Global Warming 2020

Global Warming Solutions : Greener Houses Can Offset Greenhouse Gases   by Guy Alexander Bell

In a recent interview on British TV, Chancellor Gordon Brown called on households to do more to cut greenhouse gases, in effect, by making homes better insulated and more fuel-efficient. The climate change bill ambitiously seeks to cut emissions by 60% by the year 2050. Is this viable in today’s “me” society? Or over time will we slowly turn into a “them” society? Is this compatible with capitalism? And just how easy is it to turn an existing house into a green one? Guy Alexander Bell, editor of the online magazine “Never Paint Again” suggests some things we could to make our home, and our lifestyle within it, more green…

With more “green” legislation coming into building design and construction, more and more houses and commercial buildings are being built with “green” credentials. Things such as solar panels, better insulation, timber from sustainable sources, are just a few of the latest trends in building, but what about existing and older buildings? In this article we look at various steps that the average person can take in order to make their older house a bit more environmentally friendly for future generations.

How can a hundred year old house be green, or made to be green?

Putting aside the notion of actually painting it green (Doh!) and embracing the literal sense, what can be done for old houses? If we consider VERY old house, dating back to maybe 1600, it could be argued that these houses were far more green than modern ones, or even ones built over the past 100 years, but why is that?

When a house was built 400 years ago, it was built with whatever was around (in the literal sense) at the time. So if it was being built near a quarry, it would be made of local stone. If there were reed beds or hay etc nearby, it would have a thatched roof, making use of crops that would have otherwise been burnt or thrown away. If it was near the sea, many of the timbers would be recycled from old ships or boats, and in fact many buildings in established seaside locations in and around the British isles have some surprises in their lofts when you look! Many an old ships mast was made into a staircase, and timbers were used in the roof and for lintels above doors and windows. The global transport infrastructure did not exist then. Goods were sourced locally, or at least brought by sea, river or canal, from somewhere fairly nearby.

When undertaking home improvements on a more modern house, it difficult in todays world to keep your green credentials. For example, what about all the car journeys to go and fetch the new items from the DIY shop? What about the builders turning up in their old van? For a month. (plus in some cases, the amount of methane builders’ emit! Cups of tea are very important to a builder, but not too many, and make sure no egg sandwiches and baked beans are served!)

What about the fact that the items (paint, tools, whatever you buy), have probably clocked up loads of “carbon miles” by being shipped around the world, and sometimes from countries with very poor human right records?

That’s not very green is it?

So how can you make an old house green? Well if the interior is concentrated on first, steps could be taken such as solar powered heating and power from rooftop or garden based wind power units. Setting them up can be expensive, but the cost is falling all the time. Make enough power, and if you have a surplus, you can sell it back to the national grid, although how long it would be before the government find a way to tax that is another matter, although inevitable, it could be argued!

If we all generated our own electric like this, the need to build new power stations would diminish. You need to take a long term view on this, and it is only the most ardent “pioneers” who are doing this at present. Also why not use solar powered lights in the garden?

Interior

You could also hang curtains made from hemp and buy some new green-friendly furniture. You could buy decent second hand curtains or even furniture from a charity shop (many sell nearly new ones at bargain prices), and from an ethical point of view, you’ve donated to a worthwhile cause. Re-use, don’t throw away, even if you can afford to buy new, do you really HAVE to?

Buy “A graded” energy efficient appliances such as dishwashers, fridges etc and these will save you money too. Take baths instead of showers. During the autumn months, install cheap and effective draught excluders to cut down on heat loss. Have double glazing fitted if you don’t have it already, although wooden double glazing is better as UPVC manufacture is perhaps not as environmentally friendly as it could be. Or if you’re rich, get a “little man” to do it (!) (The butler?)

Your plans could also include bizarre sounding ideas like chairs and sofas made from recycled bottles and cushions with recycled stuffing, deck chairs made of old milk cartons, and chairs made with removable, washable and replaceable covers. Do you really need to buy brand new furniture?

Also try and find a local workshop or skilled tradesman who could make the furniture locally, preferably from re-used wood. From experience this is harder to find depending on where you live.

If doing an extension or major refurbishment, you could also install wood floors made from reclaimed pallets; you could install long life low emission fluorescent bulbs, and install skylights roof windows or larger windows around the house to minimize daytime lighting needs. And throughout the house why not use non-toxic, water-based paints?

