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Fossil fuels for electricity causes huge emissions
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- Using fossil fuels for electricity causes massive global warming emissions
- Reduces fossil fuels / tidal energy
- Expanding tidal energy development reduces the use and emissions from fossil fuels
- Impact Extension – General
- Climate change is real, human-induced, and risks the survival of civilization. Only investments in clean energy that reduce emissions can avoid the 2 degree threshold
- Climate change is anthropogenic and the biggest cause if fossil fuel emissions
- Climate change will erase civilization and history
- Unmitigated climate change will collapse the food chain causing mass extinction
Fossil fuels for electricity causes huge emissionsElectricity generation from fossil fuels causes a huge amount of greenhouse emissionsEPA, January 27, ‘14, Environmental Protection Agency (Learn About Carbon Pollution From Power Plants,” http://www2.epa.gov/carbon-pollution-standards/learn-about-carbon-pollution-power-plants, Accessed 5/2/2014 The electric power sector accounted for 33% of U.S. total greenhouse gas emissions and 60% of U.S. stationary source greenhouse gas emissions in 2011. Fossil fuel-fired power plants are the largest source of U.S. CO2 emissions. Fossil fuel-fired power plants use natural gas, petroleum, coal or any form of solid, liquid, or gaseous fuel derived from such material for the purpose of generating electricity. Using fossil fuels for electricity causes massive global warming emissionsUnion of Concerned Scientists, March 19, 2012, “Our Energy Choices,” http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_ energy/our-energy-choices/, Accessed 5/2/2014 Fossil fuels—coal, natural gas, and oil—produce most of our electricity but come with significant and harmful consequences. They produce the vast majority of global warming emissions. They release toxic chemicals that pollute our air and water. And they have adverse, and costly, effects on public health. Coal is the worst offender, a dirty, carbon-intensive fuel source that pollutes the air, fouls our environment, and single-handedly produces more than a quarter of U.S. global warming emissions. More on coal and other fossil fuels. Fossil fuels produce power through combustion, generating heat that is then converted to electricity. Reduces fossil fuels / tidal energyTidal energy displaces fossil fuel dependence, which reduces greenhouse emissionsOcean Energy Council, 2014, “Tidal Energy,” http://www.oceanenergycouncil.com/ocean-energy/tidal-energy/, Accessed 4/9/2014 The demand for electricity on an electrical grid varies with the time of day. The supply of electricity from a tidal power plant will never match the demand on a system. But, due to the lunar cycle and gravity, tidal currents, although variable, are reliable and predictable and their power can make a valuable contribution to an electrical system which has a variety of sources. Tidal electricity can be used to displace electricity which would otherwise be generated by fossil fuel (coal, oil, natural gas) fired power plants, thus reducing emissions of greenhouse and acid gasses. Expanding tidal energy development reduces the use and emissions from fossil fuelsOcean Energy Council, 2014, “Tidal Energy,” http://www.oceanenergycouncil.com/ocean-energy/tidal-energy/, Accessed 4/9/2014 Tidal energy is a renewable source of electricity which does not result in the emission of gases responsible for global warming or acid rain associated with fossil fuel generated electricity. Use of tidal energy could also decrease the need for nuclear power, with its associated radiation risks. Changing tidal flows by damming a bay or estuary could, however, result in negative impacts on aquatic and shoreline ecosystems, as well as navigation and recreation. Impact Extension – GeneralUnchecked climate change causes extinctionIvan Molloy, July 6, ‘12, Geology: Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, “Rebuff to Climate Change Denial,” http://www.mysunshinecoast.com.au/articles/article-display/rebuff-to-climate-change-denial,26302, Accessed 5/2/2014 As a former geologist I have to respond to those who deny human induced Climate Change. Yes its true the world’s climate and geomorphology have been continually changing throughout natural history providing favourable conditions for some forms of life at times, while extinguishing others. In recent geological time, the planet has provided favourable conditions for the flourishing of human life, which in turn like other forms of life also contributes to climate and geomorpholigical change. However, unlike no other form of life, the impact of modern human civilisation has greatly distorted and added to global climate change, and impacting heavily on flora and fauna. Human kind through massive over population and industrialisation is now like a cancer on the planet exterminating hundreds of other life species annually, and now it threatens its own survival with massive pollution. The Global Climate has always changed but not at such a massive rate due to human activity which in turn now threatens our survival. But other forms of life, such as cockroaches will continue on. Climate change is real, human-induced, and risks the survival of civilization. Only investments in clean energy that reduce emissions can avoid the 2 degree thresholdBrandon Baker, April 14, 2014, “New IPCC Report: Fossil Fuel Divestment Must Start Now,” Ecowatch, http://ecowatch.com/2014/04/14/ipcc-fossil-fuel-divestment/, Accessed 5/2/2014 Climate change is real, caused by human activity, and requires urgent action. Sea levels are rising, precipitation patterns are changing, sea ice is declining and oceans are acidifying. This will have grave consequences for our communities, environments and economies and leave them open to risks for which we are not prepared. We need to accelerate climate action starting today. We are already experiencing severe impacts on every continent and across the oceans, resulting in growing economic and social