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In this world of high consumption, all nations depend upon heavy, toxic energy for electrical energy and other kinds of energy. Coal, oil, fossil fuels and gas are highly toxic forms of energy that we all are using. These are derived from underground finite resources that could with time diminish. On the other hand they are also not renewable, plus they are damaging our planet at an alarming rate.

It is because the Earth is facing severe global warming due to these substances that scientists are now looking for alternatives to these forms of energy. There are three main natural, infinite source of energy that has emerged. The sun’s powerful energy known as SOLAR ENERGY, the Earth’s internal heat known as GEOTHERMAL ENERGY and finally the power generated from the mighty seas and oceans of the earth known as TIDAL/OCEAN ENERGY. We will discuss and elaborate of these briefly.

Solar Energy

Solar Energy doesn’t need much of an introduction as everyone by now probably knows what is is and what are its excellent usage benefits. However what most people would not be knowing is that solar energy is used to derive another energy known as wind energy. This energy is captured with wind turbines and the water is evaporated through the heat of the sun. When the water is evaporated it turns into rain and this water is stored for use or for hydroelectric  power ( power gained from water).

When this water flows downhill it causes organic matters to grow under sunlight and the energy stored in these plants are known as bio energy. Bio energy when extracted can be used to produce electricity, transportation fuel etc. So with one single power of the sun, many other renewable energies are derived, which could make our Earth a more beautiful place to live in.

Geothermal Energy

One latest advancement in renewable energy is that of geothermal energy; the energy derived from the internal heat of the Earth. This energy is clean, sustainable, infinite and ofcourse renewable. The Earth’s surface maintains a constant temperature between 50° and 60°F (10° and 16°C). Geothermal devices are tapped into the surface to extract this energy and used with other systems, the energy can be used to heat or cool buildings. In winter the heat that is pumped removes heat from the heat exchanger and pumps it into the indoor air delivery system, for summer the process is reversed and the heat pump moves heat from the indoor air into the heat exchanger. Wells are drilled into underground reservoirs for the generation of electricity. This being the case, geothermal energy is another area that needs to be probed into and use on a large scale basis.

Ocean Energy

The ocean covers more than 70% of the Earth’s surface and being directly exposed to the sun, they are also the most efficient solar collectors. The sun’s heat warms the surface of the water and in this way the waves could be used to trap in solar energy. There are three systems of ocean energy, which includes closed-cycle, open-cycle and hybrid. Closed cycle systems use the ocean’s warm surface water to vaporize a working fluid. The vapor from that working fluid which has a low boiling point is used to turn a turbine. The turbine in turn activates a generator to produce electricity.  Open cycle systems boil seawater at low temperatures and this produces a steam that passes through a turbine, which is again used to produce electricity. Finally a hybrid system is a combination of both the closed and open cycle systems.

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“Now I don’t mean to brag…but I’m hot. And the more of me in your atmosphere, the warmer your earth will get…” – CO₂

This morning, I had the unprecedented pleasure of sitting down with the most famous chemical compound in the world. This game-changer is not only invisible to the naked eye but also omnipresent in our atmosphere. He’s a tree’s best friend. We breath him in. We breath him out. You know him best by his nickname, CO₂. I’m alluding to that unrivaled warmer of globes that never seems to stop multiplying, Carbon Dioxide.

– — –

Me: Hello, Mr. Dioxide, it’s an honor to host such a prestigious guest. First, the question that’s on everyone’s mind. Given that I exhale you with every breath, do you know what I’m going to say before I–

CO₂: Yes.

Me: Okay. That ought to make this easier. Records show that you now fill up 391 parts-per-million in our atmosphere, adjusted for seasonal shifts, and you keep on growing. How do you accomplish this astonishing growth?

CO₂: Well, I’m born of a my-two-moms kind of situation, formed when two oxygen atoms mate with a single carbon. We call it covalent bonding. And we do it like rabbits, faster than any rabbit could dream, actually. So many things turn us on — any and all plant life, respiration, oh, and burning fossil fuels like oil and coal are a few examples.

Me: Ah yes, that’s where we humans really come into the equation. I mean beyond natural processes.

