Instructions for understanding global warming

2006/10/30 Rementeria Argote, Nagore - Elhuyar Zientziaren Komunikazioa

• Ingurumena
• Giza zientziak

David Suzuki, born in Canada, in a family of Japanese origin, has had a great success in his radio and television programs.

Allen Unwin

Dr. David Suzuki is awarded eleven awards. In fact he is a zoologist and works on genetic issues. But he is known in his hometown (Canada) and many other places in the world, especially for his great outreach work. He has worked on television, radio, etc. and has eleven science books written for children. In all these works, Suzuki preaches respect for the environment.

He also created the foundation that bears his name. The aim of this foundation is to make known the path to sustainability, with very practical advice, and in this way they consider it essential to know nature. They want to reach the people of the street because to solve the environmental problems it is essential to know the nature, the environment and the problems related to them.

The Earth is warming due to human activity, and experts believe this affects the climate.

To this end, they wanted to know what people know about global warming. And, as Suzuki said, they were surprised. As it is a topic that is mentioned daily in the media, people were expected to be clear about the basic concept. But it is not so. On the contrary, people generally associate global warming with the ozone layer hole.

It may not be surprising that people mix both concepts, which were disseminated at the same time, and today, when news is broadcast related to these topics, the basic concept does not appear.

Ozone vs global warming

To clarify basic concepts: the ozone layer is the layer of the atmosphere that protects us from the radiations of the Sun. The appearance of certain compounds emitted into the air by industry and human activity in general, caused the ozone layer to shrink and, when announced, the ozone layer hole was known. But this question is not directly related to Earth warming.

Global warming is also due to human activity. Gases emitted by industry, car, etc. have increased the greenhouse effect. If the Earth's atmosphere itself has a natural greenhouse effect, among other reasons, the Earth is rich to live. The gases in the atmosphere resist the heat of the Sun and air pollution has caused greater heat retention than normal. Therefore, the global temperature of the Earth is increasing, which poses a risk of climate collapse.

Dr. Suzuki is surprised that people associate Earth warming with the ozone layer problem, but it may not be surprising.

However, it is not very clear how the greenhouse effect affects the climate. There are many doubts that some countries use as an excuse not to sign the Kyoto Protocol. The aim of the Kyoto Protocol is to curb global warming, so that signatory countries commit to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The United States, for example, has not ratified the signature. However, according to the latest news, some states see movement (in California, for example, they have expressed their intention to reduce emissions). Therefore, in the coming days will come news related to global warming. To see if we understand them.

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