Global Economy, Extreme Poverty and Global Warming Dr. Sandra Cruz-Pol Professor Electrical and Computer Engineering CLiMMATe Lab Director and UPRM-PI for the Center for Collaborative Adaptive Sensing of the Atmosphere Fall 2006

Global Economy Why does it helps to enhance global economy, not only on a specific country but the whole world? Examples in history Relation to global warming Relation to extreme poverty Global Economy Global Warming Extreme Poverty

Economic Divide *Sachs,

GNP per capita purchasing power parity

Poverty Trap – Clinical Economics Physical Geography –Arid conditions, high transport cost, isolation, mountain ranges, lack of navigable rivers, disease, climate Cultural Barriers –Role of women, ethic minorities, education Geopolitics: war, trade barriers, sanctions, debt Lack of technology Closed market =>Countries too poor to develop =>Need $ to hop onto 1 st step of economic ladder

Sostenibility

Why countries like England flourished? 1.Open market 2.Island- used to navigation, trading 3.Technology- coal, steam engine 4.Weather – not prompt for disease, mosquitoes 5.Education 6.Basic needs: Nutrition, Health, Water 7.Infrastructure

China & India Certain conditions helped these 2 countries flourish economically. Usually Green Revolution follows technological growth. IndiaIndia : invested in education; Indian Institutes of Technology, now paying off; now a world IT leader. –Was an English colony until –Began economic reforms in 1991 (Open Market)

China & India… ChinaChina : growing economic rate (9%!) in the World, after it opened to global trading. –Ancient civilization. Past technology leader, until 1400’s. –1434 Ming emperor closes international trade, dismantled world’s largest fleet of ocean vessels. –Japan invasion Mao Tse-tung –Market reforms began ***Global Warming: coal, oil…

Why is Africa an exception? Too much Corruption Laziness of people +Sexually active: AIDS Bad land-use Myth#1: Truth: Less corrupted Myth#2 Truth: Backbreaking labor Myth#3 Truth: Equal or less Myth#4 Truth: Global warming

Lake Chad Was the 6 th largest lake in the World! A study by U. Wisconsin-Madison and NASA's EOS, the lake is now 1/20th of the size it was 35 years ago. W. Africa (Chad, Niger, Nigeria, & Cameroon), the region has suffered from an increasingly dry climate, experiencing decline in rain since early 1960s. We are causing Extreme poverty in Africa due to our emissions which accounts for 25% of all world emissions compared to Africa’s 3%.

Why is Africa an exception? Geography –Disease prompt weather: malaria –Vast regions with no navigable rivers –Sparsely populated –Lack of infrastructure: roads, bridges, etc. –Lack of health systems Years of exploitation Political reasons; frontiers set by Europeans, Huge external debt Global warming due to developed world emissions

We can banish extreme poverty, “ yet 8 million people die each year because they are too poor to survive.”, J.Sachs, The End of Poverty With only $70/person/year for 5 years, we can help poor countries be self-sustained! ($0.21 daily) –Currently, U.S. gives ~$15/pp/yr.

Charities help provide the basics: food medicines vaccines education shelter clean water

Examples of Charities Total Revenue ($mil) Fundraising Efficiency (%) Donor Dependency (%) CARE USA Feed the Children Food for the Hungry Food for the Poor Habitat for Humanity International International Aid MAP International (medicines) Save the Children Federation United States Fund for UNICEF World Vision Source: forbes.com

World's governments committed to provide 0.7% of rich-countries' gross domestic product (GDP) to Official Development Assistance. First pledged 35 years ago in a 1970 General Assembly Resolution, … has been affirmed many times over the years, including the 2002 Monterrey Consensus.

Extreme poverty UN Millennium Project GOALS: ( –Half extreme poverty by 2015 –Aims to end extreme poverty by 2025 What is extreme poverty? Versus relative poverty?

MP Goals: Significant progress:1990 – 2002 Average overall incomes increased by ~ 21 percent. The # of people in extreme poverty declined by an estimated 130 million. Child mortality rates fell from 103 to 88 deaths per 1,000 live births a year. Life expectancy rose from 63 to 65 years. An additional 8% of the developing world's people received access to water. And an additional 15% acquired access to improved sanitation services.

Why bother? Less poor abroad means more poor here. “Hard evidence has established strong linkages between extreme poverty abroad and the threats to national security.” Better global economy provides new technologies developed in a diverse world. More products for everyone. “Eliminating extreme poverty is a global responsibility that will have global benefits” Money spent on war instead could go to help the poor be self-sustained, to new technologies to stop global warming. This is the only way to achieve Global Peace Another Myth! Another Myth!

Poverty - a conflict generating factor “There is a close relation between poverty and internal conflict.“ Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), 2001

Global Warming World before Industrial revolution, 1800 –CO 2 level low <280ppm. –~No fossil fuel emissions (oil, coal, gas). Radiative transfer yielded thermodynamic global climate equilibrium for the last 100,000 years –We had a comfortable blanket –Now we have a huge blanket made of heat-trapping, heat-emitting IR greenhouse gases.

A report by economist Sir Nicholas Stern suggests that global warming could shrink the global economy by 20%!

Global Warming

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CO 2 in the atmosphere Years:

CO 2 in Atmosphere Years:

Earth’s Surface Temperature Years: How hot it ultimately gets depends on us.