CO₂: Indeed, you people are obsessed with me and mine. Not only do we carbonate your soft drinks, make Pop Rocks possible, work with yeast to make bread rise, facilitate pneumatic tools, decaffeinate coffee, help create plastics, make lasers, refrigerate food and make the best Beaujolais wine, among other skills, but humans love to burn fossil fuels so much that now we’re taking over the atmosphere!

Me: And you’re not happy with that?

CO₂: It’s not that I don’t enjoy multiplying. I mean it’s what I do…Hell, I don’t even think about it anymore it’s become so routine. But at the same time I understand my place in the natural world — the necessary balance that must be maintained even as days, weeks, seasons and ages of the Earth change and fluctuate. When humans introduced industry, then powered it by combustion of coal and petroleum and started throwing things out of balance. Remember, as much as I might have my wishes and desires, I’m not the one in control. Fewer trees and more burning equals more me, good ol’ CO₂, but too much of me is bad for you.

Me: How’s that?

CO₂: Tsk tsk. You should know this by now. Those people you call “greenies” have been screaming it for decades.

Now I don’t mean to brag…but I’m hot. And the more of me in your atmosphere, the warmer your Earth will get, as it already is. If my overabundance isn’t creating it, it sure is accelerating a climate change that could hurt the human race and the natural world in general. When the climate balance — I’ve heard some of you romantically call it the Rhythms of the Earth — is thrown off even a little bit, catastrophic events ensue, some of which your people may already be witnessing with the extra violent tsunamis, earthquakes and hurricanes of recent years. Although, even Natural Order enjoys a little song and dance from time to time if you know what I mean.

Me: Uh-huh. So how much is too much of you, my friend?

CO₂: Well, as you mentioned, we are up to about 390 parts-per-million, way higher than you want us to be and honestly, higher than we should be. In 2009, says your Earth System Research Laboratory, we the CO₂ increased by 2 ppm. That’s up a bit from the previous year but fairly average over the last 30 years or so. The problem is your scientists are saying the we need to fall back to 350 ppm or less in order to avoid the worst repercussions of climate change. By the way, that would help me out a lot, too. You may not be able to see me, but believe me when I say that it’s getting crowded up here. I can barely hear you there’s so much CO₂ buzzing about around me.

Me: Here, let me turn my mic up.

CO₂: Oh, don’t do that. I’ll be fine. Besides, it would just use more energy and, from what I understand, you people need to use a lot less. I have noticed that you’re using more renewable energy like solar power, wind power and such. That’s good. You need to keep that up. In fact, go faster! Understand that you can combat Global Warming with the very ball in the sky that’s warming the globe.

Me: What about those who say that the whole Climate Change/Global Warming thing is just a liberal conspiracy, a long line of BS designed to curtail the global economy, make everybody pay more for everything, and institute government control over the people?

CO₂: Ha! Some of those people are seriously funny, if you know what I mean. Look, I’ve been around since before there was life on this planet. I’ve seen you evolve from the Little-Fish-That-Could who crawled up out of the ocean and started the whole damn roller coaster. The fact of the matter is that there have always been detractors of any sort of change, especially among humans.

Once upon a time, people killed or excommunicated people so they wouldn’t have to accept that the Earth was round. Hell, some of you humans still can’t accept that different-looking humans are even humans at all!

So, I’m not surprised by a certain reluctance to accept evidence as it presents itself. And let’s not forget the deep pockets and tall piles of money invested in the old way of making energy (and more money). You people never seem too keen on taking a pay cut.

Me: A very good point. Anything else you’d like to add before I let you get back to your smokestack?

CO₂: Just remember what I told you about finding other ways to make and use energy. Don’t drive, ride. Don’t burn fuels, collect renewable energy. And get your kids to turn the light off when they leave the room! We CO₂s, we’re very uniform, which is nice. You humans are all over the place; everybody is different yet the same. It’s strange….but I digress. In summation, reduce, reuse, recycle and all that jazz. You know what to do…and for goodness sake, tell your politicians to take those paper bags off their heads. There’s a lot of CO₂ in there! It makes you sleepy, and now, more than ever, humans need to wake up.

