What are we currently doing to prevent Global Warming?

Question

What things, like reasearching hybrid technology, are we doing right now to prevent the greenhouse effect and global warming?

Wow Dp. You are hilarious.



Thank you for that douche bag.

Answer 1

Lots of people are talking about it
that is a good start

so far the remedies appear to be fatal

check this about ethanol

Do you think the U.S.A will try to help in the global warming situation?

Global warming is not half as destructive right now ,as what the USA is planning.
They are insane

They have a really hot plan to replace all the indigenous Forrest's in the world ,with mono cultures for the production of Ethanol,

Non sustainable, chemically grown ,heavily irrigated (with water needed for communities)one specie Forrest's,that have only plagues of insects as fauna which are combated with pesticides.

Killing all bio diversity,in both flora and fauna ,adding to the destruction and extinction of species ,like nothing we have ever seen before.

All in the quest for alternative energy and to save the Environment ,


The irony here is that the growing eagerness to slow climate change by using biofuels and planting millions of trees for carbon credits has resulted in new major causes of deforestation, say activists. And that is making climate change worse because deforestation puts far more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than the entire world's fleet of cars, trucks, planes, trains and ships combined.

"Biofuels are rapidly becoming the main cause of deforestation in countries like Indonesia, Malaysia and Brazil," said Simone Lovera, managing coordinator of the Global Forest Coalition, an environmental NGO based in Asunción, Paraguay. "We call it 'deforestation diesel'," Lovera told IPS.

Oil from African palm trees is considered to be one of the best and cheapest sources of biodiesel and energy companies are investing billions into acquiring or developing oil-palm plantations in developing countries. Vast tracts of forest in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and many other countries have been cleared to grow oil palms. Oil palm has become the world's number one fruit crop, well ahead of bananas.

Biodiesel offers many environmental benefits over diesel from petroleum, including reductions in air pollutants, but the enormous global thirst means millions more hectares could be converted into monocultures of oil palm. Getting accurate numbers on how much forest is being lost is very difficult.

The FAO's State of the World's Forests 2007 released last week reports that globally, net forest loss is 20,000 hectares per day -- equivalent to an area twice the size of Paris. However, that number includes plantation forests, which masks the actual extent of tropical deforestation, about 40,000 hectares (ha) per day, says Matti Palo, a forest economics expert who is affiliated with the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE) in Costa Rica.

"The half a million ha per year deforestation of Mexico is covered by the increase of forests in the U.S., for example," Palo told IPS.

National governments provide all the statistics, and countries like Canada do not produce anything reliable, he said. Canada has claimed no net change in its forests for 15 years despite being the largest producer of pulp and paper. "Canada has a moral responsibility to tell the rest of the world what kind of changes have taken place there," he said.

Plantation forests are nothing like natural or native forests. More akin to a field of maize, plantation forests are hostile environments to nearly every animal, bird and even insects. Such forests have been shown to have a negative impact on the water cycle because non-native, fast-growing trees use high volumes of water. Pesticides are also commonly used to suppress competing growth from other plants and to prevent disease outbreaks, also impacting water quality.

Plantation forests also offer very few employment opportunities, resulting in a net loss of jobs. "Plantation forests are a tremendous disaster for biodiversity and local people," Lovera said. Even if farmland or savanna are only used for oil palm or other plantations, it often forces the local people off the land and into nearby forests, including national parks, which they clear to grow crops, pasture animals and collect firewood. That has been the pattern with pulp and timber plantation forests in much of the world, says Lovera.

Ethanol is other major biofuel, which is made from maize, sugar cane or other crops. As prices for biofuels climb, more land is cleared to grow the crops. U.S. farmers are switching from soy to maize to meet the ethanol demand. That is having a knock on effect of pushing up soy prices, which is driving the conversion of the Amazon rainforest into soy, she says. Meanwhile rich countries are starting to plant trees to offset their emissions of carbon dioxide, called carbon sequestration. Most of this planting is taking place in the South in the form of plantations, which are just the latest threat to existing forests. "Europe's carbon credit market could be disastrous," Lovera said.

The multi-billion-euro European carbon market does not permit the use of reforestation projects for carbon credits. But there has been a tremendous surge in private companies offering such credits for tree planting projects. Very little of this money goes to small land holders, she says. Plantation forests also contain much less carbon, notes Palo, citing a recent study that showed carbon content of plantation forests in some Asian tropical countries was only 45 percent of that in the respective natural forests. Nor has the world community been able to properly account for the value of the enormous volumes of carbon stored in existing forests.

One recent estimate found that the northern Boreal forest provided 250 billion dollars a year in ecosystem services such as absorbing carbon emissions from the atmosphere and cleaning water. The good news is that deforestation, even in remote areas, is easily stopped. All it takes is access to some low-cost satellite imagery and governments that actually want to slow or halt deforestation. Costa Rica has nearly eliminated deforestation by making it illegal to convert forest into farmland, says Lovera.

