What activities can conribute to changing Earth's climate, and things that can be done to minimize impact?

Question

What are some human activities that could contribute to changing Earth's climate, and things that can be done to minimize impact?

Answer 1

Global Warming? New Data Shows Ice Is Back

Tuesday, February 19, 2008 11:55 AM

By: Phil Brennan Article Font Size  

Are the world's ice caps melting because of climate change, or are the reports just a lot of scare mongering by the advocates of the global warming theory?

Scare mongering appears to be the case, according to reports from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that reveal that almost all the allegedly “lost” ice has come back. A NOAA report shows that ice levels which had shrunk from 5 million square miles in January 2007 to just 1.5 million square miles in October, are almost back to their original levels.

Moreover, a Feb. 18 report in the London Daily Express showed that there is nearly a third more ice in Antarctica than usual, challenging the global warming crusaders and buttressing arguments of skeptics who deny that the world is undergoing global warming.

The Daily express recalls the photograph of polar bears clinging on to a melting iceberg which has been widely hailed as proof of the need to fight climate change and has been used by former Vice President Al Gore during his "Inconvenient Truth" lectures about mankind’s alleged impact on the global climate.

Gore fails to mention that the photograph was taken in the month of August when melting is normal. Or that the polar bear population has soared in recent years.

As winter roars in across the Northern Hemisphere, Mother Nature seems to have joined the ranks of the skeptics.

As the Express notes, scientists are saying the northern Hemisphere has endured its coldest winter in decades, adding that snow cover across the area is at its greatest since 1966. The newspaper cites the one exception — Western Europe, which had, until the weekend when temperatures plunged to as low as -10 C in some places, been basking in unseasonably warm weather.

Around the world, vast areas have been buried under some of the heaviest snowfalls in decades. Central and southern China, the United States, and Canada were hit hard by snowstorms. In China, snowfall was so heavy that over 100,000 houses collapsed under the weight of snow.

Jerusalem, Damascus, Amman, and northern Saudi Arabia report the heaviest falls in years and below-zero temperatures. In Afghanistan, snow and freezing weather killed 120 people. Even Baghdad had a snowstorm, the first in the memory of most residents.

AFP news reports icy temperatures have just swept through south China, stranding 180,000 people and leading to widespread power cuts just as the area was recovering from the worst weather in 50 years, the government said Monday. The latest cold snap has taken a severe toll in usually temperate Yunnan province, which has been struck by heavy snowfalls since Thursday, a government official from the provincial disaster relief office told AFP.

Twelve people have died there, state Xinhua news agency reported, and four remained missing as of Saturday.

An ongoing record-long spell of cold weather in Vietnam's northern region, which started on Jan. 14, has killed nearly 60,000 cattle, mainly bull and buffalo calves, local press reported Monday. By Feb. 17, the spell had killed a total of 59,962 cattle in the region, including 7,349 in the Ha Giang province, 6,400 in Lao Cai, and 5,571 in Bac Can province, said Hoang Kim Giao, director of the Animal Husbandry Department under the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, according to the Pioneer newspaper.

In Britain the temperatures plunged to -10 C in central England, according to the Express, which reports that experts say that February could end up as one of the coldest in Britain in the past 10 years with the freezing night-time conditions expected to stay around a frigid -8 C until at least the middle of the week. And the BBC reports that a bus company's efforts to cut global warming emissions have led to services being disrupted by cold weather.

Meanwhile Athens News reports that a raging snow storm that blanketed most of Greece over the weekend and continued into the early morning hours on Monday, plunging the country into sub-zero temperatures. The agency reported that public transport buses were at a standstill on Monday in the wider Athens area, while ships remained in ports, public services remained closed, and schools and courthouses in the more severely-stricken prefectures were also closed.

Scores of villages, mainly on the island of Crete, and in the prefectures of Evia, Argolida, Arcadia, Lakonia, Viotia, and the Cyclades islands were snowed in.

More than 100 villages were snowed-in on the island of Crete and temperatures in Athens dropped to -6 C before dawn, while the coldest temperatures were recorded in Kozani, Grevena, Kastoria and Florina, where they plunged to -12 C.

If global warming gets any worse we'll all freeze to death.

© 2008 Newsmax. All rights reserved.

Answer 2

Most human activities contribute to changing the Earth's climate. Some of these include transport and technology and the creation of substances that are harmful to the environment.

