Top 10 Surprising Results of Global Warming

10.Aggravated Allergies
Have those sneeze attacks and itchy eyes that plague you every spring been worsening in recent years? If so, global warming may be partly to blame. Over the past few decades, more and more Americans have started suffering from seasonal allergies and asthma. Though lifestyle changes and pollution ultimately leave people more vulnerable to the airborne allergens they breathe in, research has shown that the higher carbon dioxide levels and warmer temperatures associated with global warming are also playing a role by prodding plants to bloom earlier and produce more pollen. With more allergens produced earlier, allergy season can last longer. Get those tissues ready.

9.Heading for the Hills

Starting in the early 1900s, we've all had to look to slightly higher ground to spot our favorite chipmunks, mice and squirrels. Researchers found that many of these animals have moved to greater elevations, possibly due to changes in their habitat caused by global warming. Similar changes to habitats are also threatening Arctic species like polar bears, as the sea ice they dwell on gradually melts away.

8.Arctic in Bloom

While melting in the Arctic might cause problems for plants and animals at lower latitudes, it's creating a downright sunny situation for Arctic biota. Arctic plants usually remain trapped in ice for most of the year. Nowadays, when the ice melts earlier in the spring, the plants seem to be eager to start growing. Research has found higher levels of the form of the photosynthesis product chlorophyll in modern soils than in ancient soils, showing a biological boom in the Arctic in recent decades.

7.Pulling the Plug
A whopping 125 lakes in the Arctic have disappeared in the past few decades, backing up the idea that global warming is working fiendishly fast nearest Earth's poles. Research into the whereabouts of the missing water points to the probability that permafrost underneath the lakes thawed out. When this normally permanently frozen ground thaws, the water in the lakes can seep through the soil, draining the lake, one researcher likened it to pulling the plug out of the bathtub. When the lakes disappear, the ecosystems they support also lose their home.

6.The Big Thaw
Not only is the planet's rising temperature melting massive glaciers, but it also seems to be thawing out the layer of permanently frozen soil below the ground's surface. This thawing causes the ground to shrink and occurs unevenly, so it could lead to sink holes and damage to structures such as railroad tracks, highways and houses. The destabilizing effects of melting permafrost at high altitudes, for example on mountains, could even cause rockslides and mudslides. Recent discoveries reveal the possibility of long-dormant diseases like smallpox could re-emerge as the ancient dead, their corpses thawing along with the tundra, get discovered by modern man.

5.Survival of the Fittest
As global warming brings an earlier start to spring, the early bird might not just get the worm. It might also get its genes passed on to the next generation. Because plants bloom earlier in the year, animals that wait until their usual time to migrate might miss out on all the food. Those who can reset their internal clocks and set out earlier stand a better chance at having offspring that survive and thus pass on their genetic information, thereby ultimately changing the genetic profile of their entire population.

4.Speedier Satellites
A primary cause of a warmer planet'scarbon dioxide emissions is having effects that reach into space with a bizarre twist. Air in the atmosphere's outermost layer is very thin, but air molecules still create drag that slows down satellites, requiring engineers to periodically boost them back into their proper orbits. But the amount of carbon dioxide up there is increasing. And while carbon dioxide molecules in the lower atmosphere release energy as heat when they collide, thereby warming the air, the sparser molecules in the upper atmosphere collide less frequently and tend to radiate their energy away, cooling the air around them. With more carbon dioxide up there, more cooling occurs, causing the air to settle. So the atmosphere is less dense and creates less drag.

3.Rebounding Mountains
Though the average hiker wouldn't notice, the Alps and other mountain ranges have experienced a gradual growth spurt over the past century or so thanks to the melting of the glaciers atop them. For thousands of years, the weight of these glaciers has pushed against the Earth's surface, causing it to depress. As the glaciers melt, this weight is lifting, and the surface slowly is springing back. Because global warming speeds up the melting of these glaciers, the mountains are rebounding faster.

