CONTRIBUTORS: Ken Jackson, Author and Artist

Josiah Rector, Factsheet Composition and Editor Michelle Martinez, Editor and Production Manager

All rights reserved for Haunted Planet© and all related characters to Ken Jackson

Acknowledgements:

Thanks for putting up with us Circa Saloon!

Support for this project generously donated by The Sierra Club

Around the year 1750, the amount of carbon dioxide or CO2 in the atmosphere started rising, and it’s been rising ever since. What happened since then? Two words: the Industrial Revolution.

Although people had burned coal and oil before, most machines were powered by water, wind, animals and human muscles. The Industrial Revolution changed all this, as people started to power machines by burning fossil fuels. This led to the invention of trains, planes and automobiles, as well as cheap electricity and gas to light, heat and cool buildings. The Industrial Revolution made much of mod-ern life possible.

All of this came at a heavy cost, though. By pumping more CO2 into the atmosphere every year, we started to change the climate. Changing the global climate means serious, irreparable weather disruptions. We are experiencing more hurricanes, floods, wildfires and droughts, which endanger people and plant and animal species around the world. Scientists say that, if we don’t begin to drastically cut our CO2 emissions, these problems will only get worse, leading our planet into crisis. Summary for Policymakers,” Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2007. <http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/wg1/ar4-wg1-spm.pdf>

CLIMATE CHANGE: AN INVISIBLE ENEMY Photo credit: http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/sia/31.1/images/malone_fig11a.jpg

My loyal citizens, congratulations.

We have defeated the last of Earth’s defend-ers. Prepare to colonize the masses.

Aim for the big cities where the population is high. The virus will spread faster there.

This…is…

CO2 levels are high from all the coal, oil and gas they’ve been burning…

The Earthlings have done our work for us.

Hahaha…Earth will make the perfect factory

for producing more drones like yourselves.

SHOULD HAVE SAVED IT!

I’m trying to finish this project...But

you’re over here stuff-ing your face...

WHAT THE @#$*!!

Hey would you keep it down in here?!

and yelling at a TV!

Maybe if you helped me with my Eco-Project you wouldn’t be sitting around stressing out over a stupid video game!

What? So I can plant little flowers and shovel horse poop?

Some brother! I’m actually out here solving real problems, like climate change and toxic

Plus all the CO2 they spew causes climate change,

which means more hurri-canes, droughts, floods,

wildfires?

Ho w ab o u t h o w t h o s e s am e p o w er p lan t s ar e lin k ed t o can cer an d as t h m a?

How much coal gets burned so your tech-nerd friends can stunt in your cars and on Facebook?

Do you know the power in this electric socket

comes from a coal-fired power plant?

chemicals in our air and wa-ter, while you just pretend to be a hero on the internet!

Get out! I don’t wanna hear it,

Carey…

Well, you’re gonna!

FOSSIL WAH? Every time people burn fossil

fuels, such as coal, oil and natural gas, we release greenhouse gases into the Earth’s atmosphere. These gases trap heat from the sun’s rays, which would otherwise escape into space. Over time, this trapped heat affects the climate, in a process is known as the “greenhouse effect” or “climate change.” The most powerful greenhouse gas is carbon di-oxide, or CO2. Most of the CO2 we put into the atmosphere comes from burning coal in power plants (to gener-ate electricity), and from burning petroleum in cars, trucks and airplanes (to move people and goods around). Chopping down trees also causes climate change, because trees naturally suck CO2 out of the atmosphere, and give off the oxygen we need to breathe.

How do we know CO2 can cause climate change? Climate scientists have looked carefully at the Earth’s history, to study the relationship between the climate (or weather patterns over time) and CO2 levels. They have discovered that, the last time CO2 levels were as high as they are today (about 400 parts per million) was 15 million years ago. Back then, the Earth’s climate was hotter, and sea levels were 75-100 feet higher. But then they went down, and this allowed ice sheets to build up on the South Pole, the North Pole and Greenland. From about 800,000 years ago until 250 years ago, the level of CO2 in the atmosphere stayed between about 180 and 300 parts per million. This kept Earth’s climate from getting either too cold or too hot for us to evolve and survive as a species. http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/last-time-carbon-dioxide-levels-111074.aspx “Earth’s Hot Past Could Be Prologue to Future Climate,” University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, January 13, 2011.< http://www2.ucar.edu/news/3628/earth-s-hot-past-could-be-prologue-future-climate>

Questions on Climate Change! 1) How does CO2 from burning fossil fuels cause climate change? 2)What are the two biggest sources of CO2 emissions in the world? 3) Have people always burned a lot of fossil fuels? 4) What are some of the weather patterns climate change will bring more of ?

Photo Credit:http://www.epa.gov/owow_keep/watershed/wacademy/acad2000/climate_water/images/img05new.jpg

Yo, what’s good? B-girl.

Did you hear, Detroit “can’t afford a recycling program”? Guess we’re

stuck with that dirty old trash incinerator…

Zzzzzzzzzzzz….

That’s dope.

She’s that eco-chick, right?

Chillin’, my sister wants me to help her with her stupid little club. Yeah.

...Nothin, u?

...later ...

Hello?!?

ZzzzZzzzzz…

Are you there?!?

ZzzzZzzzzz…

HOLY--

Wake up…

…you will lose every-thing

if you do not wake up.

They are like flies around a dying animal ready to lay their eggs… in your planet.

