Abstract This paper discusses the ethics of assuming responsibilities to reduce emissions of pollutants and slow the rate of anthropogenic climate change. In the process the discussion considers the paradigms of Moderate Cosmopolitanism, Pluralism, and Nationalism.
Abstract This paper compares and contrasts some of the environmental stresses faced by two marine ecosystems: the coral reefs and the mangrove swamps. It attempts to show that despite differences in types of ecosystem stressors, both share common anthropogenic stresses. The paper begins by describing the coral reefs and mangrove swamps and then describes the threats to them, environmentally.
From the Paper "Despite the vast amount of coral, that can seem mind-boggling at times, the specific environmental conditions required by coral means that it can be very susceptible to environmental changes. For examples, relatively minor surface water temperature increases can kill, or bleach, coral reefs. In Hawaii Jokiel and Brown (2004) found that sea surface temperature increases of just more than 1 degree C caused significant coral bleaching in both 1996 and 2002. They observed that the overall trend of oceanic warming is causative for increases in the frequency and severity of coral bleaching worldwide. While global warming has been pointed to as the reason for this increase, there are more direct ways that man is placing new environmental stresses on coral reefs. "
Abstract While natural processes are important to understanding the evolution of the Humber and the Don river systems, what is interesting is the combination of both natural and counteracting anthropogenic processes and the resulting evolution. This paper discusses the major natural and anthropogenic processes that have affected the evolution of these river systems and how these contrasting influences have resulted in two distinct river systems.
From the Paper "The Humber River and the Don River are two of the major river systems that lie on either side of the city of Toronto. The Humber lays to the west, the Don to the east. These two river systems are unique from one another in that natural processes affecting the Humber resulted in less anthropogenic processes than ultimately negatively affected the Don. As a result, while both river systems are facing pollution and urbanization challenges, the Humber River system has been less disturbed due to less urbanization."
Abstract This paper examines climate change, global warming, greenhouse gases reduction, removal and disposal and the intersections between treatment technologies, energy savings and sustainable energy sources. It presents case studies of companies competing in the alternative energy industry in general and in biomass conversion in particular. It then reviews the literature concerning particular technologies for application to current carbon energy sources researched and practiced by researchers, government and industry today. Essentially, this study examines the methods used to reduce, remove and dispose of greenhouse gas constituents.
Table of Contents:
Chapter 1 Introduction
Introduction
Importance of the Study
Background of the Problem
Problem Statement
Definition of Terms
Methodology Statement
Purpose of Study
Summary
Chapter II. Review of the Literature
Introduction
Defining Global Warming
The Greenhouse Effect and Climate Variability
Sources of Anthropogenic Greenhouse Gases and Induced Climate Change
Anthropogenic Induced Climate Change
Atmospheric Temperatures and Recent Climate Changes
Positive Feedback Loops
Important Issues Affected by Global Warming
Public Health Issues
Precipitation
Ocean Warming, Circulation and Acidification
Sea Level Rise
Snow and Ice
Biodiversity
Ozone Depletion
Summary
Constituents of Concern
Carbon Dioxide
Methane
Chlorofluorocarbons
Nitrogen Oxides
Aerosols
Assessment of Treatment Technologies
Biomass Today
Boosting Production
Carbon Capture
Flue Gas Cleaning
Molecular Sieve
Chapter III. Methodology
Description of the Study Approach
Data-gathering Method and Database of Study
Chapter IV. Data Analysis and Discussion
From the Paper "Beginning in the nineteenth century, machines of the Industrial Revolution first began using fossil fuels including coal and petroleum and were the start of a new economic engine. While unrecognized as a potential global issue at the time, the increased use of fossil fuels during this period in history began to contribute to the accumulation of so-called greenhouse gases. Emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) are a byproduct of the combustion process of fossil fuels. Since the beginning of Industrial Revolution, carbon dioxide (CO2) levels have increased 30%, CH4 levels have increase 15 % and subsequent increases have occurred in all other GHGs. The result is the average increase in global temperatures was 10F from the mid-nineteenth century till near the end of the twentieth century. Within the last 25 years the average global temperature increase has been an additional 0.80F. This temperature increase follows the increase in GHGs. Figure 1 shows the increases in carbon dioxide, methane and nitrogen oxides from their various sources from 1970 until 2004. Scientific consensus is that this increase is not that of natural variation or solar radiation changes but from the results of human activities. Not only from the burning of fossil fuels but from the diminished natural buffers created by farming and resulting deforestation (Braasch 2007)"
Abstract This paper describes the different steps in the process of global warming, describes its primary causes, and explains how the problem of global warming is exacerbated by the effects of global warming in the Arctic.
