Ashkan Hosseini 1/24/2011

 Earth formed 4.6 billion years ago  Originally very hot  Sun’s energy output only 70% of present

 For the past 3 million years, the earth has been experiencing 100,000 year long cycles of glaciations followed by 10,000 year long interglacial periods  Global average air temperature near the Earth's surface rose 0.74 ± 0.18 °Celsius (1.3 ± 0.32 °Fahrenheit) in the last century

 Global warming is the unusually rapid increase in Earth’s average surface temperature over the past century primarily due to the greenhouse gases released by people burning fossil fuels.

 The greenhouse effect is the rise in temperature that the Earth experiences because certain gases in the atmosphere (water vapor, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane) trap energy from the sun.

 Greenhouse effect is an essential for life on earth because it plays an important role in regulating the Earth's temperature  But human activities accelerate the natural process.  And when the greenhouse effect becomes stronger, it could make the Earth warmer than usual.

Sun

 In the past 150 years, burning fossil fuels has caused a 25 % increase in Carbon dioxide emissions.  When the amount of greenhouse gasses increase the amount of carbon dioxide also increases.  There is a direct relationship between the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide and global temperatures.  Fossil fuels such as gasoline, methane and propane contain mostly carbon.

 Burning Fossil Fuels, such as coal and oil.  Various agricultural and industrial practices  The destruction of forests which use carbon dioxide also contributes to the increase in carbon dioxide.

 Increasing CO2 emissions, especially in China and developing countries.  Likely to double within 150 years:  Increased coal usage  Increased natural gas usage  Decreased petroleum usage (increased cost and decreasing supply)

 Currently, the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is increasing at the rate of about one part per million per year.

 Sea level rise  Global temperature rise  Shrinking ice sheets  Warming Oceans

 Global warming is having a significant impact on hundreds of plant and animal species around the world although the most dramatic effects may not be felt for decades.  some crops and other plants may respond favorably to increased atmospheric CO 2, growing more vigorously and using water more efficiently.

 Global warming can disrupt the migration, hibernation and reproductive cycles of certain types of animals.  Plants and animals will find it hard to escape or adjust to the effects of warming because humans occupy so much land.  Farmland or cities interrupt the movement of species between habitats.

 Plant trees  Conserve energy and encourage others to conserve  Buy energy efficient products  Buy products that have reusable or recyclable packaging  Reduce use of car

 Research, development and demonstration  Appropriate energy infrastructure investments.  Regulations and standards  Taxes and charges carbon  Effective carbon-price signal

 Create 5 million new green jobs by investing $150 billion over the next 10 years  Ensure 10% of electricity comes from renewable sources by 2012, and 25% by 2025  Get 1 million hybrid cars on the road by 2015  Implement an economy-wide cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80% by 2050

 Cap and Trade is a simple system that has been shown to help environmental pollutions.  Companies which generate less than that cap can simply sell or trade the amount of pollutions allowed to companies which need to produce more, and those companies who produce more pollutions than the allowed can buy their right to pollute, from companies who pollute less than the limit.

 It would help slow greenhouse gas emissions, cut down pollution, and in turn, the intensity of weather related disasters.  Trading carbon credits would create government revenue and then, reduce the burden on low-income families.  If passed, the U.S. would be a leader in cleaning up the environment and other countries like China would follow.

 Those against cap and trade said humans do not cause climate change, and this would wrongly penalize the American energy industry.  Trading carbon credits would be as unstable as oil commodities and drive up prices.  Some people believe when companies are heavily taxed for production they will just go to other countries that don't tax.

 I think it will cost consumers thousands each year because if a company wants to pump out tons of CO2, they just buy the credits, and pass the cost along to their customers.  It bankrupts many companies and kills jobs  It does not work because the rest of the world won’t participate.  It will shut down every composting facility in the US because decomposing plant matter emits a tremendous amount of CO2

 "How does carbon dioxide cause global warming?." MSU Physics and Astronomy Department. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Jan  "The Greenhouse Effect." US Environmental Protection Agency. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Jan  "Global Warming : Feature Articles." NASA Earth Observatory : Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Jan  National Research Council (NRC), Surface Temperature Reconstructions For the Last 2,000 Years. National Academy Press, Washington, DC.  "EEK! -Global Warming is Hot Stuff!." Welcome to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources website.... N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Jan  Kashir, Rino. "Trends in Carbon Dioxide." NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory. N.p., 8 Mar Web. 11 Jan  Kowalski, Kathiann M.. Global warming. New York: Benchmark Books,  Archer, David. Global warming: understanding the forecast. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub., 2007.