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GEOG 311-3-3 Environmental Management

This course guide is designed to assist students in understanding the complex issues involved in environmental management specifically climatic change and how the adoption of new policies and technologies can help to mitigate this crisis situation.

Climate Change

Hey Global Warming - 1 Degree? That's All you Got?

PEW Research, in 2018, released the results of a survey on how people around the globe view the threat of Climate Change.  The majority of people surveyed see Climate Change as a major threat. But there are still countries in the world where people don't see it as a serious threat.

Well, one 1 degree Celsius doesn't seem like a large increase in temperature, what needs to be understood is that a 1-degree increase in temperature globally requires a massive increase in the amount of heat energy trapped in our atmosphere, in our oceans, and on land surfaces.

Five exaJoules (EJ) of energy to be exact.

That's a 5 followed by 18 zeros (5000000000000000000). That's equal to 5 quintillion (1018) joules.

In electrical terms, a joule equals one watt-second of energy released in one second by a current of one ampere through a one-ohm resistor. 

To put that in perspective, that would be equivalent to the entire energy consumption of the United States for 4 million years. 

Kelberer, Michael. 2012. "Hey Global Warming - 1 Degree? That's All You Got??." Mother Earth News. Accessed February 4, 2021. https://www.motherearthnews.com/nature-and-environment/hey-global-warming--1-degree-thats-all-you-got

 

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