Australia Signs Kyoto

Australian has just signed to ratify the international global warming pact The Kyoto Protocol. The Kyoto Protocol as it is now will expire at 2012 so its time for a change. This is a dramatic step in helping co2 emissions to go down and leaves United States the only nation to not to participate "Australia's new Prime Minister Kevin Rudd signed the paperwork Monday to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, making good on an election promise that will leave the US isolated among industrialized countries in shunning the international Global Warming pact."(nationalgeographic.com)
Is this important? Definitely, it's pushing U.S. one of the largest emitters of greenhouse gases to go along. This shows we are one step closer to helping Planet Earth and now United States has to do its part.
Australia itself doesn't emit a lot of c02 gases but that doesn't mean it doesn't contribute to climate change. "Australia's overall contributions to global greenhouse gas emissions are small, but it is one of the largest polluters per capital and its stance on Kyoto is powerfully symbolic"(DailyTelegraph.com)

Hopefually, as we continue to stop Global Warming from wiping us out, thier will be binding commitments and treaties that will cause more awareness and contribution beyond the Kyoto Protocol.

Resources:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/12/071203-AP-aus-kyoto.html

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22861680-5001021,00.html

Al Gores Historic Speech at the UN Conference

"In a speech likely to go down in history as an oratorical milestone in the fight against global warming, Al Gore, former US vice-president and co-winner of this year's Nobel Peace Prize, electrified the December 3-14 UN conference on climate change on its penultimate evening on Thursday at Bali."(Al Gore's oratory electrifies Bali summit)
Al Gore a prominent environmental activist and Noble Prize winner for his documentary on global warming The Inconvenient Truth has just sparked a lot of enthusiasm for his very emotional stand about global warming to nearly 1100 delegates from 187 countries. He shows that it's isn't just going to affect future generations but it's already happening to us, now do we really want that to happen?
Al Gore used many previous quotes in history to give a lot of meaning to his oratory. Such example are when he states the Nazi era ." First they came for the Jews and I did not do anything; then they came for the gypsies and I did not do anything; then they came for the neighbors and I did not do anything; when they came for me there was nobody to do anything for me." Or It was the best of times, it was the worst of times," Gore quoted from the opening lines of Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities. "Now it is a tale of two planets," he said. “Earth and Venus.”.
This is really important he was able to really touch to all these people of different countries so that they contribute. Instead of it seeming like the same old story "oh global warming is bad and all we have to help " he connects with everyone and really shows them that this is not going away its like a fever and if it worsens , we are all doomed.
We have to treat this "fever" now before its too late, our lives and life as we know it will seize to exist if we don't prevail now.

Resources:
http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14575540
http://www.newkerala.com/one.php?action=fullnews&id=2826

The Power of Methane

Many environmentalists and people think the CO2 gas emissions are affecting global warming the most so humans have to stop emitting these greenhouse gases. However this is not the case,yes humans are mainly responsible for the rapid c02 emissions but their are other drastic greenhouse gases that are way more powerful. These gases are causing way more damage to the earth then c02 and the biggest out of all of them is Methane.

"Methane is responsible for nearly as much global warming as all other non-CO2 greenhouse gases put together. Methane is 21 times more powerful a greenhouse gas than CO2. While atmospheric concentrations of CO2 have risen by about 31% since pre-industrial times, methane concentrations have more than doubled. Whereas human sources of CO2 amount to just 3% of natural emissions, human sources produce one and a half times as much methane as all natural sources."(earthsave.org).

