Why Is Our Planet Going Eco-Green?
Using a chronological outline, here is a practical look at global warming and the emergence of a new environmentalism.
The Ace Report
Updated: Sunday, June 22nd, 2008
Written by: Ace Marketing Agency
While the roots of environmentalism can be traced much further back, in 1962, when Rachel Carson’s controversial book Silent Spring was first published, the modern day environmental movement was (Ace feels) born.
In addition to Rachel Carson’s rally for eco attention, there would be several ecological-events transpiring in the 1960's to drive the environmental movement into action, notably several smog disasters in London and New York, the Santa Barbara oil spill of 1969, and the infamous day the Cuyahoga River caught fire in Cleveland, OH on June 22nd, 1969.
With a determination to inspire environmental awareness, over 20 million people celebrated the first Earth Day on April 22nd, 1970.
But nearly 40 years later, after surviving acid rain and the ozone hole crisis, the condition and concern of the Earth’s environment is now a subject of intense political, economic and social international debate. At the forefront of the new environmental movement is “global warming”, now hyped as the greatest ecological threat to our way of life, in the entire history of our civilization.
But Global warming is different then all other eco-crisises of the last several decades, including, and not limited to: smog, acid rain, deforestation, water pollution, the ozone hole and nuclear disasters and nuclear weapons.
A political hotbed of an issue, and for this article, and all future discussions on this website, Ace Marketing Agency wishes to make it clear, we will take as neutral and fair a stance as possible on the subject, avoiding any political affiliation, but highlighting where necessary, relevant points for further consideration. In other words, Ace’s intent here is to write a healthy analysis on a subject that is here to stay, without the added fireworks.
Eco-green is in. Out is the image of the eco tree-hugger. Also out is the outdated environmental movement of the 1960's, a movement stigmatized with extremism, the quest for purity, and an impractical long term approach to a sustainable planet inhabited by now over 6.6 billion people.
The prospect of a real global warming scenario originates back to the early 1800’s. The modern global warming discussion technically begins with the dawn of the industrial revolution somewhere between 1760 and 1820. During this era, the carbon dioxide levels in the Earth's atmosphere were in the 280 ppm range. (ppm = parts per million, and is a unit of measure). With the massive rise of industrialization, fueled by everything from steam power and the rising railroad to large scale factory production, and the emerging electrical grid (much later), the use of coal (considered the #1 contributor of man made greenhouse gases) to drive much of this growth and obtain industrial energy needs, significantly contributed to increased atmospheric carbon dioxide levels worldwide.
There are a few notable milestones in global warming development to initiate the connection to an almost 200 year old theory. First, in 1824, Jean Fourier, a mathematician from France, suggested that gases found in the Earth’s atmosphere, could increase the surface temperature of the planet. This is where the term “greenhouse effect” historically originates. Towards the end of the century, in 1895, Svante Arrhenius, a Swedish scientist, was the first to calculate man-made carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere.
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Before we go any further, in simple detail, here is a ten point synopsis on what exactly “Global Warming” is:
1.) The energy of the sun heats up the planet. Some of this energy naturally exits the Earth.
2.) Huge amounts of greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide) trap some of the sun’s heat in the atmosphere and this results in an increase of the Earth's annual temperature overtime.
3.) Man made greenhouse gases primarily come from fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas).
4.) The largest anthropological greenhouse gas contributors are: Power plants, factories, cars, agriculture, deforestation, buildings, airplanes.
5.) With the scenario of Earth’s annual temperature consistently rising, the seas expand (heat makes water expand), and the icecaps and glaciers begin to melt, all contribute to the main concern of global warming; the rising of the oceans.
6.) Other global warming effects include permafrost (artic soil thawing and releasing methane- seen in Alaska and Siberia), irregular to extreme weather patterns, droughts, certain animal species risking extinction (polar bears) or altering of habitat.
7.) Common global warming concern states that a “tipping point” may take place, or is taking place where we cross the point of no return.
8.) Within 50 to 100 years, in a worst case scenario, the oceans could rise 20ft to 200 ft putting upwards of 500 million humans (or more)at risk of being uprooted, and having to find new homes. This is an all out chaos scenario. Other worst case scenarios are in the collapse of the gulf stream, due to an increase of glacier melt freshwater run off. the collapse of the Amazon forest, and finally, with the warming of the oceans scenario, what if huge amounts of methane were to be released from the bottom of the seas?
