Word: co2
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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What would happen if nothing were done about the earth's imperiled state? According to computer projections, the accumulation of CO2 in the atmosphere could drive up the planet's average temperature 3 degrees F to 9 degrees F by the middle of the next century. That could cause the oceans to rise by several feet, flooding coastal areas and ruining huge tracts of farmland through salinization. Changing weather patterns could make huge areas infertile or uninhabitable, touching off refugee movements unprecedented in history...
...donation, along with help from the Peace Corps and the Guatemalan forestry service, will help an estimated 40,000 local farmers plant some 52 million seedlings that eventually will absorb a quantity of CO2 roughly equal to the amount generated at Uncasville over the 40-year life-span of the facility. Says AES chief Roger Sant, "Given the scientific consensus on the seriousness of the greenhouse problem, we decided it was time to stop talking...
Currently the most pressing and complex environmental problem is the greenhouse effect. The industrial age has been fueled by the burning of coal, wood and oil, which spews wastes -- most notably carbon dioxide (CO2) -- into the sky. This thickens the layer of atmospheric gases that traps heat from the sun and keep the earth warm. This greenhouse effect is expected to bring about more change more quickly than any other climatic event in the earth's history. Scientists warn that the changes cannot be stopped, though they can be slowed. But the time is short. Says Robert Dickinson, a senior...
...years long. Astronomical cycles, volcanoes, the interplay of deserts, oceans, cloud cover, even the methane produced by termites, can affect the density of the atmospheric greenhouse. Declares Chester Ropelewski, a climate specialist with the Maryland-based Climate Analysis Center: "It's still not clear whether this is the CO2 signal. The hard evidence isn't there...
...degrees F by the year 2050. If that happens, even hotter, dryer summers are on the way, probably accompanied by a gradual melting of polar ice caps and glaciers that will cause sea levels to rise several feet by mid-century. By then it is probable that more CO2 production, from sources as diverse as industry and rampant deforestation, will play an increasingly important role in heating up the earth. Even Hansen's scientific critics hope his testimony, however premature, will prod people into taking measures to ease the greenhouse effect by conserving energy and cutting back on burning fossil...