Even little things can be done to help like simply switching off a light when you don't need to use it. You could use environmentally friendly bags when at the supermarket (which are a big thing at the moment) or recycle things - but make sure if you're recycling plastic that it has the little recycling symbol that looks like a triangle. You can also make your own compost with leftover food scraps and newspaper or buy organic foods. Take public transport instead of driving your own car if you have to travel long distances, or if possible ride a bike or walk!

Answer 3

Human activities on the system have about as much impact as pissing off a pier in New York and then checking for an increase in temperature in LA.

I hate to break it to you.. but we're just not that big of a deal.

Answer 4

recycling

Answer 5

Basicallyh everything contributes to the global warming.

For example, if you recycle, energy is used in recycling, and that energy  might be more than if you just threw the product away.

In addition, we live in a globalised world. You eat oranges from china, give flowers to your lover from Australia and your iPod is constructed from parts that are made in many countries and then assembled in one, and shipped to you.

What can you do directly.

1. Use green electrictiy.

2. Use less energy. take the bus instead of driving, insulate your house, wear a sweater indoors in winter etc etc.

3. Buy truly local products and fruits that are in season only (not brought from other countries).

4. Invest in green funds to boost green economic develpment.

Also write to your local political representatives and express your concern about global warming (local pressure is the most effective).

Answer 6

Thursday February 21, 04:52 PM

Aust 'most vulnerable' to climate change: Garnaut

A report by economist Ross Garnaut has warned Australia must take a lead role in tackling climate change or risk becoming the most badly damaged country in the developed world.

Professor Garnaut has handed down his interim report on carbon emissions targets and the creation of an emissions trading scheme today.

The report was commissioned by the federal, state and territory governments to help develop major policies on climate change.

Professor Garnaut says Australia's large agricultural sector and a reliance on trade with developing nations in Asia, that are also put at risk by rising temperatures, makes it one of the most vulnerable countries in the developed world.

"Without action we are running towards dangerous points more quickly that a lot of the earlier analysis has suggested," he said.

He says Australia needs to play a lead role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions by going beyond its stated target of a 60 per cent cut by 2050.

But Professor Garnaut says Australia is relatively well-placed to convert strong action on climate change into economic opportunity.

The report also sets out an initial guide to the design of an emissions trading scheme.

State and federal leaders have been briefed on the details of the interim report in Adelaide.

South Australian Premier Mike Rann says it paints a very sobering picture for the global community.

"Essentially what I'm sure that you will find out is that in the last five years and certainly since the modelling done by Sir Nicholas Stern, things are much worse for the world in terms of global warming than previously believed," he said.

Western Australian Premier Alan Carpenter says the report has a blunt warning.

"What Ross Garnaut has done is basically tell us, 'less time than you thought, more action than you thought, maybe in a shorter space of time'," Mr Carpenter said.

"There needs to be a sense of urgency. This isn't a matter just for governments, it's a matter for the ordinary people of the states."

Policy

Climate Change Minister Penny Wong has welcomed the interim report and says it will help to inform the Federal Government as it develops its policies.

But she says Labor will not go past its election commitment of a 60 per cent cut in emissions by 2050.

"Obviously unlike the previous government we have said we would be cognisant of the science," she said.

"But the Government's commitment is the one we made prior to the election and that we took to the Australian people, which is a reduction of 60 per cent by 2050.

"That is the approach the Government will take."

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has told Parliament it is vital the Government gets its climate change policies right.

"It's critical for the economy, critical for families, critical for the environment, critical for national security," he said.

"After 12 years of inaction on the whole question of climate change it's time that Australia led the international community on this question, it's time we had a government that led the national debate on this question.

"That's what needs to be done now, that's what this Government is now engaged in."

The final report will be released in September.

The Climate Institute says the report is an important starting point for a mature debate about climate change policy.

Chief executive John Connor says it outlines how Australian can become a low-carbon economy.

"What's significant is that he highlights that Australia is one of the countries most at risk from climate change, but also has most to gain from early action on climate change," Mr Connor said.

"So this is a real important curtain-raiser on a mature debate that we need to have, and that needs to look at strong action and decisive action."

Related links: Commit now on climate: Garnaut Review

Garnaut report a call to action, says Brown

Garnaut report must strike a balance: Bligh

24 world cities in 'Earth Hour' black-out: organisers

FULL COVERAGE: Environment News on Yahoo!7

Answer 7

Man can not change the climate on a global scale. What happens to all the global warming models when you add in volcano's? they fall apart.