said:"It takes about 10 years to negotiate it and get all the countries on board, and then you make all sort of compromises, so it turns to be very ineffectual.. - If it's going to be cap and trade, I'd rather nothing came out of Copenhagen. I'd rather take another year and two and get it right." The fact that prices in the E.U. carbon market have plummeted due to the global economic crisis lends weight to Hansen's doubts. Hansen argues, that only a direct tax would bring results - a tax as close as possible to the source = a tax on fossil fuels. Hansen said: "A carbon tax is the mechanism that allows you to make an international agreement globally effective in a short period of time.. You could start with the E.U., United States and China -- that would be enough," Hansen added, saying other nations confronted with a carbon-tax on their exports would quickly follow suit. To create strong "green" incentives, the levy should be given directly back to the public on a per capita basis -- in the United States, he said, it would amount to several thousand dollars per household. Hansen wrote to President Obama: "A person with several large cars and a large house will have a tax greatly exceeding the dividend. A family reducing its carbon footprint to less than average will make money.." Hansen says " ..all new coal-fired power plants should be banned, and older ones fitted with systems to capture carbon emissions and bury them underground..", because coal is the most plentiful and polluting of the major fossil fuels. Economist William Nordhaus of Yale University, told 2,000 experts that cap and trade "is inefficient and prone to market failure. It is better to change now, and quickly replace the cap and trade structure by a tax on green gas emissions." Bear Springs Blossom Nature Conservation Group's mission is to fight for a safer future of our children and grand children and we totally agree with Hansen's statement: "I decided that I didn't want my grand-children to say, 'grandpa understood what was happening but he didn't make it clear' .." Members of BSBNCG show responsibility and state clearly: We recognize the problem and we DO as much as we can to lower the impact on our children's life! |
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Surprisingly, despite a 30 % increase in carbon dioxide (CO2) levels, global temperatures haven't risen as much as earlier models predicted. Why? Because greenhouse gases aren't the only influence on temperature — there are many other variables, such clouds, aerosols, and the ocean. Since the 1960's, scientists have developed sophisticated climate models to help them understand the ocean's role in moderating climate. Yet many questions remain unanswered. Does the ocean help to cool climate and partially offset global warming? Or, over the long run, will the ocean amplify and accelerate the warming trend? How will changes in climate trends and changes in climate variability affect life in the ocean and on land? How will changes in the ocean's chemistry and biology interact with these changes in climate? How are human activities contributing to changes in the marine environment and, in turn, how might these changes affect humans? Physical Interactions with the Atmosphere In broad terms, the ocean interacts with the atmosphere in two main ways. The first way is physically, through the exchange of heat, water, and momentum. Covering more than 70 % of the Earth's surface and containing about 97 % of its surface water, the ocean stores vast amounts of energy in the form of heat. Moreover, the ocean has a relatively large temperature inertia, or resistance to change. Earlier scientists perceived the ocean as an unchanging "desert" due to its slow circulation (relative to the circulation of the atmosphere) and its low biological productivity. Yet, today we know the biological and physical functioning of the ocean system can change quickly over both small and large areas (i.e., during an El Niño). Because it often drives the timing and patterns of climate change, the ocean was recently labeled by some scientists as the global heat engine. |
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