2.Ruined Ruins
All over the globe, temples, ancient settlements and other artifacts stand as monuments to civilizations past that until now have withstood the tests of time. But the immediate effects of global warming may finally do them in. Rising seas and more extreme weather have the potential to damage irreplaceable sites. Floods attributed to global warming have already damaged a 600-year-old site, Sukhothai, which was once the capital of a Thai kingdom.

1.Ruined Ruins
All over the globe, temples, ancient settlements and other artifacts stand as monuments to civilizations past that until now have withstood the tests of time. But the immediate effects of global warming may finally do them in. Rising seas and more extreme weather have the potential to damage irreplaceable sites. Floods attributed to global warming have already damaged a 600-year-old site, Sukhothai, which was once the capital of a Thai kingdom.

Artist sings for global warming

Sheryl Crow sang three of her hit songs while performing during the Stop Global Warming College Tour

Paul Revere, the Blue Man Group and former Vice President Al Gore showed MTSU students the peril earth faces due to the effects of global warming on Tuesday night. Grammy Award winning singer-song writer Sheryl Crow and global warming activist Laurie David parked their bio-diesel tour bus at Murphy Center to help educate students about global warming,

its effects on the Earth, and the dangers it poses for future generations. "I am terrified about what is happening to [the] planet," said David, founder of Stop Global Warming. "Global warming is happening faster than expected, but [we] can do something to stop it."David said scientists have concluded the earth has less than 10 years to slow global warming down, or else "we set ourselves on a course that cannot be corrected."

According to statistics David provided from scientists, such as James Hanson of NASA, human activity has guaranteed a two-degree global temperature increase."The difference between one degree is a frozen Popsicle in your freezer or a puddle on the floor," David said. "No other issue is going to impact your life more than global warming."Both David and Crow offered suggestions on how students could make positive changes in their lives to help slow the process, such as taking a reusable cup to Starbucks to get coffee, driving a hybrid car, taking a garment bag to the dry cleaner to reduce using plastic, and voting for candidates who are doing something to try and slow the process down."

We need to change as individuals first, then as families, schools, cities, and then as a country," David said.David shared stories from other college campuses on how they are making changes to combat global warming. "Texas A&M is using left over oil from their cafeteria to power their campus trucks. LSU students started a petition to eliminate cars on campus and it's going to effect as of July," David said, adding that students should work with their school president to make their campus carbon neutral.In the past, MTSU students have done their part to combat global warming. In the 2006 spring Student Government Association election, students voted unanimously to raise student activity fees by $8.00 to purchase green power."

Every student purchases clean energy and green power with their tuition," said Reggie Miller, co-chair of Students for Environmental Action. "They can do even more by turning off a light, or by carpooling and biking to campus."Crow paused during the show for a moment of silence to "send good energy and our deepest condolences to the families and victims at Virginia Tech."Crow sang acoustic versions of her hits, including "A Change Will Do You Good" and "Everyday Is a Winding Road," which she said have taken on a new meaning for her."The more I learn about [global warming]" Crow explained, "the more there is the burden of knowing." Crow joked with the audience about tips to help stop global warming including wearing recycled paper outfits and using one square of toilet paper.

Crow responded to questions about different steps schools can to take to better educate, not only students, but university staff as well."Part of the problem is that we have been in denial for a long time. We don't want to face the fact that this is happening," Crow said. Crow also recommended that every school show "An Inconvenient Truth." She considers the documentary to be a wellspring of information for students and teachers that lays out the issue of global warming in terms everyone can understand.Students who attended the concert received a free Phillips, International energy-saving light bulb, which lasts for seven years and is more energy efficient than a regular light bulb."It's not about doing everything, but about doing something," Crow said.

