Climate Change

Now-a-days we listen Climate Change more often than before. Climate change is a global phenomenon and the term “Climate Change” is indeed a straightforward expression for such a complex subject. In fact, climate change has more than we can comprehend from this phrase and that is why it is quite essential to go at defining climate change in today’s scenario. In the present glossary of researchers and scientists, climate modification as a term is no longer in use and effect. The reason behind this is that we have come to realize the effect of the changes we make to our environment will eventually increase the temperature in many parts of the world, but at the same time will also be decrease in temperature for few parts of the planet. This however, creates a general imbalance in the climate of the world which in turn leads us to the phrase, “Climate Change.”

While wondering the effects of the climate change, the things you know of as climate modification is actually referred to as global a global phenomenon of climate change. However, with all the details and statistics we have in hand at present, we can definitely conclude that the world is unquestionably warming with the temperatures rising like never before. Climate change is a global problem with many natural disasters started taking shape; the general awareness of this factor is really low. For the better understanding of the issues associated with the climate change, we require a simple definition for climate change in relation to the warming of the planet. And this definition needs to be the one that brings us the essence of this problem without compromising the simplicities. However, the easiest and most precise definition is that climate change is the effect greenhouse gases have on the earth’s overall climate. Greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide and methane, but are not limited to these two.

While learning more about climate change, we need to understand few important facts associated with it. The first fact is that climate change is both a natural phenomena and one catalyzed by us. For instance, greenhouse gases are a natural part of the biosphere and would exist if man did not. In fact, these gases are a vital component to the existence of life on this planet. It is due to the existence of the greenhouse gases, the temperature on planet earth does not average zero degrees! These naturally occurring gases help to keep the temperature at a desirable 59 degrees. But, the climate change, which is due to the greenhouse gases, is not indeed natural. In fact, the problem we are facing is the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. These gases act as thermal blankets for the atmosphere. The more gas in the atmosphere, the thicker the blanket and the less heat escapes from earth. In the last 80years, we have been releasing this gases into our atmosphere and thus helping them to form a blanket. On the other hand, we are reducing forests around the planet, which are the natural plant collection that absorb greenhouse gases. This double whammy is starting to show negative results, the increased heating of our world, and thus the beginning of the dreaded climate change.


Author: David

Save Trees - Use Paper: The Facts

Thrown away or ripped up a piece of paper lately? Printed or photocopied one too many copies? Had some snide and smug colleague say "you're killing the rainforest!" Thought that they might be right and you should stop using so much paper and maybe buy a Sting album. Well, don't. Both of them are nonsense.

There is of course an element of truth in the above remark, in the same way that if you stop breathing then there will be (slightly) more air to go around. The basis of this greatly over-used maxim really treats that trees are cut down to make paper, which is correct, for a given value of both "trees" and "correct."

Paper, in its many guises, from that which you might reach for to blow your nose on when you have a cold, to your daily newspaper, the vast and varied wallpaper available at your local B & Q, to the cardboard box that your new 42 inch plasma screen HD ready television arrived in, to the microwaveable box that holds your oven ready evening meal that you have to partake of because you spent so long reading the instructions that came with the new TV, that you haven't time to cook any more.

Paper is all around us, and in everyday use, sometimes without realising it (what do you think of the woodgrain effect on your office desk or laminated flooring? It's printed on paper which is then bonded to a wood substitute to look like the real thing) or simply taken for granted. Virtually all paper is made from naturally occurring cellulose fibres (linear polysaccharide of beta (1-4) linked D-glucose units, typified by the chemical symbol C6H10O5 -n for the scientifically minded) and the greatest source of this material around the globe is naturally occurring wood, i.e. trees. Oh dear, already some readers are beginning to get steamed-up with images in their minds of the destruction of the tropical rain forest, but please, stay with me.

