Nothing Special

"When the life of people is unmoral, and their relations are not based on love, but on egoism, then all technical improvements, the increase of man's power over nature, steam, electricity, the telegraph, every machine, gunpowder, and dynamite, produce the impression of dangerous toys placed in the hands of children."—the diary of Leo Tolstoy (1828 - 1910)

"We know the science, we see the threat, and we know the time for action is now."
— Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA), commenting on global warming
Technology is turned out to be a very important part of our every day living. The technology which is according to many authors came from the personal experience and the details of the techniques on how to manipulate them was developed by humans. These skills and turned it into what it is to date over many generations. The progression of the technology is seen in almost every aspect of our daily life. Just as what I said (based on my answer in our first assignment) we are using the technology because of many reasons in fact too many to mention. Among these reasons are the following: it makes our life easier by helping us in accomplishing our daily activities faster and accurately. I have read several articles about the benefits of technology and come up this idea: that technology is the artificial enhancement of human power. It makes us stronger and smarter. Because of the computers and many other gadgets of today (Internet is the best example) we can have the information in just a single click. The information that can be used in many helpful ways is at the hand of many people. Aside from the fact that we are obviously having the advantages of the technology, there are many who believes that technology is of no use and consider technology telling that it only makes things worse. Since the technology is considered to be the biggest contributor to climate change the following information could help us address this global problem.

As long as there will be people, they said that there will still be humans. As I mentioned above, the technology made us stronger and smarter, on the other hand many authors and demented community is finding out that the technology has now the opposite effect. Many inventions has terrified and paralyzed its creators and the benefits of our machines have caused social confusion and economic stagnation. At this present time, the technology as a great challenge. A challenge that needs to be solved before it is too late - climate change. Climate change is considered to be the greatest social, economic and environmental threat of this century. The earth is heating up. Manifestations of this trend are: heat waves and periods of usually warm weather, ocean warming, sea-level rise and coastal flow flooding, glaciers melting, arctic and Antarctic warming. The large changes brought by the climate change will have a big effect on plant and animals. These are because of people who don’t mind how big and serious the damage if they will continue to cut down deforests.
“Climate change is one of the most complexes, multifaceted and serious threats the world faces. The response to this threat is fundamentally linked to pressing concerns of sustainable development and global fairness; of economy, poverty reduction and society; and of the world we want to hand down to our children.” - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Like our own body, the earth’s atmosphere cools and warms but there are certain gases in the atmosphere that can trap and hold the heat in the atmosphere and influence the temperature globally.
Global warming is the most recent political issue of the day, and it now becoming even more pressing over the coming years or more.
The root cause of climate change is the carbon dioxide. Because human discovered organic matters from dead plants and animals that transformed into oil, coal and natural gas, the industry becomes rapidly growing because of the power it brought to the industry. According to studies, combusted carbon dioxide from fossil fuel is said to be a “great” contributor of the warming effect. During the first civilization varies about one degree Celsius and is predicted to rise between two to 4 degrees over the next century. The transformation is continually rising over the past years because of various reasons. The social harm, economic and environmental problem posed a very big challenge to the technology since it is the primary reason for this problem.
“Global atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide have increased markedly as a result of human activities since 1750 and now far exceed pre-industrial values….”
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change; Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis: Summary for Policymakers), February 2007;www.ipcc.ch
Climate change has a very big impact globally. Losses from natural disasters are doubling every year and economic losses are estimated to reach about 1.5 billion. 2005 Conference of Scientific Experts (http://www.stabilisation2005.com/) said that the temperature increased may trigger the melting of the Greenland ice cap. Developing countries are likely to be the most affected which may lead to complication in problems relating to the reducing chances of access to drinking water, which will negatively affect the health of those that are living in poverty.
“The impacts of climate change are not evenly distributed – the poorest countries and people will suffer earliest and most. And if and when the damages appear it will be too late to reverse the process. Thus we are forced to look a long way ahead.”
Stern Review Report on the economics of climate change, HM Treasury, UK Government, 2006, www.hmtreasury.gov.uk
“The scientific evidence is now overwhelming: climate change presents very serious global risks, and it demands an urgent global response”
Stern Review Report on the economics of climate change, HM Treasury, UK Government.
“Human induced climate change – which results from increased ‘greenhouse’ gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere – is the greatest social, economic and environmental threat of this century. It’s a problem mankind has caused mainly through our rapid exploitation of fossil fuels, and it’s a problem we need to solve with our collective intelligence, creativity, and humanity.”

