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CLIMATE CHANGE. CLIMATE CHANGE. What is it? Consequences of climate change. Greenhouse effect. What would happen if the greenhouse effect didn’t exist? What do we want? What is a sustainable development? Fossil fuels vs. Renewable energies. What we have to do?. ORIGINS OF CLIMATE CHANGE.
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CLIMATE CHANGE • What is it? • Consequences of climate change. • Greenhouse effect. • What would happen if the greenhouse effect didn’t exist? • What do we want? • What is a sustainable development? • Fossil fuels vs. Renewable energies. • What we have to do?
ORIGINS OF CLIMATE CHANGE • About five centuries ago, the human race began a study of itself and the whole world. As a result, we have already discovered enough about laws of physics so as to change our life conditions and capacities. Nowadays, we’ve got the power to transform our entire planet, for good or ill.
WHAT IS CLIAMTE CHANGE? • The climate change is a general change of the Earth’s weather. • This alteration is produced in several speeds and affects various climate fields: temperature, precipitations, wind, cloudiness… • The relation of the human race with the environment has changed considerably since the Industrial Revolution, in 1770.
Global temperature (it has raised about 0.6 degrees) The concentration of carbon dioxide has increased over the last century (a 30%)
CONSEQUENCES OF CLIMATE CHANGE • It provokes several consequences and it has got quite a lot of ways to demonstrate. • One of them is the well-known greenhouse effect, which promotes the global warming. • Global warming provokes, at the same time, more problems in the nature such as floods, an increase of the sea level, the disappearance of growing areas and maybe in the future it will provoke the disappearance of cities and towns which are near the sea. • Moreover, it causes desertification in many areas and it also provokes the appearance of tropical diseases such as cholera and malaria in Europe, in developed countries. • When we destroy the environment, we’re destroying ourselves.
The greenhouse effect is a natural phenomenon which allows the Earth to be warm due to the presence of some gases in the atmosphere, basically water vapour and CO2. • These gases retain part of the solar radiation in order to heat the Earth. • Our planet is heated by the sun’s power. A part of this energy that arrives at the atmosphere is reflected to outer space, a little of it is absorbed and the other heats the Earth. • Nevertheless, when the energy is reflected from the Earth, it’s different. Some of the atmosphere’s gases, such as CO2, retain the energy and they avoid it to return to outer space, so the Earth is kept warm. • It’s quite similar to a greenhouse.
These images show how useful are greenhouses for farmers. In Almeria, a dry area, most of the land, in 2000, was completely covered by greenhouses. As you can see, it’s a really bad impact for the environment. ALMERIA 2000 ALMERIA 1974
What would happen if the greenhouse effect didn’t exist? • If it did not exist, the Earth would freeze. • If there weren’t enough greenhouse effect gases, our planet would freeze. However, nowadays it’s the opposite. • There are too many greenhouse effect gases, so the sun’s power can’t return to outer space, and it drives to a serious increase of the Earth’s temperature. • Most of these gases are produced by cars, airplanes, lorries, factories…
Scientifics’ predictions Here are some of the Scientifics’ predictions: • The global temperature will rise about 1,5 and 4,50C. • There will be a lot of floods, and crops, cities and towns which are near the sea will disappear. • There will be a lot of droughts which will cause the desertification of many areas. • Glaciers and icecaps will melt. • An enormous amount of wild animals’ species will become extinct.
We want to warm our planet and to suffer the effects of a climate change or we want to fight in order to save the Earth?
We are the Earth, and the Earth is us. So, if we destroy our planet, we will destroy ourselves. • There are many different ways to save and help our planet. These are some examples: • Save all the energy we can. • Avoid wasting energy. • Use and promote renewable energies. • Avoid using fossil fuels. • Avoid forest fires. • Demonstrate against deforestation. • If we do them, we will achieve a sustainable development.
WHAT IS A SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT? • It’s a development which satisfies the needs of the actual generations without endangering the possibilities of future generations to satisfy their own needs. • If we achieved a sustainable development, it would mean that the Earth is not in danger.
Fossil fuels • They are fuels which are produced by the fossilization of organic matter of plants and dead animals. • This fossilization takes a lot of time, perhaps millions of years. • Fossil fuels are coal, oil and natural gas. • However, fossil fuels are used very quickly, so they don’t benefit the nature. • Moreover, they aren’t renewable so, in a few years, they will probably disappear. • Most of the world’s energy is produced by them (86%). • They don’t allow a sustainable development. These are the ten countries with more oil reserves
Renewable energies • They are energies which are create by natural resources which are renewable such as water, wind, solar light, tides… • About an 18% of the global energy is produced by renewable energies, most of it by biomass (13%), like burning wood, followed by hydropower, sun power and wind power. • They don’t pollute the environment and, as their name says, they are renewable. In addition, they drive to a sustainable development. • Nevertheless, by the moment, they cannot produce as much energy as fossil fuels.
Kinds of renewable energies Solar power, which uses solar panels so as to use the sun’s power to produce electricity or to heat water. Wind power, which uses windmills in order to use the wind’s power to produce electricity.
Hydropower, which uses dams to accumulate a huge amount of water that, when it falls down from a high altitude, has got a lot of power which is useful to produce electricity. Geothermal energy, which uses the internal heat of the Earth (volcanoes, geysers). From this heat, we can produce vapour, which is useful to move turbines so as to produce electricity.
Tidal energy, which uses the power of tides and the power of waves to move submarine turbines to produce electricity. Biomass, which consists in burning organic matter of plants and animals in order to produce methane gas, natural gas, and other fuels. Besides, it permits to keep in control the urban waste, which is also burned to produce energy. For example, some countries use corn to produce fuel which is used in transports.
SO… WHAT WE HAVE TO DO SO AS TO SAVE OUR PLANET? In conclusion, if we want to save the Earth, we have to promote a sustainable development and, definitely, the best way to achieve this sort of development is by using renewable energies and, at the same time, we have to avoid using fossil fuels, which are the worst thing for the environment.
We have the chance to save the Earth, and it is in our hands