Download Air pollution, climate change and ozone loss

Marie-Claude Blais
Carole Mereb
Air pollution, climate change
and ozone loss
Presented to Rudolf Balek
April 3rd, 2008
Presentation plan
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Air
Air pollution
Climate change
Ozone loss
References
Questions
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Air pollution, climate change
and ozone loss
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Movie on climate change
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http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8986925729646026346
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Quiz
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How much CO2 do one person consume per year?
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http://www.climatecrisis.net/takeaction/carboncalculator/
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Air composition
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Air is a mixture of gases:
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78% nitrogen
21% oxygen
Traces of water vapour, carbon dioxide, argon, and various other
components.
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Atmosphere stratification
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Earth’s atmosphere contains five different layers:
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Exosphere
Thermosphere (Including ionosphere)
„ Aurora
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and space shuttles
Mesosphere
„ Meteors
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Stratosphere
„ Contains
the ozone layer
„ 19.9 % of the atmosphere
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Troposphere
„ Air
planes
„ 80 % of the atmosphere
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Atmosphere stratification
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Atmospheric pressure
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Presentation plan
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Air
Air pollution
Climate change
Ozone loss
References
Questions
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and ozone loss
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Outdoor air pollution
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Primary pollutants:
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Direct sources
They are pollutants released into the atmosphere
from the burning of fossil fuels including forest burning, chemical,
fertiliser paper manufacture, and waste incineration.
Includes also gases like sulphur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx),
Secondary pollutants:
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They are formed in the air when various gases interact with each other in
the presence of sunlight.
Ozone is a secondary ambient air pollutant.
For exemple, smog and acid rain.
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Outdoor air pollution
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Both primary and secondary pollutants are:
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Detrimental to human health.
„ Depending on their concentration in the air.
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Natural capital degradation
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Natural capital
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Major Classes of Air Polluants
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Smog
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Indoor air pollution
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Today, indoor air pollution is more a problem than outdoor air pollution.
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Cigarette smoke inside
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Buildings
Inside cars that are in heavy traffic.
Formaldehyde
Radioactive radon-222 gas are the three most dangerous indoor
pollutants.
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Indoor radioactive radon-222
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Important indoor air pollutants
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Indoor air pollution
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Smoking and exposure to air
pollutants can cause:
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Lung cancer
Asthma
Chronic bronchitis
Emphysema
ÎLead to large numbers of
premature deaths.
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Solutions to prevent indoor air
pollution
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Do not buy furniture or anything containing formaldehyde.
Remove your shoes before entering into your house to reduce inputs of
dust, lead and pesticides.
Do not live in a pre-1980 house without having its indoor air tested for
asbestos or lead. (Asbestos is a group of minerals with long, thin fibrous crystals)
Do not store gasoline, solvents or other volatile chemicals inside your
house.
Smoke outside of the house.
Install carbon monoxide detectors in all sleeping areas.
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Topography
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Two sets of topography and weather conditions that lead to prolonged
temperature inversion, in which a warm air layer sits atop cooler air layer.
First: temperature inversion can occur during cold, cloudy weather in a valley
surrounded by mountains.
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Topography
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Second: temperature inversion can occur in an area with a sunny climate, light
winds, mountains on three sides and the ocean on the other.
A layer of warm air form high-pressure system that prevents ocean-cooled air
near the ground from ascending enough to disperse and dilute pollutants.
Ex: Los Angeles and Mexico City
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Solutions to prevent air pollution
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The U.S. Clean Air Acts established air
pollution regulations that are enforced
by each state and by major cities.
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The EPA has also set standards for more
than 100 toxic air pollutants known or
suspected to have health effects.
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Tougher fuel-efficiency standards would
lower smog levels.
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Between 1990 and 2000, an emissions
trading system helped reduce sulfur
dioxide emissions in the United States
by 30%.
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Solutions to prevent air pollution
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Getting older, high-polluting vehicles off the road, using mass transit,
increasing fuel efficiency, and using more alternative vehicle fuels can
reduce outdoor air pollution.
We can reduce indoor air pollution:
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By banning smoking indoors.
By reducing the use of emitting materials, and preventing radon infiltration.
ÎPollution prevention is the key to reducing pollution.
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Solutions to prevent air pollution
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Solutions to prevent air pollution
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Solutions to prevent air pollution
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Presentation plan
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Air
Air pollution
Climate change
Ozone loss
References
Questions
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What is global warming?
Global warming is the increase in the average temperature of the Earth's
near-surface air and oceans since the mid-twentieth century and its projected
continuation.
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What is global warming?
