Climate Change

Climate change is both a development and environmental issue. A global consensus is emerging that climate change is an issue that cannot wait and needs to be addressed sooner rather than later.

Today there is a double challenge: how to reduce damaging carbon emissions and still meet the energy demands of the world's poor. The World Bank focuses on the additional economic and social opportunities that a low carbon path creates.

Countries trying to escape from poverty should not be penalized for the consequences of fossil fuel dependent growth patterns in the rich countries. Their development aspirations should be at the center.

A global regulatory framework, which would provide the necessary financial flows to developing countries, is needed. This framework should match the long-term need for energy for development with the necessary technical innovation and financial incentives to move consistently towards a low carbon economy.

The Poor Are Disproportionately Affected

Developing countries are more vulnerable to climate change than rich countries, with poor people being the most at risk from the increased impacts of volatility in weather patterns (i.e., floods and droughts). Human-induced climate change is expected to negatively impact agricultural productivity throughout the tropics and sub-tropics, decrease water quantity and quality in most arid and semi-arid regions, increase the incidence of malaria, dengue and other vector borne diseases in the tropics and sub-tropics, and harm ecological systems and their biodiversity. In addition, the sea level rise associated with expected increases in temperature could displace tens of millions of people living in low-lying areas, such as the Ganges and the Nile deltas, and could threaten the very existence of small island states.

The Effects of Solar Energy

Solar Energy

With all the talk regarding solar energy for many years its time has finally come. The gradual inevitable depletion of natural resources has made alternative sources an absolute must. It's now a matter of time and we'll determine the eventual new leader. Much expensive and resources is now being spent to find the best natural resource such as solar energy.

While many potential sources are possible, research into all the avenues will eventually surface with the most viable option for our use. Presently we are using a number of various resources to create heat, electricity and desalination of seawater. Renewable energy has the sun as it's primary source which is not depletable. approximately 30% of our energy resources come from the sun.

Most of our economic resources and time are spend developing our resources in the area's of wind power, water power, solar energy, biofuel, liquid biofuel, solid biomass and geothermal. Naturally these all have their pro's and cons. The biggest concern is pollution that comes directly the materials, industrial processes and construction equipment used to create them. The side effects can be pollution and waste that will impact our environment.

We also we need to consider other key issues of environmental impacts, aesthetics and habitat hazards, land usage, proximity to demand, availability, reliability, longevity along with energy input verses output. Other possibilities such as fossil fuels and nuclear power have their own positive and negatives and are not as viable. The resources for our use are many, the challenge is not if we have alternates to use but which ones and in what order.

The U.S. currently relies heavily on coal, oil, and natural gas for its energy. Fossil fuels are nonrenewable, that is, they draw on finite resources that will eventually dwindle, becoming too expensive or too environmentally-damaging to retrieve. In contrast, renewable energy resources � such as wind and solar energy � are constantly replenished and will never run out.

Renewable energy is important because of the benefits it provides. It is believed that the major element in the learning and discovery process definitely will be and is solar energy.