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What causes global warming? |
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Carbon dioxide and other air pollution that is
collecting in the atmosphere like a thickening blanket,
trapping the sun's heat and causing the planet to warm up.
Coal-burning power plants are the largest U.S. source of
carbon dioxide pollution -- they produce 2.5 billion tons
every year. Automobiles, the second largest source, create
nearly 1.5 billion tons of CO2
annually.
Here's the good news: technologies exist
today to make cars that run cleaner and burn less gas,
modernize power plants and generate electricity from
nonpolluting sources, and cut our electricity use through
energy efficiency. The challenge is to be sure these solutions
are put to use. |
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Is the earth really getting hotter?
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Yes. Although local temperatures fluctuate naturally,
over the past 50 years the average global temperature has
increased at the fastest rate in recorded history. And experts
think the trend is accelerating: the 10 hottest years on
record have all occurred since 1990. Scientists say that
unless we curb global warming emissions, average U.S.
temperatures could be 3 to 9 degrees higher by the end of the
century. |
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Are warmer temperatures causing bad things to
happen? |
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Global warming is already causing damage in many parts
of the United States. In 2002, Colorado, Arizona and Oregon
endured their worst wildfire seasons ever. The same year,
drought created severe dust storms in Montana, Colorado and
Kansas, and floods caused hundreds of millions of dollars in
damage in Texas, Montana and North Dakota. Since the early
1950s, snow accumulation has declined 60 percent and winter
seasons have shortened in some areas of the Cascade Range in
Oregon and Washington.
Of course, the impacts of global
warming are not limited to the United States. In 2003, extreme
heat waves caused more than 20,000 deaths in Europe and more
than 1,500 deaths in India. And in what scientists regard as
an alarming sign of events to come, the area of the Arctic's
perennial polar ice cap is declining at the rate of 9 percent
per decade. |
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Is global warming making hurricanes
worse? |
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Global warming doesn't create hurricanes, but it does
make them stronger and more dangerous. Because the ocean is
getting warmer, tropical storms can pick up more energy and
become more powerful. So global warming could turn, say, a
category 3 storm into a much more dangerous category 4 storm.
In fact, scientists have found that the destructive potential
of hurricanes has greatly increased along with ocean
temperature over the past 35 years. |
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Is there really cause for serious
concern? |
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Yes. Global warming is a complex phenomenon, and its
full-scale impacts are hard to predict far in advance. But
each year scientists learn more about how global warming is
affecting the planet, and many agree that certain consequences
are likely to occur if current trends continue. Among
these:
- Melting glaciers, early snowmelt and severe droughts
will cause more dramatic water shortages in the American
West.
- Rising sea levels will lead to coastal flooding on the
Eastern seaboard, in Florida, and in other areas, such as
the Gulf of Mexico.
- Warmer sea surface temperatures will fuel more intense
hurricanes in the southeastern Atlantic and Gulf
coasts.
- Forests, farms and cities will face troublesome new
pests and more mosquito-borne diseases.
- Disruption of habitats such as coral reefs and alpine
meadows could drive many plant and animal species to
extinction.
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Could global warming trigger a sudden
catastrophe? |
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Recently, researchers -- and even the U.S. Defense
Department -- have investigated the possibility of abrupt
climate change, in which gradual global warming triggers a
sudden shift in the earth's climate, causing parts of the
world to dramatically heat up or cool down in the span of a
few years.
In February 2004, consultants to the
Pentagon released a report laying out the possible impacts of
abrupt climate change on national security. In a worst-case
scenario, the study concluded, global warming could make large
areas of the world uninhabitable and cause massive food and
water shortages, sparking widespread migrations and
war.
While this prospect remains highly speculative,
many of global warming's effects are already being observed --
and felt. And the idea that such extreme change is possible
underscores the urgent need to start cutting global warming
pollution. |
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What country is the largest source of global
warming pollution? |
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The United States. Though Americans make up just 4
percent of the world's population, we produce 25 percent of
the carbon dioxide pollution from fossil-fuel burning -- by
far the largest share of any country. In fact, the United
States emits more carbon dioxide than China, India and Japan,
combined. Clearly America ought to take a leadership role in
solving the problem. And as the world's top developer of new
technologies, we are well positioned to do so -- we already
have the know-how. |
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How can we cut global warming
pollution? |
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It's simple: By reducing pollution from vehicles and
power plants. Right away, we should put existing technologies
for building cleaner cars and more modern electricity
generators into widespread use. We can increase our reliance
on renewable energy sources such as wind, sun and geothermal.
