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Impacts of global warming on the environment
Impact of global warming on the environment
Impact of global warming on the environment
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This research will be looking at sustainability within the higher education sector with a focus on CO2 reduction through energy management in the University of Hertfordshire (UH). Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions come from various sources, mainly from the burning of fossil fuels which are deposits of organic material excavated from the ground. Fossil fuels can be processed into various forms of fuel e.g. coal, gas, oil etc. and are used in the generation of power for various industries including the residential and educational sectors. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2005), stated that CO2 emissions in these sectors are mainly produced by boilers and furnaces which burn the fossil fuels and emit the CO2 into the atmosphere from exhaust stacks. The increase of CO2 and other greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere has caused warming that results when the atmosphere traps heat radiating from earth towards space. This process is known as the “greenhouse effect” (US EPA, 2014). The Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution (RCEP) which was closed on 1st of April 2011, as part of the Coalition Government's spending cuts stated that a 60-90% reduction in CO2 emissions is needed from industrialized nations by 2050 in order to avert a dangerous change in the climate (RCEP, 2002). In 2013, it was estimated that 38 per cent of CO2 emissions were from the energy supply sector, making it the largest producer of man-made CO2 emissions followed by 25 per cent from transport, 17 per cent from the residential sector and 16 per cent from business (DECC, 2014). 1.1 Literature Review There has been a collective response to climate change from the world community by the adoption of the United Nation’s framework conv... ... middle of paper ... ...dequate housekeeping and lower cost effective upgrades. The Carbon Trust also stated that FHE is a growing sector, with increasing numbers of students by a factor of five over the past thirty years. This implies that there is also a growth in the energy consumption of colleges and universities. There is constant pressure on establishments to provide optimum learning facilities on a limited budget therefore there is need to observe energy use to facilitate the release of extra funds for curricular resources (Carbon Trust, 2014). The main purpose of this research is to examine the carbon management plan which has been implemented by the University of Hertfordshire focusing on the reduction of energy use in the university. This research will be looking at the drivers of the carbon reduction commitment and identify how reductions in CO2 emissions can be achieved.
The issue presented in this paper is how one can aim to reduce the amounts released, and what the best ways to solve this problem are. This has been long debated amongst scientists, businessmen, Industry-owners, and politicians amongst many other eminent figures in society. The four major approaches to reducing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere include: subsidies of alternative energy, cap and trade, carbon taxes, and command and control regulation. We will examine and compare the effectiveness of two of these methods: The carb...
Our energy needs have significantly changed since the first Industrial Revolution that took place in the period from about 1760 to sometime between 1820 and 1840. Before this time period, our energy needs were modest. For heat, people relied on the energy of the sun, but when it failed them, they burned wood, straw and dried dung. For transportation horses and the power of the wind was used in sails. For agricultural work animals were used to do the jobs that could not be done with man labor. By harnessing the power of steam and wind simple machines could be run to grind our grain and pump our water. The Second Industrial Revolution, also called the Technological Revolution is considered to have begun around the time of the introduction of the Bessemer steel in the 1860s. This technological Revolution is considered as the second phase of the Industrial Revolution that resulted in factory electrification, mass production, the creation of production lines and the development of machine tools. With the appearance of the low cost automobile and the wide spread of electricity our society's energy needs have changed forever. Since the modest beginning of the oil industry in the mid 19th century, petroleum has risen to global dominance leading to mass consumption as the primary fuel to generate electricity, heat, to power our homes, cars and to support economic growth. Unfortunately, as a consequence of industrialization, atmospheric CO2 levels started to rise in proportion to the usage of fossil fuels. This trend raises some concerns about the well being of our environment, and researchers around the world started to look for alternative, cle...
H&M calculated it emitted 73,593.61 tons of CO2 to power its buildings (28%), 161,273.66 tons of CO2 for transportation of its clothing (62%), 23,517.81 tons of CO2 for business travel (9%), and 2,991.67 tons for fuel for its company cars (1%).
As a result, the parliament agreed to the climate change bill in 2008, which aims to emissions reductions (Giddens, 2008). One of the UK government targets is to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions by at least 60% by 2050 compared with 1990 level, and 26% to 30% by 2020 ibid. Furthermore, the government has an obligation with EU to achieve 15% of its energy including electricity, transport fuels and heating, to be from renewable sources by 2020
Although it is often a topic for contention in politics, global warming over the span of several decades, has led to climate change, which has had an alarming impact globally. Climate change needs to ...
