Introduction

Whole Systems Approach to Ecological Design

Appropriate Technology: Water

Organic Agriculture and Local Food

Appropriate Technology: Energy

Green Building & Retrofitting

1.Whole Systems Approach to Ecological Design
Ecological Designs Master Planning Climate Change & Peak Oil

Climate Change

The United Nations body, which coordinates the work of over two thousand atmospheric scientists, is called the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.  The graphs below illustrate the temperature effects of climate change and the correlation with the principal greenhouse gases.

The major emitters of greenhouse gases are large industrial plants – coal-fired power stations, steel plants, oil refineries, etc.  These are mainly located in the northern hemisphere and in industrialised countries.

The temperature rises are not even across the world.  The largest temperature increases are in the northern hemisphere.
The burning of forests to clear land for agriculture is also a major source of emissions, for example in Brasil. 

Earth Surface Temperature Variations
Human Influence in the Atmosphere
Variations in the Earth's surface temperature - Click on image to enlarge Indicators of the human influence on the atmosphere during the Industrial Era - Click on image to enlarge
Temperature Trends
Global distribution of large stationary sources of CO2 - Click on image to enlarge Annual Temperature Trends: 1976 to 2000
Click on image to enlarge

 

IPCC Delegation

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was awarded of the Nobel Peace Prize "for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change"
Click on image for more information