From the Paper "Global warming is no myth. Since the Industrial Revolution, the earth's average surface temperature has risen about one degree Fahrenheit, "with accelerated warming during the past two decades," according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency ("Climate"). Most of the global warming that has occurred over the past several decades is a direct product of human activities: factory emissions and automobile emissions especially. The emissions from factories and automobiles create what are known as "greenhouse gases," mainly carbon dioxide. The earth actually has a natural "greenhouse effect," a layer of the earth's atmosphere that keeps surface temperatures warm enough for biological life as we know it. Without a natural greenhouse effect, Earth surface temperatures would be far lower than they are now. However, the overall rise in the Earth's surface temperatures since the Industrial Revolution has occurred far faster than it would have without human intervention. Accelerated global warming can have dire consequences for life on earth. For example, according to Kate Ravillous of New Scientist, the west coast of the United States could suffer a severe water shortage by 2050 due to global warming. Most of the culprits of global warming exist in the most heavily industrialized and populated parts of the world such as the United States and Eastern Europe. However, the geological and environmental factors that directly cause global warming occur in one of the most sparsely populated regions of the globe: the Arctic. Global warming begins with anthropogenic factors such as auto emissions, proceeds to rising Arctic surface and air temperatures, and becomes magnified by several positive feedback mechanisms. In fact, if left unchecked, global warming in the Arctic will account for most of the damage incurred by the phenomenon world wide because of the positive feedback mechanism."
Abstract This paper describes the causes of the global warming phenomenon that have been a part of earth's geological history since the dawn of geological time. The paper also looks at the effects that global warming has on the earth and in particular its effects in the Arctic Circle.
From the Paper "Climate change in general, and global warming in specific, are by no means new phenomena. Since the dawn of geological time, surface and atmospheric temperatures on Earth have fluctuated enormously. In some cases, worldwide climate change has led to actual shifts in land masses, leading to changes in the ways human beings and societies evolved. For example, global climate change caused the so-called Ice Age: "During the Quaternary period (the past million years) the ice cap has repeatedly spread to middle latitudes over the sea, with corresponding glaciation on the continents," (Gribbin Forecasts 73). The disappearance of the dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures may in fact be due to climatic changes. Global warming has also been intense in our geological history: between ice ages, it is possible that no portion of the earth was covered with glaciation whatsoever (Gribbin Forecasts 73). Moreover, such massive temperature and climate transformations probably did not occur as a result of human intervention, but rather were a result of complex environmental, meteorological, and astronomical influences. Climatic fluctuations are indeed natural and inevitable."
Abstract The paper examines the thin population and great wealth of natural resources, and how the Circumpolar North faces the 21st century with growing social and economic dislocations and increasing scientific concern with anthropogenic stresses on the environment and resources. The paper highlights that as a consequence, an emerging complexity of forestry issues are emanating from the threat of cultural dislocation and powerful socio-economic pressures impacting on local communities and regional and national groupings.
Introduction
Background
An Overview of Forestry Issues
Forestry and Social Issues in the International Context
Sustainable Development and Self-Determination
Health Issues-General Overview
Indigenous Health Issues
Education as a Social Issue
Conclusion-The Impacts of Change
Challenges Facing Arctic Communities
From the Paper "Resource depletion in most of the fishing areas and in some of the reindeer herding districts in the Arctic has had a negative effect on local development. In addition, liberalization of national economies has led to the commercialization of herding and fishing rights, sometimes blocking access for local people. On the other hand, regulations aimed at securing access to resources for indigenous peoples have led to conflicts with non-indigenous community inhabitants. There are also conflicts between full-time and leisure-time users of the same resources."
Abstract This paper studies the social issues for the Circumpolar North, with its thin population and great wealth of natural resources. The paper explains how there are growing social and economic dislocations, coupled with scientific concern over anthropogenic stresses, on the environment and resources. This paper therefore studies the complex series of shared problems related to: (1) climate change, (2) economic globalization, (3) international scrutiny of the peoples of Arctic North, (4) conflicts over the use of natural resources and (5) health,education and environmental concerns for the indigenous communities.
