Almost 100% of the observed temperature increase over the last 50 years has been due to the increase in the atmosphere of greenhouse gas concentrations like water vapor, carbon dioxide (CO2), methane and ozone. Greenhouse gases are those gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect. The largest contributing source of greenhouse gas is the burning of fossil fuels leading to the emission of carbon dioxide.
When sunlight reaches Earth's surface some is absorbed and warms the earth and most of the rest is radiated back to the atmosphere at a longer wavelength than the sunlight. Some of these longer wavelengths are absorbed by greenhouse gases in the atmosphere before they are lost to space. The absorption of this longwave radiant energy warms the atmosphere. These greenhouse gases act like a mirror and reflect back to the Earth some of the heat energy which would otherwise be lost to space. The reflecting back of heat energy by the atmosphere is called the "greenhouse effect". The major natural greenhouse gases are water vapor, which causes about 36-70% of the greenhouse effect on Earth (not including clouds); carbon dioxide CO2, which causes 9-26%; methane, which causes 4-9%, and ozone, which causes 3-7%. It is not possible to state that a certain gas causes a certain percentage of the greenhouse effect because the influences of the various gases are not additive. Other greenhouse gases include, but are not limited to, nitrous oxide, sulfur hexafluoride, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and chlorofluorocarbons.
Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere act like a mirror and reflect back to the Earth a part of the heat radiation, which would otherwise be lost to space. The higher the concentration of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the more heat energy is being reflected back to the Earth. The emission of carbon dioxide into the environment mainly from the burning of fossil fuels (oil, gas, petrol, kerosene, etc.) has been increased dramatically over the past 50 years.
Increasing global temperatures are causing a broad range of changes. Sea levels are rising due to thermal expansion of the ocean, in addition to melting of land ice. Amounts and patterns of precipitation are changing. The total annual power of hurricanes has already increased markedly since 1975 because their average intensity and average duration have increased (in addition, there has been a high correlation of hurricane power with tropical sea-surface temperature).
Changes in temperature and precipitation patterns increase the frequency, duration, and intensity of other extreme weather events, such as floods, droughts, heat waves, and tornadoes. Other effects of global warming include higher or lower agricultural yields, further glacial retreat, reduced summer stream flows, species extinctions. As a further effect of global warming, diseases like malaria are returning into areas where they have been extinguished earlier.
Although global warming is affecting the number and magnitude of these events, it is difficult to connect specific events to global warming. Although most studies focus on the period up to 2100, warming is expected to continue past then because carbon dioxide (chemical symbol CO2) has an estimated atmospheric lifetime of 50 to 200 years. For a summary of the predictions for the future increase in temperature up to 2100.
The global warming does indeed exist and it was mainly caused by humankind who is even still accelerating it. From global warming, we expect a rise of the average temperature leading to - among other things - melting of glaciers and melting of the polar ice, increase of the mean sea level as well as generally more of extreme weather events and natural disasters like droughts, floods, tornadoes, etc. Only a drastic reduction of the waste gas emissions in the very near future can stop this trend.
CO2 (Carbon dioxide) emissions belong to the most important causes of global warming. CO2 is inevitably created by burning fossil fuels like e.g. oil, natural gas, diesel, organic-diesel, petrol, organic-petrol, ethanol. Recent investigations have shown that inconceivable catastrophic changes in the environment will take place as soon as the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere reaches the level of about 450 ppm. Today's concentration is already at 380 ppm and it raises on average 2 - 3 ppm each year so that the critical value will be reached in approximately 25 to 30 years from now.
In the past, there was more or less a direct relation between the energy consumption (mainly fossil fuels) and the welfare of a country. This has so far prevented many countries from taking serious actions to reduce their consumption of fossil fuels. As of today, however, this relation is not true anymore. Germany is a good example of a country where the CO2 emissions have been decreasing for several years despite a growth of the economy.
In the Kyoto conference, many countries have agreed to reduce their CO2 output until the year 2012, on average to 5% below their respective emissions of the year 1990. The USA - as the largest CO2 producer worldwide - and most developing countries refused to sign this agreement.
If you increase your personal petrol or gas consumption for this year by saying 1'000 liters because you use the car more often, will this lead to natural disasters? And if yes, where? Nobody will be able to take you to the court because it is not possible to prove a direct relation between your increased yearly consumption of fuels and a drought in Africa. This does not change the fact, however, that the CO2 emission produced by your car does indeed contribute to the global warming. No doubt, you and I are responsible for the climate change, too.
The following testimonies are typical:
· Me alone, I cannot change anything, why should I then change my personal behavior?
· I respect the laws, I don't do anything illegal. I am not against your saving energy, but leave me in peace with your ideas.
· My energy requirement is modest. I won't change before the big polluters have changed their behavior.
These declarations share a fundamentally wrong assumption that we are not fully responsible for what we do. But the contrary is true: We are indeed fully responsible for everything we do or do not do! The fact that we don't get fined or taken into prison for certain deeds does by far not mean that these deeds do not have a big impact on our personal future life.
