Climate change interview

Julia, Jenny, Samantha & Laurence
Balwyn High School
Australia

Interviewer: 'Today we'll be interviewing some experts about climate change. First off we have Professor Greenwood, who is an expert on the subject of global warming. So, Professor Greenwood, what are your thoughts on global warming?'

Professor Greenwood:

'Global warming is the major issue of our time and needs to be stopped. Temperatures are rising, ice caps are melting, coral reefs are bleaching and massive ice shelves are collapsing. Rising sea levels are not a theory, they are a reality. Glaciers and ice caps are all freezing later and melting earlier than they used to. These are significant factors in sea levels rising throughout the world.'

Interviewer: 'Well, do you have any figures that we can think about?'

Professor: 'On average, the temperature is one degree Fahrenheit warmer than it was a century ago. It doesn't sound like a lot but a small change can affect so many things in such a finely balanced environment like that of our world's ecosystem. And keep in mind this is just an average and in some places the rise is much more. For example, in Antarctica the temperature increase in winter has been nine degrees Fahrenheit over 50 years. 2005 was the hottest year on record. Another figure is that the actions of humans cause eight billion metric tonnes of carbon dioxide to be released into the atmosphere each year. Six and half billion tonnes of this is from fossil fuels and 1.5 from deforestation. Sea levels have risen by four to eight inches in the last century. The snow on the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro is now 20 per cent of the size it was in 1912. In the past 30 years, sea ice in the Arctic has diminished by around 10 per cent. In the far northern hemisphere, the fresh water ice breaks nine days earlier and freezes over 10 days later than it did 150 years ago.'

Interviewer: 'Well, you've spoken mostly about the landscape, but what about the flora and fauna, how are they coping?'

Professor: 'Many plants and animals are undergoing disastrous changes to their habitat, and migration patterns are becoming completely out of sync. Many foreign species have invaded areas that are very vulnerable to their attack. In Alaska, entire forests of a species called Alaska spruce have been completely over-run by the spruce bark beetle, which kills them. This outbreak occurred because the rise in temperature increased the number of mature spruce bark beetles. Coral reefs are becoming bleached by the warmer water. Corals cannot consume the necessary amount of algae and, as a result, they become white in colour. In 1998, 16 per cent of the world's coral reefs were bleached or dead due to warmer seas. Another species suffering is the Adelie penguin in Antarctica. Their numbers are diminishing because the rising temperatures in Antarctica are causing the ice, from which they hunt, to melt. An example of a bird that has had its migratory pattern put out of sync is the African flycatcher. It migrates to the Netherlands to breed. In 1980, this used to be in time with when the moth caterpillar was emerging and the chicks fed on the caterpillars. However, the caterpillars now emerge, on average, two weeks earlier and the birds only arrive a few days earlier than before. Therefore the chicks miss out on their meal and go hungry.'

Interview: 'So what is the science behind global warming?'

Professor: 'Well, the burning of fossil fuels fills the atmosphere with carbon dioxide and other gases. Some of the carbon dioxide can be soaked up by natural 'carbon sinks', such as forests and the ocean, but a lot (approximately 3.2 billion tonnes) remains in the atmosphere. The greenhouse gases have a particular property that allow them to trap heat and therefore increases the atmosphere's ability to trap heat. This is mainly because they contain methane and chlorofluorocarbons.'

Interviewer: 'So where does all that carbon dioxide disappear to?'

Professor: 'Well, it is absorbed by so called 'carbon sinks', the most prominent of which are the oceans and forests. The process of photosynthesis is what swallows up a lot of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere into plant life around the world. It might be that one day, we will be able to use these carbon sinks in the future to soak up more carbon from the atmosphere, but maybe the best idea would be to pull the problem out at its roots. We need to drastically slow carbon emissions and then there would be no need to soak up carbon from the atmosphere.'

Interviewer: 'So, how do you propose we slow carbon emissions?'

