environment wildlife water supply sea levels flooding drought climate change fishes greenhouse gases hydroelectric environment wildlife water supply sea levels flooding drought climate change fishes THE EFFECTS OF GLOBAL greenhouse gases WARMING ONhydroelectric GLACIERS drought climate change fishes greenhouse gases hydroelectric environment wildlife water supply sea levels flooding drought climate change fishes greenhouse gases hydroelectric environment wildlife water supply sea levels flooding
wildlife water supply sea levels flooding drought climate change fishes greenhouse gases hydroelectric environment wildlife water supply sea levels flooding drought climate change THE EFFECTS OF GLOBAL fishes WARMING ON GLACIERS greenhouse gases hydroelectric drought climate change fishes greenhouse gases hydroelectric environment wildlife water supply sea levels flooding drought climate change fishes greenhouse gases hydroelectric environment wildlife water supply
VANISHING
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GLACIER GLACIER GLACIER
RS RS RS
VANISHING: THE EFFECTS OF GLOBAL WARMING ON GLACIERS | 9
00
01
INTRODUCTION
WHAT HAVE WE DONE
10-11
12-21
02
03
THE ICE TODAY
THE FUTURE RISKS AHEAD
22-31
32-41
04 MAKE THE CHANGE 42-49
COLOPHON 52
BIBLIOGRAPHY 50-51
INTRO
Glaciers. We hear about them in the news with thousands of people every year coming to visit them at places around the world They are a major tourist attraction in many places but in particular Alaska. People come with their friends and family to take pictures and have a great time. But do people really know what are the problems going on with glaciers and all the interesting facts about them? Glaciers actually have a lot more impact on us and more interesting than we realize. They are formed from many years of developed fallen snow that holds together in thick ice masses that float around. Air trapped between the snowflakes is also frozen into the ice at pressure. Ice near the bottom of the glacier is under lots of pressure, which allows it to flow in the water. Friction between the glacier and the bedrock produces meltwater which further lubricates the bedrock allowing the ice to slide smoothly. They can grow to be small as a football field or hundreds of kilometers long or break into parts for animals to establish their homes on. Glaciers take up about 10 percent
VANISHING: THE EFFECTS OF GLOBAL WARMING ON GLACIERS | 11
25
%
of the world’s total land area locations such as Antartica, Greenland, and the Canadian Arctic. Many of them are formed along mountain ranges that date back to the Ice Age that let ice advance through many regions like Canada, New England, and Scandinavia. Scientists have been studying glaciers for many years to learn about ice cycles that have been occurring and the climate change. Scientists also have found fossils of animals and specimens that have been trapped within the ice’s pores and they are still able to find out more information about a certain unknown type of species. Glaciers may seem just like a floating piece of ice but instead it has a deeper impact. Glacier ice is different from the ice in your freezer and are such a strong piece of ice that they can actually affect the land in numerous ways. They are able to sculpt and carve away land that is beneath them and reshape the landscape for hundreds and thousands of years. Every glacier can be unique based from the different colors and shapes. The colors come from the different densities that it has. Glacial ice appears blue when it has become very dense. Years of compression continually makes the ice denser over time, forcing out the tiny air pores between crystals. When glacier ice becomes extremely dense, the ice absorbs a small amount of red light, leaving a bluish tint
OF CO2 COMES FROM THE USA ALONE BY BURNING FOSSIL–FUELS
in the reflected light that appears to us. When the ice is white, that usually means that there are many small air bubbles still stuck inside the ice. Scientists study for further research to learn more about our environment and the future of it. Unfortunately, due to global warming and climate changes, glaciers are going to disappear soon. The Earth is continually becoming warmer from harmful greenhouse gases and pollution. Glaciers are not just a tourist attraction to come to but we also need them as our fresh water resource. They give us about 75 percent of our world’s fresh water that is a important necessity. Scientists, environmentalists, and lovers of the environment are constantly trying to figure out other ways how to save the glaciers and prevent further global warming. People are more capable of what they think in order to make a difference in the world.