Very importantly, make sure your loft is well insulated. Many local councils in the UK run a “warm homes” scheme for people on low incomes. This was in fact a little known piece of government legislation that enabled this and is covered in full under the Warm Homes and Energy Conservation Act 2000. Take advantage of these. Most heat loss contrary to what “smarmy” double glazing salesmen tell you, is through the roof, not the windows!

Exterior

The exterior of the house also needs attention. Use water catchment systems like water “butts” to harvest water for watering plants etc. Make sure all your windows are in good condition and are clean to let in the most light. Make sure there are no areas where damp can get into the house. Damp can not only make your house feel colder, it can also very badly affect your health (buy to let landlords take note please).

Make sure the walls are in good condition and get them repainted regularly. One option would be to choose a professional specialist company to apply a long life exterior wallcoating. This specialist high performance paint is installed with either a spray or a roller, depending on the material used.

Not only can it cut down on spending money year after year repainting, it can also stop damp and make the inside of the house warmer due to not only cutting out wind chill, but also insulating properties too. Most of these coatings are far thicker than paint and they don’t need to be redone ever year, so that’s about 10 coats of paint at the same time, saving money and the environment in the long term, especially as many are made with natural dyes and resins in small to mid size manufacturing facilities instead of huge multinational factories belching out smoke and chemicals. The best site to find out more info about insulating exterior coatings for houses is the world renowned www.neverpaintagain.co.uk

The other benefit is that the work is done ONCE every 25 years instead of every year, thus less materials used in time, less van and lorry journeys, and less pollution. (and less money)

Do more research about how to make your house greener, get involved. There are plenty of great websites out there that can offer some valuable help and advise to start going green, and staying green, but its anyone’s guess as to whether the whole world will take note, but its worth a go.

Green lifestyle

There are other smaller things you can do to make your household use less energy and be more green. Consider a hybrid (electric) car. A combination of an electric motor and a normal one. Few cars have them (probably due to pressure from huge oil companies to buy more fuel), but one day these will probably be the norm. If the public transport system in the Uk wasn’t so awful, you could consider taking a bus or train (where they still exist), although if renovating a house, that’s going to be pretty hard, but tell that to the government!

Don’t leave your TV, stereo etc on standby. If you’re not using it, switch it off. Cup of tea? Don’t fill the kettle up for one cup, you’re throwing money away. Off on a plane? With cheap flights it’s tempting but think what you are doing to the planet. Why not holiday in the UK instead. (no, don’t laugh!)

Can we move to a society where we can all “carbon offset” anything we do that uses energy? Carbon offsetting is whereby if you chop down 10 trees to build a house made of wood, then you replant 10 trees (or even more) to “offset” what you’ve done. A very brave vision indeed, although if society will change for the better, only time will tell. With summer around the corner, traditionally the busiest time in the UK for home improvement, just stop and think for a minute about what you’re doing!

Unless you’re mega rich, do you REALLY need that outside spa? Do you REALLY need to buy brand new chain store furniture? And why put a finish outside that you have to repaint every 2 years or so? Whats the point? Evidence from various sources, and from my own analysis, suggest that the housing market in the UK maybe up for a sharp drop in 2008.

As being “green” and environmentally sound is becoming far more popular as people become aware of what they are doing to the planet, a “green” house, or at least a house that is energy efficient, coupled with one that is in good repair and visually appealing, will be easier to sell, and cheaper to maintain in the long term and will provide instant street cred, with the advantage of helping to save our planet.

So what’s stopping you becoming green now?

About the Author

Guy Alexander Bell is a businessman and ex graduate of the University of Plymouth. He edits the UK based online paint magazine “Never paint again”. His work has been featured in several different prestige publications all over the world. Check out his website for more info at http://www.neverpaintagain.co.uk

Source: http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=428052

Causes of Global Warming : Is Global Warming caused by greenhouse gases or by the Sun?   by Per Strandberg

Most scientists believe that the current global warming is caused by man-made emissions of greenhouse gases and that the most important of these gases is Carbon Dioxide or CO2.

They also believe that the Sun’s influence for this warming is very small. We now know that the irradiance or “heat transfer” from the Sun to the Earth has varied relative little during recent decades. Therefore the conclusion that most scientists have done is that the resent warming must be man-made, this is because they haven’t found any other reasonable explanation.

However what we know over how much a specific increase of CO2 has on global temperature is poor. The reason in that the knowledge of how greenhouse gases affect cloud formation is mostly down to speculations. Cloud formation physics is quite a complicated process to explain with many factors.

So, rather than having a solid theoretical and measured basis for how much man-made greenhouse gases affect the climate, the made estimation is mostly down to deduction.