Steve Goldmacher, a representative for Phillips, said the evolving technology is allowing energy to become viable and allow people to hear the message. "Energy saving bulbs are identical to [the] light bulbs people are already using, but they save 75 percent in energy costs," Goldmacher said. "The only difference is that the bulbs are fluorescent as opposed to incandescent."The Stop Global Warming College Tour concludes on April 22 in Washington, D.C. Along with other artists, David and Crow will then urge U.S. leaders to take necessary steps to protect the planet before it is too late. "Our message is that it is possible; scientists are saying that it's possible and to not give up hope," David said. "Hopefully, we'll begin to look around and start to make changes in our personal lives."

Global Warming T-SHIRT

Greenthinkers Earth Day Shirts
These special Greenthinkers Earth Day shirts are guaranteed to help you stay & look cool as global warming sets in!
http://www.greenthinkers.org/blog/2007/04/greenthinkers_earth_day_shirts.html

Global Warming t-shirt


100% cotton Global Warming t-shirt. "Global Warming Isn't Cool"! One of our newest and most popular designs.


http://www.crazydogtshirts.com/servlet/the-1386/Global-warming-t-dsh-shirts,-global/Detail

BE COOLSTOP GLOBAL WARMING
In this shirt your child shows that it is cool to careabout the environment—fight global warming!
www.babypolitico.com/products.html

nature’s fireworks alone

NASA reports in its newsletter that, far from being a display of nature’s fireworks alone, lightning actually produces gases—and some of those gases may have an effect on (gulp!) global warming!

This is true because these gases partially control the concentration of ozone in the atmosphere, and ozone, of course, is part of the dialogue when it comes to global warming. So here is yet another “scientifically verified” factor that must be studied BEFORE it can be reasonably incorporated into computer models that seek to predict global climate.

What a shame that our mainstream media give us only a sound bite—and a politically correct sound bite at that—when telling us about a vital issue like the global climate that may turn out to be stuff and nonsense in the years to come. Will the politics never cease?
What makes us so arrogant as to think that mankind can control the global climate anyway? It just becomes clearer every day that we don't know how much we don't know.

http://www.insurancetechguru.com

Why Atmospheric Levels Of Greenhouse Gas Have Stabilized

ScienceDaily (Sep. 28, 2006) — Scientists have explained why atmospheric levels of the greenhouse gas methane have stabilised in recent years, but warn that increases could resume in the near future.

In research published in Nature this week, an international team of scientists -- including CSIRO researchers -- has shown that it was a decline in emissions of methane from human activities in the 1990s that resulted in the recent slower growth of methane in the global atmosphere.
Since 1999, however, sources of methane from human activities have again increased, but their effect on the atmosphere has been counteracted by a reduction in wetland emissions of methane over the same period.

According to one of the authors of the Nature paper, Dr Paul Steele from CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, prolonged drying of wetlands -- caused by draining and climate change -- has resulted in a reduction in the amount of methane released by wetlands, masking the rise in emissions from human activities.
"Had it not been for this reduction in methane emissions from wetlands, atmospheric levels of methane would most likely have continued rising," he says.

"This suggests that, if the drying trend is reversed and emissions from wetlands return to normal, atmospheric methane levels may increase again, worsening the problem of climate change."
The researchers used computer simulations of how the gas is transported in the atmosphere to trace back to the source of methane emissions, based on the past 20 years of atmospheric measurements.
The results indicate that a reduction and/or more efficient use of natural gas in the Northern Hemisphere was largely responsible for the drop in methane emissions in the 1990s, and that the more recent increase stemmed from strongly increasing emissions from fossil fuel use in north Asia.

The scientists also showed how changes in emissions from wetlands and, to a lesser extent, bushfires, accounted for variations in atmospheric methane from year to year.
The research is expected to help reduce uncertainties in future projections of climate change and to help design effective strategies to reduce methane emissions from human activities.

To date, reductions in major sources of methane from human activities include improved piping of natural gas and the capture of methane from landfill sites to generate electricity.
Methane is the second most important greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide and is estimated to have been responsible for a fifth of the enhanced greenhouse effect over the past 200 years. In addition to emissions from natural wetlands and many other natural sources, human activities including agriculture and the mining and use of fossil fuels produce large amounts of the gas.