We thought we ruled the world.

by digging up all her ancient fossil fuels, and burning them to get money and power…

We made our planet so hot the ice caps melted, deserts spread and our oceans turned to acid.

We thought we had outgrown the

Mother Planet

...the Flies came.

And then...

They could sense all the CO2 in our atmosphere from light-years away!

Tell your people

before it’s too late!

Cervi wants him in the lab…

Hey, what’s the big deal?!?

Leave the dog!

Dr. Loptra, is this it?

Does it have a skeleton? Respira-tory system?

Ah yes, PERFECT!

Yes, my lord, on the inside. Just like the dog.

Yes, Lord Cervi. This is the Earth-ling you requested.

With all the CO2 they put in their atmosphere, these Earthlings will make per-fect hosts for our larvae.

Activate the thought projectors. I would like to see this thing’s

habitat.

Urghhrr...

HUMAN HEALTH AND ENERGY PRODUCTION The US generates most of our electricity from coal-fired power plants, followed by natural gas-fired and

nuclear power plants. Pollution from coal-fired power plants causes global warming, smog and acid rain. People who breathe this pollution are also at greater risk for certain health problems. According to the American Lung Association, coal plant emissions “can make breathing difficult and can worsen asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, bronchitis and other lung diseases. These pollutants can cause heart attacks and strokes, lung cancer and other cancers, birth defects and premature death.” Last year alone, 13,200 Americans died be-cause of coal-fired power plant pollution. That’s more than 4 times the number of people killed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks! Electrical power in the U.S. in 2009 came from coal (44.9%), natural gas (23.4%), nuclear (20.3%), hydroelectric (6.9%), renewables (3.6%) and petro-leum (1%). <http://www.eia.gov/cneaf/electricity/epm/table1_1.html> American Lung Association, “Toxic Air: The Case for Cleaning Up Coal-Fired Power Plants,” March 2011 <http://www.lungusa.org/assets/documents/healthy-air/toxic-air-report.pdf> Clean Air Task Force, “The Toll from Coal 2010”. <http://www.catf.us/resources/publications/files/The_Toll_from_Coal.pdf>

Questions on Human Health! 1) Where does most of our elec-tricity come from? 2) Why does burning coal make people sick? 3) How many people are esti-mated to die every year from coal-fired power plant pollution?

Photo Credit: http://pennsylvania.sierraclub.org/pa_chapter_2008/conservation/air%20qualty/mapping-coal-fired-emissions.html

You see, Doctor, this is exactly what we

need!

Eeeasily! Money can make them do anything.

Can we influence them to make more pollution?

Yes, my lord. All their consumption makes the

atmosphere full of carbon, mercury, sulfur and nitro-

gen— perfect for us!

Anything?

Anything!!

What is this?

It appears to be another Earthling.

And how much coal it takes to make it work when you plug

it in?

Do you know how much oil it takes to make all your stuff ?

If you’re not a part of the solution…

…you’re part of the

problem.

I’m from Mack and Bewick!

What?

We n eed clean an d r en ew ab le

en er g y n o w !

We must protect our air, water and

soil for all generations!

My mind is free now!!

wind f arms , s olar pane ls , trains and e le ctric cars

Climate scientists say we can still stop the worst effects of climate change. To do that, we need to cut CO2 emissions, which will require moving away from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources. We can generate electricity from wind farms and solar panels, and use buses, trains and electric- and hydrogen-powered vehicles instead of gas-guzzling cars and trucks. We can save money and protect the planet by conserving energy in our homes as well, by “weatherizing” them (so we need less gas to heat them and electricity to cool them).

We can make many choices in our own lives which promote clean energy instead of using fossil fuels. As citizens, we can demand that our elected officials pass laws that promote clean energy, recycling and green jobs instead of the interests of the coal and oil industries. As community members, we can conserve energy by using less electricity, oil and gas, and encour-age our friends and family to do so. As consumers, we can support companies that invest in clean energy. We all have a positive role to play.

Photo Credit: Sierra Club www.350.org

Questions: 1) What are some of the things our society can do to put less CO2 in the atmosphere? 2) What are some things you can do as a citizen? As a community member? As a consumer?

Sol... wake up Sol…

come on.

Yeah– and on the ride you can tell me about this

enviro-club. Like how do I get involved… and— are there any cute girls?

SOL! Come on let’s go for a bike ride! Sol, I’m sorry I

yelled at you.

Huh? YEAH! That’s ok, let’s go! But no

DEET.

Ok… can we bring some bug

spray?

Glossary Coal: A natural, dark-brown to black rock-like material used as a fuel, formed from fossilized plants and consisting of carbon with various organic and some inorganic compounds. Petroleum (oil): A thick, flammable, yellow-to-black mixture of gaseous, liquid, and solid hydrocarbons, formed from fossilized plants, and used as a fuel in cars, trucks and airplanes. Petroleum is used as raw ma-terial for gasoline, plastic, asphalt, and many other everyday products. Natural gas: A mixture of hydrocarbon gases that often occurs near petroleum deposits, widely used as a fuel. CO2 (Carbon Dioxide): An odorless, colorless gas formed by the decomposition of carbon-based substances (as in burning fossil fuels); absorbed from the air by plants in photosynthesis. Atmosphere: The envelope of gases surrounding the earth or another planet. Greenhouse effect: When Earth's atmosphere traps radiation from the sun which would otherwise escape into space, due to the presence in the atmosphere of gases such as CO2, water vapor, and methane. This causes the Earth’s surface to get warmer.

You can be a part of the solution.