9.) The global warming debate rages for several reasons, but at the center of the debate, are the costs involved to fix the global warming problem, which could amount to likely trillions of dollars in the 21st century, impacting global GDP growth, stable and emerging or struggling economies, nation competition and even national security policies. The most recent estimate of the financial impact of global warming comes from the IEA (International Energy Agency), who this month published a report stating it would cost $45 trillion dollars just to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half, by the year 2050.
10.) Global warming is a fierce, political and scientific discussion/debate.
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Now we return back in time to the 1950’s, and continue the outline.
The year is 1958, and Charles David Keeling, a U.S. scientist with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, discovers an annual rise in CO2 levels in the atmosphere, and introduces what is called “The Keeling Curve”. CO2 level in this era is at in 315 ppm range.
The introduction of Earth Day in 1970 created a larger eco awareness, and by the end of that year, the EPA, (Environmental Protection Agency) was formed. In the early 1970's, three environmental acts/Amendments were passed, including The Clean Air Act, The Water Pollution Control Act, and The Endangered Species Act. During this decade, larger concern not only about global warming, but the future impact of both airplanes and deforestation on the Earth’s climate and ecosystem arose, and by the end of the decade, an eco-nightmare scenario played out with the nuclear crisis at Three Mile Island.
In 1979, the first major report on global warming is released, by The U.S. National Academy of Sciences. By the early 1980's, some scientists are predicting that record high temperatures will be noticeable in the years between the 1990's to 2000.
To stay as neutral as possible, for the time span of 2001 to 2004, it is now time to introduce two rational, intelligent global warming hype skeptics. Both are influential in their own way, and both have contributed to the debate thoughtful, and controversial perspectives.
Let’s start with Bjorn Lomborg, currently an Adjunct Professor at the Copenhagen Business School in Denmark. In year 2001, Mr. Lomborg published the The Skeptical Environmentalist, a groundbreaking, intelligent book, which was released to a groundswell of praise and severe criticism, followed with an investigation into Lomborg's credentials and accusation of scientific dishonesty. Important to note, Lomborg survived the investigation and was cleared of the scientific dishonesty accusation. Among many topics in this volume, Mr. Lomborg acknowledges global warming is a legitimate problem, but argues that the approach to fixing the problem should be based on responsibility and rationality, as the costs of combating global warming could climb into the trillions of dollars. In 2004, Mr. Lomborg recieved the honor of being named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time Magazine. In 2007, Lomborg published a new book “Cool It: The Skeptical Environmentalist’s Guide to Global Warming”. In 2007, The Guardian, a U.K. newspaper named Lomborg as one of the 50 people who can save the planet. You can read more about Bjorn Lomborg at www.lomborg.com, and decide for yourself.
If you've seen Jurassic Park, or have enjoyed the mega TV hit ER, you may or may not have known that the creator of both stories, bestselling author, and Harvard graduate Michael Crichton is technically a global warming expert. Mr. Crichton is an avid, thorough researcher who may spend a couple or more years researching a topic, then he writes a creative bestselling novel out of what he has learned. The 2004 Crichton bestseller, State of Fear is no exception. With the success of State of Fear, Mr. Crichton became an important, controversial and unexpected voice on the skeptical point of view regarding global warming fear mongering. Mr. Crichton gained enough expert status on the topic that he met with President Bush in 2005 to discuss global warming for an hour at the White House. Present day, while Mr. Crichton has moved on from this topic, you can access his global warming views in the “Author’s View” on pages 625 to 630 in his book State of Fear, or you can read his 7/25/2005 speech “The Case For Skepticism on Global Warming” at www.michaelcrichton.com in the speeches link, and once again, decide for yourself.
The year 2005 will go down as a memorable, shocking year. According to the NCDC, 2005 was officially the warmest year ever recorded for the planet Earth. A destructive hurricane season made the top American news story of the year. Both Hurricane's Katrina and Rita catastrophically lash the U.S. gulf coast, and for the first time, the world watches as a major American city is evacuated. Interesting that some of the strongest hurricanes ever recorded (notably Wilma- called the most extreme Atlantic hurricane ever), took place during the recorded warmest year on the planet. At this time, there is a vocal debate point against the hurricane and global warming connection, but we also encourage you to decide on that issue for yourself.