Adapted from materials provided by CSIRO Australia.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/09/060927201651.htm

Why Atmospheric Levels Of Greenhouse Gas Have Stabilized

Methane Mystery: Scientists Explain Why Atmospheric Levels Of Greenhouse Gas Have Stabilized
ScienceDaily (Sep. 28, 2006) — Scientists have explained why atmospheric levels of the greenhouse gas methane have stabilised in recent years, but warn that increases could resume in the near future.

In research published in Nature this week, an international team of scientists -- including CSIRO researchers -- has shown that it was a decline in emissions of methane from human activities in the 1990s that resulted in the recent slower growth of methane in the global atmosphere.
Since 1999, however, sources of methane from human activities have again increased, but their effect on the atmosphere has been counteracted by a reduction in wetland emissions of methane over the same period.
According to one of the authors of the Nature paper, Dr Paul Steele from CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, prolonged drying of wetlands -- caused by draining and climate change -- has resulted in a reduction in the amount of methane released by wetlands, masking the rise in emissions from human activities.

"Had it not been for this reduction in methane emissions from wetlands, atmospheric levels of methane would most likely have continued rising," he says.

"This suggests that, if the drying trend is reversed and emissions from wetlands return to normal, atmospheric methane levels may increase again, worsening the problem of climate change."
The researchers used computer simulations of how the gas is transported in the atmosphere to trace back to the source of methane emissions, based on the past 20 years of atmospheric measurements.
The results indicate that a reduction and/or more efficient use of natural gas in the Northern Hemisphere was largely responsible for the drop in methane emissions in the 1990s, and that the more recent increase stemmed from strongly increasing emissions from fossil fuel use in north Asia.

The scientists also showed how changes in emissions from wetlands and, to a lesser extent, bushfires, accounted for variations in atmospheric methane from year to year.
The research is expected to help reduce uncertainties in future projections of climate change and to help design effective strategies to reduce methane emissions from human activities.
To date, reductions in major sources of methane from human activities include improved piping of natural gas and the capture of methane from landfill sites to generate electricity.

Methane is the second most important greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide and is estimated to have been responsible for a fifth of the enhanced greenhouse effect over the past 200 years. In addition to emissions from natural wetlands and many other natural sources, human activities including agriculture and the mining and use of fossil fuels produce large amounts of the gas.


Adapted from materials provided by CSIRO Australia.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/09/060927201651.htm

Global Halt To Major Greenhouse Gas Growth

ScienceDaily (Nov. 26, 2003) — Nov. 25, 2003 -- The greenhouse gas, methane, has stopped growing in the global background atmosphere and could begin to decrease, CSIRO researchers announced today.

"Methane is the second most important gas after carbon dioxide. It is responsible for a fifth of the enhanced greenhouse effect over the past 200 years," says Dr Paul Fraser, a chief research scientist at CSIRO Atmospheric Research.
"Over the past four years there has been no growth in atmospheric methane concentrations compared to a 15% rise over the preceding 20 years and a 150% rise since pre-industrial times. This is a very exciting result," says Dr Fraser.

The results are from Cape Grim, Tasmania, Australia's important greenhouse gas monitoring facility operated by the Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO.
Methane, a very potent greenhouse gas (some 23 times more potent than carbon dioxide) is released to the atmosphere from agriculture rice, cattle and sheep from landfills, and from the mining and use of fossil fuels coal, oil and gas as well as from natural wetlands.

"Although we can't be certain why methane concentrations have levelled out, we think it is in response to emissions declining due to better management of the exploration and use of fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) and the increasing recovery of landfill methane,"Fraser says.
"If this global decline in methane emissions continues, global atmospheric methane concentrations will start to fall."
"Global emissions of the most important greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, are difficult to control, and are set to continue to increase, despite the efforts of the Kyoto Protocol and similar initiatives. This makes the good news on methane all the more important," concluded Dr Fraser.

Adapted from materials provided by CSIRO Australia.
link: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/11/031126065226.htm