WHAT HAVE WE DONE
01 90% OF GLOBAL WARMING IS CAUSED BY HUMANS
CH 1 What Have We Done
OUR HUMAN IMPACT WHY ARE WE THE CAUSE? Scientists have been doing multiple studies how global warming is caused and they have concluded the fact that we, humans, are the ones to blame for the global warming that is causing the glaciers to melt. Scientists have concluded that most of the observed warming is very likely due to the burning of coal, oil, and gas. This conclusion is based on a detailed understanding of the atmospheric greenhouse effect and how human activities have been disrupting it. At the same time, other reasonable explanations, such as changes in the Sun, have been ruled out. Everyday people are burning fuels of all types. Trucks are frequently polluting the air with smoke, factories burning many poisoning gases that are released into the air and causing smoke in the air that becomes unhealthy to breathe. Pollution can be
considered one the global killers. Fossil fuels such as oil, coal and natural gas are high in carbon and when burned, produce major amounts of carbon dioxide. A single gallon of gasoline, when burned, puts 19 pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Now think about how much there is between thousands of cars everyday during the whole day. The industrial activities that our modern civilization depends upon have raised the atmospheric carbon dioxide levels from 280 parts per million to 400 parts per million in the last 150 years. The panel also concluded there’s better than 90 percent probability that human produced greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, and other harmful chemical gases have caused much of the observed increase in Earth’s temperatures over the past 50 years.
VANISHING: THE EFFECTS OF GLOBAL WARMING ON GLACIERS | 15
% SCIENTIFIC CERTAINTY THAT HUMANS ARE TO BLAME FOR THE GLOBAL WARMING
IN THE LAST 30 YEARS, THE AVERAGE CONSUMPTION OF FOSSIL FUELS BY UNITED STATES HAS BEEN 80%.
FOSSIL FUELS ARE THE MOST DANGEROUS CONTRIBUTORS TO GLOBALWARMING.
CH 1 What Have We Done
“SCIENTISTS ARE MORE CONFIDENT THAN EVER THAT HUMANS ARE RESPONSIBLE.”
Scientists have concluded that most of the observed warming is highly likely due to the burning of coal, oil, and gas. This conclusion is based on a detailed understanding of the atmospheric greenhouse effect and how human activities have been disrupting it. At the same time, other reasonable explanations, most notably changes in the Sun, have been ruled out. Human activity such as burning fossil fuels causes more greenhouse gases to build up in the atmosphere. As the atmosphere “thickens” with more greenhouse gases, more heat is held in. Fossil fuels such as oil, coal and natural gas are high in carbon and, when burned, produce major amounts of carbon dioxide. A single gallon of gasoline, when burned, puts 19 pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Electricity is the
top source of the emission of carbon dioxide. Electricity is used to power homes, buildings, and industries of various kinds. Transportation is another source of the emissions of the harmful carbon dioxide gases being released into the air. People across the world rely on public transportation mainly in order to go their destination. Also, various items are continually being transported across the country. Carbon dioxide is constantly being exchanged among the atmosphere, ocean, and land surface as it is both produced and absorbed by many microorganisms, plants, and animals. Since the Industrial Revolution began around 1750, human activities have contributed substantially to climate change by adding carbon dioxide and other harmful heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere.
VANISHING: THE EFFECTS OF GLOBAL WARMING ON GLACIERS | 19
WHERE DOES U.S. GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS COME FROM?
