Category Archives: Global warming
Global Climate Change: Theory and Evidence
Perhaps the greatest challenge to sustainability is Global Climate Change (GCC). Burning fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide (CO2), a known greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere. This has led to a steady rise in the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere. … Continue reading
A Message to Science Educators and Students about Global Climate Change
A recent poll of climate scientists by the University of Illinois found that 97% now accept that human activity is causing climate change (http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/01/19/eco.globalwarmingsurvey/index.html). Yet many high school and university science educators who are not climatologists remain skeptical, and pass … Continue reading
Do snowstorms disprove global warming?
The two snowstorms that hit the U.S. east coast in the past few weeks have been touted by many climate change contrarians as proof that the theory of global warming is incorrect. Much of the focus was on Washington, DC, … Continue reading
Change Your Transportation
Transportation has a huge environmental impact, so society must focus on reducing that impact. Consider the environmental impact of a single automobile that travels an average of 100,000 miles in its lifetime. There is the damage that results from the … Continue reading
Book Abstract
The environmental impacts of increasing human population, consumption, and technology are now widely recognized and global in scale. Humanity is now bumping up against the limits defined by earth’s carrying capacity. Rising costs of many natural resources reflect the combined … Continue reading
The Evils of Coal
*I am rushing to post a few blogs for my Sustainability students to read before their final exam, so this entry is only partially complete. *Note: An excellent recent article in the New York Times makes many of the points … Continue reading
Book Outline
Introduction What is sustainability? Why should I try to live sustainably? Unsustainable Societies The Collapse of Ancient Civilizations Ghost Towns What is the Evidence that our Current Lifestyle is Unsustainable? How Should I Start Living Sustainably?· What are the near-term … Continue reading
First Sustainability Book Blog
I just started writing a book on Sustainability, and decided a good way to get feedback from people as I write is to periodically post snippets to a blog. If successful, this would be my first published book, although I … Continue reading
Blog of John C. Ayers 