UCLA 2008 Global Forum

A few members from Eco Council will be attending this ATHGO International Event at UCLA over the following days. We will take note of as much as we can and summarize interesting and key points back here.  In the mean time, here is a list of recommended reading material to prepare us for the event, I thought I'd share.

Global Warming

·         Basic facts:

http://lwf.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/globalwarming.html

This article is a brief on various keywords that might be used in regards to climate change. The meat of the work is at the end of the page, summarizing that although there can not be seen any global trend [possibly from lack of adequate information] local changes in the extremes and variability are seen.  At the very end, it is noted that are best way to consider the future is based upon climate models through computer simulation. 

 http://www.pewclimate.org/global-warming-basics/

Scientist have reached a consensus, there is global warming, and "dealing with it is no simple task." A great aspect to this is addressing the issue that this affects our economy, and affects how we should consider the future global economy.

http://green.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/gw-overview.html?source=Y2300

Global warming exists, and yes greenhouse exist. The biggest concern is that we are producing these gases in excess of the capacity to absorb and process what we are dishing out. Temperature change might be natural for the world, just not in the ways we're currently experiencing.

·         Causes:

http://www.ecobridge.org/content/g_cse.htm

This is a review of information for anyone who has taken Heidrun's Design for Sustainability class, a good review about the various green house gases. Some odd comparisons, maybe someone could make a cool graph of the relative pollution levels of various fuel options.

 http://www.nrdc.org/globalWarming/f101.asp

This is a great site with straight questions people sometimes have, and direct and concise answers. I highly recommend this one. It is a quick informative read, that would be a good jumping off point to issues mentioned in it.

http://www.greenfacts.org/climate-change/global-warming/global-warming.htm

There are two data maps here that might be interesting to anyone looking for support information to projects.

·         Basic Information

 http://www.begreennow.com/?source=0I0402

Carbon Offsets, don't get me started... Cheat Neutral. The heart is in the right place though, and thats a start.

http://www.theclimateproject.org/

Alternative Energy Sources

·         Types

http://www.energy.gov/energysources/index.htm

The US Department of Energy, lists 14 means to harness energy, which makes it an interesting primer to jump off to other topics based upon reading brief synopsis's of those.

http://saveenergy.about.com/od/alternativeenergysources/a/altenergysource.htm

Similar list to US Department of Energy, a good addition is that of pro's and con's to the energy forms listed.