Tuesday 8 May 2007

My Profile

Waddah Salem Ali Al-Harthi

Age: 20

Gender: Male

Industry: Student

Occupation: Chemical Engineering Student

Location: Nahel : Al-Ain : United Arab Emirates



About Me

My name is Waddah Salem Ali al-Harethi. I am 20 years old. I live in Al Ain in a town called Nahel, which is about 120 km from Abu Dhabi. It is a very peaceful town and suitable for those who like to live away from the city noise and cars’ pollution.

I finished my high school there and my grade was 95%. Because of my high grade, I got a sponsorship from the Ministry of Interior, who supported me to do Chemical Engineering in HCT.

I studied the foundation year in Al Ain Men’s College and my GPA was 3.33. Unfortunately, the AAMC did not offer Chemical Engineering program so I transferred to the ADMC, which is really away from my home. I like my teachers and classmates here. They are really helpful and friendly. Now, I am in the second semester of the Engineering Common Year and I hope to complete my Bachelor degree in ADMC and graduate with a good grade.

Interests:
I like to go on desert trips, camping there with my friends and enjoying my time there.

Favorite Books:
Quran and historical books

Monday 7 May 2007

Global Warming=Destruction

Introduction


Global Warming Project

The global warming is one of the most series problems facing humanity. Scientists tried to warn the world about global warming and let people work side by side to face this problem. Let’s forget the previous treaties and agreements because they didn't prepare us for this disaster or how at least to reduce its impact. Therefore, I will try to give more details about this problem to help people to understand global warming in a very simple way and to show how large the destruction could be if nothing is done.

Moreover, I’m going to include some simple topics talking about global warming definition, some of its causes and effects and I will try my best to include very specific pictures referring to these topics. Also I am going to add some presentations and discussions about who is responsible for acting against this problem and give some headlines about global warming in the U.A.E from different newspapers.

This is my first time to make anything like this blog and I am waiting for the others comments to tell me whether they like it or not.

Sunday 6 May 2007

Global Warming Definition













What is global warming?


Global Warming is the biggest issue that the whole world is facing today. Basically, it is the increase in the earth’s temperature because of the increase of the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.


On Earth, the major natural greenhouse gases are water vapor, which causes about 36–70% of the greenhouse effect (not including clouds); carbon dioxide (CO2), which causes 9–26%; methane (CH4), which causes 4–9%; and ozone, which causes 3–7%. The atmospheric concentrations of CO2 and CH4 have increased by 31% and 149% respectively above pre-industrial levels since 1750.


These gases accrued mostly because of the gas emission from cars, trains, planes and industries. So these gases are blocking the reflection of the sun waves from going outside our atmosphere, so unfortunately they come back to earth. That is why the heat is increasing. The increase in the temperature could reach a level, which will lead to many problems.

Saturday 5 May 2007

The Causes





Global Warming Causes

The global warming phenomenon has many causes. These causes are divided into two groups. These groups are mainly natural causes and man-made.

Natural Causes

Firstly, let’s start with natural causes. There are several numbers of causes under this tag. One important cause is the release of methane gas, which is one of the greenhouse gases, from arctic tundra and wetlands. Another natural cause is the earth’s climate change cycle which usually lasts for 40,000 years.

Man-made Causes

There are also some causes for the global warming because of human activities. The first important one which has many shapes and sizes is pollution. Cars, trains, factories and all things which give off greenhouse gases. When you burn the fossil fuel CO2 (carbon dioxide) is given off. This is one of the most effective greenhouse gases, which keeps heat and carbon emissions in our atmosphere and does not allow them to go out to space.

Another man-made cause is the huge increase in world population. The more people we have the more food, we need the more space we need….etc. That means there is more fossil fuel going to be burnt which means more emissions of greenhouse gases. Moreover, the increase in population demolished many trees which help to convert CO2 to O2, which means we are going to have more greenhouse gases.

Friday 4 May 2007

Greenhouse Gases


I got this artical from the internet and I totally agree with it. This is the link
Greenhouse gases naturally blanket the Earth and keep it about 33 degrees Celsius warmer than it would be without these gases in the atmosphere. This is called the Greenhouse Effect.

Over the past century, the Earth has increased in temperature by about .5 degrees Celsius and many scientists believe this is because of an increase in concentration of the main greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and fluorocarbons. People are now calling this climate change over the past century the beginning of Global Warming.

Fears are that if people keep producing such gases at increasing rates, the results will be negative in nature, such as more severe floods and droughts, increasing prevalence of insects, sea levels rising, and Earth's precipitation may be redistributed. These changes to the environment will most likely cause negative effects on society, such as poorer health and decreasing economic development. However, some scientists argue that the global warming we are experiencing now is a natural phenomenon, and is part of Earth's natural cycle.

Presently, nobody can prove if either theory is correct, but one thing is certain; the world has been emitting greenhouse gases at extremely high rates and has shown only small signs of reducing emissions until the last few years. After the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, the world has finally taken the first step in reducing emissions.

Thursday 12 April 2007

Effects of Global Warming "Warning"!!!!