They argue: We know how much the temperature has increased so therefore we can calculate how much a specific increase in greenhouse gases will increase the global temperature in the future. We have done this through deduction as we already have attributed the known increase to be greenhouse driven.

However scientists who study the Sun have long noted similarities between solar activity and terrestrial weather patterns.

Also the weather changes the last century is not something unique. Given the relative small changes in the observed irradiance “heat emitted from the Sun”, those changes in temperature during past centuries are hard to explain if you don’t include some other types of influence from the Sun.

It was not until the Danish scientist Henrik Svensmark suggested that cosmic radiation could influence cloud cover that a plausible explains for this apparent correlation was given.

Here is this theory!

When the Sun is very active, as it is now, the solar wind and the solar magnetic field are both strong. This in turn shields the Earth from high energy particles coming from the cosmos, usually from particles which were once created in supernova explosions. This affects low cloud cover formation as the radiation create ions which seeds cloud forming water droplets. During times when there are many high energy particles reaching low altitudes there are more low cloud cover and the Earth cools. When there are few high energy particles penetrating to low altitudes then less clouds form and the Earth warms.

Usually clouds higher up in the atmosphere are almost always ionized from both low and high energy particles because both those types of particles penetrate high altitudes at all time.

The created variations are only in the low altitude cloud cover which is affected by very high energy cosmic particles.

Recently an experiment called SKY (Cloud in Danish) was made by Svensmark which conclusively confirmed this cloud forming mechanism experimentally and that this type of cosmic ionization has an important seed effect on clouds. Links between low cloud cover variations and high energy particles intensity have also now been confirmed by satellite studies.

About the Author

Per Strandberg has a Master Degree in Applied Physics & Electronics. He is the webmaster of a unique website which gives visitors comprehensive information, with graphics and key data that deal with current theories on global warming. http://www.global-warming-and-the-climate.com

Source: http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=407985

Global Warming Solutions : Your Personal Kyoto Protocol – Our Individual Responsibility to Reduce Greenhouse Gases   by Carl Chesal

It is now time for each and every one of us to make a positive effort to help reduce the impact of Global Warming on our good earth. The official cause for global warming has been unequivocally determined at the 2007 IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) meeting in Paris France. Established in 1988 by the the United Nations, the IPCC has just completed its 4th Assessment Report which has established that global warming has been human-caused and for the most part greenhouse gases have been the largest contributor to the acceleration of global warming. Effects of global warming will definitely be experienced in this century.

Reducing greenhouse gases. What can we individually do in-parallel-to and in-advance-of government decrees, programs and laws?

We can do lots! But here are FOUR areas to consider right now!

1. The always can-do-more Recycle-Reuse now includes in our house the extended use of jars or plastic containers to store leftovers. And they are used in my workshop for paint, paint thinners and wood filler before recycling them. Keep containers and jars in use longer and resist the use of those “burping” containers.

2. Encourage your employer to implement a partial or full Work From Home Program (Telecommuting as it was referred to in earlier times). This is particularly appropriate for office jobs that involve sales, marketing and telephone support. Fact is, most of these roles are characterized by computer / web use, telephone / conference calls and on-site customer visits. Think of the reduced automobile traffic that could result from such a responsible program. Even if your office were to implement a 1 or 2 day Work from Home program, you reduce gas emissions and while creating cubicle sharing program, which will also reduce business overhead costs. Progressive companies like Dell, Microsoft and Sun Microsystems have such Work From Home Programs.

3. Plan, reduce and eliminate those automobile trips to the mall, grocery store, sports or fitness event. Pool with neighbors and consolidate trips for supplies. Wow! Just like they did in pioneer times. Time to plan one or two days per week when you do all the “going into town for supplies”. Walk, take the bus or subway instead of your carbon generating greenhouse gas emitting vehicle.

4. On-line shopping as an alternative way to shop. You not only save gas but also reduce the wear-and-tear on on your vehicle. No travel time and no parking expenses further respects your valuable time and saves money. Products purchased on-line are conveniently delivered directly to your door. On-line internet shopping makes even more sense to those in rural communities, where they are typically farther away from shopping centers.

Time to get to know your neighbor, expand your circle of friends and acquaintances, reduce the use of your automobile(s). Claim it as your own Personal Kyoto Protocol.

About the Author

Carl Chesal’s years of experience in Business and Channel Development, Training, Internet Marketing and Photography is highlighted at the Bizfare Enterprise website. Carl with wife, Janet, also operate a number of e-commerce web-sites.

Source: http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=394309