Geoengineering as a Solution to Global Warming

Pollution due to carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases which contribute hugely to global warming remains untamed, as international response to calls like the Kyoto Protocol entreating industrialized countries like the US to limit their CO2 emissions remain "grossly disappointing", as Nobel Prize winner Paul Crutzen wrote in an article in 2006 in the journal Climatic Change. Experts estimate that global warming may increase surface temperatures by as much as 6.4 ºC (11.5 ºF) if CO2 levels continue to rise as it does now. This rise in temperature may give rise to any number of situations in the future, all of which will probably have a bad effect on humans and other life forms: greater incidence of Katrina-like storms and extreme weather, extinction of plant and animal species unable to tolerate the heat, rising sea levels that can drown coastal cities, and others.

So, to counter the disastrous effects of global warming, scientists like Crutzen propose very drastic solutions.

So what are some of these proposals? Pollute the upper atmosphere with sulfur dust to reflect sunlight. Put small lenses in orbit. Float large white "islands" on oceans. Bury CO2 to the depths of the ocean by lacing the waters with iron. All these mad sci-fi fixes are lumped under the heading of "geoengineering", a new science that promises to negate the effects of global warming really fast while struggling to find a serious audience in the scientific community.

While geoengineering received little attention until Crutzen's paper was published, the idea of deliberately manipulating the atmosphere to suit human needs has been around in the fringes since the beginning of the 20th century.

The warming effect of CO2 emissions on land temperature was explored in 1905; the undesirable effects of CO2 pollution were discussed in more detail in the 1960s, and attempts at weather modification were done much earlier by the former USSR beginning in 1932. Proposals to cool the atmosphere appeared beginning in 1964.

In recent decades, the ideas of geoengineering met with considerable and understandable resistance from the scientific community. Geoengineering was deemed too impractical, with results that were insignificant or capable of wrecking more damage to the environment or both. It was only through Crutzen's prominence as an expert in atmospheric chemistry and the persistence of its proponents that geoengineering finally grabbed the spotlight; NASA held a workshop on geoengineering in California on November 2006, and climate scientists convened in Harvard University for a geoengineering conference earlier that same month. And renewed perceptions toward geoengineering are favorable; now, experts generally agree that if the warming gets out of hand and other measures fail, geoengineering may be a good last resort.

So how effective is geoengineering in controlling global warming? Actual small-scale experiments on several proposed methods are yet to be done, but some show promise. Most promising of the proposals is the frequent introduction of tons and tons of sulfur particles into the stratosphere to reflect sunlight back into space, proposed by Crutzen. Computer simulations of the effects of such an action show that stratospheric shading using sulfur could counteract further projected warming indefinitely.

Still scientists show no great eagerness to the idea. Scientists fear that the immediate effects of geo-engineering will lead world leaders to abandon long-range plans to clean the atmosphere of greenhouse gases. Still, scientists who had warmed up to the idea of tweaking the climate concede that geo-engineering must be considered seriously for possible future implementation, in the face of a possibly dire future climate, because at the pace with which current strategies to alleviate global warming are being done geo-engineering could very well be our planet's only hope.

Understanding The Global Warming Myths

The first global warming myth many people hold is that the science of global warming is too uncertain to act on. Nothing could be further from the truth, as scientists are in agreement over the basic facts of global warming, including the fact that global warming is occurring and that human activities, like burning fossil fuels and cutting down forests, intensify global warming's effects on our planet.

The U.S. National Academy of Sciences and 10 other National Academies of Science state that there is clear evidence that global warming is occurring and that nations should take prompt action in the form of cost-effective steps in order to contribute to substantial and long-term reduction in net global greenhouse gas emissions.

Another commonly-held myth is that addressing global warming will hurt the American industry and American workers.

The fact is that a well-designed trading program would harness American ingenuity to decrease heat-trapping pollution cost- effectively and would also give rise to a new carbon economy.

Many companies that have already reduced their heat-trapping emissions have learned that they can save money by being more environmentally friendly.

The cost of a comprehensive national greenhouse gas reduction program will depend on the precise emissions targets, the timing for the reductions, and the means of implementing it. An independent MIT study has determined that a modest cap-and-trade system would cost less than per household and would not result in anyone losing his/her employment.

Experience has shown that properly designed emissions trading programs can reduce compliance costs significantly compared to other regulatory approaches; one previous example was the U.S.

acid rain program that helped reduce sulphur dioxide emissions by more than 30% from 1990 levels and cost the industry a fraction of what the government estimated.

