Our Environment

Global warming and climate change are caused by the rise in atmospheric concentration of a collection of “greenhouse” gases, the most important of these by amount being carbon dioxide ( CO2).

Carbon Dioxide is an inevitable by- product of the way we all live today. It is produced primarily through the burning of fossil fuels in:

• Electricity generation
• The powering of vehicles, trains and aircraft
• Home heating and cooking (gas, wood, coal, oil)

It is widely accepted amongst a global coalition of meteorologists and associated scientists that the Earth’s atmosphere is warming rapidly and that this change has been brought about by the activities of humans.

Put simply, gases released into the atmosphere by human activity are forming an insulating barrier around the Earth, preventing the natural release of heat from our atmosphere. There are a number of gases that are held responsible for this process, which is sometimes referred to as ‘the greenhouse effect’. While methane and other gases contribute to the problem, the chief culprit, by virtue of the volumes produced, is carbon dioxide.

Much of the reason is the increased use of coal, gas and oil. Like wood and other organic fuels, these "fossil" fuels are composed mostly of carbon which, when burned, unites with oxygen and forms carbon dioxide (CO2). This causes at least 55% of the greenhouse effect both by allowing celestial heat to enter our atmosphere and by blocking much of this accumulated heat from escaping

Current climate models suggest that global temperatures could warm from between 1.4 to 5.8°C over the next 100 years. The potential social, environmental and economic costs associated with this are huge. We've seen the dry seasons getting longer and hotter. We've seen storms growing in frequency and violence. We've seen floods where they had never been before. And rivers becoming salty even though they are far from the sea. We've seen islands disappear and new diseases arrive. Like the people of these lands, we know the climate is changing right before our eyes - and the change is moving quickly to the world's more temperate lands.

The Kyoto Protocol, negotiated by more than 160 nations, aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by setting legally binding emissions reduction targets for developed countries. Under Kyoto, the UK’s target is to cut its emissions by 12.5 percent below 1990 levels by 2008-2012. However, the UK government is convinced that the UK can and should go further. The Kyoto Protocol is only the first step. The Government has therefore set a domestic goal to go further than the Kyoto commitment and cut the UK’s emissions of carbon dioxide by 20 percent below 1990 levels by 2010.

What might happen if the global temperature rises two or more degrees Centigrade?

Some of the devastating effects include:

• Coral reefs, which feed both humans and larger fish populations, will further perish because of their inability to quickly adapt
• In 1995, 200 million people were afflicted with Malaria. Five to ten million people die each year from the disease
Malaria will spread to regions where temperatures are currently a limiting factor
• Elephantiasis currently afflicts 400 million people and will likely spread further
• No vaccine exists for dengue fever and sleeping sickness, which are spread by insect bites. Subtropical areas like Texas and Florida will become tropical, and tropical insects will follow
• Hurricanes: A simple relationship exists: the higher the ocean and air temperatures, the higher the velocity of hurricane winds. In 1995 it was predicted that with slight increases in temperatures, hurricanes would also start earlier: We see on the news that this year has the highest number of early hurricanes and tropical depressions. Hurricane season will eventually lengthen from June-November to April-December
• Sea Level: A warmer planet causes the water temperature to rise. Water expands as it warms. In this way, a two degree C. rise could raise sea levels four to six inches. That's only the beginning. Global warming is melting the polar ice packs. Some greenhouse projections predict a 20 foot rise in sea levels--largely due to melted ice
• Building dikes wouldn't help. Most coastlines are made up of porous limestone rock. A higher sea level will put pressure on the underground water supply making nearby wells too salty for use