Global average temperature Years: Cold due to sulfuric emissions: ( ) which caused lung cancer, asthma & acid rain Clean Air Act }

Consequences: Polar caps melt Sea level rise Extreme temperatures Cyclones/tornadoes Drought / floods Disease Agriculture losses Water (potable) scarcity Extinction of animal species, corals, vegetation Worst case scenario: stop ocean conveyor belt

Kilimanjaro (Tanzania, Africa) 30 years later…

Patagonia (Argentina) Longest Glacier in S.A

Costa Rica First official lost species due to Global warming: golden toad FemaleMale

Hurricanes 10 hottest years ever, occurred in the last 14 yrs. Hottest of all time, st hurricane ever in the S. Altantic Ocean 2005 highest # of hurricanes, –most intense, 6 Greek letters 2005 Wilma strongest hurricane ever recorded AO Then… 2006 Monica strongest hurricane ever recorded Luckily, this year, El Niño decreases # hurricanes

Icebergs with caves = broken food chain 60% of krill population killed because of this. Krill are small shrimp-like crustaceans zooplankton, food for baleen whales, mantas, whale sharks, seals, and a few seabird species

Worst case scenario: abrupt change IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) Due to change in salinity, if Artic keeps melting, this current could stop, creating a small ice age in Europe and North America.

On top of this… New blooming economies want to live their own version of the “American Dream”. Example: in China, the traditional bicycle lane was closed to lay way to an extra automobile lane. India is now also flourishing economically and greatly increasing their CO2 emissions.

Also Political Issues Oil industry interests, –Lobbyists Governments covering up scientific evidence –(e.g. NASA climatologist, Jim Hansen) Real cost of Nuclear energy –versus cost of clean energy like solar or wind –Health hazards, radioactive waste deposit

Potential Solutions Reduce CO 2 emissions: Reduce energy consumption Alternative green power: solar, wind Reforestation Increase fuel efficiency; e.g. fuel cell, hybrid cars Scientific propositions: CO 2 sequestration Inject sulfur in stratosphere Distribute iron oxide to SA ocean Emission trading- Kyoto Protocol: Signed by 135 nations to reduce emissions. Not signed by U.S. or Australia!, the 2 nations with the highest emissions.

The Good News is… We can make a difference…

We’ve done it before!: Ozone Layer Montreal Protocol's ban on CFCs For years, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) were the agents--contributing to the destruction of the Earth's ozone layer. After the Montreal Protocol's ban on CFCs, slightly-more benign HCFCs replaced them..

More Good News… You can save over $2,000 every year while helping the planet!

Top 16 Things – Save $ with NO initial cost 1.Turn off (or even better, unplug) appliances (consider a power strip), cord instead of cordless phones 2.Turn off water faucet, shower not baths, flow change shower head 3.Clean air-conditioning filters 4.Tune-up car, keep balanced, Accelerate minimum only *MPG

5.Turn down Water heater, and air conditioner Use sheets instead of blankets 6.Turn off PC, printers, when not using: Use Laptop instead of PC 7.Use cold water for washing cloths! Hang clothes if possible 8.Use dishwasher only when full Wash by hand if possible

9.Eating habits: Eat less meat (less methane); Eat local products 10.Plant trees They also lower house T in summer, They reduce CO 2 11.Car pooling, walking or biking 12.Avoid sanitary dishes/napkins Both styrofoam or paper

13.Buy products with least packaging Large family packs Gift bags instead of wrapping Water bottles!  *Packaging and clean water production needs a lot of energy and releases tons of CO 2 in the atmosphere annually.

14.Be a wise consumer Buy less Give away things you not longer use.

15.Recycle! (plastic, paper, cardboard, cans, glass) 16. your senators, government officials: Sign petition at Sign petition at climatecrisis.org

Top 10 Things – Save $ with some initial cost You will recover the initial costs quickly and at the same time, reduce emissions greatly. 1.Consider solar water heater 2.Replace light bulbs with coiled fluorescent

Top 10 (cont…) 3.Consider new appliances with Energy Star* *Not all new appliances are efficient.

Top 10 (cont…) 4.Consider buying a small car or a Hybrid, 5.Use public transportation 6.Eat organic products (better health, less Br) 7.Consider wind or solar power 8.Use silicone or dark baking pans: Bake T-25 o F 9.Use reusable plastic or cloth coffee filter 10.Use rechargeable batteries Transportation accounts for 67% of oil used! Green means it’s also good for your HEALTH.

Small changes, make a big difference:

In summary… $ ave Money, improve your Health, Save the Planet! We can also help the extreme poor… …is our moral responsibility.

With your help… …we can save the World! Teachers have the power to touch the lives of many homes… Use it! Let’s use its resources efficiently so that we can all benefit from it. We are ONE human race; we only have ONE planet. We are ONE human race; we only have ONE planet.

Right steps: 0.7%GDP + green energy Stop Global Warming End Extreme Poverty Take action!

Book References: The End of Poverty by Jeffrey Sachs Weather Makers by Tim Flannery An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman Global Warming by Chris Spence Pathologies of Power, Paul Farmer Mini Atlas of Global Development, The World Bank Economics of Climate Change, Sir Nick Stern

Web References… FUN!! (PC games)

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