The Real Causes Of Global Warming - Find Out How Our Daily Habits Have Disastrous Effects For The Planet
Submitted By Christophe Catesson
May 2008
The two major greenhouse gases are the carbon dioxide that contributes to the greenhouse effect to a height of 60% and methane. While methane has only a weak life span in the atmosphere, the carbon dioxide there remains for more than a century. why we focus mostly on the reduction of the emission of carbon dioxide.
When we use fossil energies, such as coal, the oil or the gas, we burn carbon, adding thus carbon dioxide into the atmosphere: about 20 billion tons per year in the world. The oceans and the forests and the plants; do away with about the half of this excess of carbon dioxide. However, this concentration does not stop growing: from 0.028% fifty years ago to 0.0365% today.
An additional greenhouse gas is the methane (CH4), of which the concentration has doubled since the industrial revolution. The sources are the paddy fields, garbage dumps, bovine farms, and the exploitation of gas and coal. The nitrous oxide (N2O) is another greenhouse gas that comes from certain industries such as fertilizers.
As we go about our daily lives we rarely reflect how our lifestyles influence the environment. While we may consider for a few instants that we need to be more environmentally conscious, there are very few of us who truly take the time which is due. The environmental science has made dramatic breakthrough in determining the causes of global warming. The comprehensive information about global warming requires our mindfulness as many of the causes of global warming are due to us and that the global environmental outlook is getting worse.
How is this conceivable? The answers are all staring us in the face if we accept to look at them.
The first place to look for some of the causes of global warming is in our food choices. Livestock farming contributes more to global warming than all other factors combined. While it takes on average 24 of gallons of water to create one pound vegetable, 5,200 gallons of water are needed to create one pound of beef, which strains extremely the water resources as we hear more and more in the news. Comparably, it takes two calories of fuel to produce one calorie of soybean, 54 calories of fuel are necessary to generate one calorie from beef. Deforestation, is another biggie, the livestock growth has created seven times more deforestation than the one caused by all other human activities. Water pollution, heath issues, lost of biodiversity, the release of toxins, antibiotics, GMO, pesticides, sewage, air pollution… are other factors that make livestock farming so detrimental to the environment. Researchers evaluate that 2.5 acres of land can meet the food requirement of twenty two vegetarians, but only two people eating meet, chicken, eggs or dairy products. Marc Reisner author of the Cadillac Desert, sums it up in these words “The West’s water crisis and many other environmental problems as well can be summed up by one word: livestock”.
Another area to look into is in our cities. Each time you drive, your car is emitting carbon monoxide. Multiply that pollution with the hundreds of millions of other vehicles and you can clearly see that driving a fuel engine vehicle does add to global warming.
One more manner that we contribute towards the causes of global warming is by deforestation. The trees in the forests, jungles and rainforests are the lungs of the world. By cutting down a great amount of trees the restorative ability of these areas are lessened.
Trees need carbon dioxide to live. When big tracts of trees are cut down in one place the balance is gone astray. The left over trees can’t take in all of the carbon which is in the atmosphere. Due to this reality, the carbon rises in large quantity in the atmosphere. This is also why deforestation can be seen as one of the main causes of global warming.
Aside from these factors, chemicals like methane and nitrous oxide are as well causes of global warming. These chemicals while in small amounts are not enough to cause deterioration to the atmosphere and environment. They can be considered as causes of global warming when they are used for an array of man needed activities. These activities include the raising of domestic animals such as cows. Other chemical contributing to the global warming are artificial fertilizers.
When all of these events are taken independently you may believe they cannot cause global warming. There is however lots of scientific substantiation which supports this case. In order to impede the dreadful aftermath of global warming you should look at the different global warming causes and see what steps you can take to circumvent them.
The more we appreciate these facts, the faster we can halt the escalation of global warming. We should not continue too long as nature will not wait for us to get our acts straightened out. The effects of global warming are warnings to us to adjust our ways of living.
Hillary and Obama: Where Are The Issues?
By Dane Smith
May 2008
Recent elections have rarely been as heated as the '08 race for the Democratic nomination between freshman Illinois Senator Barack Obama and New York Senator Hillary Clinton. From the televised bickering of their national debates to the recent jabs over NAFTA, the fight has hung on tiny margins several times throughout their respective campaigns. March 4 was a significant day for the primary candidates because Hillary Clinton managed to, for at least the second time, defy the odds and win the key states of Ohio and Texas, taking the less important Rhode Island to boot.
While Barack Obama still holds the lead in overall delegates, Hillary found out about the election results in Ohio in time to have an evening press conference in time for the news, which enabled her to capitalize on a phenomenon that has generally been directed at her opponent: momentum. In a speech more reminiscent of Obama's previously engaging "message of change" than of her own stump, Clinton played her underdog card better than she ever has before. As far as rhetoric goes, Obama has long held the advantage, relying on his emotional appeal to rally confidence. Yet his tone was somewhat subdued and mathematical at his victory party in San Antonio, as he repeated the facts on how the numbers are on his side, and that his delegate lead will still be hard for Clinton to beat. The tables were turned, albeit briefly, despite Obama's momentous winning streak of 11 states in a row and the national attention that has focused on his campaign as a result.
Americans are increasingly focusing on the issues where the candidates have differing stances, as much of their literature shows their platforms to be about 90% the same, with healthcare and the economy emerging as the most important in recent days. Ohio voters have blamed the North American Free Trade Agreement as being responsible for outsourcing jobs to foreign countries, and its creation by Bill Clinton in the early 90's has proven a complicated feat for Hillary to spin. Stating that she has always thought that NAFTA was fundamentally flawed, Clinton has recently gone on the offensive after one of Obama's staff members allegedly told a Canadian foreign minister that the agreement wouldn't be renegotiated under his administration. Even if the remark was offhand, or not meant to represent Obama's true stance, as he has stated in recent days, neither candidate would likely have much leeway in regard to the agreement because of how generally beneficial it is to America's consistent oil supplies, which would be the biggest bargaining chip in Canada's pile.
Since Canada is required to provide oil to the US whenever there is a perceived danger of deficit, they would be able to use this leverage. Since both candidates are mostly paying lip service to populist sentiment, the real question is: Who will be able to turn this into a nomination? Ohio and Texas have both complicated matters for Obama, who now has a tough campaign in front of him, and the Democratic Party as a whole, which will surely be weakened by a united Republican attack.
