Group+1+Global+Warming




 * Global warming** is the increase in the average temperature of the Earth's near-surface air and oceans in recent decades and its projected continuation.

The main effect is an increasing global average temperature. From this flow a variety of resulting effects, namely, rising sea levels, altered patterns of agriculture, increased extreme weather events, and the expansion of the range of tropical diseases.

The environmental issue of global climate change, or global warming, has been making the news with increasing frequency. What is global warming anyway? This seminar will address the scientific basis for global warming and the mounting evidence that it is in fact a real phenomenon that we ought to be concerned about. The position of “global warming skeptics” will also be noted. Finally, we will have a look at the U.S. Bishops’ 2001 statement //Global Climate Change: A Plea for Dialogue, Prudence and the Common Good//, which stresses that the poorest of the world stand to suffer the most if global warming continues unabated. http://domin.dom.edu/facultyseminars/mschott/global.htm

Global climate is by its very nature a part of the planetary commons. The earth's atmosphere encompasses all people, creatures, and habitats. The melting of ice sheets and glaciers, the destruction of rain forests, and the pollution of water in one place can have environmental impacts elsewhere. As Pope John Paul II has said, "//We cannot interfere in one area of the ecosystem without paying due attention both to the consequences of such interference in other areas and to the well being of future generations.//"3 Responses to global climate change should reflect our interdependence and common responsibility for the future of our planet. Individual nations must measure their own self-interest against the greater common good and contribute equitably to global solutions.
 * The Universal Common Good**

Freedom and the capacity for moral decision making are central to what it means to be human. Stewardship—defined in this case as the ability to exercise moral responsibility to care for the environment—requires freedom to act. Significant aspects of this stewardship include the right to private initiative, the ownership of property, and the exercise of responsible freedom in the economic sector. Stewardship requires a careful protection of the environment and calls us to use our intelligence "to discover the earth's productive potential and the many different ways in which human needs can be satisfied."4
 * Stewardship of God's Creation and the Right to Economic Initiative and Private Property**

We believe economic freedom, initiative, and creativity are essential to help our nation find effective ways to address climate change. The United States' history of economic, technological innovation, and entrepreneurship invites us to move beyond status quo responses to this challenge. In addition, the right to private property is matched by the responsibility to use what we own to serve the common good. Our Catholic tradition speaks of a "social mortgage" on property and, in this context, calls us to be good stewards of the earth.5 It also calls us to use the gifts we have been given to protect human life and dignity, and to exercise our care for God's creation.

True stewardship requires changes in human actions—both in moral behavior and technical advancement. Our religious tradition has always urged restraint and moderation in the use of material goods, so we must not allow our desire to possess more material things to overtake our concern for the basic needs of people and the environment. Pope John Paul II has linked protecting the environment to "authentic human ecology," which can overcome "structures of sin" and which promotes both human dignity and respect for creation.6 Technological innovation and entrepreneurship can help make possible options that can lead us to a more environmentally benign energy path. Changes in lifestyle based on traditional moral virtues can ease the way to a sustainable and equitable world economy in which sacrifice will no longer be an unpopular concept. For many of us, a life less focused on material gain may remind us that we are more than what we have. Rejecting the false promises of excessive or conspicuous consumption can even allow more time for family, friends, and civic responsibilities. A renewed sense of sacrifice and restraint could make an essential contribution to addressing global climate change.

The common good calls us to extend our concern to future generations. Climate change poses the question "What does our generation owe to generations yet unborn?" As Pope John Paul II has written, "there is an order in the universe which must be respected, and . . . the human person, endowed with the capability of choosing freely, has a grave responsibility to preserve this order for the well-being of future generations."7
 * Protecting the Environment for Future Generations**

Passing along the problem of global climate change to future generations as a result of our delay, indecision, or self-interest would be easy. But we simply cannot leave this problem for the children of tomorrow. As stewards of their heritage, we have an obligation to respect their dignity and to pass on their natural inheritance, so that their lives are protected and, if possible, made better than our own. Population and climate change should be addressed from the broader perspective of a concern for protecting human life, caring for the environment, and respecting cultural norms and the religious faith and moral values of peoples. Population is not simply about statistics. Behind every demographic number is a precious and irreplaceable human life whose human dignity must be respected.
 * Population and Authentic Development**

The global climate change debate cannot become just another opportunity for some groups—usually affluent advocates from the developed nations—to blame the problem on population growth in poor countries. Historically, the industrialized countries have emitted more greenhouse gases that warm the climate than have the developing countries. Affluent nations such as our own have to acknowledge the impact of voracious consumerism instead of simply calling for population and emissions controls from people in poorer nations.

