Global Warming; The Current State of Affairs (pt. 3 of 4)

Sunday, May 24, 2009 / Posted by Kevin O'Rourke / comments (0)

The last two posts have attempted to lay the foundation of the scientific study and "debate" of global warming, while this post will focus on the state of the planet as it is today. This post will break down the current state of affairs on the planet into two main sections. First, a discussion on the current levels of CO2 in the atmosphere and the source of the major contributors to the problem. Second, the effects that the increase has already caused and how close are we to the "dam" breaking and semi-permanent catastrophic change occurring. The goal of this part of the series is to provide insight into the reasons why global action is already being taken and why these efforts need to be accelerated if the world is going to be able to mitigate the most severe effects that will inevitably occur if we simply maintain a "business as usual" attitude.

What We Are Emitting Today

According to the latest report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), as of March 2009, carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere is at a concentration of 387 ppm by volume. Currently it is increasing at a rate of about 2 ppm every year, however, this rate has been gradually increasing as China and India are scrambling to power their emerging economies with the cheapest (and consequently dirtiest) power sources possible. As of 2006 the U.S. and China are the two countries producing the most greenhouse gases, accounting for nearly half of the worlds total CO2 emissions.


To narrow the focus to our own country, in the U.S. as of 2006, the main source of our CO2 emissions were from our electricity generation and our transportation, as the chart below shows.




As the chart above shows, basically all of our energy used for transportation comes from oil, which is a major problem in its own right, due to the complexities of peak oil, which will be discussed in the next series of posts. The chart below shows that the overwhelming majority of our electricity production comes from our coal plants, which unfortunately emit the most greenhouse gas of any form of electricity production, but since they are currently the cheapest way to produce energy, they subsequently dominate our electricity market.




This is a result of coal still being fairly abundant and the health risks that are associated with its extraction, transportation, storage and burning not being factored into the cost of construction of the plants or their continued operation. These costs are considered "externalities", and although they are very important in determining the true cost of our energy choices, they have yet to be factored into the operation of these plants. This is due to the fact that quantifying these costs is such a complex issue that has to account for so many different factors, that it is has thus far been impossible to find experts that can put an accurate dollar figure on the long term health care costs that our country will incur from pursuing the cheapest short term energy option. However, currently there is pending legislation in the form of the Waxman-Markey bill that is proposing a "cap and trade" system on greenhouse gas emissions. This bill along with other proposed solutions will be discussed in more detail in the next post, but in brief, it has been hotly debated thus far as to how effective it will be in addressing climate change.

Current Effects of Global Warming

Already we are seeing rising sea levels, glacier retreat, shrinkage of the Arctic circles and negative impacts on agriculture. Of these problems, perhaps the most immediate and most severe impacts have come in the form of glacier retreat and rising sea levels.

Many of the world's glaciers are melting at unprecendented rates, causing flooding and eventually will lead to freshwater shortages as glaciers are responsible for 70% of all the freshwater sources on the planet.


In many parts of the world glaciers are the only source of fresh water supply throughout the year. In the dry season in China and India the Gangotri Glacier in the Himalaya Mountains feeds the Ganges, Yellow and Yangtze Rivers which in turn supplies 100's of millions of people with fresh water to be used as irrigation water for their rice and wheat crops. China and India together produce more than half the world's wheat and rice, and the three river basins supply much of it. A major disruption in the water supply for this region would have a major effect on food prices around the world.

Sea level rise, another potentially damaging effect of global warming, is an issue that will be on the immediate horizon if nothing is changed. In a climate conference in Copenhagen this past March, scientists warn that if CO2 emissions continue to rise unabated, that by 2100, sea levels would rise about 3 feet and would completely submerge islands such as the Maldives, the Sunderbans in the Bay of Bengal, and Kiribati and Tuvalu in the Pacific. The US, with roughly 12,400 miles of coastline and more than 19,900 square miles of coastal wetlands, would face a bill of hundreds of billions of dollars to protect this land. Additionally, rising oceans will also contaminate both surface and underground fresh water supplies, worsening the world's existing fresh-water shortage. Underground water sources in Thailand, Israel, China and Vietnam are already experiencing salt-water contamination.


