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an education initiative
• audience - general public
• primary aim – awareness raising
•‘stepping stone’ information
• help to ‘internalise’ climate change challenge
we we share share
the the airair
why is this needed?
• scientists ‘get it’
• so do enlightened politicians
• so do NGOs
and although 72%* of the general public accept global warming..only 24%* say they will make changes just for environmental reasons *MORI April 2001
we we share share
the the airair
we we share share
the the airair
pollution is causing climate change
climate change has severe consequences
conventional ‘message’
air is not just ‘empty space’
atmospheric gases are balanced to provide optimum life conditions
we we share share
the the airair
we are disrupting this balance - climate change is the result
climate change has severe consequences
personal, organisational, national & international
actions
a w a
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a w a
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who are we?
wewe share share
the the airair
who are we?
wewe share share
the the airair
who are we?
wewe share share
the the airair
who are we?
wewe share share
the the airair
A living planet is a rare thing,
perhaps the rarest thing in the universe.
Kenneth Brower
what is air?
we we share share
the the airair
we we share share
the the airair
…the air has indeed become the
most taken for granted of
phenomena. We refer to the
unseen depth between things,
between people, or trees, or
clouds …as mere ‘empty space’.
David Abram
just empty space?
we we share share
the the airair
“… the air itself is a biological product …
a result of active exchange of gases with
living organisms. The air is a protective
skin, a warming blanket, an exchange
and water circulation medium.
The composition of the air seems to
violate the ordinary rules of equilibrium
chemistry.”James Lovelock
GAIA – The practical science of planetary medicine
a protective skin?
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the the airair
the atmosphere
• an “energetic and unstable” mix of gases
• 99% created by interaction of natural
processes and living organisms
• oxygen & methane co-existing
• low carbon dioxide – active regulation
• many trace gases
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the the airair
atmospheric gases
Gas Abundance Flux (Mtpa) functions
Nitrogen 79% 300 - atmospheric pressureNi - fire control
Oxygen 21% 100,000 - reference level for O2 energy
Carbon dioxide 370ppm 140,000 - photosynthesisCO2 (280ppm)* - climate control
Methane 1.7ppm 500 - ozone & nitrogen CH4 (0.7ppm)* regulation
… and other ‘trace’ gases like Ammonia, Dimnethyl Sulphide& Methyl Chloride which appear to control nitrogen level, sulphur cycle & ocean salt levels
* = pre-industrial levels
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‘greenhouse’ gases
Gas Abundance Warming Sources contribution
Carbon dioxide 370 ppm 49% - combustion of fossil CO2 (280)* fuels - coal, oil & gas
- deforestation - biomass burning
Methane 1.7 ppm 18% - paddy fields & cow farts CH4 (0.7)* - gas leaks
- biomass burning
CFCs 6 ppb 14% - refrigeration(man-made) - air conditioning
- plastic foam - propellants & solvents
Nitrous Oxide 310 ppb 6% - nitrogen fertilisers (280)* - fossil fuel combustion
- biomass burning* = pre-industrial levels
we we share share
the the airair
• the sun is 25% hotter now than when life
started on earth (3.5 billion years ago)
• but temperature on earth has remained
stable for life to flourish
• most important temperature regulating gas
in the atmosphere is carbon dioxide (CO2)
• CO2 was much more common when life first
started
• where has the carbon dioxide gone?
carbon dioxide
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the the airair
• over billions of years CO2 has been
‘extracted’ from the atmosphere
• this extraction process has been carried out
by living and natural processes
• example - microscopic forams ‘fix’ CO2 as
calcium carbonate and then fall to sea floor
• the carbon is ‘stored’ as chalk, limestone &
fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas
• result – an atmospheric temperature range
most suited for life to evolve and prosper.
where is the CO2?
we we share share
the the airair
where is the CO2?
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the the airair
“Lacking all sacredness, stripped
of all spiritual significance, the air
is today little more than a
conveniently forgotten dump for a
host of gaseous effluents and
pollutants.”
David Abram
the air today
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the the airair
the air today
• unintentionally we have reversed the
‘carbon cycle’ by more than 400,000 years
• since the start of the industrial revolution
CO2 has increased by a third from 280 –
370ppm in the atmosphere
• every fossil fuel power station, every
internal combustion engine contributes
• we are pumping out TWICE as much CO2
as natural system can cope with (now)!
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the the airair
• IPCC* scientists are agreed that climate change is happening
• human activities are the main cause
• CO2 has increased from 280 – 370ppm
• temperatures have increased globally
• glaciers have retreated
• sea levels are rising
*IPCC, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, is a UN body of scientists, economists & policy makers brought together in 1988 to inform governments of causes, consequences and solutions to climate change.
climate change is happening
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the the airair
• more frequent extreme weather conditions
• heat waves & drought more common
• water shortages in many water-scarce areas
• risk to people in low-lying / coastal areas from sea-level rise and storm surges
• increased threats to human health
• massive loss of ecological diversity
• decreased crop yields in tropical regions
•150 million environmental refugees by 2050?
“…the impacts will have greatest effects on poor people & people in developing countries”*
*IPCC Third Assesment Report
what about the future?
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the the airair
“Global climate, even in fifty years time, may be warmer than the earth has experienced in the past 12 million years….. changes of this speed and magnitude are unprecedented to our knowledge, aside from large meteorite impacts.”
* Peter Barrett, Antarctic Research Centre, New Zealand
what about the future?
we we share share
the the airair
groups / help
Organisation Website
Friends of the Earth www.foe.co.uk
Greenpeace www.greenpeace.org.uk
Energy Savings Trust www.est.co.uk
Climate Care www.climatecare.org
Rising Tide www.risingtide.org.uk
sharing
we we shareshare
the the airair
we we share share
the the airair
“Only as we begin to notice and to
experience, once again, our
immersion in the invisible air do
we start to recall what it is to be
fully a part of this world.”
David Abram