Paraguay enacted similar laws in 2004, and then regularly checked satellite images of its forests, sending forestry officials and police to enforce the law where it was being violated. "Deforestation has been reduced by 85 percent in less than two years in the eastern part of the country," Lovera noted. The other part of the solution is to give control over forests to the local people. This community or model forest concept has proved to be sustainable in many parts of the world. India recently passed a bill returning the bulk of its forests back to local communities for management, she said.

However, economic interests pushing deforestation in countries like Brazil and Indonesia are so powerful, there may eventually be little natural forest left. "Governments are beginning to realize that their natural forests have enormous value left standing," Lovera said. "A moratorium or ban on deforestation is the only way to stop this."


This story is part of a series of features on sustainable development by IPS and IFEJ - International Federation of Environmental Journalists.
© 2007 IPS - Inter Press Service


Source: http://www.commondreams.org/headlines07/...

Answer 2

There are many things being done right now to reduce global warming.

Governments are offering tax incentives and placing greenhouse gas emission limits.

Groups from around the world are coming together to work on issues related to global warming. They are pushing for new laws and making more information available to the public on what they can do to help.

Many countries promote the use of renewable energies through tax incentives and subsidies. Wind power is now the fastest growing renewable energy technology. There are also several types of water power being used and developed such as hydroelectric energy, micro hydro systems, wave power, tidal power, deep lake water cooling, and blue energy. Solar energy is also being used more and new technology is being developed to create more alternatives to using solar energy.

There are several newer technologies in transportation. Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and hydrogen cars may reduce the consumption of oil and carbon dioxide emissions. There is also an increased use of biofuels and biodiesels being used to reduce emissions.

The US, UK, and Australia are discussing the future role of nuclear power as a possible alternative to fossil fuels.

New technology is being developed called Carbon capture and storage (CCS). The goal is to capture carbon dioxide from large sources (like power plants) and store it away instead of releasing it into the atmosphere.

Answer 3

One effort that industry is doing is ceasing use of and removing CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) which deplete the ozone layer. You will notice that increasingly more municipalities will require special disposal of consumer items containing CFCs (air conditioners, refrigerators, etc.) to capture the gas and not let it escape into the environment. Switching to cleaner energy sources, too, work in our favor. Wind and solar power are the industries to watch; also look for activity in alternative auto fuels like gasohol or biodiesel, and lessened dependence on petroleum fuels through use of hybrid vehicles. Any emissions reductions also aleviate the greenhouse effect, and reduction of CO2 in the air. Petition your government for stricter adherence to the Clean Air regulations and fines for violators.

Answer 4

Nothing. If you believe the liberals that there is global warming then how can you prevent what is actually happening already? The truth is that even if you lowered our standard of living to that of China and had no cars but just bikes then it would make no difference. You know Mars is having the same global warming as earth. I wonder who is driving up there. Maybe Gore.

Answer 5

We don't want to prevent a greenhouse effect, that is why we plant trees. There is nothing you can do about global warming, it is not man-made. Just go after the ones dumping depleted urainium & mercury on our planet & in our water; they want you to buy those CFL bulbs instead of incandescent bulbs to save energy, yet they contain mercury, that will pollute the water & landfills; that doesn't make sense, go figure. Global warming isn't man made, they just want you to pay a carbon tax. Global warming happens every 3600 years. check out the `Jim McCanney science hour' in your browser, very interesting.

Answer 6

Many auto companies are going beyond hybrid technology; they are brainstorming hydrogen-powered cars. These cars run on hydrogen and burn like gasoline to power the car. As a waste product, the raw hydrogen mixes with the oxygen in the air to form: water, its only exhaust. Therefore, it is environmentally sound. The hydrogen car is still being tested. However, you can research it on the internet.

Answer 7

We are trying to reduce fuel consumption, specially we are trying to reduce fuel burning. Less use of chemical substances like Nitrogen Dioxide,Sulphide Substances, Sulfur Dioxide is also a way to reduce Global Warming, so release of these substances into the air are also being checked. Fuel Consuming appliances are being replaced by Electrical Appliances.

Answer 8

Well Al Gore is infoming people about it with his movie an inconvienant truth. We really need the help of people in washington ie the president to get things better.

Answer 9

developing oil derived from biomatter

developing hydrogen cells for power

developing better methods to obtain hydrogen from microorganisms

developing food sources from microorganisms

developing more energy efficient habits

researching ways to recycle or elimate nuclear power waste

developing more efficient solar cells

developing ways to use waste to produce energy and fuels so most fossil fuel use can be eliminated

devloping more environmentally friendly agricultural methods

designing alternatives to dirty 2 cycle motors

researching better methods of obtaining fuels from biomatter.

promoting recycling

Answer 10

According to all governments and all huge companies and all rich-mans:
who cares about life, to be honest I wont do any ting special until profit goes out of my pocket.

Answer 11

I change the AC filter every month, recycling plastic bottle, glass and cans.