The second most important source of theses cellulose fibres is recycled waste paper and board, which can be anything from yesterdays newspapers (no longer permitted for the wrapping of fish and chips) and that cardboard box that your 42inch plasma T.V. came in. Also there are the trade waste sources of recyclable paper and board, e.g. waste from printing companies, over-issue newspapers and magazines; plus there's the endless barrage of junk mail that daily falls through you letterbox, which you put to one side for recycling, along with your empty wine bottles, baked bean cans and lager cans (aluminium).

There are many other naturally occurring sources of cellulose fibre across the globe, but their usage is dependant on locality, end-product, and guaranteed availability. So for the sake of this article, let us go back to the most general source, wood, or better yet, trees. Trees grow on virtually every continent on Earth (except Antarctica), and are of many and varied types. Of course, in The West, if you are doing one of those word association tests and the psychiatrist says "tree" you might think of a majestic Oak, or a Horse Chestnut, or a Willow dangling its branches into the slowly drifting, crystal-clear waters of a country stream. Maybe even a pine tree, the Larch, the mighty Scots Pine.

If however your inquisitor was to say "tree for making paper" in our metaphorical word association test, your mind will conjure-up those images of huge bulldozers ripping trees from the tropical forest, to the sound of huge chain-saws and their horrid rise and fall burring, drowning-out the shrieks of the displaced Gibbons and Orang-Utans, basically, the rape of Sumatra (ten years ago it would have been Amazonia but the focus has shifted though the problem in South America remains and, if anything, has worsened)

As far as making paper and board are concerned, the vast majority of trees ripped from the tropical rain forest are of little or no use for papermaking. They are hardwoods, harder even than Birch, Beech, even Eucalyptus, which (along with a few others) are what papermakers think of as hard woods. Tropical hardwoods, such as Mahogany, Walnut, Teak, Ipe, etc. are too hard, and can be up to 120 years old in those visions you have in mind, and to get that old they have grown relatively slowly and their cellulose fibres are short and very densely packed, which is what makes them hard woods. This is ideal for furniture, wall panelling, real wooden parquet floors, and many other uses where quite often a non-tropical hardwood timber would do just as well, but hey, these tropical forest trees are just there, waiting to be ripped out of the ground or hacked down, anyway.

Trees used in papermaking are from the temperate regions of the globe, though there are pine and eucalyptus plantations in South America where once stood tropical rain forest, but it was destroyed for timber, or farming land for cattle rearing (so where did you think your Fray Bentos corned beef came from? Fray Bentos is a place, not just another trade name) or cash crops, all of which failed after a year or two because the soil is basically so poor (think of the roots of tropical trees that are so near the surface and spread over such a vast area), the rains came and washed away what little soil there was, and areas the size of Wales (slightly bigger than Whales) each year looked like turning into desert.

Then some Sylviculturalists (Tree Scientists) came along and said "Why don't we plant trees there that we can use, crop within just ten years or so, replant, and crop again, and so on?" That way the soil gets enriched, we get trees for timber and papermaking, and a degree of habitat restoration is achieved. Plus, for every so many farmed trees that have a relatively short cropping cycle, we will also plant X many tropical hardwood trees, and even create 'islands' of such trees and 'tree highways' between them so the wildlife can resettle. And this is the funny part, these tree lovers were not from WWF, Friends of the Earth, or Greenpeace (they were all too busy wringing their hands and weeping bitter tears rather than putting forward recovery plans), these radical scientists were from pulp and paper companies!

It worked too. Aside from the illegal logging that still goes on regardless in South America, dependant on whether the country in question is run by a questionable government, or whether or not the native Indians have shot the loggers first, aside from that, 'tree farming', inspected, approved and labelled by people like FSC, PEFC or SFI, is an environmentally and financially rewarding enterprise in South America.

In the Far East (Indonesia, Malaysia, Borneo et al) the destruction of the rain forest and all the unbearable habitat and environmental problems that it brings, has nothing to do with the pulp and paper industry, although there is a question mark over that word 'nothing.' Asia has a burgeoning population, a growing economy, and a huge demand for paper products. While most pulp and paper companies from that part of the World do not commission the felling of tropical forest, they do buy the wood from so-called middle-men, and thus they can be said to have "sap on their hands" if not blood.

