Welcome to Climate Change Guide
Preventing Climate Change Article
. For a permanent link to this article, or to bookmark it for further reading, click here.
The Contribution of Global Dimming to Climate Change and Global Warming
from:Climate change and global warming is a topic on everyone’s minds, from the highest government official to the average citizen and rightfully so. The earth is warming up and there are no doubts left about climate change and global warming conditions resulting from it.
Most scientists agree that humans are the reason for this present situation. Though the earth normally goes through climate change and global warming or cooler cycles, this phenomena occurs over many thousands of years, the fact that we are seeing rapid changes in our atmosphere (air) biosphere, (ecosystems), hydrosphere, (water) and cryosphere (ice and glaciers) points to anthropogenic involvement (intervention by humankind).
One climate change and global warming phenomenon being observed but has been a bit misleading is what is known as global dimming. When clouds become think with pollutants they expel the heat from the gases up into space meaning that less heat and energy will remain on the surface of the planet. Now this is where it becomes confusing, since the planet is warming up, our senses tell us that releasing hot air into space should correct the problem. However, the facts seem to point into the opposite direction. Let’s look at the situation more closely.
Global dimming is the gradual diminishing capacity of the irradiance (radiation) of the earth’s surfaces (clouds included). Scientists have been studying this phenomenon since the 1950’s. They have noted a decrease in about 4% of irradiance from the 1960’s -1990’s. Aerosol cans were targeted as the cause this dimming due to sulfate and other pollutants released into the air. Once the phenomenon was observed, aerosol can products were no longer readily as marketable consumer products and the situation was reversed. The scientists once again observed a global brightness as opposed to global dimming after the 1990’s.
Global dimming has interfered with the earth’s hydrosphere, tampering with its water distribution patterns; it has reduced the capacity for natural water evaporation thus gravely maligning rainfall patterns. Experts have suggested that the catastrophic droughts occurring in the 1970’s and 1980’s, in Ethiopia and killing millions of people were a result of global dimming. The Oceans in the Northern Hemisphere could not produce enough rain to travel down to Africa because the waters were simply not warm enough.
What makes it even more deadly is it masked the dangers of greenhouse gas emissions thus slowing our progress in eradicating the effects of climate change and global warming.
While cleaning up the effects of global dimming, the earth did get warmer because greenhouse gas emissions were pretty much ignored. Ecosystems and human health have already been affected. Thousands of people in Europe died during the intense heat wave of 2003.
Global dimming has shown us that climate change and global warming is not the result of just one single phenomenon, we must continuously look for possible causes.
Preventing Climate Change Specific links
Preventing Climate Change News
IEA warns time is running out to prevent catastrophic climate change - Business Green
 Financial Times | IEA warns time is running out to prevent catastrophic climate change Business Green Large numbers of climate scientists are concerned that temperature increases of above 2°C could trigger runaway climate change whereby natural carbon sinks such as permafrost and the Amazon Rainforest start to release greenhouse gas emissions. Global emissions hit record levels |
Deal with climate reality as it unfolds - Financial Post
Deal with climate reality as it unfolds Financial Post By Bob Carter Over the last 18 months, policymakers in Canada, the US and Japan have quietly abandoned the illusory goal of preventing global warming by reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Instead, an alternative view has emerged regarding the most ... |
Cizmic Change - Huffington Post
Cizmic Change Huffington Post Cizik was one of 300 signatories to the call to action by the Evangelical Climate Initiative (ECI). The ECI is composed of senior level evangelicals who firmly believe in the United States' role in preventing global climate change. |
We shouldn't fret about the carbon footprint of Will.i.am's helicopter - The Guardian (blog)
We shouldn't fret about the carbon footprint of Will.i.am's helicopter The Guardian (blog) Which gives me an opportunity to explain why nagging people about their carbon footprint, or worrying about your own, is essentially irrelevant to the issue of climate change. Worse, guilt-tripping individuals provides a handy distraction from our ... |
Minnesota moose decline linked to climate change - GlobalPost
Minnesota moose decline linked to climate change GlobalPost Researchers are linking northern Minnesota's rapidly declining moose population with climate change, and preventing the iconic animal's extinction may prove exceptionally difficult. (PATRIK STOLLARZ/AFP/Getty Images) Researchers are linking northern ... |