Climate in Earth is changing; this is according to scientific experts. Climate change is commonly known as global warming. There are many causes of global warming but the primary sources of this are vehicles, power plants, industrial processes and deforestation. The gases that are being emitted from the vehicles and other sources are being trap in the atmosphere. As these gases build up, you can think of this as a big blanket covering the Earth causing over-heating the planet and threatening our health, our economy and our environment. Also, burning of fossil fuels to power our homes create global warming pollution. Even us can tell and observe that the world is becoming hotter and hotter. Study shows that the world has now become warmer and warmer. This, according to research will continue if emissions of heat trapping gases continue to increase. The Earth’s ecosystem is at risk because the changing of the climate is changing the intensity and frequency of storms, droughts and fire, raising the level of the oceans and melting of the glaciers. Because of it, it is very frightening because human communities are at risk. There is much evidence that there are dangers posed by global warming.

According to the scientists, the major reduction of carbon dioxide emission is needed to calm down global warming and to soothe the economic, social and environmental system. This is the primary step to lessen the percentage of global warming but new studies found out that no matter how we control the emissions of green house gases, climate globally change inevitably due to the ocean’s slow response to warming. According to studies, even if we can minimize the present level of green house, the temperature and sea levels will continue rising in the coming century or more because of the delay response of the ocean to the atmospheric temperatures.
"The feeling is that if things are getting bad, you hit the stop button. But even if you do, the climate continues to change," says Gerald Meehl, a climatologist at the US National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado.
As I said and as all we know, the technology has opened us the door for many opportunities but we cannot deny that the result of changing the world are often complicated and unpredictable. They can include unexpected benefits, unexpected often complicated and unpredictable.
Though for me the technology and human will come to its end (and it is very near), we should at least help doing acts that can help in dealing and possibly get rid with the climate change problem. In my own little way, having this capacity as an IT student I can contribute to this great technology challenge by learning how to live back to the basic. What I mean is trying to minimize the use of technology that can cause a drastic change in climate. We should try to reduce using energy and personal emission of greenhouse gases. At home we can try frequently replacing light bulbs with fluorescent bulbs. Aside from the fact that it can last longer, we can also use less energy meaning less pollution. Another is by avoiding leaving the water running. It is always good to turn off the faucet when we are not actually using it. In other countries especially during winter season when most of the time they are using hot water. It is a big help if they should hand in hand cooperate in saving water to help reduce using energy. Soaping in bath, brushing your teeth, washing your hands or by doing some kitchen work like washing the dishes and many others. In our daily routine, we can actually help like taking a bath by doing shorter showers. Regularly cleaning air conditioner and other ventilating equipment every month or two not only maximize the system’s performance but also minimizes energy. Replacing old appliances like old refrigerators with newer energy sufficient models can also help reduce the carbon dioxide emissions. Locally buying produced food and merchandise, you can also help reduce carbon emission because the energy required to transport products can be lessen if more and more people will buy products within their community. Developing this kind of habit is good especially for future possible complications like food crisis and peak oil. By buying paper products that use recycled paper, the yearly percentage of carbon being emitted can also be cut because more virgin trees can be saved. Based on the studies, the third greatest contributor global warming emissions is the paper industry. Through recycling and good waste management, we can help a lot in saving the world. Reducing the garbage will also reduce the carbon dioxide emissions. Recycling is one of the best ways to join many advocacies that promotes recycling examples of these are reusing the plastic bags or paper bags. Let us support recycling by helping avoiding the use materials made from virgin materials. Let us recycle at home, at school and support programs related in recycling. I think we can use the energy that is available and harmless to the environment like using the wind power, solar energy, the energy from the oceans, combining heat and power, super-efficient homes, electric cars and many others. We can use the wind to produce energy but of course we know that it cannot blow constantly, we should to store the energy we generate for the future use. I have quoted from the site of grinningplanet.com (2008) the following information which I think is important global warning solutions: when cleaning around the yard, using reel-style mower is much preferred than power mower to reduce carbon dioxide emissions; using manual machines is good because aside that we are using it exerting less effort we can still have fun and at the same time exercise; planting trees and woody shrubs is another tip because they suck up carbon dioxide and also produce clean air to breath.

We could reduce the rate at which we add the carbon dioxide to the atmosphere by burning less coal, oil, and natural gas. We could adapt the ever changing temperature by changing agriculture and other human activities.

