Global Warming|

“…We are what is wrong, and we must make it right.”-Al Gore, Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech, 

Oslo, Norway, 10 Dec 2007(http://www.stthomas.edu/recycle/warm.htm)

By: Alma Toric

Global warming is a significant increase in the Earth's climatic temperature over a relatively short period of time

as a result of the activities of humans.

Factors of contribution are:

CO2; burning fossil fuels, cars, power stations

Methane; agriculture, coal-mining, oil exploration

Nitrous Oxide; burning rain forests & human/animal wastes, fossil fuel combustion

CFCs; found in fridges, air conditioners, aerosols

http://www.geoenergy-solutions.com/images/cars.jpg

Green House Effect|

http://maps.grida.no/go/graphic/greenhouse-effect

How Global Warming is Affecting the 21st

Century…

Malaria|

http://blog.bioethics.net/images/malaria_mosquito.jpg

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2006/06/27/world/malaria.600.jpg

• endemic in 107 countries today; numbers will rise due to warmer temperatures that will attract mosquitoes north

• 350-500 million people get malaria every year and 1 million of these result in death

• primary victims are young children, pregnant women and non immune adults

• symptoms: fever, sweats, chills, headache & nausea

• transmission of Plasmodium parasite into blood stream causes infection and destruction of red blood cells and clogging of capillaries to vital organs and the brain

http://www.fda.gov/CbER/blood/malaria071206sk.htm

Current places affected by

malaria

By 2020 based on a global temperature

increase of 1ºC & no human efforts to

contain the spread of malaria

Cholera & Dengue Fever|

http://letsgoeverywhere.files.wordpress.com/2007/11/cholera.jpg

http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj158/derixc/dengue-fever.jpg

http://www.newsday.com/media/photo/2004-07/13580641.jpg

• diarrheal illness due to the bacteria Vibrio Cholera

• waterborne disease

• from contaminated water or food

• bacteria grows in small intestine

• cholera outbreaks typically follow zooplankton blooms

• blooms are the result of an excess of nutrients such as phosphorus, excess carbon and nitrogen

• infectious disease carried by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes carrying dengue virus

• vector borne disease

•no vaccine/often deadly

• symptoms: sever headache, muscle, joint pain, and “dengue rash”

• warmer conditions allow mosquitoes to survive over a wider area and at higher altitudes

• travels in the blood stream and then starts multiplying itself in the whole body

Flooding|

http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/katrina-new-orleans-flooding3-2005.jpg

• ability for warmer air to hold more moisture can lead to increase in floods

• disruption of precipitation patterns

• heavy rain can cause disturbance to land and destroy freshwater and marine environments

• 80% of flooding increase will affect South and Southeast Asia

• water related diseases are causing 80% of all illnesses and deaths; cholera, malaria and water contamination

• health conditions depend on the success of the harvest for some countries; flooding will wash away crops and encourage growth of fungi

http://www.medway.gov.uk/print/flooding.jpg

Droughts|

http://www.climatelawupdate.com/Drought,%20Sonoran%20Desert,%20Mexico;%20Wikipedia.jpeg

http://socialistresistance.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/kenya-drought1.jpg

• drought temporarily disturbs the ecological regime, creating conditions favorable to the spread of certain insect pests and plant and animal diseases

• more water could be removed from agriculture and put into urban use

• decreased plant growth; no vegetation leading to malnutrition impacts the young and child growth

• food supply in 2050 will greatly impact the world population of 9 billion; water shortage for crops

• high temperatures that cause droughts can also cause heat waves

Air Pollution|http://www.geography.hunter.cuny.edu/~tbw/wc.notes/13.air.pollution/smoke.stack.pollution.jpg

• air pollution kills about 5 900 Canadians each year

• main factor is the burning of fossil fuels

• others pollutants such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide etc. and increased low level ozone cause problems such as chest infections, asthma, emphysema low level ozone is what creates smog

• burning forests increases the number of cases of eye irritation, respiratory illness and cardiovascular disease

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/Shanghaiairpollutionsunset.jpg

How Can You Help?|

• Recycle

• Take the bus/walk/bike

• Don’t leave the lights on

• Less heat and air conditioning

• Buy energy efficient products

• Plant a tree

The End !

Beine Carlson, Emma. (2008). Global Warming & Climate Change. San Diego: Reference Point Press.

David Suzuki Foundation. (2008). Impacts: Health. Retrieved November 30, 2008, from: http://www.davidsuzuki.org/Climate_Change/Impacts/Health/Air_Pollution.asp

Ecobridge. (2008). Global Warming. Retrieved November 27, 2008, from:

http://www.ecobridge.org/

Haslam, Chris and Burley, Helen. (2008). How Can I Stop Climate Change? London, England: Harper Collins Publishers.

Maslin, Mark. (2002). Global Warming: Causes, Effects and the Future. Stillwater, MN: Voyageur Press, Inc.

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. (2008). Dengue Fever. Retrieved November 26, 2008, from:http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/topics/DengueFever/Understanding/overview.htm

Starke, Linda. (2007). Vital Signs 2007-2008. New York, NY: W.W. Norton and Company.

Tennesen, Michael. (2004). The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Global Warming. Indianapolis, IN: Penguins Group (USA) Inc.

University of Maryland Medical Centre. (2008). Cholera. Retrieved November 27, 2008, from: http://www.umm.edu/travel/cholera.htm

Young Peoples Trust. (2008). Global Warming. Retrieved November 25, 2008, from: http://www.ypte.org.uk/environmental/global-warming/11