A more responsible approach to population issues is the promotion of "authentic development," which represents a balanced view of human progress and includes respect for nature and social well-being.8 Development policies that seek to reduce poverty with an emphasis on improved education and social conditions for women are far more effective than usual population reduction programs and far more respectful of women's dignity.9

We should promote a respect for nature that encourages policies fostering natural family planning and the education of women and men rather than coercive measures of population control or government incentives for birth control that violate local cultural and religious norms.

Working for the common good requires us to promote the flourishing of all human life and all of God's creation. In a special way, the common good requires solidarity with the poor who are often without the resources to face many problems, including the potential impacts of climate change. Our obligations to the one human family stretch across space and time. They tie us to the poor in our midst and across the globe, as well as to future generations. The commandment to love our neighbor invites us to consider the poor and marginalized of other nations as true brothers and sisters who share with us the one table of life intended by God for the enjoyment of all.
 * Caring for the Poor and Issues of Equity**

All nations share the responsibility to address the problem of global climate change. But historically the industrial economies have been responsible for the highest emissions of greenhouse gases that scientists suggest are causing the warming trend. Also, significant wealth, technological sophistication, and entrepreneurial creativity give these nations a greater capacity to find useful responses to this problem. To avoid greater impact, energy resource adjustments must be made both in the policies of richer countries and in the development paths of poorer ones.

Most people will agree that while the current use of fossil fuels has fostered and continues to foster substantial economic growth, development, and benefits for many, there is a legitimate concern that as developing countries improve their economies and emit more greenhouse gases, they will need technological help to mitigate further atmospheric environmental harm. Many of the poor in these countries live in degrading and desperate situations that often lead them to adopt environmentally harmful agricultural and industrial practices. In many cases, the heavy debt burdens, lack of trade opportunities, and economic inequities in the global market add to the environmental strains of the poorer countries. Developing countries have a right to economic development that can help lift people out of dire poverty. Wealthier industrialized nations have the resources, know-how, and entrepreneurship to produce more efficient cars and cleaner industries. These countries need to share these emerging technologies with the less-developed countries and assume more of the financial responsibility that would enable poorer countries to afford them. This would help developing countries adopt energy-efficient technologies more rapidly while still sustaining healthy economic growth and development.10 Industries from the developed countries operating in developing nations should exercise a leadership role in preserving the environment.

No strategy to confront global climate change will succeed without the leadership and participation of the United States and other industrial nations. But any successful strategy must also reflect the genuine participation and concerns of those most affected and least able to bear the burdens. Developing and poorer nations must have a genuine place at the negotiating table. Genuine participation for those most affected is a moral and political necessity for advancing the common good.

http://www.usccb.org/sdwp/international/globalclimate.htm#change

WAYS YOU CAN HELP 1. Recycle everything: newspapers, bottles and cans, aluminum foil, etc. 2. Don't use electrical appliances when you can easily do by hand, such as opening cans. 3. Use cold water in the washer whenever possible. 4. Re-use brown paper bags to line your trash can instead of plastic bags. Re-use bread bags and produce bags. 5. Store food in re-usable containers. 6. Save wire hangers and return them to the dry cleaners. 7. Donate used items to a charitable organization or thrift shop. 8. Don't leave water running needlessly. 9. Turn your heat down, and wear a sweater. 10. Turn off the lights, TV, or other electrical appliances when you are out of a room. 11. Flush the toilet less often. 12. Turn down the heat and turn off the water heater before you leave for vacation. 13. Recycle your Christmas Tree.
 * //In your home//**

14. Start a compost pile. 15. Put up birdfeeders, birdhouses, and birdbaths. 16. Pull weeds instead of using herbicides. 17. Use only organic fertilizers. 18. Compost your leaves and yard debris, or take them to a yard debris recycler. 19. Take extra plastic and rubber pots back to the nursery. 20. Plant short, dense shrubs close to your home's foundation to help insulate your home against cold. 21. Use mulch to conserve water in your garden.
 * //In the yard//**

22. Keep your car tuned up and your oil changed. 23. Carpool, if possible. 24. Use public transit whenever possible. 25. On weekends, ride your bike or walk instead. 26. Buy a car that is more fuel-efficient and produces lower emissions. 27. Recycle your engine oil. 28. Keep your tires properly inflated. 29. Keep your wheels properly aligned. 30. Save trash and dispose of it at a rest stop.
 * //In the car//**