The Kyoto protocol was enacted in order to address climate change by implementing emission reduction goals. Seeing as anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions are a systemic world environmental problem, any individual act has a global effect and; therefore, international cooperation is necessary in order to address the climate change issue in any region. Furthermore, although developed countries have and are contributing the most to greenhouse gas emissions, many developing countries are feeling the negative affects purely due to their geographic location. Because of this cause and effect imbalance, global cooperation is necessary in order for any emission reduction efforts to have any impact.
Based on Laurel Nesbit, a program assistant in the Office of Sustainability here at UF, our campus manages to utilize 470,000 Megawatts of energy annually. This figure is generated from all the energy-consuming gadgets that operate on our campus on a daily bases. These gadgets include computers that are left turned on over the night even they are not in use, copiers, and the fume hoods in our laboratories. Admittedly, the success and the health of wellbeing of the students is contingent upon some of these equipment. For instance, the laboratories need the fume hoods in order to keep the experimenters safe. Instead of casting these necessities away, we can develop alternatives which will be capable of generating energy in order to compensate for the electricity that we endlessly
Buildings consume 40% of energy and produce 40% of CO2 emissions (DTI 2004) to reduce the high level of CO2. EU and UK government have introduced tougher energy efficiency standards, this will be felt by builders merchant; the latter stand to gain from an increase in demand for insulation materials but will also have to bear additional costs. The Key Impacts of building merchant industry on climate change are the cement sector alone accounts for 5% of global man-made CO2 emission (Piltz 2005), highest impact is the mining/manufacture of materials and chemicals, transport of heavy materials such as cement is energy-intensive, but most building materials tend to be sourced from close-by facilities. The chemical processes and use of fuel/electricity account for the major portion of the sector's CO2 emissions.
“BT looked at the entire carbon footprint of its business, finding that emissions outside its own direct control counted for 92% of the total. And 64% of that impact was just in BT’s upstream supply chain.” – Carbon Trust
Olden, and Joachim Voss have analyzed four different case studies in regards to the co-benefits approach to climate change mitigation and adaptation (working in mitigation and adaptation together). They also discuss the interdependent principles relevant to the implementation of co-benefits strategies: providing incentives across multiples scales and time frames, promoting long-term integrated impact assessment, and fostering multidimensional communication networks. I found this article to be important, because of the case studies they analyze. Located around the global, the studies respond to different climate change challenges and they engage unique conditions of that place. It is important to keep these differences in mind, as climate change is a global
The commonly debated “greenhouse effect” refers to “the global-average temperature increase that has been observed over the last one hundred years or more” (Spencer). President Barack Obama addressed the issue as an effort to highlight its severity, "We have to all shoulder the responsibility for keeping the planet habitable, or we’re going to suffer the consequences – together” (Leader). The earth’s increasing atmospheric and oceanic temperatures result in climate changes due to cumulative amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere.
There are two types of carbon footprints; primary and secondary. According to Ramesh Menon, author of Carbon footprint: Reducing it for the better, a primary footprint (Menon, 2014) “represents those emissions which result from individual activities.” He further states that a secondary footprint “measures the carbon emitted by those who produce the goods/services.”
Since 1997 after the first agreement in Kyoto, nations have taken very limited steps to reducing greenhouse gas emission. There are many reasons why greenhouse gasses have increased such as rainforest deforestation which is vital since trees absorb carbon dioxide. With fewer trees more carbon dioxide builds up in the atmosphere. Usage and burning of fossil fuel, releases greenhouse gases since it burns and emits carbon dioxide into the atmosphere or even population growth which contributes to the high supply and demand for food, livestock, land, energy and water. However it is up to leading nations to change their eco-footprints to eliminate the increasing greenhouse gas affect. Author William Nordhaus of Yale University conducted a study which examines alternative outcomes for emissions, clima...
Global warming is the gradual rise in temperature and oceans due to recent human activity. This is created by the production of too much carbon dioxide that is released into the earth’s atmosphere. The carbon dioxide, also known as a greenhouse gas, remains in the air trapping heat and gradually warming the planet. Other greenhouse gases such as: methane, nitrous oxide, and water vapor also contribute to this slow warming. According to Live Science, The state of these gases being trapped is called the greenhouse effect, which is one of the leading causes of global warming (Lallanillia). All the gases are created differently and have different effects on the earth. As for some greenhouse gases can be in the atmosphere for a short amount of time, other gases can remain in the atmosphere for thousands of
Global warming is an increase in the earth's temperature due to fossil fuels, industry, and agricultural processes caused by human, natural, and other gas emissions. This results in an increased evacuation of greenhouse gases. “Short-wave solar radiation sinks into the Earth's atmosphere and warms its surface while long-wave infrared radiation emitted by earth's surface is absorbed, and then re-emitted by trace gases.” (2)