And we can manufacture more efficient appliances and conserve
energy. |
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Why aren't these technologies more commonplace
now? |
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Because, while the technologies exist, the corporate
and political will to put them into widespread use does not.
Many companies in the automobile and energy industries put
pressure on the White House and Congress to halt or delay new
laws or regulations -- or even to stop enforcing existing
rules -- that would drive such changes. From requiring
catalytic converters to improving gas mileage, car companies
have fought even the smallest measure to protect public health
and the environment. If progress is to be made, the American
people will have to demand it. |
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Do we need new laws requiring industry to cut
emissions of global warming pollution? |
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Yes. The Bush administration is promoting an initiative
in which energy companies cut emissions only if they choose to
do so. As the past 10 years have clearly shown, though,
voluntary programs do not stop the growth of emissions.
Proposals to cap emissions of carbon dioxide and other
heat-trapping pollutants from America's largest sources --
power plants, industrial facilities, and transportation fuels
-- are gaining support in Congress.
Stricter
efficiency requirements for electric appliances will also help
reduce pollution. One example is the 30 percent tighter
standard now in place for home central air conditioners and
heat pumps, a Clinton-era achievement that will prevent the
emission of 51 million metric tons of carbon -- the equivalent
of taking 34 million cars off the road for one year. The new
rule survived a Bush administration effort to weaken it when,
in January 2004, a federal court sided with an NRDC-led
coalition and reversed the administration's rollback.
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Is it possible to cut power plant pollution and
still have enough electricity? |
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Yes. First, we must use more efficient appliances and
equipment in our homes and offices to reduce our electricity
needs. We can also phase out the decades-old, coal-burning
power plants that generate most of our electricity and replace
them with cleaner plants. And we can increase our use of
renewable energy sources such as wind and sun. Some states are
moving in this direction: California has required its largest
utilities to get 20 percent of their electricity from
renewable sources by 2017, and New York has pledged to compel
power companies to provide 25 percent of the state's
electricity from renewable sources by 2013. |
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How can we cut car pollution? |
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Cost-effective technologies to reduce global warming
pollution from cars and light trucks of all sizes are
available now. There is no reason to wait and hope that
hydrogen fuel cell vehicles will solve the problem in the
future. Hybrid gas-electric engines can cut global warming
pollution by one-third or more today; hybrid sedans, SUVs and
trucks from several automakers are already on the
market.
But automakers should be doing a lot more:
They've used a legal loophole to make SUVs far less fuel
efficient than they could be; the popularity of these vehicles
has generated a 20 percent increase in transportation-related
carbon dioxide pollution since the early 1990s. Closing this
loophole and requiring SUVs, minivans and pick-up trucks to be
as efficient as cars would cut 120 million tons of carbon
dioxide pollution a year by 2010. If automakers used the
technology they have right now to raise fuel economy
standards for new cars and light trucks to a combined 40
m.p.g., carbon dioxide pollution would eventually drop by more
than 650 million tons per year as these vehicles replaced
older models.
For more information on hybrid vehicles,
see http://www.nrdc.org/breakthechain/howto1.asp.
To
learn about hydrogen fuel cells -- another promising
technology -- see http://www.nrdc.org/air/energy/ffuelcl.asp.
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What can I do to help fight global
warming? |
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There are many simple
steps you can take right now to cut global warming
pollution. Make conserving
energy a part of your daily routine. Each time you choose
a compact fluorescent light bulb over an incandescent bulb,
for example, you'll lower your energy bill and keep nearly 700
pounds of carbon dioxide out of the air over the bulb's
lifetime. By opting for a refrigerator with the Energy Star
label -- indicating it uses at least 15 percent less energy
than the federal requirement -- over a less energy-efficient
model, you can reduce carbon dioxide pollution by nearly a ton
in total. Join
NRDC in our campaign against global warming.
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