To: President Obama, President USA, everyone, President Donald Trump, The United States House of Representatives, and The United States Senate
Creeping Climate Change
I have recently started to study Climate Change (Global Warming). What I discovered shocked me. If you are in a crowded theater and discover a fire, you need to ring that alarm. That is what this petition is about.
The bottom line is that the excess CO2 in the atmosphere is slowly heating up the planet, and the amount of temperature change is equivalent to the change that occurred during the ice ages, but on the hot side. Think tropical swamps in the arctic in several hundred years from now.
The old arctic sea ice has melted. The summer arctic sea ice now retreats more and more. Greenland and Antarctica ice are melting rapidly. Average earth temperatures are above pre-industrial levels by about 0.8C ( 1.4F), and have a long way to go.
Start with basis physics: The only significant way heat is entering the earth, is from the sun. The only significant way heat is leaving the earth is by long wave heat radiation into space. It is because of this simple basic physics that "greenhouse gasses" can be identified and proven to be the mechanism for the earth as a whole being heated, or cooled. The most significant greenhouse is Carbon Dioxide (CO2). Science has measured the actual heat flow difference from greenhouse gasses.
During the ice ages, the average temperature was lower by 9C (14F), and the CO2 concentration was 190 ppm (parts per million). Between the ice ages, the average temperature was lower by 1C (1.5F), and the CO2 concentration was 270ppm. Now, the CO2 concentration is 400ppm and increasing 2ppm per year due to burning of fossil fuels. Simple arithmetic would indicate that the warming is headed for an extra 9C (16F) above today's temperature. It will take hundreds of years to get there.
Expect rising sea levels to cover coastal areas. Expect unexpected extreme weather. Expect droughts and floods. Expect food and water shortages due to the changes in weather. Expect some massive ice flow events. Expect the unexpected. This has never happened to the earth before.
The earth normally has a carbon flow balance. Plants absorb CO2 from the atmosphere when they grow. They release CO2 to the atmosphere when they decay. A slow flow of CO2 into the earth and oceans also occurs. But, the earth is not able to quickly absorb the massive extra fossil CO2 quickly. It could take several thousand years. The extra CO2 absorbed into the oceans makes them acidic and kills ocean life.
Every time you burn a tank of gas, use fossil fuel generated electricity, or heat your home with natural gas, you release CO2 into the atmosphere, that increases the eventual temperature the earth will head to. It is like getting taxed for thousand years for burning the fuel, or getting punished for thousands of years for burning fossil fuels. Not only does the use of fossil fuels need to be stopped, but also, the excess CO2 in the atmosphere needs to be removed, put into an inert solid or liquid form, and stored underground. The use of fossil fuels was a big mistake!
We can all take some remedial action to reduce the increase of CO2 into the atmosphere. Things like, improving your home or work insulation, installing solar PV, using an electric vehicle, informing and encouraging others to reduce their use of fossil fuels (coal, natural gas, gasoline/diesel, encouraging government and business to their part, or increasing the amount of living vegetation on a permanent basis.
Big technical obstacles need to be overcome to replace gasoline for transportation, and to find out how to remove CO2 from the atmosphere and turn it into a form that can be stored back underground.
On the web, you will find conflicting information about climate change. In seeking the truth, I found it necessary to consider the source. If it was from someone with a name, or a university, or NASA, or NOAA, I tend to believe them. If it is from someone hiding behind a pseudo name, I tend to question them. I am not a climate scientists. But, I believe that I am reporting the scientific opinion here. Please verify for yourself.
This is very shocking news that requires a huge change in our energy sources. I'm truly sorry to inform you. I believe that the hardship of adapting soon will be much less than the hardship of adapting later, as the temperature will be higher, the CO2 that needs to be removed will be greater, and the disruption from the rising temperature will be greater.
Thank You for your attention.
The bottom line is that the excess CO2 in the atmosphere is slowly heating up the planet, and the amount of temperature change is equivalent to the change that occurred during the ice ages, but on the hot side. Think tropical swamps in the arctic in several hundred years from now.
The old arctic sea ice has melted. The summer arctic sea ice now retreats more and more. Greenland and Antarctica ice are melting rapidly. Average earth temperatures are above pre-industrial levels by about 0.8C ( 1.4F), and have a long way to go.
Start with basis physics: The only significant way heat is entering the earth, is from the sun. The only significant way heat is leaving the earth is by long wave heat radiation into space. It is because of this simple basic physics that "greenhouse gasses" can be identified and proven to be the mechanism for the earth as a whole being heated, or cooled. The most significant greenhouse is Carbon Dioxide (CO2). Science has measured the actual heat flow difference from greenhouse gasses.
During the ice ages, the average temperature was lower by 9C (14F), and the CO2 concentration was 190 ppm (parts per million). Between the ice ages, the average temperature was lower by 1C (1.5F), and the CO2 concentration was 270ppm. Now, the CO2 concentration is 400ppm and increasing 2ppm per year due to burning of fossil fuels. Simple arithmetic would indicate that the warming is headed for an extra 9C (16F) above today's temperature. It will take hundreds of years to get there.
Expect rising sea levels to cover coastal areas. Expect unexpected extreme weather. Expect droughts and floods. Expect food and water shortages due to the changes in weather. Expect some massive ice flow events. Expect the unexpected. This has never happened to the earth before.
The earth normally has a carbon flow balance. Plants absorb CO2 from the atmosphere when they grow. They release CO2 to the atmosphere when they decay. A slow flow of CO2 into the earth and oceans also occurs. But, the earth is not able to quickly absorb the massive extra fossil CO2 quickly. It could take several thousand years. The extra CO2 absorbed into the oceans makes them acidic and kills ocean life.
Every time you burn a tank of gas, use fossil fuel generated electricity, or heat your home with natural gas, you release CO2 into the atmosphere, that increases the eventual temperature the earth will head to. It is like getting taxed for thousand years for burning the fuel, or getting punished for thousands of years for burning fossil fuels. Not only does the use of fossil fuels need to be stopped, but also, the excess CO2 in the atmosphere needs to be removed, put into an inert solid or liquid form, and stored underground. The use of fossil fuels was a big mistake!
We can all take some remedial action to reduce the increase of CO2 into the atmosphere. Things like, improving your home or work insulation, installing solar PV, using an electric vehicle, informing and encouraging others to reduce their use of fossil fuels (coal, natural gas, gasoline/diesel, encouraging government and business to their part, or increasing the amount of living vegetation on a permanent basis.
Big technical obstacles need to be overcome to replace gasoline for transportation, and to find out how to remove CO2 from the atmosphere and turn it into a form that can be stored back underground.
On the web, you will find conflicting information about climate change. In seeking the truth, I found it necessary to consider the source. If it was from someone with a name, or a university, or NASA, or NOAA, I tend to believe them. If it is from someone hiding behind a pseudo name, I tend to question them. I am not a climate scientists. But, I believe that I am reporting the scientific opinion here. Please verify for yourself.
This is very shocking news that requires a huge change in our energy sources. I'm truly sorry to inform you. I believe that the hardship of adapting soon will be much less than the hardship of adapting later, as the temperature will be higher, the CO2 that needs to be removed will be greater, and the disruption from the rising temperature will be greater.
Thank You for your attention.
Why is this important?
Climate Change is a VERY important issue that everyone needs to know about.