Global warming is one of the biggest problems facing the world today. Scientists from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate carrying out global warming research have recently predicted that average global temperatures could increase between 1.4 and 5.8 C by the year 2100. Many experts believe that our activities and production that produce CO2 and other greenhouse gases is heating the atmosphere temperature, and this could be very dangerous for human life.

Global warming could result in many problems. One of the biggest problems is the rising in the sea level, which could result in flooding of low lying coastal areas and cities in different areas. Another problem is the change in weather patterns. Many areas in the world are facing the increase of hurricanes, floods, and other natural disasters. Moreover, the effects of global warming are not limited to the change of weather or sea level. However, it has also effects on animals. Fish populations could be affected, while some insects which spread disease might become more common.
The main question is , “Are we going to stop or solve this problem before the disaster happens”?!!!

Saturday 7 April 2007

What can each of us do here in the U.A.E?

Can Al-ain be a costal city?!!!!
I don’t think that there is anyone who want's to see the sea in Al-Ain, or in other word to see Al-Ain as a costal city, which seems to be real as global warming figures show. For that reason what can each of us do here in the UAE?

Let’s have a look at some of my ideas in this topic. Firstly, we should stop using cars, which have big engines and expend a lot of fuel. This will reduce the amount of CO2 emissions. Another thing that we can do is to use public transport. However, the problem is that there are some people who live far away from the main city and public transport there is not that good so the may try to share cars. For example, if there are four people who work near to each other, I think it is better for them and for the environment to share one car instead of using four cars.

There are also some things in our houses that we can do. One of them is the use of electricity. People here in the UAE use a very big amount of electricity and this because of the cheapness of electricity. On the other hand, maybe it is cheap but it costs the environment a lot to produce it.

To conclude, in my opinion I think that we live a very luxurous life here in the UAE and we have to reduce our luxuries which is far better than losing them.

Friday 6 April 2007

Who is responsible?, and are there any solutions?


We're talked a lot about global warming’s causes and effects, but who is responsible for this phenomenon? We must ask ourselves this question, whether the individuals or the governments are responsible. In my opinion, I think that all of us are responsible to solve or at least help to reduce global warming. It is not impossible to do that, but we need some education. So how can we help in solving the problem?

First of all we should know that the standards of our lives may be slightly decreased. We should reduce our use of electricity. After knowing that producing electricity causes an increase in producing greenhouse gases, we must try to enjoy the weather sometimes!!!

Another thing that may help is reducing “riding thru” services. Cars are one of the most productive of CO2, so why do we not use our God created feet for short distances. Moreover, the obesity has increased, so walking can be even useful for our health.

Finally, why do we not try to follow this environmental policy “Reduce...Reuse...Recycle”. The governments should educate people about reusing things, and things that could be recycled, which will help them to understand more about how and what to use. For example, it is a good solution to save containers and bags or other things we may use in the future, and use rechargeable batteries instead of disposable ones.

To conclude, all of us must work to solve the problem of global warming. What I mentioned in the article is not going to reduce the problem; however, it is going to save money, which I think some people seems to be slaves of.

Wednesday 4 April 2007

U.A.E Newspapers Headlines





Headlines about global warming in UAE newspapers



  • Global warming: We will have to get used to it ___ BY FAREED ZAKARIA

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/opinion/2007/February/opinion_February47.xml&section=opinion


In his article he said that global warming is real and we cannot stop it, so we must get used to liveing with it. Also he gave some evidence and figures about it to support his opinion. Actually, I agree with him by 50%. If we cannot stop global warming, at least we can reduce its effect. However, I agree with him in getting used to it. Why do not we try to invent a new technique that helps us feel better with this terible steamy weather as well as trying to stop global warming?




  • Combat global warming unitedly_______Gulf News

http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/07/05/15/10125391.html


In this article the author warns about how dangerous global warming is and that we must do something before time runs out. I agree with this topic and I think that this is a kind of very scary phenomenon.




  • Climate will change Mideast________By Tom Clifford

http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/07/05/15/10125446.html


In this article the writer talked about the effects of climate change in the Middle East based on population and water resources. However, I disagree with it. There are no facts for these kind of ideas, it is just a theory or you can say opinion, the future is under God's Well. We have to try to do our best to solve this problem.

Monday 2 April 2007

My Conclusion





We started this project about seven weeks ago and at the beginning I though that it is very difficult to do because it is my first time to make a blog. Even for its topic, it is also my first time to do a project about something relating to the environment.

Sometimes I think that if we go back to the old days lifestyle will be much better than destroying our beautiful planet. I don’t mean that all of scientists’ inventions and research harms us, but our covetousness and greed make all of these problems. Some people say that our grandfathers and great grandfathers passed on to us all these problems, but I want to say to them “not only them, also us”. We are still doing the same things which they did and complete things that they started without being sure about their benefits. Moreover, if we say that they are guilty, what have we done for our children and grandchildren?

If you want to know the answer, look around you starting from yourself. I think when you reach this topic you may go through all the articles before doing it. Read the ones about what we can do, and then ask yourself if you did anyone of them to let your children live a peaceful life away from all the problems that we have.