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Climate change is real. We can see it
in:
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Direct measurements of rising
surface air temperatures
Rising subsurface ocean
temperatures
Increases in average global sea levels
Retreating glaciers
Changes to many physical and
biological systems.
It is likely that most of the warming in
recent decades can be attributed to
human activities.
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Human Effect on Global Warming
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Global Warming in the World
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Global Warming in the World
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Past climate change
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Temperature and climate have been
changing throughout the earth’s
history.
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The last 90,000 years were a series
of cold glacial periods followed by
warmer interglacial periods.
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The past 10,000 years has been an
interglacial period.
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Past climate change
And the hottest of all was 2005
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Past climate change
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Scientists study climate change by drilling holes in the arctic and
making measurements.
They analyze the air bubbles trapped in different segments of the ice
cores
ÎVideo
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The Earth's Natural
Greenhouse Effect
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By burning fossil fuels such as coal,
gas and oil and clearing forests we
have dramatically increased the
amount of carbon dioxide in the
Earth’s atmosphere.
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This thickens the thin layer of
atmosphere and as it thickens more
of the infrared are trapped and
consequently the earth’s
temperatures are rising.
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Consequences of global warming
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Glaciers are melting
Plants and animals are being forced from their habitats
More flooding and more droughts depending on the regions
The number of severe storms and droughts is increasing.
The number of Category 4 and 5 hurricanes has almost doubled in the
last 30 years
Malaria has spread to higher altitudes in places like the Colombian
Andes, 7,000 feet above sea level.
The flow of ice from glaciers in Greenland has more than doubled over
the past decade
At least 279 species of plants and animals are already responding to
global warming, moving closer to the poles.
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Consequences of global warming
Glaciers melting
Kilimanjaro, AFRICA
2000
1970
2005
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Consequences of global warming
Glaciers melting
Grinnel Glacier, Glacier National Park
1910
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Consequences of global warming
Glaciers melting
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Consequences of global warming
Precipitation change
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Climate change relocates the precipitations causing more flooding in
some regions and more droughts in others.
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Consequences of global warming
Floods
In Mumbai, India
July 26, 2005
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37 inches of rain in 24 hours
Water levels reached seven feet
The most an Indian city has ever received in one day
The death toll in Western India reached 1000
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Consequences of global warming
Droughts
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Consequences of climate change
Heat wave
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Consequences of climate change
Heat wave
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Consequences of global warming
Permafrost thawing
Those trees put their roots in the
permafrost soil.
The permafrost is thawing so the
trees are bending
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This building was built on the
permafrost soil and has collapsed as
the permafrost thaws
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Consequences of global warming
Hurricanes
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Consequences of global
warming Hurricanes
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When it hit Florida it was just a category 1
but then before it hit New Orland's it passed by warmer water and as the
water temperature increases, the wind velocity increases and the
moisture content increases. Katrina got stronger when passing over the
golf.
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Consequences of global warming
Tornados
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Consequences of global warming
Typhoons
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Consequences of global warming
Arctic melting
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When the sun rays hit the ice, more than 90% bounces off back into
space but when it hits the open ocean more than 90% is absorbed and so
as the surrounding water gets warmer it speeds up the melting of the ice.
There is a faster build-up of heat in the arctic than anywhere else on the
planet.
Polar bears are starting to drown because they swim long distances
searching for ice.
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Consequences of global warming
Arctic melting
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Consequences of global warming
Arctic melting
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The Arctic is one of the two regions of the worlds experiencing faster impacts from global
warming
This is the largest ice shelf of the world and it cracked in half in 2002.
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Consequences of global warming
Arctic melting
1979
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2003
In the north pole, they have measured the thickness of the ice since 1957
Starting in 1970, their was a great drop off of the amount and extent and thickness of the
ice. The ice has diminished of 40% in the past 40 years
Within the next 50 to 70 years, the ice will be completely gone in summer time.
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Consequences of global warming
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If Greenland was to disappear, the world sea level would raise up from
20 meters.
ÎVideo
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Climate Change and Human
Activities
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By burning fossil fuels, clearing and burning forests and grasslands,
raising large numbers of livestock such as cattle, planting rice, and using
inorganic fertilizers, human have increased concentrations of
greenhouse gases.
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Factors Affecting the Earth's
Temperature
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Projecting Future Changes in
the Earth's Temperature
Projected range of temperature increase during the
rest of the century
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Projecting Future Changes in
the Earth's Temperature
If the warming continues, we can expect catastrophic consequences :
„ Deaths from global warming will double in just 25 years—to 300,000
people a year.
„ Global sea levels could rise by more than 20 feet with the loss of shelf
ice in Greenland and Antarctica, devastating coastal areas worldwide.