IMPORTANT: According to the NCDC (The National Climatic Data Center), in their 2007 report, state that globally, the hottest years on record are as follows:
- 2005
- 1998
- 2002
- 2003
- 2007
- 2006
- 2004
- 2001
- 1997
- 1995
*Should be noted that the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, states that 2005, was the warmest year in over a century.
In the year 2006, former Vice President Al Gore introduces the An Inconvenient Truth movie (and book) to the mainstream world. Even through the movie only grossed $49 million worldwide, with the Gulf of Mexico weather turmoil of 2005 fresh in people’s minds, combined with the tremendous amount of press Mr. Gore receives, global warming/climate change becomes a huge national and global talking point. The year 2006 goes on to be recorded as the 6th hottest year on record by the NCDC.
By year 2007, the momentum of the global warming debate is building to a fever pitch. The battle rages on between the global warming skeptics and the believers. But on April 2nd, the United States Supreme Court rules in favor of the EPA to regulate greenhouse gases on cars in support of the Clean Air Act. This ruling, delivers a huge blow to the skeptics, constitutes a landfall win for the environment and ushers in a new era of credibility for global warming. Truly, April 2nd, 2007 is the date of the before, and after of the global warming debate, and Ace Marketing Agency feels, is the exact date that set the course for the new environmental movement to take hold. Just two weeks later, on April 16th, President Bush gives a speech on Climate Change, outlining a goal to stop the growth of greenhouse gas emissions by year 2025. The speech is considered a major policy shift for the Bush Administration. The pendulum of scientific agreement and acceptance swings in favor of global warming believers. By year’s end, Al Gore is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, along with Rajendra L. Pachauri, who oversees the IPCC, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change .
It is now present day 2008. No widespread catastrophic major weather events have occurred since 2005 that have impacted America, even though as of this writing a major cyclone has devastated parts of Myanmar, and the media is very quiet about mentioning any connection between the cyclone and global warming, but (as of 5/6/2008) Al Gore has now made the connection. Just two months ago, a large portion of the Wilkins ice shelf (seven times the size of Manhattan) collapsed in the Antarctic, sending off a mild global warming alarm. Otherwise, for now, the global warming drums have quieted. However, the anti-global warming skeptic drums are pounding away.
Ace Marketing Agency projects for several years to come, it will be a see-saw of back and forth debate (often heated) between the global warming skeptics and the believers, and only when major weather events take place, or huge ice glaciers melt or break off, or some kind of significant news connection erupts, will the global warming discussion strike a larger chord. In the meantime, there are policy makers, think thanks and climate change organizations committed to figuring out how to slow down the greenhouse gas emissions, not just in America, but overseas, heading off potential global warming problems in the future.
We really don’t know for sure what is happening, and what will happen with global warming. The Earth is bigger, and more complex then the human mind in all our sophistication can figure out. But what we do know for sure, is that carbon dioxide levels have risen from 280 ppm in the early 1800’s, to a current range level of 380 ppm.
Whatever happens between now and 100 years from now, the age of eco-green is here, and the tipping point to drive social and business ecological change has come and gone. The planet’s social order is moving forward with the beginning of ecological lifestyle change driven by corporate businesses, rising consumer interest and eco-accountability. An eco-green future lies ahead, in some form. One analogy this agency can offer, is that the eco-green movement holds similarities to the rising internet movement in 1995. In that year and era, most people knew what the internet was, but not everyone knew what exactly could be done with the internet. More then ten years later, the internet is an important part of our world, and daily life. Same thing may be said for eco-green. Most everyone knows we have a problem that requires change, and the noted solution is to go eco-green. But at this time, the practicality and costs associated with going green are not necessarily user friendly for the planet's community at large.
It is logical, that the new environmental movement will run a similar path to the internet in broader acceptance, and eco-green will naturally evolve (or be forcefed) into all of our lives over time. For this reasoning, the Ace Marketing Agency is taking a pro-active, long term approach to rational ecological client education.
Thank you for reading.
Ace Marketing Agency, LLC
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