Presentation by Henri Heneveld to APEGBC in Penticton (AGM 2003). Unlike many other environmental issues, the science behind climate change involves the earth’s entire life support system, its oceans and fresh water, its soils and vegetation, and most importantly, its atmosphere. As a result, climate change science is complex science. While much is known about how the climate system works, there are also many uncertainties still remaining. The challenge of understanding what is happening to the climate system, and what we can expect to happen in the future, therefore, requires the collaboration of many scientists from many disciplines, each contributing his or her piece in putting the complex puzzle together.
• from: Henri Hengeveld – Environment Canada • document: Hengeveld Climate Change presentation • in detail • see also: Climate Change XlnkS5D6 XlnkC18BA
Tag Archives: Memo
Sign of Global Warming: Ice Shelf Fracture
In 1998, the research community warned: “Antarctic Peninsula ice shelves have been in rapid retreat for the last few decades, apparently in response to a regional climate warming of 4.5 degrees F since the 1940s. Although the rate of warming is several times that of the global average, the exact cause of the warming is not known.” “This may be the beginning of the end for the Larsen Ice Shelf, In 2002, they announced: “Larsen B Ice Shelf Collapses in Antarctica, An Antarctic ice shelf that was 200 metres thick and had a surface area of 3,250 square kilometres has broken apart in less than a month. ” the speed of it is staggering, “[It is hard] to believe that 500 billion tonnes of ice sheet has disintegrated in less than a month” “The retreats are attributed to a strong climate warming in the region.” In 2003, the scientists announced: “The Arctic’s largest ice shelf has broken up. Climate change is the leading culprit.” The Ward Hunt Ice Shelf has been floating on the sea surface, attached to the north coast of Canada’s Ellesmere Island for around 3,000 years. In spring of last year, large fractures suddenly appeared; by that August the shelf had broken in two. The weakening of the ice shelf appears to be the result of rapid warming in the Arctic, say the researchers. “The climate change seems to be occurring at a faster rate than before the 1990s, says Jeffries. Recent collapse of ice shelves in the Antarctic has also been blamed on climate change. Difficult not to believe that climate change is occuring at a rapid pace.
weblink: Larsen Break • in detail XlnkS5C5
Artic Ice Shelf Fracture
The Arctic’s largest ice shelf has broken up. Climate change is the leading culprit. The Ward Hunt Ice Shelf has been floating on the sea surface, attached to the north coast of Canada’s Ellesmere Island for around 3,000 years. In spring of last year, large fractures suddenly appeared; by that August the shelf had broken in two. The weakening of the ice shelf appears to be the result of rapid warming in the Arctic, say the researchers. “The climate change seems to be occurring at a faster rate than before the 1990s, says Jeffries. Recent collapse of ice shelves in the Antarctic has also been blamed on climate change.
weblink: Article in nature • from: Climate Ark • in detail • see also: Climate Ark XlnkS5C6 XlnkC18B5
Introduction to Climate Change
A very good and easy to read introduction to climate change. What is is, where it is coming from, emission from key countries and more
weblink: Climate Change Intro • from: Climate Ark • in detail • see also: Climate Ark XlnkS5C7 XlnkC18B5
Measuring the Health Effects of Sprawl: A National Analysis of Physical Activity, Obesity and Chronic Disease
Measuring the Health Effects of Sprawl: A National (US) Analysis of Physical Activity, Obesity and Chronic Disease By Barbara McCann, Smart Growth America You can’t blame it all on North American fast food… This is a striking report, available online, which draws very real connections between urban development patterns and levels of human obesity and health problems. The US-based report found that “people living in counties marked by sprawling development are likely to walk less and weigh more than people who live in less sprawling counties…(and) more likely to suffer from hypertension (high blood pressure).” Click on the link below to view the whole report. Click here to learn more about Smart Growth America.
weblink: View Report • from: Smart Growth America • in detail XlnkS5BA XlnkC18B3
Electronic Waste (E-waste)
Semiconductors can have substantial environmental costs. The total weight of fossil fuels and chemicals used to produce a 2-gram memory chip is 630 times the weight of the chip itself. Over its life cycle, which includes both production and use, the two-gram chip requires 1,600 grams (1.6 kg) of fossil fuels, 72 grams of chemicals, and 32,000 grams (32 l) of water.
• from: World Watch Institute • in detail XlnkS5B9 XlnkC17DD
The gap between CEO and Worker
Growing pay discrepancies in the United States emerge largely from a compensation system skewed in favor of the CEO, most notably the common practice of offering stock options (giving CEOs the right to buy company stock in the future at a price set today). This system has effectively put CEOs at odds with workers, and placed jobs in jeopardy because they have encouraged executives to take excessive risks that inflate stock values and to use accounting methods that overstate company earnings. In Canada, average annual pay of the CEO’s is 29 times those of workers
weblink: Pay Gap Paper • from: World Watch Institute • in detail XlnkS5B7 XlnkC17DD
Energy Use of U.S. Consumer Electronics
This in-depth report by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory for the US government provides detailed data on energy use of electronic equipment as well as use frequency and standby consumption. The major consumer electronics in U.S. homes accounted for over 10% of U.S. residential electricity consumption in 1999, which is comparable to the electricity consumed by refrigerators or lighting. The results of this study are astounding: Consumer electronics consumed 113 TWh in the U.S. in 1999, over 60% of which was consumed while the products were not in use…. Consumer
weblink: Energy Report • from: Lawrence berkeley National Laboratory • in detail • see also: Phantom Load XlnkS5A4 XlnkC18AC
Phantom Load
Phantom load or “standby power” or “leaking electricity” refers to electricity consumed by devices while they are switched off. Many electrical devices – from air conditioners to VCRs – cannot be switched off completely without being unplugged. These products draw power 24 hours a day, often without the knowledge of the consumer. In particularly inefficient designs, the standby power use can be as high as 15 or 20 watts. For a single appliance, this may not seem like much, but adding up the power use of the billions of appliances in the U.S., the power consumption of appliances that are supposedly “off” is significant. For example, it is estimated that all TV and VCR that are turned off cost Americans nearly a billion dollars a year in electricity.
weblink: US government page on standby power • from: Jeffrey Langholz • in detail XlnkS5A0 XlnkC18A9
Reducing Leaking Electricity to a Trickle
Many electronic devices continue to consume energy even while switched off or not performing their principal service. This phenomenon has acquired several names, including standby power, standby losses, leaking electricity, waiting electricity, free-running power, off-mode power,and phantom loads. The leaking electricity found in televisions, VCRs, garage door openers, cordless phones and many other appliances has a surprisingly large impact on the global environment. Worldwide, phantom loads are responsible of 1% of CO2 emission.
weblink: Phantom load article • in detail • see also: Phantom Load XlnkS5A2