Part a
The main conclusion made in the film An Inconvenient Truth was that the global warming is caused by the increasing level of carbon dioxide. The release of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere along with other greenhouse gases is primarily responsible for the general rise in temperature of the world. Not only the change in climate, but also increasing number of storms, natural disasters and extinction of animal species are being caused by the changes in carbon emissions. If some actions if not taken by the governments and the policies of states are not changed, then there will be grave consequences in the future.
Part b
There were a number of evidences that were presented by the narrator in the film. The first prove was that a person studied the changes in the daily temperatures with the changes in carbon dioxide and found the temperature rise to be directly related to the change in carbon emissions.
The film reported that the scientists have studied the ice from the glaciers and they were able to find out the history from that ice. There were bubbles in the ice when it was brought to the surface and from these bubbles the scientists were able to find the amount of carbon dioxide and the temperature in the atmosphere when the ice was formed. It was evident from the research that the temperature raised as the carbon levels were increasing and vice versa. Gore presented this in form of a graph which included past comparison of 650,000 years. It was also shown that recently the levels of carbon dioxide have risen to the amounts like never before. With that temperature has also risen.
It was also shown by Gore that the top ten hottest years have been recorded in the past twenty years, 2005 being the hottest year ever. The melting ice caps are another evidence of the direct relation of global warming with carbon emissions. Most of the glaciers of in the world have melted and is causing the level of sea to be increased. The animals living in the Polar Regions are getting affected the most. This is evident as the scientists have never found polar bears drowned in the seas before but now they have. This is because of the reduced amounts of glaciers, the animals are not able to find glaciers where they can rest or live.
Question 2
Oil
Pros
- Releases a lot of energy when burnt
- Many forms of oil can be extracted when heated
Cons
- If spilled in an ocean, can cause grave harm to the marine life under the ocean
- It is running out because of the extreme use in industries and home
Coal
Pros
- Present in bulk under the surface of the earth
- Inexpensive because of the large volume present in the earth surface
Cons
Very difficult to extract from the earth
- Dangerous emission are made when burnt such as Sulfur dioxide and Nitrogen dioxide
Solar
Pros
- Renewable form of energy
- Does not have any side effects on the environments
Cons
Cannot provide a continuous supply of energy, i.e. at night or a cloudy day
- Expensive equipment to convert into electricity
Nuclear
Pros
- Lot of energy can be generated from a little amount of raw material
- Generates less amount of pollution as compared to burning of fossil fuels
Cons
- The disposal of waste is a dilemma
- Extreme safety is required to handle toxic material
Hydroelectric
Pros
- Generates no pollution
- This is a renewable energy source
Cons
Dams are very expensive to construct
- Dams suffer from problems of siltation which cause the dam to be blocked after some time
Wind
Pros
- A renewable source of energy
- Can be generated cheaply
Cons
The turbines can be easily damaged by natural disasters
- Cannot provide a continuous supply of energy as the generation is dependent upon wind speed
Question 3
The six indicators that the geologist could use to determine climate change in the geologic past are as follows
The melting of the ice caps is the most visible and prominent indicator of the climate change. Since the past hundreds of years, the north pole and the south pole has frozen glaciers which are now collapsing and melting into the oceans
Increasing occurrences of natural disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are because of changes in seasonal variations
Many animals which reside in the polar regions of the world like polar bears, penguins and walruses are finding it difficult to survive because of the melting ice caps which were their homes
The increasing amounts of floods in some parts of the world such as China, India and United States and the droughts in some parts of the world like Nigeria and Ethiopia are showing climate change
The early migration of birds to the north for breeding implies the changes in climate as these birds only migrate when spring arrives in the north. This early migration is sound proof of the early arrival of spring in north.
The timings of the yearly natural events continue to change such as the Monsoon Season in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Monsoon Season used to start roughly in the end of June and would continue for two months, but now it starts in the end of July and start of August
Question 4
Some countries include the naturally occurring gases and liquids both in the definition of petroleum reserves. These petroleum reserves consist of hydrocarbon compounds. However, other countries might only include the liquid component of hydrocarbon compounds. This difference in the definition causes the problem. Countries should only include the quantity of petroleum that is economically and physically available for production.
The biggest problem here is that the aggregate amount of petroleum reserves available for the world to use is miscalculated. This does not only results in wrong prices for the petroleum products but also results in miscalculation by the scientists for the time till petroleum will last.
