Alternative Energy Sources

Around the globe people are causing major damage to the planet’s environment and it is about time that we take initiative to stop all these activities before it’s too late because the results can be unbelievable. Common misconception is that global warming is a thing which could happen in the future, but the real fact is that is already in the motion. Its destructive power can be observed around us. Due to its terrible consequences it is advisable to look for alternative energy solutions. The best way to combat this issue of global warming is to look for alternative energy sources and utilize them. Increased greenhouse gas emission and increased levels of carbon dioxide have depleted the ozone layer.

Through different research it has been confirmed that the changes in the level of these gases is due to human activities. 52% of greenhouse gases come from oil and gas while coal contributes 44% of these emissions. Our forests are the major carbon dioxide filters and they are being eradicated. De-forestation has led to increase in global warming as these natural carbon dioxide filters help keep our environment clean and healthy to breathe. High demand of the products from wood has led to de-forestation in which billions of trees are being brought down making our environment to suffer. There was observed an increase of 100% of greenhouse gases (GHG) during the period of 2000-2004 in all established nations. Experts believe that this figure will rise to 110% by 2010 and this will result in energy crisis in 2020. Emission of greenhouse gases (GHG) means an increase in the usage of the energy. So the objective of the modern world is to look for energy source which produces fewer amounts of greenhouse gases (GHG) and be efficient as well.

The results of global warming are inevitable and they are all negative for the human being. The average surface temperature of the planet keeps rising and has increased to five percent over the course of 10 years. Though the figure of five doesn’t seem so big, but its impact is disruptive to the Earth’s ecosystem. Increased temperature has caused the polar ice caps to melt causing the sea levels to rise by an inch. Continual rise in temperature will result in flooded coastal areas. Small countries like Maldives have already started to raise their voices about this issue as the sea level rises. Extreme weather has also played an important role in disruption of eco-system. More frequent wild fires, stronger winds, extreme warm heat waves and more floods all these have disrupted the eco-system. The need of the hour is to realize the harm our activities can cause to our planet. So to find alternative energy source is to minimize the greenhouse gases (GHG) and thus lower the pollution making our planet a greener place to live in.

Global Warming

Increasing human activities on the planet earth have raised issues like increased carbon emission and global warming. For the past few decades due to industrial development our atmosphere has absorbed in it huge amounts of greenhouse gases. Most developed and developing countries use resources like coal, natural gases and various oils to generate electricity to meet the demands of their growing economy. Now that these activities have increased tremendously leader throughout the world are now considering alternative sources to generate electricity to feed their ever growing demand. Countries like China and different developing countries are considered to be the big contributors in contaminating the environment.

There have been a number of conferences, meetings and seminars as an effort to realize its importance. As an effort to realize what its consequences are going to be were considered in many conferences which were attended by world leaders. Most recent one was in the Danish capital Copenhagen in December 2009 where leaders from around the globe joined together to share their initiatives for controlling emission of greenhouse gases (GHG). As discussed earlier, to every nation its economic growth is more important than anything else. The Copenhagen climate change conference in Copenhagen ended in failure with low targets and dropped goals. President of the United States of America Barack Obama stated that the world had come a long way, but they still have much further to go. Even the previous US government had given an impression that they will not sign up any deal that will hinder domestic economic growth. Furthermore, it was mentioned that the US will not sign up until growing economies like China are also beholden to the deal in the exact same way. The new US government had objectives which weren’t much different from the previous government. There have been a number of conferences earlier to discuss this issue. The record of all these efforts has not been that good. The Kyoto agreement in 1997 was one of those efforts. The Kyoto Protocol in Japan where leaders form 200 countries gathered stated that there will be a limit for every nation to emit greenhouse gases (GHG). Quite awkward things happened in Kyoto agreement in which Australia was allowed to increase emission while the EU agreed on lowering emission in 1990 to 8%. Kyoto expires in 2012 so an agreement was necessary because new agreement take a lot of time to be implemented.

Greenhouse gases have been a concern of the world for many decades now. A lot has been done, but it is just not enough to save our dying planet. From educational institutions to government offices there have been a great awareness about this matter. The need of the hour is that we start doing our part to save our planet and realize this fact that we have to leave this planet healthy for our generations.