1. The two biggest sources of global warming problem are the cars and power plants. Today, more and more people are investing in transportation for them to reach their destination faster that is why, the emission of carbon dioxide a year increases vastly causing more pollution. The air pollution caused by the carbon dioxide emission from cars are collected in the atmosphere and is shut in heat from the sun causing the world to warm up. Many automobile companies are inventing more high tech vehicles for them to attract more customers and people making it difficult to cut the problem of air pollution. Also, since we are in the high tech era, it is very obvious that more and more industries are on the increase and the effect, more and more are becoming dependent on the power plant. Because of this reason many organization aiming to help the environment is finding many ways to find solutions to this problems. There is a good news according to research. We don’t have to wait for industrial, mechanical and scientific solutions to reduce the impact of these big offenders. Actually, solutions exists now to let us trim down the dependence on power plants and use of unpolluted transportation options. All we have to do is to start using and practicing them (I already mention some of it above). Here are 12 simple ways to save energy from AOL.com:
1. Change Five Lights
Replace your five most frequently used lights or the bulbs in them with ones that have earned the Energy Star and you’ll use less energy, which means less pollution from power plants.

2. Heat and Cool smartly
Changing air filters annually, having your system checked annually and useing a programmable thermostat are all easy things you can do.

3. Put the Freeze on Inefficient Appliances
Get rid of old, energy inefficient appliances and replace with newer energy-efficient models.

4. Reduce and Recycle
Reducing your garbage by 25 percent will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 1,000 pounds per year. Recycle aluminum cans, glass bottles, plastic, cardboard and newspapers can reduce your home's carbon dioxide emissions by 850 pounds per year.

5. Don't Give Energy Away
If you caulk and weather-strip around doors and windows to plug up leaks you can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 1,700 pounds per year.

6. Take the Green Way
Leave your car at home two days a week (walk, bike, take public transit or telecommute) and you can reduce your carbon dioxide emissions by 1,590 pounds per year.

7. Buy Products That Have Earned the Energy Star
Over 40 different kind of products now carry the Energy Star -- the government-backed symbol for energy efficiency -- including lighting, home electronics, heating and cooling equipment and appliances. With Energy Star products you can save 30 percent on your energy bills (about $450 a year). For information on high efficiency appliances and other products, visit the Energy Star Web site (www.energystar.gov).

8. Slow the Flow
When purchasing a new vehicle, consider finding a car that gets more miles to the gallon than your current vehicle, and match the vehicle to your needs. The potential carbon dioxide reduction for a car that gets 32 miles per gallon is 5,600 pounds per year. To get more information about finding and buying a fuel-efficient car visit AOL Autos.

9. Make the Right Move
If you spend hours on the road every day to get to work you could save some significant time and money by moving closer to work and reducing your commute. The carbon dioxide emissions you save are icing on the cake.

10. Be a Turnoff
Turn off your TV, video player, stereo and computer when you aren't using them. Turn off your lights when you don't need them and you start saving within a minute or two. Prevent "phantom" energy losses by plugging these devices into a power strip and turning the power strip off when the devices are not in use.

11. Trim Your Load
When you do drive, keep your car tuned up and its tires properly inflated to save on fuel costs as well as reducing carbon dioxide emissions. A tune-up could boost your miles per gallon anywhere from four to 40 percent; a new air filter could get you 10 percent more miles per gallon. Take your roof rack off your car when you aren't using it for more savings.

12. Keep Your Water Heater Cozy
For a water heater more than five years old, wrapping it in an insulating jacket will result in a 1,000 pounds per year reduction of carbon dioxide emissions. Keep your water heater thermostat no higher than 120 degrees F and you can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 550 pounds per year.

It may seem that there is no hope for the climate change and the green house effect and the temperature of the world will continue to rise, we should in our own little ways help in preserving the earth. For me technology and human will come up in the end – maybe sooner than we suspect.

"The feeling is that if things are getting bad, you hit the stop button. But even if you do, the climate continues to change," says Gerald Meehl, a climatologist at the US National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado.
By working now to minimize the heat trapping emissions of gases, we can reduce the degree of global warming and climate change. We should be more aware in adjusting and approaches to cope with the changing of the climate together with using and practicing the ways in cutting it down. Big and small changes can add up to make a real difference in the fight against global warming.
Sources:
[1] http://www.wipo.int/wipo_magazine/en/2008/01/article_0001.html
[2] http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn7161
[3]http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/richard_tyler/blog/2008/06/06/a_5050_chance_that_climate_change_will_destroy_civilisation_this_century
[4] http://www.project2061.org/publications/sfaa/online/chap3.htm
[5] http://www.ourcivilisation.com/signs/chap7.htm
[6] http://www.fightglobalwarming.com/page.cfm?tagID=135