TRANSPORTATION
28%
32% 20% INDUSTRIAL ELECTRICITY
10% COMMERCIAL & RESIDENTIAL
10%
AGRICULTURE
CH 1 What Have We Done
SOOT CAN KILL Climate change can be influenced by many human and natural factors. Examples of natural factors include the energy from the sun, periodic volcanic eruptions of tiny particles, dust, and salt spray all known as aerosols that can reflect sunlight. Natural carbon cycle processes such as termite mounds in Africa that emit methane or tiny organisms in the ocean surface can also take up carbon dioxide. In terms of the Earth’s energy balance, these factors primarily influence the amount of incoming energy. Human climate drivers or factors include burning coal, gas and oil in power plants and cars. In forests around in different regions, these include cutting down and burning forests which make tiny pollution particles known as aerosols and black carbon pollution more commonly referred to as soot which is a resemblement of black ash. Some of these climate drivers result in net warming and others lead to cooling, but all are usually expressed as Radiative Forcing (RF) in units of watts per square meter. When all the natural and human-induced climate drivers are compared to one another,
the accumulation of human released heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere is so large that it is greater than other climate factors over the past half century, leading to the current global warming condition. Fossil fuel burning by people also emits tiny particles. Some aerosols reflect sunlight back to space, other pollution particles such as soot absorbs the sunlight, which leads to warming of the atmosphere level where the soot particles circulate. Both types of human created particles lead to a decrease in the amount of sun’s energy reaching the surface of Earth. Surprisingly, it has been thought likely there would have been even more warming in the past 60 years if it were not for these human-made and natural tiny particles. If atmospheric levels of short climate forcers are continually replenished by ongoing emissions, these continue to exert a climate forcing. However, reducing emissions will quite quickly lead to reduced atmospheric levels of such substances. A number of short-lived climate forcers have climate warming effects and together they are the most important contributors to the human enhancement of the greenhouse effect after carbon dioxide. This includes methane and tropospheric ozone that both come greenhouse gases and black carbon.
VANISHING: THE EFFECTS OF GLOBAL WARMING ON GLACIERS | 21
Soot is made up of dangerous metals and chemicals that are released from factories and vehicles
Soot particles are so small, making it unable to protect ourselves from breathing them in
Sulphate aerosols remain in the atmosphere for only a few days (what is now referred to as acid rain), and so do not have the same long-term effect as greenhouse gases. The cooling from sulphate aerosols in the atmosphere has, however, offset some of the warming from other substances. Soot is one of the most deadly forms of air pollution, and these soot limits are especially important for kids, the elderly and people already suffering from respiratory ailments. Soot particles are released into the air
by burning dirty fuels like coal. Soot is composed of dangerous metals and chemicals, and the particles are so small as tiny as a millimeter that they can lodge deep within the lungs and move into our blood streams, carrying with them toxic pollutants like arsenic and lead. Even at very low levels, soot is harmful to human health and can cause heart attacks, asthma attacks, cancer, pregnancy threats, and even premature death. Today there have been Clean Air act campaigns encouraging people to help get cleaner air for everyone to breathe in order to live a healthy long lifestyle. The Obama administration continues to strive in order to reduce pollution and a increase cleaner air.
By inhaling soot particles, they are kept in our lungs to the bloodstream leading to cancer and death.
THE ICE TODAY
02
THE OBSERVED GLACIERS CURRENTLY LOSE BETWEEN ABOUT 1.5 TO 3 FEET OF ITS ICE THICKNESS EVERY YEAR
CH 2 The Ice Today
ALMOST GONE FOREVER AREA CHANGE RATE (KM)
500
1000
1500
2000
2000
2004
2008
YEAR
2012
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MELTING FASTER AND FASTER The world’s glaciers are losing ice at a faster pace during this century than any other time since recorded that began more than 120 years ago. According to a new study, glacial melt is a worldwide phenomenon and will continue even if the world stopped warming any further than it already has. Currently, glaciers are now losing their mass twice as fast as they were in the period from 1901–1950, three times as fast as in the period from 1851–1900, and four times as fast as in the period from 1800–1850 that researchers have found. To record the glaciers, researchers put cameras in the exact same certain spots throughout the years in order to track down the differences of the glaciers’ melting phases. These photos can give a better outlook on the melting process
of its speed and amount of glacier ice loss. They used everything from satellite images and documented photographs taken, to drawings and lithographs made back in the 19th century and earlier. All together, the evidence paints a remarkably but shocking picture of what’s happening to ice around the world. The pictures taken by people of the glaciers can soon be the very last time we see these gigantic ice wonders. Many people have noticed over the years the glacier amount is getting smaller. Before, there was thousand of acres of glaciers in Alaska and the arctic but currently there are only hundreds of acres. Every day they get smaller and smaller and soon to be gone forever into the large freezing, blue ocean waters.