The main conclusion made in the film An Inconvenient Truth was that the global warming is caused by the increasing level of carbon dioxide. The release of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere along with other greenhouse gases is primarily responsible for the general rise in temperature of the world. Not only the change in climate, but also increasing number of storms, natural disasters and extinction of animal species are being caused by the changes in carbon emissions. If some actions if not taken by the governments and the policies of states are not changed, then there will be grave consequences in the future.
Part b
There were a number of evidences that were presented by the narrator in the film. The first prove was that a person studied the changes in the daily temperatures with the changes in carbon dioxide and found the temperature rise to be directly related to the change in carbon emissions.
The film reported that the scientists have studied the ice from the glaciers and they were able to find out the history from that ice. There were bubbles in the ice when it was brought to the surface and from these bubbles the scientists were able to find the amount of carbon dioxide and the temperature in the atmosphere when the ice was formed. It was evident from the research that the temperature raised as the carbon levels were increasing and vice versa. Gore presented this in form of a graph which included past comparison of 650,000 years. It was also shown that recently the levels of carbon dioxide have risen to the amounts like never before. With that temperature has also risen.
It was also shown by Gore that the top ten hottest years have been recorded in the past twenty years, 2005 being the hottest year ever. The melting ice caps are another evidence of the direct relation of global warming with carbon emissions. Most of the glaciers of in the world have melted and is causing the level of sea to be increased. The animals living in the Polar Regions are getting affected the most. This is evident as the scientists have never found polar bears drowned in the seas before but now they have. This is because of the reduced amounts of glaciers, the animals are not able to find glaciers where they can rest or live.
Question 2
Oil
Pros
- Releases a lot of energy when burnt
- Many forms of oil can be extracted when heated
Cons
- If spilled in an ocean, can cause grave harm to the marine life under the ocean
- It is running out because of the extreme use in industries and home
Coal
Pros
- Present in bulk under the surface of the earth
- Inexpensive because of the large volume present in the earth surface
Cons
Very difficult to extract from the earth
- Dangerous emission are made when burnt such as Sulfur dioxide and Nitrogen dioxide
Solar
Pros
- Renewable form of energy
- Does not have any side effects on the environments
Cons
Cannot provide a continuous supply of energy, i.e. at night or a cloudy day
- Expensive equipment to convert into electricity
Nuclear
Pros
- Lot of energy can be generated from a little amount of raw material
- Generates less amount of pollution as compared to burning of fossil fuels
Cons
- The disposal of waste is a dilemma
- Extreme safety is required to handle toxic material
Hydroelectric
Pros
- Generates no pollution
- This is a renewable energy source
Cons
Dams are very expensive to construct
- Dams suffer from problems of siltation which cause the dam to be blocked after some time
Wind
Pros
- A renewable source of energy
- Can be generated cheaply
Cons
The turbines can be easily damaged by natural disasters
- Cannot provide a continuous supply of energy as the generation is dependent upon wind speed
Question 3
The six indicators that the geologist could use to determine climate change in the geologic past are as follows
The melting of the ice caps is the most visible and prominent indicator of the climate change. Since the past hundreds of years, the north pole and the south pole has frozen glaciers which are now collapsing and melting into the oceans
Increasing occurrences of natural disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are because of changes in seasonal variations
Many animals which reside in the polar regions of the world like polar bears, penguins and walruses are finding it difficult to survive because of the melting ice caps which were their homes
The increasing amounts of floods in some parts of the world such as China, India and United States and the droughts in some parts of the world like Nigeria and Ethiopia are showing climate change
The early migration of birds to the north for breeding implies the changes in climate as these birds only migrate when spring arrives in the north. This early migration is sound proof of the early arrival of spring in north.
The timings of the yearly natural events continue to change such as the Monsoon Season in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Monsoon Season used to start roughly in the end of June and would continue for two months, but now it starts in the end of July and start of August
Question 4
Some countries include the naturally occurring gases and liquids both in the definition of petroleum reserves. These petroleum reserves consist of hydrocarbon compounds. However, other countries might only include the liquid component of hydrocarbon compounds. This difference in the definition causes the problem. Countries should only include the quantity of petroleum that is economically and physically available for production.
The biggest problem here is that the aggregate amount of petroleum reserves available for the world to use is miscalculated. This does not only results in wrong prices for the petroleum products but also results in miscalculation by the scientists for the time till petroleum will last.
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