– — –

With that, I let Mr. Dioxide get back to his covalent bonding over a factory somewhere in our heartland. Let me just reiterate what a pleasure it was to talk to the compound behind climate change. Perhaps I’ll be able to land some of his cohorts in the Greenhouse Gas coalition, including his cousins Nitrous Oxide, Methane (the Madonna of GHGs, I hear), and the CFC family. Stay tuned.

Special thanks to Joe Mohr and his environmental editorial cartoons for the inspiration: CO2 Isn’t Good for You…It’s GREAT!!!

Photo Credit: Top News & Calvin Cycle

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The overall global climate change has finally convinced everyone that climate change is for real, has begun, and is mostly due to human activities.

According to experts, the effects of global warming are extremely hazardous and extensive. Most of the times, these consequences are only thought of as threats to polar bears, exotic wildlife, and beautiful glaciers. But it is important to understand that climate change threatens more than just the animals and natural landscapes. It can also cause harm to human health and pose serious problems.

In order to understand the effects of global warming, we must first understand how global warming works. We all know that sunshine warms the earth. But when the sun’s radiations enter the atmosphere, a part of the radiations are bounced back into space, and another portion is absorbed by clouds and water vapors, but the majority strikes the planet’s surface.

This solar energy keeps the earth warm, but it’s also reflected back into the atmosphere in the form of infrared radiation. While some of the infrared goes through the atmosphere into space, some of it bounces off the atmospheric gases and comes back to earth, where it adds more warmth, becoming trapped in between the earth and the atmosphere.

The atmospheric gases that reflect back the infrared radiations to earth are known as greenhouse gases. Greenhouse effect is essential for the survival of living beings on Earth as without this, too much solar energy would be lost, and the earth would be too cold for any living organism to survive.

But due to the industrial revolution, the level of atmospheric greenhouse gases has increased greatly, and the increase has risen over the past 50 years. This means that far more infrared radiations are reflected back to earth, where they produce global warming. According to scientists, the earth’s temperature has increased by 0.6°C during the 20th century, which can possible rise by as much as 4.4°C during this century.

Technorati Tags: Global,climate,earth,energy,radiation,greenhouse,temperature

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Earth Day is celebrated on two different dates in a year. The celebrations are carried out with great enthusiasm worldwide on both dates. The Earth Day was first time celebrated on April 22, 1970. Senator Gaylord started the celebration of Earth Day and he raised the awareness among people to take the responsibility of earth and life on earth. On 20^th March, 1978, McConnell started celebrations of Earth Day nearly with the time of vernal equinox. Earth Day is celebrated with great keenness and unanimous passion simultaneously in all parts of the world on the same day. People having different backgrounds, beliefs, nationals, and religions add their part in the universal celebrations of Earth day.

Every year, according to a careful estimate, there are approximately more than one and half billion individuals who take part in various Earth Day campaigns. When this movement of saving life on earth started in 1970 on April 22, nearly 20 million Americans took part in this movement to achieve the goal of a hygienic and sustainable environment.

Since then, various groups who have a common goal of saving earth and environment have been fighting against polluting power plants, factories, toxic litter, oil spills, wilderness loss and endangered wildlife. These campaigns have grown with the passage of time and holds great importance in the current time. Several new concerns have evolved from the previous ones; these include global warming and clean energy.

Some of the fundamental goals of these Earth Day campaigns are as follows:

-         To make this world a carbon free planet that will base on renewable energy instead of depending on fossil fuels (such as coal).

-         To raise the individual’s responsibility in order to achieve a sustainable environment.

-         To bring Green Revolution in everyone’s life. By the deployment of green economy, poverty will no longer exist and green jobs will serve people.

We have the power to keep our cities, towns, states, villages, and countries clean and to save the environment from pollution. We should teach our children to give earth the respect, this is because still there are many people or groups of people who are reluctant to these serious issues and disregard campaigns such as “Keep America Beautiful”. These people throw trash on road, lakes or in streams, therefore polluting the environment deliberately. We should also keep a close focus on the health and safety of those who are doing the job of cleaning polluted stuff from the earth.

Are you playing your role to keep your earth green?