60– 70
%
TROPICAL GLACIERS IN AFRICA HAVE DECREASED IN AREA ALREADY BY 60 TO 70% ON AVERAGE. GLACIERS ARE MELTING AT A RATE OF MORE THAN 24 CUBIC MILES PER YEAR SINCE 2002
CH 2 The Ice Today
YEAR
1960
1970
DECREASE IN GLACIAL ICE MASS LOSS (CUBIC MILES )
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
Throughout many years, there has been adecline in the mass of the glaciers located around the world. On average, glaciers worldwide have been shrinking since about the 1970s and has resulted in noticeable changes in the coastal sea level. A longer measurement record from a smaller number of glaciers suggests that they have been shrinking since about the 1940s. The glacier mass is relatively noticeable now since the increase of global warming has gone up. The rate at which glaciers are shrinking appears to have accelerated over the years.
1960
Scientists discover that glaciers are shrinking and conclude that the cause is global warming.
1970
Glaciers started to accelerate due to the increase in global warming. Scientists believed the rate doubled compared to previous years.
1980
It has become more noticeable that acres of glaciers are melting in different regions. The melting rate continues to increase and by now it is four times faster than it was in 1850.
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1980
1990
1990
2000s
Scientists discover that glaciers are absolutely shrinking and conclude that the definite cause is global warming. Global temperatures continue to rise from human inflicted global warming. Pollution from factories and power plants release the harmful greenhouse gases and carbon dioxide into the air.
2000
CH 2 The Ice Today
NOWHERE TO GO WE ARE NOT THE ONLY ONES EFFECTED Besides humans, animals are also being deeply impacted as well. Animals that live on glaciers depend on the ice to live on and survive. Specifically. polar bears for example live on the ice and make caves in order to survive. The biggest threat currently to polar bears is the growing problem of global warming around the world. These effects include reducing their population size, sea ice platforms moving farther apart causing the swimming conditions to become more dangerous, and the increase scarcity of food. As climate change melts sea ice, the U.S. Geological Survey projects that two thirds of polar bears will disappear by 2050. The retreat of ice has implications beyond the obvious habitat loss. Remaining ice is farther from shore, making it less accessible to animals. The larger gap of open water between the ice and land also contributes
to rougher wave conditions, making the bears’ swim from shore to sea more hazardous. Many polar bears have drowned due to these conditons. In the Beaufort Sea, four polar bears were found drowned and biologists suspect that the actual number of drowned polar bears is greater. A warming climate is altering sea ice conditions and affecting polar bears in other ways. Sea ice in many areas shifts with wind and water currents, and polar bears often walk against the ice flow to remain in contact with their habitats. Climate warming is reducing ice thickness and extent, which may result in greater ice drift. A comparison of this can be to polar bears are on a treadmill, and we are the ones turning up the speed. This can affect energy by becoming less available for growth and reproduction to grow the population for the future. Exacerbating the problems of the loss of hunting areas, it is expected that the shrinking polar ice cap will also cause a decline in polar bears’ prey— seals. The
VANISHING: THE EFFECTS OF GLOBAL WARMING ON GLACIERS | 31
POLAR BEARS USE SEA ICE AS A HUNTING PLATFORM TO CATCH THEIR PREY. WITHOUT SEA ICE, THEY HAVE DIFFICULTY MEETING THEIR NECESSARY DIETARY NEEDS TO LIVE
bulk of their diet are two species of seals: the ringed seal which is their main prey, found most commonly in the ice, and the larger bearded seal. Polar bears are hungry with a difficult time finding food for longer periods of time, leading to cannibalism. Although it has been known polar bears will kill for dominance or kill cubs so they can breed with the female, this outright predation for food was previously unobserved by biologists. Today, polar bears are found underneath the threatened species in the Endangered Species Act due to their disappearing habitat.
THE FUTURE RISKS AHEAD
03
IF ALL LAND ICE MELTED, SEA LEVEL WOULD RISE ABOUT 70 METERS (230 FT) WORLDWIDE.
CH 3 The Future Risks Ahead
THE THREATS AND OUTCOMES Many glaciers feed rivers that are in turn used as a renewable energy source to produce electricity from turbines in dams. As glaciers disappear, rivers will dry up, thus taking away this source of energy, which must then be replaced. The lack of water will impactagriculture, city water drinking and sewage treatment facilities, plus more. Global climate change threatens coastlines and the buildings and cities located along them. Hundreds of millions of people around the world live in low–lying areas near the coast that could be flooded as the sea level rises. Rising sea level will also erode beaches and damage many coastal wetlands. Rising sea level and stronger storms caused by warmer oceans could completely wipe out certain beaches and islands. Climate change poses risks for cities near the ocean. Places like Miami; New York City; New Orleans; and Venice, Italy, could flood more often or more severely if sea level continues to rise. If that happens, many people will lose their homes and businesses.