„ Heat waves will be more frequent and more intense
„ Droughts and wildfires will occur more often
„ The Arctic Ocean could be ice free in summer by 2050
„ More than a million species worldwide could be driven to extinction by
2050
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Factors Affecting the Earth's
Temperature
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Almost 30% of all the CO2 that goes up each year in the atmosphere
comes from forest burning
Time laps picture of the earth at night over 6 months period
In white, the lights of the cities
In red, the burning forests and brush fires
In yellow, the gas layers
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Factors Affecting the Earth's
Temperature
Ocean conveyer
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Factors Affecting the Earth's
Temperature
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Possible Effects of a Warmer World
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Possible Beneficial Effects of a
Warmer World
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Dealing with the Threat of
Global Warming
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Dealing with the Threat of
Global Warming
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Removing carbon dioxide from the
atmosphere or from smokestacks
and storing (sequestering) it in
plants, soil, deep underground
reservoirs and the deep ocean.
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Dealing with the Threat of
Global Warming
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What can you do
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What Is Being Done to Reduce
Greenhouse Gas Emissions?
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Greenhouse gases are an important part of the Kyoto Protocol.
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Unfortunately, Kyoto Treaty of 1997 only dealt with reducing current and future
emission levels. It offered no solutions for the gases that are already in the
atmosphere and will continue to be a problem for the next century or so.
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Presentation plan
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Air
Air pollution
Climate change
Ozone loss
References
Questions
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and ozone loss
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Ozone Depletion in the
Stratosphere
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The ozone layer keeps 95% of the sun's harmful UV radiation from reaching the
earth's surface.
Use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and other ozone-depleting compounds has
lowered the average level of ozone in the stratosphere.
One effect is seasonal ozone thinning over the poles.
Consequences :
„ UV radiation can cause skin cancers and damage plants and animals
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Global Warming & Ozone Depletion
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Effects of Ozone Depletion
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Solutions Against Ozone Depletion
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Protecting the Ozone Layer
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We should immediately stop producing all ozone-depleting chemicals
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CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) are generated only by industrial processes, they are the only
greenhouse gases that are entirely man-made.
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CFCs identifies the ingredients of CFCs as chlorine, fluorine, and carbon compounds.
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For many years, CFCs have been found in aerosols and air conditioners.
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Recent legislation (Montreal Protocol and Copenhagen Protocol ) has made them less
common, but the CFCs released over the years will continue to be a long-term factor in
the greenhouse effect.
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Ozone will continue to be depleted for years because CFCs take time to reach the
stratosphere and are persistent.
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Reduce your impact at home
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Replace a regular incandescent light bulb with a compact fluorescent light
bulb (cfl)
Move your thermostat down 2° in winter and up 2° in summer
Clean or replace filters on your furnace and air conditioner
Install a programmable thermostat
Choose energy efficient appliances when making new purchases
Wrap your water heater in an insulation blanket
Use less hot water
Use a clothesline instead of a dryer whenever possible
Turn off electronic devices you’re not using
Unplug electronics from the wall when you’re not using them
Only run your dishwasher when there’s a full load and use the energysaving setting
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Reduce your impact at home
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Insulate and weatherize your home
Be sure you’re recycling at home
Buy recycled paper products
Plant a tree
Get a home energy audit
Switch to green power
Buy locally grown and produced foods
Buy fresh foods instead of frozen
Seek out and support local farmers markets
Buy organic foods as much as possible
Avoid heavily packaged products
Eat less meat
Air pollution, climate change
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Reduce your impact at home
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Reduce the number of miles you drive by walking, biking, carpooling or
taking mass transit wherever possible
Start a carpool with your coworkers or classmates
Keep your car tuned up
Check your tires weekly to make sure they’re properly inflated
When it is time for a new car, choose a more fuel efficient vehicle
Try telecommuting from home
Fly less
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Think globally, act locally
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There is no doubt we can solve this problem. In fact, we have a moral
obligation to do so.
Small changes to your daily routine can add up to big differences in
helping to stop global warming.
The time to come together to solve this problem is now – TAKE
ACTION
ÎVideo
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Presentation plan
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Air
Air pollution
Climate change
Ozone loss
References
Questions
April 3rd, 2008
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and ozone loss
82
References
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http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/air-composition-d_212.html
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Living in the Environment, Fourteenth Edition, G.Tyler Miller,Jr.
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An Inconvenient Truth movie, Al Gore
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Presentation plan
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Air
Air pollution
Climate change
Ozone loss
References
Questions
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Air pollution, climate change
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Questions
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Thank you for your
attention!
Marie-Claude Blais
Carole Mereb