If you increase your personal petrol or gas consumption for this year by saying 1'000 liters because you use the car more often, will this lead to natural disasters? And if yes, where? Nobody will be able to take you to the court because it is not possible to prove a direct relation between your increased yearly consumption of fuels and a drought in Africa. This does not change the fact, however, that the CO2 emission produced by your car does indeed contribute to the global warming. No doubt, you and I are responsible for the climate change, too.
The following testimonies are typical:
· Me alone, I cannot change anything, why should I then change my personal behavior?
· I respect the laws, I don't do anything illegal. I am not against your saving energy, but leave me in peace with your ideas.
· My energy requirement is modest. I won't change before the big polluters have changed their behavior.
These declarations share a fundamentally wrong assumption that we are not fully responsible for what we do. But the contrary is true: We are indeed fully responsible for everything we do or do not do! The fact that we don't get fined or taken into prison for certain deeds does by far not mean that these deeds do not have a big impact on our personal future life.
Personal responsibility
If you increase your personal petrol or gas consumption for this year by saying 1'000 liters because you use the car more often, will this lead to natural disasters? And if yes, where? Nobody will be able to take you to the court because it is not possible to prove a direct relation between your increased yearly consumption of fuels and a drought in Africa. This does not change the fact, however, that the CO2 emission produced by your car does indeed contribute to the global warming. No doubt, you and I are responsible for the climate change, too.
The following testimonies are typical:
· Me alone, I cannot change anything, why should I then change my personal behavior?
· I respect the laws, I don't do anything illegal. I am not against your saving energy, but leave me in peace with your ideas.
· My energy requirement is modest. I won't change before the big polluters have changed their behavior.
These declarations share a fundamentally wrong assumption that we are not fully responsible for what we do. But the contrary is true: We are indeed fully responsible for everything we do or do not do! The fact that we don't get fined or taken into prison for certain deeds does by far not mean that these deeds do not have a big impact on our personal future life.
Life is about you and your behavior (and not about the behavior of others)
The goal of all human beings is to live in joy and perpetual harmony with oneself and with the environment, to be able to enjoy a life free of sorrows and fears. We approach this goal step by step over a series of incarnations. Let's compare this with classes in school or with a study at the university: Based on your performance within the current semester, you can either advance to the next higher level or you will have to repeat the current level until you meet certain performance criteria. In a similar manner, our behavior in daily life decides whether we approach the above-mentioned goal of perpetual harmony with ourselves and with our environment or not.
Hence it should become evident that harming or even destroying nature - i.e. our environment and basis of being - does at the very end hinder ourselves most: We harm or destroy exactly what we eventually wanted to get in unison and harmony with.
In regard to the common rude and thoughtless dealing with nature, the above may sound rather hopeless for our future. For your personal development, however, only your personal behavior counts and not the behavior of "average people" or of a certain majority. It's only about you! Therefore it is possible to develop yourself when you limit your negative footprint of your life here on earth (e.g. consumption of resources, pollution of the environment) to an acceptable level. This is your contribution to solving the problem.
On the other hand, it is impossible to get in perpetual harmony with yourself and with your environment if you do not limit your negative footprint to an acceptable level. It is also a matter of respect towards nature and all its creatures.
There is absolutely no reason at all to wait for laws or incentives from the government before you start with your personal contribution. Who, he does this immediately and by free will, will automatically get better conditions for his or her personal future - be it in this or in next incarnations. For the personal development, only decisions made by free will really do count. There will be the very little effect on your personal development if you buy a more economical car because you cannot afford the fuel for a larger car anymore. However, if you decide to buy a more economical car of your own free will because you want to reduce your negative effects on the environment, as reverence for nature, then this will certainly have positive effects on your personal future.
Swindling is impossible - personal responsibility cannot be escaped from
Above we mentioned the similarity to a school or university. There is a teacher or professor who judges the students and their exams. However, who does judge our behavior in our daily life? Who or what does decide about our personal future, how happy and content we are, how secure we feel?
This is exactly what part of ourselves, which makes "life" in us, differentiate human beings from dead material and which shapes our individuality. It is sometimes called "higher self", "spirit", "mind", "soul", "God in us", etc. It is not important how we call this part of us, however, it is very important to recognize that it is part of ourselves. Therefore it is impossible to swindle or to escape from the personal responsibility. For you cannot hide anything from yourself!
The analysis and judgment of our decisions are taking place permanently and leads to corrections on our way of life: In order to learn what we are still missing, "life" will in the future confront us with situations that will give us the chance to try again. And it will repeat either in this or in future incarnations until we indeed do learn what we need to learn.
Take your personal responsibility serious (also) regarding the pollution which your existence and behavior either directly or indirectly created. You do not only help prevent the earth from collapsing, but you do help yourself, too. If you personally take responsibility, you won't lose anything. On the contrary, you and everybody else is just gaining advantages.
Deeds are more important than words - do start now!
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