An Inconvient Truth

1.    What image started the modern day environmental movement?

When the first Apollo mission to the moon took a photo from space, that photo contained the biosphere: all humanity and any advancements, arts and sciences ever done.

“When you're finally up at the moon looking back on earth, all those differences and nationalistic traits are pretty well going to blend, and you're going to get a concept that maybe this really is one world and why the hell can't we learn to live together like decent people.”

      — Frank Borman, Apollo 8

2.    What is considered the most vulnerable part of the earth system?

The atmosphere is the most vulnerable part of the Earth. The air you breathe is the same air that has been breathed by all of the life forms on Earth since its creation. The biosphere is a closed system so if you pollute today’s atmosphere and environment that same pollution will be recycled from now until it becomes unbearable.

3.    Relatively speaking, compared to the earth, how thick is the atmosphere?

You can imagine the atmosphere of the Earth as the layer of varnish on the surface of a globe. From the ground you may look up and think that goes on for miles up, how can it we ever affect it so much? One person may not make a huge difference but when 8 billion people are all polluting in some way or another it adds up and quickly.

4.    How can trapping infrared radiation by the earth’s atmosphere be a GOOD thing?

If infrared radiation was not trapped by the Earth’s atmosphere it would become too cold to be inhabited. Our sister planet, Mars, is a perfect example of how too little atmosphere can cool down a planet so much that liquid water cannot exist, therefore limiting all possibility of life.

5.    How can trapping infrared radiation by the earth’s atmosphere be a BAD thing?

Just like leaving your car windows closed on a sunny day, all that heat has nowhere to escape so the temperature climbs and climbs. Our other sister planet, Venus, is the quintessential example of a greenhouse gone too far. Since the temperatures are too hot for liquid water to exist again we see that life cannot exist.

6.     What percentage of people depend on glacial melt for their drinking water?

40% of the Earth’s population depends on glacial melt for drinking water and that doesn’t even include those who rely on it for irrigation of agriculture. The Great Lakes which lie north of the mainland US were formed from glacial melt and today sustain millions of people.

7.    Why is studying ice cores important?

Just as carbon dating of rocks buried deep in the ground can give us a window into the chemical past, ice cores serve the same purpose. More specifically they give us an indication of the dissolved CO2 in the atmosphere at that time.

8.    What is the relationship between carbon dioxide (CO2) and atmospheric temperature?

There is a direct relationship between the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere and its temperature. Heat capacity is a measurement that generally describes how much energy in the form of heat a substance can hold; CO2 has a significantly larger capacity to hold heat that regular, nitrogen based air.

9.    Over what time period have the hottest 10 years on earth occurred?

Between 1992 and 2006 the ten hottest years for the whole globe have been recorded, along with with highest CO2 levels.

10. As the water temperature under a hurricane increases, what happens to the wind velocity of the storm?

As the water temperature increases, the wind velocity of a hurricane increases as well. Temperature is roughly a measurement of the amount of kinetic energy a substance holds at a molecular level; it should be obvious that if you add more energy to a system it will become more  violent and powerful.

11. What has happened to Lake Chad over the years?

Lake Chad was once one of the largest lakes on the Earth located in Africa. Over the past decade or so it has been reduced to a mere fraction of its once intimidating size. Countless people and communities have been displaced due to this dramatic change.

12. How much of the suns radiation gets reflected by ice?

Around 90% of the solar radiation that hits frozen water is reflected. The liquid and vapor forms of water only reflect a small fraction of that radiation and what is absorbed contributes to the total global warming.

13. What redistributes energy from the equator to the north and south poles?

Natural air and water currents are the mediums for heat transfer throughout the globe, such as the well known Gulf Stream. These currents are deceptively fragile and over time have changed as the Earth’s temperature has changed.

14. If the ice sheets of Western Antarctica were to melt, approximately how much would sea level rise?

The ice sheets of Western Antarctica are so large that if they were to melt the global sea level would rise around 20 feet, displacing millions if not billions of coastal peoples.

15. List the three factors causing the collision between civilization and earth

1. Population – as more people come into existence each one affects the environment more and more.

2. Scientific/Technological Advances – as our technologies become more powerful they leave a bigger and longer lasting footprint on our globe.

3. Modes of thinking – if the same ways of thinking are used on new technologies it should not be surprising that problems will new problems will arise that do not yet have solutions.

16. Approximately, what percentages of global carbon dioxide emissions come from forest fires?

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The two nations which have not signed the Kyoto Protocol are the United States and Australia. This is a large problem because the US is the major contributor to many of our global issues. One cannot fathom a rationalization to outright disagree with a protocol whose intention is to save our planet. Whoever has decided that the US would rather not participate has obviously disregarded popular opinion.

17.What country is the largest contributor of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere?

It should come as no surprise that the United States if the largest contributor of greenhouse gases.

18.Which country has the lowest government standards for gas mileage of automobiles?

Again, it should be no surprise that the United States has the lowest standards for gas mileage.

19.Which two nations have not signed onto the Kyoto Protocol?

The two nations which have not signed the Kyoto Protocol are the United States and Australia. This is a large problem because the US is the major contributor to many of our global issues. One cannot fathom a rationalization to outright disagree with a protocol whose intention is to save our planet. Whoever has decided that the US would rather not participate has obviously disregarded popular opinion.