We can play our part to save earth from ultimate and extreme conditions. There are very little things that we can adopt to keep our earth clean, preserve the beauty of earth, and revitalize the endangered wild life. It’s up to you, whether you prefer to celebrate Earth Day in March or in April, and your ultimate goal should be playing role in saving the earth and preserving its beauty.

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Our Earth receives 174 petawatts (PW) of solar radiations at the upper atmosphere, out of which almost 30% is reflected back to space whereas the rest is absorbed by clouds, oceans and land masses.

The Earth’s land surface, oceans and atmosphere that absorb solar radiation, raises their temperature. This causes warm air that contains evaporated water from the oceans to rise, causing atmospheric circulation or convection.

The water cycle gets completed when the air reaches a high altitude, where low temperature prevails, and the water vapor condenses into clouds, which rain onto the Earth’s surface.

The energy from the sun which is absorbed by the oceans and land masses helps to keep the surface temperature at an average of 14 °C. This energy is used by green plants to carry out photosynthesis, which produces food, wood and the biomass from which fossil fuels are derived.

Solar energy has been consumed by humans since ancient times using a number of ever-changing technologies. Together with other secondary solar resources such as wind and wave power, hydroelectricity and biomass, these energy account for most of the available renewable energy on Earth. However, currently, only a minute fraction of the available solar energy is used.

Solar power technologies provide electric energy by means of heat engines or photovoltaics. Some of the commonly used solar applications include space heating and cooling through solar architecture, potable water via distillation and disinfection, daylighting, hot water, thermal energy for cooking, and high temperature process heat for industrial purposes.

It is possible to characterize solar technologies as either passive or active, depending on the way they capture, convert and distribute sunlight. Active solar techniques include use of photovoltaic panels, pumps, and fans to convert sunlight into useful outputs, whereas passive solar techniques include selecting materials with favorable thermal properties, designing spaces that naturally circulate air, and referencing the position of a building to the Sun.

The total solar energy absorbed by Earth’s atmosphere in a year by the oceans and land masses is around 3,850,000 exajoules (EJ). Out of this, photosynthesis captures about 3,000 EJ per year in biomass.

The total amount of solar energy that reaches the earth’s surface is so enormous that in one year, it accumulates about twice as much as the amount that will ever be obtained from all of the Earth’s non-renewable resources combined of coal, oil, natural gas, and mined uranium combined.

Technorati Tags: Solar,Energy,atmosphere,temperature,plants,fossil,coal,panels,biomass,

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There are multiple effects of global warming, some which we do see today, and some that will appear more with the passage of time. Earlier in a post, I explained the various factors that lead to global warming, and its causes. Today, I will be discussing the consequences of global warming and its effects.

Global warming has led to the recent changes in the earth’s temperature and the sea levels. Although there is strong evidence that suggests that our planet is warming, but it is very difficult to identify a single cause of this.

As the Earth’s average annual temperature rises, we may see its various effects in different areas. One of its main consequences could be the rising sea levels. It could lead to many towns and cities that lie below sea level to become victim to flooding leading to loss of life and serious economical impacts.

The main reason behind the rising sea levels can be climate change due to the melting of Arctic sea ice and glacial retreat. This also poses a threat to the survival of some animal species such as the polar bear, that survive on the Arctic.

Rising sea levels can also be dangerous for agriculture and could be a cause of possible future world food shortages.

Increasing temperatures can also lead to the spread of tropical diseases due to the migration of insects. Many governments across the world, who may not be ready for an event like this to occur, are worried about this now.

There have also been many wild weather conditions recently that have led some scientists to believe that their cause could be related to global warming. Solar energy basically empower the earth’s winds, and increasing levels of this solar energy trapped within the earth’s atmosphere could lead to stronger and more violent winds in the future, which can prove to be catastrophic.

Rising temperatures due to global warming can also lead to increased precipitation, causing widespread flooding, and serious economical impacts.

From the above effects, it is evident that global warming proves to be a big threat to the prosperity of our earth and thus we must take strong steps to counter it before it gets out of our hands.

Technorati Tags: Global,earth,temperature,climate,Arctic,species,agriculture,world,Solar,

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