Outline
Introduction
Background
An Overview of Social Issues
Social Issues in the International Context
Sustainable Development and Self-Determination
Health Issues: General Overview
Indigenous Health Issues
Education as a Social Issue
The Environment-Health Nexus
Conclusion: The Impacts of Change
Challenges Facing Arctic Communities
From the Paper "The interaction of climate, landscape, human migration and cultures has been fundamental to the development of the circumstances local communities now find themselves in. Indigenous northern peoples developed many similar methods and techniques for coping with the extremes of environment in which they lived and the effects of contact on northern Indigenous peoples, in the long run, were somewhat similar across the Circumpolar North. National governments, understanding it was their role and duty to integrate northern Indigenous peoples into the nation, to define national borders and assume responsibility for the people inside those borders, applied thinking rooted in cultures vastly different from those of the northern Indigenous peoples. A form of what we would now recognize as cultural imperialism, colonialism, or ethnocentrism often underlaid the relations between government representatives and northern peoples. The results of often well intentioned programs were the decline in the use and health of Indigenous languages, the erosion of cultural elements that no longer served to make sense of the changing northern world, and the undermining of national and individual identity."
Abstract This paper reviews human geography and discusses how, as a field of study, it examines the relationships that exist between human activities and spatial formations. In other words, human social organization has a demonstrable effect on the world around us. Agriculture, for example, reshapes the land in the interest of planting certain kinds of crops--topography is changed, rivers are drained. The paper further discusses how this is only one example of this process and that human activity will have effects on geographic formations and developments.
Abstract The paper outlines the anthropogenic causes of global warming, the evidence of its existence and some of the differing ways in which the U.S. and Canada are approaching the issue of climate change. The paper discusses how, while Canada appears sincere in its efforts to adhere to Kyoto Protocol requirements, it seems to be actually achieving less than the United States.
From the Paper "The causes of global warming are many. Most notably, carbon dioxide and methane gas emissions - be they from power plants, from vehicles, from planes, or from man-made structures/installations - serve to facilitate global warming insofar as CO2 and methane gas molecules (as well as Chloroflurocarbon molecules) "trap" long-wave radiation, otherwise known as "heat", and prevent it from escaping into space. Suffice it to say, the more CO2, Chlorofluorcarbons and methane present in the atmosphere, the more global temperatures will climb (Collins, para.5 and para.8-10). All in all, the accumulation of CO2 and methane in the atmosphere and the attendant higher temperatures mean the slow deterioration of vulnerable ecosystems - such as the two Artic Poles - that are not designed to accommodate rapid temperature increase."
Abstract This paper discusses how the nature and impact of global warming has been the subject of profound debate and concern since the 1990s. The paper notes that, while global warming was regarded by many as pure conjecture 10 to 20 years ago, there is general consensus among scientists and the public today that our climate is indeed changing. It goes on to point out that many claim that the source of the the change in climate is due to anthropogenic (=human) forces and then discusses both opponents and advocates of the man-made warming theory.
Outline:
Introduction
Global Warming Explained
Global Warming - is it Man-Made?
Conclusion
From the Paper "Yet another complicating factor in the discussion over global warming is the number of informational sources on the subject. While advocates of the man-made warming theory say there is general consensus among the "scientific community", opponents of the theory firmly claim there is not. This, in turn, depends on how "scientific community" is defined. And this, of course, raises the question whether everybody who is a scientist, is truly an expert who has access to the latest findings. Many scientists see their credibility threatened because of the "climate war" and the large number of contradictory and exaggerated informational sources available to the public. Others have been accused of using their informational advantage to serve their own agenda. With regard to the discussion over global warming, it is important to keep in mind that there is a wide spectrum of what is generally defined as scientific knowledge or conveyed as such by the media ranging from the very certain (e.g. the functions of greenhouse gases) to the very uncertain (e.g. predicting with any degree of confidence the future behavior of clouds)."
Abstract This paper defines what is meant by a "monsoon," and explains how and when it occurs. The author explains the vital role played by monsoons in the production of crops in Asia, and the destruction they can also cause, giving some examples. By examining fossil records researchers can better understand variations in the strength of monsoons over the past hundreds of years. Reportedly, monsoons have been intensifying over the last 400 years, and are expected to become more severe and cause more flooding and erosion. Many believe this is due to climate change, and if this is so there is a need to for the world's political leaders to discuss and agree on possible solutions. The paper concludes by stressing the importance of studying these storms and pinpointing why they are growing stronger and causing more damage to people and property.
Outline:
Introduction
Why are monsoons important to study?
Conclusion
From the Paper "One of the emergencies that goes along with a monsoon's flooding is the need to set up "mass vaccination" shelters to help prevent communicable diseases; flooding brings impurities, dead animals and toxic substances into the homes and on the streets of communities and diseases such as typhoid and tetanus can harm large numbers of people. The Xinhua News Agency explains that the heavy rains from monsoons occur between the period from the beginning of July through September."
Tags:anthropogenic, global warming, Himalayas intensity Nepal temperature climate