Kangaroo's can fight global warming
We need to focus on Methane a lot more than C0z i mean its causing nearly half the planets human caused warming. Methane is produced in many ways but he number producer is in animal agriculture. Many cattle's release methane whenever they fart. The only animal that doesn't is the Kangaroo, now scientists are trying to get that special bacteria from kangaroos and injecting them to animals so that their methane free!!. ""By replicating this bacteria not only would they [sheep and cattle] not produce such methane, they would actually get something like 10 to 15 per cent more energy out of the feed they are eating," said Dr Athol Klieve, a senior research scientist with the Queensland Government."(Kangaroo Bacteria)

Resources:
http://earthsave.org/globalwarming.htm
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2007/12/06/eakanga106.xml

Climate Change & Advertisement

Global Warming ads have been shown on television and known sites such as Youtube.com. The Environmental Defense has displayed these ads to send out a message that implies "if you continue like this we are all doomed". One advertisement called "Tick" shows children saying tick as if they were a time bomb. This shows that maybe our generation wont be affected a lot by global warming but future generations will.
Environmental Defense states "We've launched this campaign as a wake-up call. Global warming is the most serious environmental challenge of our time. It is more urgent and its dangers are more fundamental than most Americans realize. This campaign seeks to educate Americans about how quickly we must act, and give concrete steps that people can incorporate into their lives to fight global warming."(Environmental Defense ). I couldn't agree more we need to ACT NOW!!.
One ad that I really like is the "Train". A man is talking on the tracks while the train is coming fast behind him, symbolizing how fast the global warming is going to effect us. Then at the last few seconds before he gets ht he moves out the way and we see a child was behind him. The message shows its really going to come hard to our sons and daughters, and we need to control it.
The Ad Council and GreenPeace.org are using these advertisements and showing them on broadcasting stations that many viewers watch so they can broaden their audience. People really need to see visually how global warming is affecting us. Here is an ad from GreenPeace.org:

GreenPeace Human Life Commercial



Resources:
http://www.fightglobalwarming.com/page.cfm?tagID=137
http://www.adcouncil.org/default.aspx?id=68
http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/

Everything's Cool

"The fossil fuel industry doesn’t care who wins or loses the debate about the reality of global warming, as long as the public continues to feel that it is debatable."(nytimes.com) , is something to think about when you watch the 2007 movie Everything's Cool. Everything's Cool is a documentary that traces the politics of global warming back to 1987!!.
It shows that as long as people still see global warming as a debatable issue we will never see progress, in order words doubt causes delay. "In the film, America "gets" global warming a time when scientific understanding and political action were hand in hand. The movie describes a group of global warming messengers that are on a quest to find a symbolic image that will cause people in the United States to go from relieing on fossil fuels to the new clean energy economy as fast as possible.
I personally loved the film because unlike An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore, which by the way is a GREAT FILM."Everything's Cool looks like a film made 10 years ago, when ice caps were solid, so it really shows the problem of making America aware even back then" everythingscool.org.htm. I would recommend everyone watch these group of activists as they go on a journey to show the climatic catastrophe of global warming.

Resources:
http://movies.nytimes.com/2007/11/23/movies/23cool.html
http://www.everythingscool.org/about.htm

George W.Bush and the "Bush Plan"

Now that my viewers have clear view about what global warming is and how its affecting our environment I think it's time to discuss what our "democratic" government is doing to help and assist with such problem.
Before I discuss what the "Bush Plan" is, first I want to mention Bush's history with global warming. In recent years Bush has consistently opposed any plan that involves specific targets(companies and businesses) as well as binding commitments(contracts). In other words he will not impose a law and enforce it for global warming.
The "Bush Plan" states the United States will host a series of talks with the 15 nations that emit the greatest amount of greenhouse gases, including nations like China and India. The aim for such series of talks is to make an agreement that will replace the Kyoto protocol which will expire on 2010. However of course knowing Bush the goal would be “aspirational” and, therefore, voluntary. "There would be no binding commitments, and each nation would be free to devise its own strategies for meeting the goal."(Bush Plan)
This "plan" just shows how much Bush cares about global warming I mean he wants to illustrate a series of "voluntary" talks , if he really cared about it instead of Iraq he wouldn't talk about what to do with the epidemic but instead take action, because its coming at us fast we have to react now before its too late.