Climate change will damage coastal wetlands all over the world. Wetlands protect the shore from flooding, and they also provide important habitats for many types of plants and animals. For example, the Everglades are wetlands close to sea level in southern Florida that are home to diverse ecosystems. As sea level rises, salt water could flood parts of the Everglades, leaving animals such as birds, alligators, turtles, and panthers with less habitat. One of the most obvious and well-known outcome of rapid glaciers melting is rising sea levels. The Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has projected major changes in sea-level over the next 100 years if carbon dioxide levels continues to rise at the current rate. According to NASA, the average global sea level over the last century has risen by about 4 to 8 inches – this means about 3.27 mm per year. The rising sea levels will cause flooding along coastal areas. Some cities and islands that are low lying can even get completely submerged.
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70
%
Humans use water for everything from drinking and bathing to growing crops, supporting livestock and fish farms, shipping goods, generating electricity, and simply relaxing and having fun. Yet climate change is producing profound changes in this precious commodity, threatening water availability, access, and even quality. Almost 70 percent of our earth’s surface is covered with water but most of it is salt water. Freshwater makes up only about 2 percent of the water on Earth. A large proportion of the world’s population depends on melting water from glaciers into lakes and rivers for freshwater supply. With glaciers melting at faster rate than what the rivers can normally hold, the fresh drinking water overflows into the sea and wasted. The decreased mass of the shrinking glacier also spells water supply shortages in the near future. In fact, people living in the places near Himalayas are already facing water shortages.
OF WORLD’S FRESH WATER COMES FROM GLACIERS
+ 260 FT SEA LEVELS WILL RISE GLOBALLY IF ALL GLACIERS AND ICE MELTED
CH 3 The Future Risks Ahead
2020
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency declares carbon dioxide and other heat trapping gases to be pollutants under the Clean Air Act. Many of the world’s major rivers are found to be losing water.
2012
2009
A LOOK INTO THE FUTURE
Flash floods will very likely increase across all parts of Europe. Less rainfall could reduce agriculture yields by up to 50 percent in some parts of the world. World population will reach 7.6 billion people.
The first phase of the Kyoto Protocol, an international environmental treaty created to limit the production of greenhouse gases, expires. Nations will have to draw up and enact a succesor treaty to further limit emissions, should they choose to do so.
2070
Diarrhea related diseases will most likely increase by up to 5 percent in low income parts of the world. Up to 18 percent of the world’s coral reefs will also likely be lost as a result of climate change and other environmental factors. In Asian coastal waters, the coral loss could reach 30 percent. Warming temperatures will cause glaciers on equatorial mountains in Africa to disappear. The Arctic Sea could possibly be close to ice free in the Summer.
2050
2030
VANISHING: THE EFFECTS OF GLOBAL WARMING ON GLACIERS | 39
As many glaciers disappear and areas are affected by the drought increase, electricity production for the world’s existing hydropower stations will start to decrease. The warmer, and drier conditions will lead to more frequent and longer droughts, as well as increased fire risks, and more frequent heat waves. Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels will be higher than anytime during the past 650,000 years.
Small alpine glaciers will be disappearing completely, and large glaciers will shrink by 30 to 70 percent. Austrian scientist Roland Psenner of the University of Innsbruck says this is a conservative estimate, and the small alpine glaciers could be gone as soon as 2037. Ocean acidification could kill off most coral reefs. As biodiversity hotspots are more threatened, a quarter of the world’s plant and vertebrate animal species could face extinction and disappear.
