What you need to know…

By the children of P.S.173

What is Global Warming?

• Global Warming is an increase of the average temperature of our earths atmosphere, especially a sustained increase able to cause climatic change.

Why should we care? Because the earth is getting so warm, its

destructing things. For instance: * In 2002, Colorado, Arizona and Oregon

endured their worst wildfire seasons ever.

* Also that same year, droughts were creating severe dust storms in Montana, Colorado, and Kansas and floods caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage in Texas, Montana, AND North Dakota!

* Since the ’50s, snow fall has decreased about 60% and winter seasons have shortened in some areas of the Cascade Range in Oregon and Washington.

* In 2003, heat waves killed over 20,000 people in Europe and more than 1,500 deaths in India.

* And in the Arctic area, the perennial polar ice cap is declining at a rate of 9% per decade!

What’s going to happen if we don’t try to stop it?

If we don’t try to put a stop to all the madness, many things may occur like:

* Melting glaciers, early snowmelt, and severe droughts will cause more dramatic water shortages in the American West

* There will be rising sea levels that will lead to coastal flooding on the Eastern seaboard in Florida, and in other areas, such as the Gulf of Mexico.

* There will be a lot of trouble in forests, farms, and cities that have to do with more mosquito diseases and other pests.

* And worse of all, there will be a disruption of habitats such as coral reeds, and alpine meadows that could drive many plant and animal species to EXTINCTION!

What are the natural causes of Global Warming?

There are many causes of global warming such as:

* Carbon dioxide and other air pollution that is being collected in the air acts like a thickening blanket

* It traps the sun’s heat and causes the entire planet to warm up

* Coal burning power plants are the largest U.S. source of carbon dioxide pollution – they produce over 2.5 billion tons each year.

* Automobiles also cause carbon dioxide pollution

Is there any good news to this? Yes there is! There is:

* Technology – the technology that lives today makes the cars run cleaner and burn less gas… now that’s smart!

* It also modernizes power plants and generates electricity from nonpolluting sources – that cuts our electricity use through energy efficiency

* The only thing is – can we put these solutions to use?!

What is the government doing about it?

In February of 2004, consultants to the Pentagon released a report showing the possibilities of impacts of abrupt climate change on national security. The study also concluded that global warming could make large areas of the world un-livable and could cause massive food and water shortages, giving widespread migrations and war!

* Many of global warming attacks effects are already going under high investigation.

Which country is the largest source by global warming pollution?

The United States is the largest source of global warming! Although Americans make up only 4% of the world’s population, we can produce up to 25% of the carbon dioxide pollution from fossil-fuel burning – the largest share of any country.

In fact the United States emits more carbon dioxide than China, India, and Japan combined. Apparently America needs to take a time out and think about what they’re doing! And they should start doing something about it.

What is the Greenhouse Effect?

• It may be hard to believe that people may change the earth’s average temperature. Scientists think that the things we do affect Earth, letting out Greenhouse Gases. The Greenhouse effect is important. Without the Greenhouse effect, the Earth would not be warm enough for humans to live. But if the Greenhouse effect becomes stronger, the Earth may become warmer than the temperature that usually occurs. Even a little extra heat can cause harm to us, animals humans and plants.

How can we cut this stuff short?

It’s actually quite simple. By just reducing the amount of pollution from vehicles and power plants we can make the world a better place. Right away we should put good existing technology to good use, you know, building cleaner cars and more modern electricity generators into widespread use. We could increase our reliance on renewable energy sources such as wind, sun, and geothermal. And we can manufacture more efficient appliances and conserve energy.

Why isn’t the technology more commonplace now?

Even though the technology is around, the corporate and political will to put them into widespread use does not exist. Many companies in the automobile and energy businesses put pressure on the White House and Congress to stop the new laws and regulations as they would not make the business they do now. They don’t want to have such changes because then the amount of money would go down rather than up. It would totally destroy their industries. If we want progress, we’re going to have to demand it and be a little more persuasive.

Is it even possible to cut power plant pollution short and still have

enough electricity? Of course! First we must use more efficient appliances and

equipment in our homes and offices to reduce our electrical needs. We can take out the old, and bring in the new, you know? For example:

* We can take out the coal-burning power plants that generate most of our electricity and use cleaner plants instead.

* We can increase our use of renewable energy sources such as the wind and sun. Some states are moving in that direction, actually. California has required its largest utilities to get 20% of their electricity from renewable sources by 2017, and New York has pledged to compel power companies to provide 25% of the state’s electricity from renewable sources by 2013.

How can we cut car pollution short?

There is in fact technology to reduce the global warming pollution from cars and light trucks of all sizes are available at this moment! There’s no point to just sit around and hope that hydrogen fuel cell vehicles will solve the problem in the future. Hybrid gas-electric engines can cut global warming pollution by one-third or more today. Honda and Toyota have hybrid sedans on the market, and minivan and SUV models will soon be on the market from numerous companies.

* Unfortunately, automakers aren’t doing all they can do. They’ve being using a legal loophole to make SUVs less fuel efficient than they could be. And it’s not like it doesn’t matter because the model isn’t big – the model is HUGE! The popularity of these vehicles has generated a 20% increase in transportation-related carbon dioxide pollution since the early 1990s. Closing the loophole and requiring SUVs, minivans and pick-up trucks to be as efficient as cars would cut 120 million tons of carbon dioxide pollution a year by 2010. If they used the technology they have at this moment to raise fuel economy standards for new cars and light trucks to a combined 40mpg, carbon dioxide pollution would eventually drop 650 million tons per year as these vehicles replaced older models.

* For more information you can go to: http://www.nrdc.org/breakthechain/howto1.asp.

Or http://www.nrdc.org/air/energy/ffuelcl.asp.

What can WE do?

Ok, so now you know what they can do but… what can WE do? You can do a lot of things… a couple things are:

* Make your voice louder. We need laws that will bring our nation to the important solutions of global warming.

* Choose an efficient vehicle: A car that gets 20 mpg (miles per gallon) will emit about 50 tons of carbon dioxide over its entire lifetime. A car getting 40 mpg will emit half that much. When buying your car you should make sure that you buy the least-polluting car.

* Drive smart. Get your engine fired up and keep your tired inflated at all times. Those things will definitely help energy.

*Drive less. When you can, pick alternatives such as public transportation, biking, walking, and maybe even carpooling.

* Replace your light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs. They might be more expensive than the incandescent bulbs most people use, they last 10 times longer!

* Choose renewable energy over everything else. If you live in a state that you can pick the type of energy you want, you should pick renewable energy.

* Join NRDC. You can help secure the changes that will stop global warming by joining NRDC, one of the most effective environmental groups in the country.

Thank You

I hope after listening to the few but true points you make the right choice. There is so much that can be done for this town, this state, this country, but most importantly this world. Living on this earth you notice the little things like daisies growing on fresh green grass, or the clouds forming into your favorite past-time favorite characters from baby books you read in kindergarten. The world has done so much for you, now its time you do something for the world.

Thank you for your cooperation.