Where We Are Headed

Blomstrandbreen Glacier, Norway, March 1928 v. March 2002

Due to the complexity of the issue, with the consequences of the continuing increase in CO2 levels unknown, it is often hypothesized that there is a "tipping point" where the earth cannot handle and process (via trees recycling CO2 and oceans storing it) the CO2 in the atmosphere and the planet will simply start to shut down, and rather than trees and oceans being carbon "sinks" that hold CO2, they will begin releasing more than normal and will begin to accelerate temperature rise regardless of whether or not we continue to increase our CO2 emissions. This is the scenario on the "doomsday" end of the spectrum, and although it does not seem likely, it is unfortunately firmly in the realm of possibilities. While no one can say for sure where these type of effects would start occurring, the current number that scientists and politicians are generally looking towards as a line not to cross, is an atmosphere concentration of over 450 ppm (which would cause a worldwide temperature increase of about 2 degrees). In order to do this, a recent study estimated that humans would need to cut their greenhouse gas emissions to 30-50% of 1990 levels by 2050.

It is at this point that drastic effects such as ocean acidification, further desertification as the tropic lines expand and more severe tropical storms (an increase in ocean temperatures in theory would cause more powerful hurricanes), are hypothesized to occur.

So, to extrapolate the current data, even if there is no growth in CO2 emissions (which would mean no economic growth for the next 30 years, which would be counter to the last few hundred years of human existence), we will reach the 450 ppm number within 30 years. However, I do at this point need to again bring up the issue of peak oil. It is an issue that most global warming studies are not considering in regards to the projected outcomes of our fossil fuel consumption, but it is a huge corollary problem and is intrinsically related to the issue and subsequently will be the subject of my next series of posts. To summarize the concept as briefly as possible, there is a finite amount of oil in the earth; we have already extracted the "easiest" reserves to reach, and the remaining reserves will get increasingly costly to extract while the demand from developing third world countries as their populations continue to boom and they chase the western ideal of capitalist success ratchet up their demand for oil. Oil is literally the lifeline that powers the world economy, so much so that it has recently been suggested that oil (or energy) replace the U.S. dollar as the main form of exchange on the world markets.

Regardless of whether or not this takes effect, the reality is simple, the world has either reached peak production of oil or will do so in the next few years. This is a fact not in debate. Therefore, there will not be as much CO2 released into the atmosphere from emissions from cars and machinery over the next decade or so as increase in demand with the diminishing supply will cause prices to continue to rise. This issue will undoubtedly cause economic and social disruption as well, as the world is simply not currently set up to smoothly transition from an oil based economy to renewable energy sources. The bright side of this is however, that it is very unlikely that we will continue rising the CO2 levels in the atmosphere at the same rate, is it will be likely be financially impossible to consume as much oil and thus produce CO2 at the same rate (unless in switching to electric cars or hybrids we continue to produce the majority of our electricity from fossil fuel). So although it is likely that CO2 emissions will either remain constant or rise in the near future, fortunately the constraints of the planet (ie. there simply will not be enough fuel to burn) will eventually limit the increase. Hopefully this will occur before we get too close to planetary shutdown, as thus far the political response has been slow and not very encouraging, especially in the U.S.. Due to this reality, I am not particularly worried about the most severe catastrophic effects of global warming, as it looks like it will not even be feasible to continue releasing CO2 at the same rates as we were previously. However, this does not mean we can delay the transition of our economy and the structure of our society towards renewable power any longer, as oil shortages will severely effect this country sooner or later and the less reliant we are on oil as a transportation method the better off we will be.

To summarize, it is granted that nothing on this planet is static; global climate conditions can and do change as a result of natural processes that are out of our control. However, in this case, in our lifetimes, we are rapidly changing the planet's climate at an unprecedented rate and although these changes will certainly lead to innovation, migration, and transformation of how the world is organized, as with any large scale change in climate conditions, it is best if we either slow or mitigate these changes as much as possible to avoid economic and social unrest in the areas most directly affected. Water shortages and scarcity can and will lead to armed conflict if it is not dealt with proactively, as today we are already beginning to see the world degrade into energy driven warfare (ie. our current occupation of Iraq, which gives our country and corporations access to the worlds 4th largest oil reserves).

As I have stated before, there are already solutions to these problems, with new ideas and innovations emerging on a daily basis. This is an exciting yet frustrating time to be alive, as the answers to these major problems are available, but they will only happen if somehow the average citizen wakes up to these issues before they actually start affecting our day to day lives. Politicians are generally only as good as those that are pressuring/financing them and we currently live in a world where corporate interests are dominating the coffers, and thus the control of political decisions. An unengaged, uneducated population will remain at the whims of these interests unless they do something to mobilize, make their voices and opinions heard and literally force politicians to do things in their long term best interests rather than for corporate short term profits. The next and final post in this series will discuss some of the energy solutions already available that show promise and how you can get involved to make your voice heard, actually using the benefits of living in a democracy where it is still possible to make a difference if you want it enough.

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