Sight Savers International

Sight Savers International
For someone who is blind, the gift of sight is the greatest gift of all!

Wednesday, 28 November 2007

United Nations


Currently i am an online member of the United Nations Foundation, they strive to promote a peaceful and prosperous world. By being a member, they keep me up to date with current UN developments from all sectors and news from around the world.
http://www.unfoundation.org/

One of the main topics is Global Warming. It is a very complex situation as i am not a scientist do not have very much knowledge on it, so after reading a book called Global Warming, by author Mark Maslin, i now seem to have a much better view on the subject.

Global Warming:

Is caused by massive increase of greenhouse gases i.e. CO2 in the atmosphere resulting from burning of fossil fuels & deforestation.

Global warming affects economics, sociology, geopolitics & local individuals and results in climate change - change in global temp, rainfall pattern, expansion & contraction of ice sheets, sea level variations.

IPCC - est in 1988 by UNEF (United Nations Environmental Panel) & World Metrological Organisation

IPCC - Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, shows evidence of 0.6˚C in global temp & 20 cm rise in sea level and by 2100 there could be 1.4-5.8˚C global temp and 20-88cm sea level increase. Increased temperatures causes flood and storms & huge reserves of methane underneath the ocean could actually release and cause catastrophe.
The temperature of the earth is controlled by balance between input of energy of the sun & loss of this back into space. 1/3 radiation is absorbed in space, the rest absorbed by land & oceans
Earth’s surface warms & emits long-wave ‘infrared’ radiation.

Naturally occurring greenhouse gases - water vapour, ozone, methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N20), CO2
First measurement of CO2 was taken in 1958 on Mauna Loa, Hawaii

Earth has 1% other gases, 78% nitrogen & 21% 0xygen

CO2
1st . Burning fossil fuels (Energy production industrial gassers & transport)

2nd Deforestation (Cutting forests for agriculture, urbanization of roads, land use change)

1896 Swedish scientist Svante confirmed by Thomas Chamberlain that human activity could warm the earth

And the CO2 molecule is absorbed after 10 years into the sea. What an interesting fact!

Basically it makes me wonder if Global Warming is due to us humans or is it just nature evolving because the book stated that we could experience another Ice Age in 5,000 years but if the warming continues we could experience the next Ice Age in 45,000 years.

However, now i make sure i do not leave appliances on stand by and only switch on the lights in the room i will be at that present moment.

I hope you all try to help save the Mother Earth.

UNICEF - United Nations Children Fund

I have enquired on joining the UNICEF Youth Group, so am currently awaiting feedback, but once i do i will be excited, because it will give me the opportunity help add an optimistic change in other peoples lives.

UNICEF strives to promote health, education, equality, protection and humanity for children around the globe.

Some of their tragets are improved sanitation facilities, better education on HIV & Aids and the right for all children to receive basic education inorder for them acquire skills so that they may know-how to stand on their own two feet and seek an optimistic future.
http://www.unicef.org/

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