CH 3 The Future Risks Ahead
LOSING AN IMPORTANT RESOURCE. FRESH WATER. People living in dry climates near mountains often rely on glacial melt for their water for part of the year. Many of the rivers coursing through China, India, and other parts of the Asian continent are fed largely by snowmelt from the Himalaya, but in late summer a significant part of riverflow comes from melting glaciers. In South America, residents of La Paz, Bolivia, rely on glacial melting from a nearby ice cap to provide water during the significant dry spells they sometimes experience. Demand for glacier water has increased in other, perhaps less expected ways, too. Some beverage companies sell bottles of glacial meltwater, and ice cubes made of glacier ice are popular in some specialty drinks. In fact, a Chilean man was arrested in 2012 for stealing five tons of ice from the Jorge Montt Glacier. He had planned to sell the ice to restaurants in the capital, Santiago. Over a thousand years ago, farmers in Asia knew that dark colors absorb solar energy. So they spread dark-colored materials
APPROXIMATELY 400 BILLION GALLONS OF WATER ARE USED IN THE UNITED STATES PER DAY
VANISHING: THE EFFECTS OF GLOBAL WARMING ON GLACIERS | 41
HOW WE USE WATER 48% 34% 11% 05% <3%
THERMOELECTRIC POWER IRRIGATION PUBLIC SUPPLY INDUSTRIAL AGRICULTURE
such as soil and ashes over snow to promote melting, and this is how they watered their crops during dry periods. Chinese and Russian researchers tried something similar by sprinkling coal dust onto glaciers, hoping that the melting will provide water to the drought-stricken countries of India, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. The experiment proved to be too costly, and they have abandoned the idea. But in Ladakh, India, an engineer has successfully created several small, artificial glaciers to provide more water for crops and drinking during seasonal dry periods. These man-made glaciers are situated in areas to catch large amounts of water that would otherwise flow away, and will have temperatures low enough to freeze that water over the winter. Warm summer weather slowly melts these glaciers, releasing a steady supply of water. Scientists and engineers in Norway, central Europe, Canada, New Zealand, and South America have worked together to tap into glacial resources, using electricity
that has been generated in part by damming glacial meltwater. Everywhere around the world have dams to regulate the flow of the much needed water that continues to be a key resource for mankind. Many places across the planet that depend solely on the constant flow of water from melting glaciers for the production of electricity. Once this flow of water is reduced or stopped, the production of electricity will also stop. Absolutely no nation can work efficiently without electricity, and forcing places to use different resources to produce electricity; most of them can cause even more pollution into the air, and possibly increase the risk of global warming more. Agriculture that depends solely on rain will be mostly unaffected by the effects of ice glaciers melting. Such areas are very few, and do not contribute to the major chunk of farmland. Areas affected will be those that depend on water emanating from ice glaciers. During the dry seasons, there will be a shortage of freshwater from ice glaciers, making the land dry and unsuitable for agriculture. Total agricultural output will reduce, leading to a shortage of food grains.
MAKE THE CHANGE
04
WE CAN SAVE 75,000 TREES IF WE RECYCLED THE PAPER USED FOR THE DAILY RUN OF THE NEW YORK TIMES ALONE.
CH 4 Make the Change
VANISHING: THE EFFECTS OF GLOBAL WARMING ON GLACIERS | 45
BE THE CHANGE TO SAVE THE GLACIERS DID YOU KNOW? Everyone knows by now that glaciers are an important asset to our environment. We need it for clean fresh water, irrigate our crops, and to keep the animal habitats from non-extinction. In order to protect this vital resource that we have, our human population can make a difference to save glaciers from melting. Global warming is the main cause to the melting of glaciers and we are the cause of global warming. We need to start making a change by adjusting our lifestyles in order to make the greater impact on the environment. By doing these easy helpful ways, you can make a big difference. Also, try to get your friends, family, and everyone you know to support the cause of protecting these marvelous glaciers. You can be the beginning of a remarkable journey that can save lives and our environment.
By biking instead of driving, you can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 90% Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a TV for three hours.
