| Global Warming | ||||
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An Introduction: According to the National Academy of Sciences, the Earth’s surface temperature has risen by about 1 degree Fahrenheit in the past century, with accelerated warming during the past two decades. There is new and stronger evidence that most of the warming over the last 50 years is attributable to human activities. Human activities have altered the chemical composition of the atmosphere through the buildup of greenhouse gases – primarily carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. The heat-trapping property of these gases is undisputed although uncertainties exist about exactly how earth’s climate responds to them. Go to the Emissions section for much more on greenhouse gases. Our Changing Atmosphere: Energy from the sun drives the earth’s weather and climate, and heats the earth’s surface; in turn, the earth radiates energy back into space. Atmospheric greenhouse gases (water vapor, carbon dioxide, and other gases) trap some of the outgoing energy, retaining heat somewhat like the glass panels of a greenhouse. Without this natural “greenhouse effect,” temperatures would be much lower than they are now, and life as known today would not be possible. Instead, thanks to greenhouse gases, the earth’s average temperature is a more hospitable 60°F. However, problems may arise when the atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases increases. |
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| Environmental Concerns | ||||
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Human population is still growing fiercely. At the turn of the century we reached 6 Billion in number. Where will the energy come from if we continue to double the earth’s population every 40 years? What about food, clean air, clean water, enough lumber and forests too? How can we possibly address the rapid growth of our population? Solar electricity is a good answer to start, at least to buy a little more time in which we must discover how to live well with available sustainable resources, and with each other. There are opportunities to choose solar power other than remote living where it is the only available source of power. Increasingly, people are conscious of environmental concerns related to our society’s energy use. It is now possible to live comfortably and still choose natural and clean sources of energy rather than oil, coal, or nuclear sources. Many of our customers are people who choose to demonstrate this with their lives and their homes, even if it costs a little more, and even where utility lines are easily available. Backwoods solar applauds the service these folks are providing in pioneering cleaner technology and educating our society. Many states now provide financial incentives, rebates, or low interest loans to encourage use of renewable energy where it would otherwise not be competitive with utility power. |
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| Hotlinks to Additional Climate Impact Internet Resources: | ||||
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