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Climate Change : The Science

The Science
International Policy
Implications for energy
Opportunities in Renewable Energy
Carbon Finance and CDM.

Introduction
"Climate change" refers to the variation in the Earth's global climate or in regional climates over time. The term describes changes in the variability or average state of the atmosphere over time scales which can range from decades to millions of years. These changes can be caused by processes internal to the Earth, external forces and more recently, human activities.

Greenhouse Effect
The Earth is kept warm with an atmosphere of greenhouse gases which traps energy from the Sun’s rays. The main greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide (principle greenhouse gas), methane, nitrous oxide, perfluorocarbons, hydrofluorocarbons, and sulphur hexafluoride. By storing the Sun’s energy, the gases raise the Earth’s temperature and that in turn alters the weather and affects glaciers and the oceans. In general, any quantitative increment to the greenhouse gases can lead to drastic changes in the climate (i.e. global warming). Records (IPCC TAR Chapter 2) have shown that carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide have been rising exponentially since industrialization took place in the 1900s. During industrialization, factories, domestic usages, and transportation have recorded high consumption of fossil fuels. These attributed to high carbon dioxide output and are particularly troubling in developing countries such as China, and India. For example, the burning of fossil fuels has produced 5000 million tonnes carbon dioxide in year 2006 as compared to 2000 million tonnes in year 1900 (China Profile, 2007). Consequently, the global temperature has risen by 0.74oC (Working Group I report). Pollution cost came up to 10% of China’s GDP (estimated to be US$200billion) in 2005 are turning the Chinese government’s attention to renewable energy sources (Shanghai Daily, 2006).

Impacts of a Changing Climate >>