This is just one environmentalists view about Bush's plan:

“We have a very clear sense about what the President won't do to fight global warming, but he refuses to say what action he is willing to take,” said Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club(environmental activist group). “We know the Bush administration has opposed the Kyoto treaty and spurned past offers of other countries to work together to solve global warming. We also know he refuses to take the action and implement the solutions that will make the United States the leader on this issue, and he continues to encourage his agencies to ignore their own scientists' warnings. "Instead, we have seen delay after delay with calls for more talk and more research when the facts are already in.”


Resources:
http://environment.about.com/od/governmentscorporations/a/bush_plan.htm
http://environment.about.com/od/globalwarming/a/ipcc_reports.htm

Penguins in peril!!!

Penguins are in potential danger and can possibly face annihaltion. Further study shows these cold-blooded birds are decreasing rapidly. "We have done it every year consecutively for a decade, that we have historical records that go back to 1972. In that period of time, Adelie penguin populations in the area as a whole have decreased by about forty percent." states (http://pulse.igc.org/archive/Nov02/2793.html).
Many penguins in Antartica depend on the ice to rest while feeding thier young and to keep themselves save from leopard seals. Warmer weather is melting alot of ice in these ecosystems and though penguins can swim they cant survive in water. Penguins are land- animals beacause they need to get out now and then for oxgyen.
Also many penguins from the North and South poles are dieing during months when new borns hatch. According to "The first Adelie penguin chicks of the season -- black fluffballs small enough to hold in the hand -- started hatching this month, and the simple fact that there are more of them in the south and fewer of them further north is a sign of global warming, scientists say.(http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/1216-04.htm).
As the north pole's ice vanishes and penguin populations decrease, penguins from the South are growing in number beacause it makes it easier for them to dive and fish.
We have to stop global warming right now before its too late, it only takes a few years for these animals to totally disappear.

Resources:
http://pulse.igc.org/archive/Nov02/2793.html
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/1216-04.htm

HOW GLOBAL WARMING IS AFFECTING US

Global warming is severely affecting humans. Not only are sea levels rising but with temperature and heat increasing it seems our very existence is doomed. For example people who live in Manhattan and some parts of Brooklyn are going to have to move because its going to be submerged. In the near future Florida some parts of Europe will as well. Why?
Well, we know it's because of Global Warming however its more complicated then that. Antarctica the continent full of ice and Greenland contribute solely for their water and resources. Imagine the ice of these two areas melt our sea level will rise dramatically. As shown in Al Gore's film "The Inconvenient Truth" people are displayed as frogs when we touch heat we are going to react quickly to it. If this heat however gradually goes from a low temperature and speeds up we wouldn't notice it in time. We have to react quickly because its not just our existence that's in peril but all life forms as well. The Boiling Frog
Heat waves will come more often and the lives of millions of people are going to be lost. Droughts and floods will occur at the same time and so will other weather diasters. Just like in the fictional film "The Day after Tomorrow" hurricanes,tsunamis, and typhoons will occur rapidly just like in that movie. We have to really approach this as a national matter and it should come first before any foolish instances like raising false flags and portraying an idealistic government who's only goal is total world conquest.

Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Inconvenient_Truth
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/2023835.stm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CAPGG3kMKs

Climate Changes affecting UK and Migratory Birds

Global Warming is causing birds to die especially those in UK. "Hundreds of thousands of Scottish seabirds have failed to breed this summer in a wildlife catastrophe which is being linked by scientists directly to global warming." Due to climate changes these birds didn't breed a single young for months. The rise in temperature has caused the sand eel-a fish in which many birds and animals depend to disappear. In Orkney the sandeels have shrank rapidly through the years causing mass starvation to birds and other animals alike that depend on this fish as a source of food.
One type of bird called the guillemots has in what seems to be unbelievable produced no young at all!!!!!. "More than 172,000 breeding pairs of guillemots were recorded in the islands in the last national census, Seabird 2000, whose results were published this year; this summer the birds have produced almost no young, according to Peter Ellis, Shetland area manager for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB).
(Commondreams.org)"These birds have a high of 72% extinction rate with other animals if we don't try to end such events from occurring". Places like Europe's Mediterranean coastal wetlands a critical habitat for migratory birds will be completely destroyed by the 2080s.

