Deforestation is a massive source of emissions but is often neglected. Tropical deforestation accounts for an estimated 3 billion tons of carbon dioxide per year, equivalent to the emissions of some 600 million cars, according to researchers at Winrock International and the Woods Hole Research Center. Deforestation drivers Urban growth drives deforestation in at least two ways. First, […]
The global carbon cycle can be divided into two categories: the geological, which operates over large time scales (millions of years), and the biological – physical, which operates at shorter time scales (days to thousands of years) and as humans we meddle with both categories. The global carbon cycle refers to the movements of carbon, […]
The first recently unveiled global satellite survey of gas flaring is a process commonly used to dispose of natural gas freed during oil production and has shown what many have now suspected for years: it is an extremely wasteful, costly problem that has helped contribute to global warming. Conducted over a 12-year period spanning 1995-2006, […]
What is the ozone hole and where is it in the atmosphere? Ozone is a gas that is naturally present in our atmosphere. Each ozone molecule contains three atoms of oxygen and is denoted chemically as O3. Ozone is found primarily in two regions of the atmosphere. About 10% of atmospheric ozone is in the […]
Biomass, in the energy production industry, refers to living and recently living biological material which can be used as fuel or for industrial production. The term “biomass” means any material that has been alive (organic matter) available on a renewable basis, including dedicated energy crops and trees, agricultural food and feed crops, agricultural crop wastes […]
Climate Change Society: What affect will climate change have on our society as we know it? This question poses considerable analytical problems for governments around the world. We all watched the events of Hurricane Katrina unfold on our TV screens as the storm developed over the Gulf of Mexico. We saw how this storm intensified […]
We hear a lot about Greenhouse gas, but what is this? Why do these gases pose such a problem? Our atmosphere is a layer surrounding the earth held in place by gravity and primarily made up of Nitrogen (78%), Oxygen (21%), with water vapour and various gases making up the remainder. It is on the […]
What is the problem? Human actions are fundamentally, and to a significant extent irreversibly, changing the diversity of life on Earth, and most of these changes represent a loss of biodiversity. Changes in important components of biological diversity were more rapid in the past 50 years than at any time in human history. Projections and […]
Amazonia is an example of a key ecosystem for climate regulation (based on the presentation provided by Antonio Nobre 2007) The climate of Amazonia is strongly dependent on the presence of the forest. Amazonia has been described as a “Green Ocean” with satellite imagery revealing very high cloud cover and rainfall over the region in […]
The progressive gradual rise of the earth’s surface temperature caused by the greenhouse effect and responsible for changes in global climate patterns. An increase in the near surface temperature of the Earth. Global warming is occuring as a result of natural influences and human activities, such as increased emissions of greenhouse gases. Undoubtedly the temperature […]