In addition, a mandatory cap on emissions can lead to technological innovation that can create jobs and wealth. Conversely, if we do nothing until the damage is more extensive, that delay will likely disrupt and severely damage our economy, so it would be wiser and more cost- effective to act now.

A third widely-held global warming myth is the thinking that because water vapour is the most important, abundant greenhouse gas, efforts should be taken to control it instead of carbon dioxide (CO2.)

The fact is, however, that even though water vapour does trap more heat than CO2, global warming nations must focus on controlling CO2 because they can directly affect how much CO2 is in our atmosphere by cutting back and/or eliminating such activities like burning coal, natural gas, and oil, as well as cutting down trees.

The level of water vapour cannot be directly controlled by people because they are determined by temperatures - the warmer the atmosphere, the more water vapour it can hold. Therefore, the more CO2 present in the atmosphere, the warmer the air becomes, which leads to more water vapour in the air. As a result, the key to controlling and reducing water vapour is to control the levels of CO2 people put into the air.

A fourth widely-held belief is that global warming and extra CO2 will be beneficial as they'll reduce cold-related deaths and stimulate crop growth.

The fact is that any positive benefits from extra CO2 in the atmosphere will be far outweighed by damage and disruption.

Even if only the middle range of scientific projections are reached in the future, the effects would have catastrophic effects on many sectors of the economy. Rising seas would inundate coastal communities, contaminate water supplies with salt, and increase the risk of flooding by storm surge. Extreme weather events, like heat waves, droughts, and floods are expected to increase in frequency and severity, which would lead to more loss of life, agriculture, and property.

While higher levels of CO2 can act as a plant fertilizer, most scientists think that this benefit has been overstated in recent years as plants seem to acclimate to the higher levels of CO2 after a few years, thereby nullifying the benefits. In addition, higher levels of CO2 can allow undesirable, weedy species to grow more rapidly, something that is not wanted.

As you can see, believing global warming myths can lead people to actions that will cause more harm to our economies and our planet in the future. That is why it is so important to learn the facts about global warming so that proper actions can be taken in the future to lessen or reverse the effects global warming will have on our economies, societies, and way of life.

Global Warming Prevention

Global warming is an issue that affects everyone who calls anywhere on earth home. We should each make an effort to do what we can do in order to ensure that we are preventing global warming. Here, you will find an outline of tips that you should use in order to know your part in global warming. Apply the suggestions that are listed here, and send them to your friend, family, and coworkers. Pass it along to everyone you know so that we can all work together to save the world. 1) One of the first steps that you can take in order to prevent it is to make sure that you keep the tires on your vehicles properly inflated. If you allow your tires to be on the road and they are not properly inflated, you could produce hundreds of pounds of greenhouse gases each year. Greenhouse gases lead to the damage that global warming produces.

2) When shopping for groceries, do not allow yourself to walk away with plastic and paper bags.

Take a cloth bag to the store in order to carry your merchandise. By doing so, you are reducing the need to throw away the plastic bags and contribute to the global warming crisis.

3) In each of our homes, we should try to find the lights that we use the most and then replace the bulbs with bulbs that are specifically designed to be energy efficient. This may cost more than a standard bulb, but it will prevent the damaging effects of it and reduce the amount that you pay on your electricity bill each month as well.

4) Many farms and farming equipment put harmful greenhouse gases into the atmosphere that lead to global warming. If you would like to prevent it, you should try to buy foods that are organic in nature. You may also consider growing your own food and buying the food that is grown in your area.

This reduces the gases that are released into the atmosphere and the gasoline that is required to ship food to your area.

5) You may want to check the filter that your vehicle uses to circulate air every couple of months. If an air filter becomes congested and dirty, it will release nasty gases into the atmosphere that lead to global warming.

6) It is important that you try to use products that are recycled. If you do this, it will reduce the amount of waste in landfills and will also reduce the need to cut down more trees in the environment.

7) You can also prevent global warming by driving your vehicle less. You can carpool with others, or take a public transportation method. You may even consider buying a bicycle or walking to places that you wish to go. This is not only great for the environment, but great for your body as well!

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Global Domains International

Global Domains International, Inc.,was founded in 1998 by Michael Starr and Alan Ezeir, the CEO and President. Mike and Alan were aware that in the mid 1990's, the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) assigned each nation a country code. These codes were designed to give each country an address to use for their own Internet needs. For instance, the United States was assigned .us, Australia .au, Ireland .ie.

(GDI) has the potential to become the largest direct sales/network marketing company in the world in terms of number of distributors and customers," says NMBJ, the Network Marketing Business Journal.

In the 2002 Special issue of Inc. magazine, GDI placed #37 on the Inc. 500 "List" of the USA's 500 fastest growing private companies and #5 in the state of California.

Michael Starr and Alan Ezeir, the CEO and President respectively of Global Domains International, Inc. (GDI), recognized another opportunity that was largely ignored; they wondered, "Besides dot com, are there other extensions that businesses could use as a domain name?"

Before you can start up a business any business — customers need to be able to find you. On the Internet, your address is your domain name; the part of an Internet address that comes after the www. With the unparalleled growth of the Internet, dot com domain names continue to sell like hotcakes. Currently, there are more than 80 million dot com domains, and over 100 million total domains registered worldwide. Industry experts forecast that more than 500 million domains will be registered in the next ten years. In fact, reliable sources from companies like Intel are predicting that every personal computer in the future will have its own domain name.

International Call Centers - Making Your Search Easy!

Do you still remember that your business started with a very few clients and all your business operations were handled personally? But with the flow of time, a commitment in your mission has taken you to a height from where you would never like to go back. Still, your business needs proper attention and you need to take care of the consumers that have been continuously coordinating with your strategy.

Now, if your business needs an international level business then it is always recommended that you start to hire a third party BPO service provider that provides all your requirements without disturbing the present profit graph. The following part will guide you how to outsource an international call center and in which manner you can invest your capital in safe hands.

Comprehensive research is a basic step to start the process.

You may find thousands of international call centers that offer the same services with varied cost. But in this case, it is very common that most of the business firms follow the pricing element. Sometimes, this turns out to be a great risk and your business can drown if falls on the unreliable counterpart. Check out the best outsourcing nations where the services are international and the cost -effective. You can take some references from the existing clients or give some personal visits to check out their business existence. There may be numerous fraud websites that can ruin you in seconds. Beware of these consequences!

The feedback from the customers can be a very crucial factor top judge the quality of services, an International call center provides. Customers can tell you the exact way in which methodology they streamlined their business activity. This is so far the best criteria to test the credibility to render contact center activities.

Cost is one important element that will determine your potential the level of services. There would be some companies whose demand may not match your budget and you might have to switch off that firm. The cost of the services would entirely depend upon the project duration and the efforts required fulfilling it within a deadline.

No matter your price factor may exceed your budget but make sure that the calling agents are giving the best services as per the standards of an international call center. Experience in the BPO industry is always counted on top but one thing, the use of technology equally contributes to the successful hiring of a global call center.

Global Warming Causes and Effects of Global Warming

Have at least occasionally broke concerns drastic climate changes, that are often not distinguish summer from winter, spring than autumn days and nights? I wonder how they do not reflect our mood, action, nauseate of mental, psycho-social condition of our overall health. Taking anything on a personal level though, the personal, its own environment?

Recent findings and actions to improve the ecological situation in the world-the greenhouse effect (ironically: positive enrichment of the tourist offer), alternative energy and purity, it should at least some time to engage and worry a little longer.

Can no automobile least one day a year, right now? Let's try.

Remember:

If one day a week is not used vehicles, all citizens will breathe cleaner air 13%. Vehicles emit harmful gases that are distorting the health of people, but damage and facades of buildings and monuments.

Due to the recession in emissions of greenhouse gases this year, suffered a decline in world strongest in the last four decades.

According to the analysis of the International Energy Agency (IEA), carbon dioxide (CO2) in the world, the most common environmentally harmful gas caused by fossil fuels, this year will fall by about 2.6%. The agency report states that there is hope that the world will use this fall to make the passage of economic growth with lower emissions of CO2. However, IEA is concerned about the possibility that this decline governments to use to justify their passivity.

"This decline in emissions and investments in fossil fuels would make sense only if the Copenhagen deals that investors will send a signal about the necessity of reducing emissions of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere," said chief economist the IEA, Fatih Birol;

Today, Eskimos enjoy the sun of 30 degrees Celsius.

In eskimskoto village, north of Canada, temperatures in August have reached precisely those values.

Witness the 89 - year-old entrepreneurs Eddie, who has 40 - years ago to monitor developments in this area, melting ice, heat, etc.:

Before 40 years ice cover was 64 km away from the coast, and today only 128 km.

Real prediction: in the near future tourists will shun heated parts of Florida or Spain a peaceful Arctic without congestion, a pleasant 30 degrees and clear, cooler water in which to enjoy the beach. This is confirmed by research experts and footage Ice sat, which measures the melting of ice in the Arctic from space and shows that from 2004 - so by 2008 - MA, the ice cover has decreased by more than 60 centimeters. Every three days under water disappears one "Germany under the ice."

The analysis of experts showed that the Arctic instead of the end of this century already 30 years will remain without ice! Will happen to the flora and fauna, still do not know. The change will only be here, but in the flow of sea and fresh water. In the North Sea ice dojdatg some new species, while others will disappear.

Is Global Warming Real?

With the increase in population, more motor vehicles on the road and all of the greenhouse gasses floating up into the ozone, there must be an impact of some kind on the environment. Even if you do not believe global warming is real, the pollution, not to mention the chemicals we eat daily ( that's a topic I will discuss in another article) is a health hazard, but cleaning up the environment is not an impossible mission. It simply starts with a local goal, a little education and motivation to spread that goal.

One of the organizations I really admire is the National Wildlife Federation because NWF President Larry Schweiger goes above and beyond his call of duty to educate the public about global warming, energy conservation and protecting wildlife and our future on this planet. I have to admit that I once was skeptical about global warming, but after much research and especially after seeing "Inconvenient Truth" I believe it is necessary to reduce if not eliminate greenhouse gas and convert to other more natural energy sources.

No I do not believe Al Gore made that documentary for self interest.

I believe he sincerely has a passion for educating people about the effects of green house gases. What is great about NWF is the wealth of information they provide at their website, http://www.nwf.org and they are non-political. They have a whole section for kids and you can order magazines such as "Ranger Rick" which includes ice experiments, how to attract backyard wildlife and more. NWF also has many photos of nature and wildlife to view and if you have kid artists in your house, they can enter their artwork and have it posted on the NWF web site.

It's way cool! Anyway, check it out and read a little about nature and global warming and check out some of the pictures. You can also read Larry's blog at http://nwf.blogs.com/nwf_view/.

The reason I am posting this is because global warming has now entered the political arena and somehow I believe the majority of the U.S. population will not take it serious if it becomes nothing more than a debate between politicians trying to win a vote. On a positive note more people are aware of it thanks to politics and the media. Perhaps I and hundreds of thousands of others around the world are wrong, but I would rather take the necessary precautions and find out I was wrong in 20 years than do nothing and suffer the consequences.

Global Warming Myths

Today nuclear power race and global warming are one such two hot topics that can steer conversation from an unexpected corner. Everyone of us have heard of global warming before either in media or read it somewhere or were forced to read it during exams. Global warming is one most of the most discussed topics around the world. Although there are many scientific facts to prove certain truths about the global warming. Global warming is also one of the most misunderstood topics.

There are many popular Global warming myths

* Myth 1: Earths temperature is rising at alarming level.
Fact: This is the most commonly perceived Global warming myth. In reality the temperature is just increasing slightly not in alarming levels. There has been very solid evidence to prove that even the temperature of Earth was rising when Global warming and greenhouse effect was not an issue.

So now scientists claim that slight increase in temperature is normal not alarming.

* Myth 2: Humans cause global warming.
Fact: This is the very popular Global warming myth that human beings are cause of global warming. Although human beings contribute very largely towards global warming but they are not the only reason for it. The changes were very radical from time to time. Temperature of earth has been on path of slight increase from time to time. The exact cause of global warming is still paves way for unending debates.

* Myth 3: Slight temperature increase will melt icecaps.
Fact: This is also one of the most commonly perceived Global warming myth .Winter related deaths are more than summer related deaths. In UK itself every year slight rise in temperature saves 200000 people from death. Although some glaciers have melt but in some other parts of world the ice caps are also thickening. So there is no hard core evidence to prove that the ice caps are continuously melting due to slight increase in temperature.

* Myth 4: Weather changes are related to human activities.
Fact: Extreme weather changes are related to solar activities. They are not related to any sort of human activities. Although increase in carbon dioxide levels will contribute towards slight changes in weather but extreme weather conditions cannot be caused solely by human activities.

* Myth 5: Population of Polar bears are dwindling due to Global warming.
Fact: Polar bears largely depend on ice sheets to swim and catch seals for food. So melting of the ice sheets will dwindle seals so Polar bears have to swim to long distances to hunt for them. But that does not mean that Polar bear population is dwindling.

* Myth 6: Climate changes are causing increase in sea level.
Fact: Another widely circulated Global warming myth is that increase in sea level is due to Climate changes brought out by Global warming. But in reality the increase in sea level is due to interglacial periods. Changes are part of nature so the sea levels will continue to increase even if there are no climate changes.