Resources:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200611/s1788322.htm
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0730-05.htm

Fish Threatened

As global temperature rises cold water fish are dieing. Why? because of streams, flowing water that's clear and most importantly cold. However due to Global Warming these cold streams that contain trout and salmon are increasing in temperature threatening these helpless fish.
"Global warming is likely to spur the disappearance of trout and salmon from as much as 18 to 38 percent of their current habitat by the year 2090. The study also found that habitat loss for individual species could be as high as 17 percent by 2030, 34 percent by 2060 and 42 percent by 2090 -- if emissions of heat-trapping pollution such as carbon dioxide are not reduced." states http://www.nrdc.org/globalWarming/ntrout.asp.
All because these cold water fish need to stay in a environment that's between 50 to 65 degrees and warming of the earth is disrupting their environmental lifestyle. This is just another example of habitat loss and thus a possible extinction of species we all need. Not just humans but animals alike that depend on these fish for food.
Global Warming is destroying other ecosystems of fish as well such as those that are in the tropics and on the "Great Barrier Reef". These fish are starving because climate changes are killing their food supply.

Resources:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/global-warming-fears-for-reef-fish/2006/12/27/1166895339266.html
http://www.nrdc.org/globalWarming/ntrout.asp

Seals and sea turtles on the verge of extinction

Global warming is not just causing polar bears to die, but seals as well. According to http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4313726.stm" many seals are losing their habitats because of global warming. While many species are able to adapt to the new climate changes, and easily migrate to a different and secure location, this is a whole different concept for seals. The option of moving to conditions away from the poles doesn't go well with seals because they need the ice to stay alive. Many seals are actually drowning swimming large distances to find ice.
Bearded seal on thin ice

"Sea turtles are also being dramatically affected by global warming. Some of their precious beach nesting sites will disappear because of global warming. Scientists think that nearly a third of beaches used by turtles in the Caribbean could be lost during this century."states http://www.show.me.uk/site/news/STO903.html.
Warmer seas caused by global warming could make many turtles become entierly female during breeding. Why? well water temperature for sea turtles strongly affects the sex ratio of there hatch lings. Only producing female turtles, will of course make no more offspring because they cant produce on there own.
Another problem is global warming is striking these poor animals so rapidly that they don't have the time to adapt and evolve new strategies for survival. We can help by speaking out to the president becoming activists and giving donations to trusted companies that will preserve their habitat and maintain their life cycle.

Resources:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4313726.stm
http://www.show.me.uk/site/news/STO903.html.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=7m5j6zh1jN0

What global warming is and how its affecting our enivornment.

"Global warming refers to the increase in the average temperature of the Earth's near-surface air and oceans in recent decades and its projected continuation.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming)
Global warming is affecting everything in the environment. It increases sea level thus covering many islands. When this happens the water covers the plants and causes them to die. You can see that once one chain is broken everything around it is affected and this is what global warming is causing to Earth.

Oceans of course are also affected. Global warming is causing them to get warmer, which is killing the algae in the ocean. This algae is a producer(makes own food) and is used as food for many consumers. These consumers are fish crabs and many more, how does this affect us?

Well, humans and fishing markets depend on fish because its a valuable source of protein.

Global warming is doing as much catastrophic damage to people as it is to animals. Humans, trees,oceans,animals everything is part of our life cycle, but global warming is disturbing such cycle. Global warming is actually causing plants & trees to dry completely causing them to actually set on fire. Its effects right now are devastating just imagine later on how it will affect not just us but everything that coexists.
Resources:
http://www.livescience.com/environment/050621_warming_changes.html
http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0215471/global_warming.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming