Sustainability

Learn the Issues

This page and the resources provided here provide an excellent summary of the current climate crisis and give a great introduction to the climate issues underlying our sustainable mission. Even if you have seen this information before, the resources here provide an up-to-date take on the current issues and have been carefully selected for educational purposes to raise energy awareness and literacy.

Background

Human activities are imposing enormous costs on the Earth’s climate and other life-support systems. The exponential expansions of human populations and even more economic activity are the main drivers of these momentous transformations. As we continue to rely on fossil fuels we consciously fund and cause these problems as a human population. The increased industrial activity that has occurred since the Industrial Revolution has put factories central to world activity. Developing countries are adopting these trends and furthering the damage long time industrialized countries have put into place. Scientists believe that the greenhouse effect is being intensified by the extra greenhouse gases that humans have released. Evidence for global warming includes a recent string of very warm years. The increased carbon dioxide release into the atmosphere has increased global temperature 1.1 degrees Fahrenheit over the last century, which although it sounds small is a faster change than any ice age. Scientists record that 1998 was the warmest year in measured Earth history and 2005 is in second. Ingredients taken from ice samples have shown that carbon dioxide and methane gases have hit their highest levels in the last 420,000 years. NASA studies have recorded that arctic sea ice has declined 10% in the last 30 years. So far we have seen weather patterns changing shifting seasons, making droughts more extensive and hurricanes more common.

You can also watch a 3-minute video by National Geographic called Global Warming 101.

More Information

If you are interested in more scientific information, also known as the "hard facts" on climate change and energy use please check out the following resources as well as our Learn the Technical Facts page. A number of useful resources are listed below:

  • Learn about the ethical foundation for protecting our planet at the website based on the book: Moral Ground, Ethical Action for a Planet in Peril, (editor) Moore et al. The book is a collection of the contribution of over 80 world leaders including the Dalai Lama and references back to past leaders like Thomas Edison and former Pope John Paul II.

Anne Jenkins, Sustainability Coordinator. For more information, contact us at 864-656-3867 or email: sustainability@clemson.edu