//**In the office**// 31. Recycle office and computer paper, cardboard, etc. 32. Use scrap paper for informal notes to yourself and others. 33. Print or copy on both sides of the paper. 34. Use smaller paper for smaller memos. 35. Re-use manila envelopes and file folders. 36. Use dishes, glassware and coffee cups instead of disposible dishes and cups. At the store//** 37. Avoid buying food or products packaged in plastic or styrofoam containers since they cannot be recycled. 38. Think twice about buying "disposable" products. (They end up in landfills.) 39. Buy paper products instead of plastic if you must buy "disposables." 40. Buy energy-efficient appliancess. 41. Don't buy products, such as styrofoam, that are hazardous to the environment or manufactured at the expense of important habitats such as rainforests. 42. Buy locally grown food and locally made products when possible. 43. Don't buy products made from endangered animals.
 * //

//**In your life**// 44. Join a conservation organization. 45. Volunteer your time to conservation projects. 46. Give money to conservation projects. 47. Switch to a vegetarian diet. (Raising animals for food consumes vast quantities of natural resources, including water, land, and oil; destroys habitats; and generates a tremendous amount of water and air pollution.) 48. Encourage your family, friends, and neighbors to save resources too. 49. Learn about conservation issues in your community or state. Write your legislators and let them know where you stand on the issues. 50. Teach children to respect nature and the environment. Take them on hikes or camping. Help them plant a tree or build a birdhouse. http://www.justgive.org/html/guide/50waysenvironment.html

The "greenhouse effect" refers to the natural phenomenon that keeps the Earth in a temperature range that allows life to flourish. The sun's enormous energy warms the Earth's surface and its atmosphere. As this energy radiates back toward space as heat, a portion is absorbed by a delicate balance of heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere—among them carbon dioxide and methane—which creates an insulating layer. With the temperature control of the greenhouse effect, the Earth has an average surface temperature of 59°F (15°C). Without it, the average surface temperature would be 0°F (-18°C), a temperature so low that the Earth would be frozen and could not sustain life. "Global warming" refers to the rise in the Earth's temperature resulting from an increase in heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere.

In 1988, the United Nations Environment Programme and the World Meteorological Organization set up the **Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)** to examine the most current scientific information on global warming and climate change. More than 1,250 authors and 2,500 scientific experts reviewers from more than 130 countries contributed to the panel's most recent report, //Climate Change 2007: The Fourth Assessment Report// (the full report will be released in November 2007)//.// These scientists reviewed all the published and peer-reviewed scientific information produced during the previous few years to assess what is known about the global climate, why and how it changes, what it will mean for people and the environment, and what can be done about it. The IPCC Fourth Assessment Report is the most comprehensive and up-to-date evaluation of global warming. As the new benchmark, it serves as the basis for international climate negotiations.

The IPCC's Third Assessment Report projects that the Earth's average surface temperature will increase between 2.5° and 10.4°F (1.4°-5.8°C) between 1990 and 2100 if no major efforts are undertaken to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases (the "business-as-usual" scenario). This is significantly higher than what the Panel predicted in 1995 (1.8°-6.3°F, or 1.0°-3.5°C), mostly because scientists expect a reduced cooling effect from tiny particles (aerosols) in the atmosphere. Scientists predict that even if we stopped emitting heat-trapping gases immediately, the climate would not stabilize for many decades because the gases we have already released into the atmosphere will stay there for years or even centuries. So while the warming may be lower or increase at a slower rate than predicted if we reduce emissions significantly, global temperatures cannot quickly return to today's averages. And the faster and more the Earth warms, the greater the chances are for some irreversible climate changes.
 * //How much warmer is the Earth likely to become?//**

An increase of a few degrees won't simply make for pleasantly warmer temperatures around the globe. Even a modest rise of 2°- 3°F (1.1°-1.7°C) could have dramatic effects. In the last 10,000 years, the Earth's average temperature hasn't varied by more than 1.8°F (1.0°C). Temperatures only 5°-9°F cooler than those today prevailed at the end of the last Ice Age, in which the Northeast United States was covered by more than 3,000 feet of ice. Scientists predict that continued global warming on the order of 2.5°-10.4°F over the next 100 years (as projected in the IPCC's Third Assessment Report) is likely to result in:
 * //Would a temperature rise of a couple degrees really change the global climate?//**

http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/science/global-warming-faq.html
 * a rise in sea level between 3.5 and 34.6 in. (9-88 cm), leading to more coastal erosion, flooding during storms, and permanent inundation
 * severe stress on many forests, wetlands, alpine regions, and other natural ecosystems
 * greater threats to human health as mosquitoes and other disease-carrying insects and rodents spread diseases over larger geographical regions
 * disruption of agriculture in some parts of the world due to increased temperature, water stress, and sea-level rise in low-lying areas such as Bangladesh or the Mississippi River delta.