costs. We have to brace ourselves for more frequent or more intense droughts, floods and storms. Civilisation as we know it at risk—unless we cut carbon pollution rapidly. We can keep global warming below the danger-threshold of 2 degrees C, even below 1.5 degrees of warming. But this is only possible if we make deeper and faster emissions cuts and all governments introduce ambitious policies, backed by strong investments, to enable clean and innovative energy solutions. Climate change is anthropogenic and the biggest cause if fossil fuel emissionsJ. Hansen, et al., ‘13, Earth Institute and Columbia University, “Assessing “Dangerous Climate Change”: Required Reduction of Carbon Emissions to Protect Young People, Future Generations and Nature,” PLoS ONE, 8(12): e81648, http://www.plosone.org/article/ info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0081648, Accessed 5/2/2014 Humans are now the main cause of changes of Earth’s atmospheric composition and thus the drive for future climate change. The principal climate forcing, defined as an imposed change of planetary energy balance, is increasing carbon dioxide (CO2) from fossil fuel emissions, much of which will remain in the atmosphere for millennia. The climate response to this forcing and society’s response to climate change are complicated by the system’s inertia, mainly due to the ocean and the ice sheets on Greenland and Antarctica together with the long residence time of fossil fuel carbon in the climate system. The inertia causes climate to appear to respond slowly to this human-made forcing, but further long-lasting responses can be locked in. Climate change will erase civilization and historyLesley Docksey, September 29, ‘13, The Centre for Research on Globalization, “Climate Change and its Disastrous Impacts on Earth and Humanity,” Global Research, http://www.globalresearch.ca/climate-change-and-its-disastrous-impacts-on-earth-and-humanity/5342677, Accessed 5/2/2014 For most of our history human activity has harmed the earth that sustains us. We are so proud of our intellectual achievements, our history of creating civilisations, yet almost all civilisations have depended on some form of energy use – the more advanced the civilisation, the more dependent it becomes on energy. And civilisations have almost always included militarization, weapons and war. But – imagine a future of no future, of no schools or universities, no musical instruments or theatres, no art, no writing, no research, no science. All that will disappear if humanity is overwhelmed by climate change. Then who will be left to mourn the silencing of Beethoven and Brahms? This isn’t just a problem for academicians. It concerns all of us and our sense of history is a good place to start seeking an answer. The thing about history is that it simply doesn’t exist if there is no one there to witness it, to record it, to remember what happened and, just as important, why. And even with a record, if there is no one there to read it and understand it, no one to whom the knowledge can be passed, no children who can sit and listen to their elders tell the lore of their tribe, then history is dead. Climate change may take away our future and without a future there is no past. Unmitigated climate change will collapse the food chain causing mass extinctionNicholas D. Kristof, October 31, 2006, American journalist, author, op-ed columnist, and a winner of two Pulitzer Prizes, “Scandal Below the Surface”, http://select.nytimes.com/2006/10/31/opinion/31kristof.html?_r=1, If you think of the earth’s surface as a great beaker, then it’s filled mostly with ocean water. It is slightly alkaline, and that’s what creates a hospitable home for fish, coral reefs and plankton — and indirectly, higher up the food chain, for us. But scientists have discovered that the carbon dioxide (CO2) we’re spewing into the air doesn’t just heat up the atmosphere and lead to rising seas. Much of that carbon is absorbed by the oceans, and there it produces carbonic acid — the same stuff found in soda pop. That makes oceans a bit more acidic, impairing the ability of certain shellfish to produce shells, which, like coral reefs, are made of calcium carbonate. A recent article in Scientific American explained the indignity of being a dissolving mollusk in an acidic ocean: “Drop a piece of chalk (calcium carbonate) into a glass of vinegar (a mild acid) if you need a demonstration of the general worry: the chalk will begin dissolving immediately.” The more acidic waters may spell the end, at least in higher latitudes, of some of the tiniest variations of shellfish — certain plankton and tiny snails called pteropods. This would disrupt the food chain, possibly killing off many whales and fish, and rippling up all the way to humans. We stand, so to speak, on the shoulders of plankton. “There have been a couple of very big events in geological history where the carbon cycle changed dramatically,” said Scott Doney, senior scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts. One was an abrupt warming that took place 55 million years ago in conjunction with acidification of the oceans and mass extinctions. Most scientists don’t believe we’re headed toward a man-made variant on that episode — not yet, at any rate. But many worry that we’re hurtling into unknown dangers. “Whether in 20 years or 100 years, I think marine ecosystems are going to be dramatically different by the end of this century, and that’ll lead to extinction events,” Mr. Doney added. “This is the only habitable planet we have,” he said. “The damage we do is going to be felt by all the generations to come.” Directory: file -> view view -> Western Europe after wwii view -> Author study: paul fleischman view -> Qpa1 7ela study Guide view -> Arctic Oil/Gas Neg view -> November 1970 Approximately 150,000-500,000 deaths Bhola Cyclone Bangladesh view -> Grade Level: 6 Unit of Study: Caribbean glce view -> Citation: Duffield, Katy view -> Table of Contents Lesson # view -> Chinese Wind Energy Disad Download 0.89 Mb. Share with your friends:
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