* Myth 7: There are no perfect Computer models which predict Global warming.
Fact: Many of the debates regarding Global warming arises from Computer circulated models.
But in fact these computer models are widely used by scientists and meteorologists to predict weather. Although these computer models are not accurate or perfect but still they have moderately high success rates.

Global Warming Myths

www.globalwarming-prevention.com

An Overview About Global Warming

You must believe that global warming is now a fact.

The US National Climatic Data Center declared that 2001 was the second year on record and it was 23rd chorological year of higher than normal temperatures. Most problems may be the fact of the increasing rate of the temperature. In addition, insurer Munich Re released the data which states that the numbers of people dying of natural disaster in 2001 were twice as many as in 2002 and insured losses grew up more than 50%. It is estimated by UNEP that the extra economic costs of disasters attributable to global warming are running at more than 0 billion annually.

Some 180 countries are proceeding toward an expected ratification of the Kyoto Protocol by the end of this year. Of the six gases it will control CO2 is by far the largest contributing nearly 90% of the global warming impact. The primary source of CO2 is the burning of fossil fuels. Therefore the focus on energy will continue to increase.

Throughout the world different methods are being used to encourage reduced energy use. Japan has enacted the Energy Conservation Law in 1999 mandating huge efficiency improvements by 2004 for nearly all air conditioning products. The U.S. has revised ASHRAE Standard 90.1 for buildings to raise the minimum COP level for centrifugal chillers from the current value of 5.2 to 6.1 effective in October 2001. DOE and Green Seal have revised their recommended efficiency levels to an even higher level of 6.27.

Some countries use laws. Others use codes and standards. An increasing number of countries are using environmental costing which increases the price of energy thereby increasing the financial attractiveness of high efficiency products. European countries have been using such "carbon taxes" for more than a decade. However a rapidly growing trend in developing countries is the reduction of subsidies to energy industries "so prices more accurately reflect environmental impacts" according to OECD's Environmental Strategy for the First Decade of the 21st Century.

China has shown leadership by reducing subsidies to the coal industry from .5 billion in 1990 to billion in 1996 resulting in 7% emissions reduction while seeing a solid economic growth of 36%! China is now moving aggressively into environmental costing with the just announced (1/13/2002) 5-year environmental plan that commits 700 billion yuan ( billion) to help protect the environment. The government will provide the fist 65 billion yuan to initiate the project but will apply the "polluter pays" principle for the rest. The "environmental protection authorities will collect funds from the pollution-producing companies". The impact on the price of energy is not known at this time. However it is clear that the addition of environmental costing will increase energy prices. According to a European Research Commission Report of July 2001 "The cost of producing electricity from coal or oil would double if costs such as damage to the environment and health were taken into account".

The global movement to high efficiency is accelerating just like the rate of temperature increase. But this is not all that is changing. This second environmental threat of global warming is making it clear that we need to give combined consideration to ozone depletion and global warming. But more important is the need to focus on the real issue which is the total environmental impact not address each individual environmental threat in isolation. This includes the concept of environmental risk exposure, which recognizes that there are other environmental threats that are less well understood today. However, there are "no regrets" decisions we can make today (such as minimum refrigerant charge, minimum atmospheric life refrigerants, etc.) to minimize these risks.

Combined consideration would place more emphasis on reducing the use of CFCs, which are still being produced in developing countries until 2010 in accordance with the Montreal Protocol. Little attention is being given the large contribution to global warming from CFCs. Actions which cause confusion and delay the phaseout of CFCs cause increased environmental damage rather than lessening the environmental impact.

The other rapidly changing factor in the HVAC industry is the shift to becoming a hermetic industry, where refrigerant is contained throughout the life of a chiller and recycled for further use when the chiller is replaced. This simple understanding that "if it doesn't get into the environment it does no harm" is a powerful argument, which will lead to the continued use of the most efficient refrigerants in such closed hermetic applications as chillers. In just 15 years annual refrigerants emissions from chillers have been reduced from 25% to well below 1% today. This defines a whole different world than that which existed when the Montreal Protocol was crafted some 15 years ago.

But perhaps the most important change coming to our industry is the realization that there are no new or "perfect" refrigerants waiting to be discovered. There are eight elements that can be combined for use in a vapor compression cycle. All feasible combinations of these eight have been evaluated. The reality is "what we have now is all there is".

This recognition is why we are now seeing a shift from the search for a perfect refrigerant to a search for the right refrigerant(s) for the right application. Said another way, the highest efficiency refrigerants for the lowest emissions applications. Many in our industry call this "Responsible Use".

Global Warming International Center