When a newspaper is recycled, it takes only 7 days to become a new newspaper
CH 4 Make the Change
YOU CAN BE THE FIRST STEP IN SAVING THE ENVIRONMENT
VANISHING: THE EFFECTS OF GLOBAL WARMING ON GLACIERS | 47
10
%
You can make a diffference in helping the world thrive more on the glaciers just by making a small change. It all starts by making a step in progress. Imagine if everyone where you live makes the change just like you. People can make a bigger impact if they all work together in their community. Some of the effects are reducing the release of carbon dioxide in the air and global warming by a significant amount. As individuals, we can help by taking action to reduce our personal carbon emissions. In order to fully address the threat of global warming, we must demand action from our elected leaders to support and implement a comprehensive list of solutions such as recycling better and choosing other power sources that are better for the environment. There are so many ways on how you can help the environment. They are all easy and convenient on your daily activities. All of these small steps can add up in the end and the world will turn into a cleaner environment for everyone around the world.
BY CHOOSING PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION, YOU CAN REDUCE 4,800 LBS OF GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS THAT EQUAL TO 10% OF THE EMISSIONS BY DRIVING A CAR
20
%
BY RECYCLING GLASS, AIR POLLUTION CAN DECREASE BY 20% AND WATER POLLUTION BY 50%. IF NOT RECYCLED, THEN IT CAN TAKE YEARS TO DECOMPOSE FULLY
CH 4 Make the Change
YOU CAN MAKE THE DIFFERENCE. HERE ARE JUST FEW OF THE WAYS YOU CAN HELP. DO YOUR PART.
RIDE A BIKE
RECYCLE
Reduce pollution by riding a bike instead. By doing this, you are not burning any fossil fuels and getting some healthy exercise
Reduce waste by choosing reusable products instead of disposables
PLANT A TREE Trees give us oxygen to breathe better. This can also help reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
USE FLUORESCENT LIGHT BULBS CFLs use 60% less energy than a regular bulb. This simple switch will save about 300 pounds of carbon dioxide a year
USE ALTERNATIVE POWER
Choose wind and solar power as alternative power sources. No burning fuels or releasing carbon dioxide occurs resulting in a better environment for us to breathe in.
BUY LOCALLY GROWN FOODS
The average meal in the United States travels 1,200 miles from the farm to your plate. Buying locally will save fuel and keep money in your community.
VANISHING: THE EFFECTS OF GLOBAL WARMING ON GLACIERS | 49
START A CARPOOL WITH YOUR COWORKERS OR CLASSMATES Sharing a ride with someone just 2 days a week will reduce your carbon dioxide emissions by 1,590 pounds a year.
TAKE A SHOWER INSTEAD OF A BATH
A shower takes up to four times less energy than a bath. To maximize the energy saving, avoid powerful showers and use lowerflow showerheads, which are cheap and provide the same comfort.
REUSE YOUR SHOPPING BAG
When shopping, it saves energy and waste to use a reusable bag instead of accepting a disposable one in each shop. Waste not only discharges CO2 and methane into the atmosphere, it can also pollute the air, groundwater and soil.
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“World’s Glaciers Are Melting Faster Today Than Any Time in History.” The Weather Channel. The Weather Channel, 4 Aug. 2015. Web. 22 Oct. 2015.
Hitt, Mary Anne. “New Soot Standard Will Protect Public Health, Environment.” The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 13 Feb. 2013. Web. 09 Nov. 2015.
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COLOPHON This text is set in Baskerville designed by John Baskerville in England and in 1757. The sub-text is PT Mono which was designed by the foundry, ParaType in 2009. The headings are Frutiger. It was designed by Adrian Frutiger in 1975. Adobe Creative Cloud 2015 InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop MacBook 15 in : 2.3 GHz Epson Artisan 1430 printer Red River Premium Matte 50lb Printing & Binding Plotnet 495 Carolina Street San Francisco, CA 94107 Harvard University Press Cambridge, MA Designed by Corinne Pon Photographs: Stock Images Illustrations: The Noun Project thenounproject.com This is a student project only. No part of this book or any other part of the project was produced for commerical use.
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VANISHING: THE EFFECTS OF GLOBAL WARMING ON GLACIERS | 53
Glaciers have always been unique as a natural phenemenon to exist internationally. Many different types of species call these their home, and most importantly, the majority of our fresh water on Earth comes from glaciers. Soon, glaciers will be vanishing due to human activities being one of the main causes of global warming. Every year glaciers continually melt and we can be the ones in saving them. Find out the importance of glaciers and how you can make the difference to save them from vanishing.
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