We in The West, though, are equally to blame because we continue to buy paper and goods made from paper and board that originates in these places (especially Indonesia), and, thinking back to the cattle ranches that replaced the Amazon Rainforest, look for something called Palm Oil in the ingredients/contents of the products you buy each week at your local supermarket. Much of the areas denuded of tropical (hardwood) rainforest are being replanted with relatively fast growing palm trees, for the sake of the oil that is extracted from the fruit.

So next time someone tells you you're killing trees when you hurl a crumpled piece of paper in the bin you can stop worrying and just ensure that you only buy paper and paper products (and likewise timber and timber products) that carry the FSC, PEFC, or SFI logos. Oh, and leave the Sting albums alone.

by: Patrick Omari

2 new storms brewing over Atlantic Ocean

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Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Sep 2, 2008

MIAMI (MCT) -- Hello, Hanna. And hello, Ike.

While everyone watched to see what Hurricane Gustav would do to New Orleans, Hurricane Hanna and Tropical Storm Ike quietly and quickly developed Monday in the Atlantic.

Hurricane Hanna was crawling west near Turks and Caicos as a Category 1 storm with 80 mph maximum sustained winds. And Tropical Storm Ike was halfway between here and Africa with 50 mph winds.

Hanna is projected to soak the Bahamas and then jog along Florida's East Coast before making landfall near north Florida or south Georgia by Friday. But the course could change.

Tropical Storm Ike is currently between the Cape Verde Islands and the Lesser Antilles, about 2,875 miles from Miami. It had maximum winds of about 50 mph. Forecasters said it could grow into a hurricane by Wednesday. If it continues on its current path, it would be near Florida by early next week.

Copyright C 2008 Deseret News Publishing Co.
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.

Tropics ripe with Hanna, Ike, Josephine

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Oakland Tribune, Sep 2, 2008, by Evan S Benn

MIAMI -- We're halfway through the 2008 hurricane season, but the ripe tropics are making it seem far from over.

Hurricane Hanna and Tropical Storm Ike formed Monday, and a new system, Tropical Storm Josephine, popped up Tuesday morning.

A rundown on the three new systems:

-- Hanna. Crawling over the Turks and Caicos Islands and southeastern Bahamas, Hanna was downgraded to a tropical storm Tuesday morning with 70 mph winds. Forecasters expect it to pick up strength and become a hurricane again.

Hanna knocked out power to islanders and is expected to drench the drought-affected Turks and Caicos with up to 20 inches of rain. Hanna forced Turks and Caicos officials to cancel the first day of school, and the airports were closed Tuesday.

As Hanna moves northwest this week and gains strength, the storm will jog up Florida's East Coast. Landfall is projected near the Carolinas on Friday as a Category 1 or Category 2 hurricane.

"The area of uncertainty is very large at this point and could affect anywhere from South Florida to the Outer Banks of North Carolina," said Jessica Schauer Clark, a National Hurricane Center forecaster.

-- Ike. If forecasters' estimates are correct, the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos islands will be dealing with another hurricane soon after Hanna is out of their hair.

Tropical Storm Ike is about halfway between here and Africa, with 50 mph winds, on a path that's due west. Forecasters say it could strengthen into a hurricane today and reach the Turks and Caicos by Sunday as a Category 2 storm.

It's still unclear where Ike could go after this weekend, but it will likely be close enough to South Florida that it's worth monitoring.

-- Josephine. This quickly organizing storm could grow into a hurricanetoday , but as of Tuesday its maximum winds were 40 mph.

Josephine is still far away, just moving toward the Cape Verde Islands off Africa's west coast. Forecasters think strengthening is inevitable as Josephine tracks west over warm water and no competing wind shear. This weekend it is forecast to be somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic between Florida and Africa.

c2008 ANG Newspapers. Cannot be used or repurposed without prior written permission.
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.