Professor: 'This starts the debate about alternative energy sources, and I'll summarise what I believe. Oil and natural gas, our clean fossil fuels, are running out, and we need to think about alternative energy, unless we want to turn to polluting sources such as coal, oil shale or tar sand. Nuclear energy is also an option. However, there is always the risk of a meltdown and the problem of where to deposit the radioactive waste. There is also the problem of getting the public to support nuclear energy because of these issues. I'm not sure many people would be willing to live next to a nuclear power plant. Nuclear, however, would still provide much needed energy, with no carbon emissions and relatively little space for a power plant would be needed.'

Interviewer: 'What about renewable energy sources?'

Professor: 'Solar power is the first that comes to mind. It is expensive, but the price will drop as the technology improves. It does take up a lot of space, though, but could be simply placed on the tops of buildings where it would get a lot of sunlight, and would not be an eyesore to the public. It is, however, rather unreliable, but it is still a good option. Wind power is also very good, and also very compact, and it provides a lot of energy. The only complaint about wind power is its unsightly appearance. Although, I can't see what the fuss is about. There is no possible way to build a power plant without it being an eyesore. And wind power plants can be doubled up as farmland, which is a very economical solution. Another power source of the future is fusion power. It is expected to be fully developed within the next century and would pretty much be the essential energy source. It is clean, powerful, and although it wouldn't be cost effective at first, the price would come down, as with solar power. It is, however, still developing and incredibly complex to master. The energy is produced when two atoms are fused into one. It does require a lot of energy to initiate the reaction, but the energy created would more than account for this, or so the research says. We also need to take advantage of other renewable energy sources, such as hydroelectric power, wave power and biomass, which is the burning of plant material. Each and every one of these needs to be used to replace fossil fuel burning and we can't afford to be picky.'

Interviewer: 'Well, thanks for that, and now, we have an exclusive interview with Fran Polst, a world renowned architect from New York, and Daryl Birch, an environmentalist and expert on the subject of global warming, and parks and their actions in cooling down the temperature of surrounding areas. Mr Birch, how is it that parks dilute the effect of the 'concrete jungle', that is, the city? And do they really act as the 'lungs' of a city?'

Birch: 'Parks in cities actually do act as the 'lungs' of a city. Trees have a natural ability to absorb carbon dioxide and emit oxygen. The carbon dioxide from car emissions, human beings and industrial areas is absorbed by the trees in the parks and the whole effect is diluted. A good example would be Central Park in New York. And here in Melbourne there are also many parks that dilute the effect of the urban heat island. The temperature in city centres is always warmer than it is in the outer suburbs of that city because of the heat of the cars and roads and the heat of the sun getting trapped inside the city because of the density of huge, concrete buildings. Pavements also trap heat. There is a scientific phenomenon called evapotranspiration, which is when water from the surface of leaves or soil is evaporated into the air on a warm day. This naturally cools the air. Cities have a distinct lack of trees and green vegetation, not to mention soil, and this effect does not occur and therefore makes the city hotter than most suburban areas and especially parks.'

Interviewer: 'Ms Polst, how do you propose that we change the city structure in order to lower the current temperature of dense cities?'

Polst: 'The main problem is not only the density of the buildings, it's also the structure and materials that they are made of. Buildings that absorb heat are usually made of thick concrete and/or are dark in colour. Lighter coloured buildings and pavement (especially on the roofs of buildings) would reflect more of the heat that is usually trapped by dark coloured buildings. Windows also retain heat, trapping it inside the building and creating a greenhouse-like effect. Also, in warm weather, air conditioners and other appliances are installed to keep these absorbent buildings cool which, in turn, uses a lot of energy. Alternatively, less energy would be required if light coloured buildings were built more. An example of a building in Melbourne that is like this would be the Myer building, which is entirely white with small windows. Another measure, which could be applied, is designing roof top gardens. The varied vegetation grown in the gardens would act as mini 'carbon sinks'. Due to the process of photosynthesis, plants are able to absorb carbon dioxide and produce oxygen as a by-product. The main idea is that the gardens replace the areas, which would normally be heat-absorbing roofs, and this would therefore lower the temperature of the area. Not only do gardens reduce the temperature, they also remove contaminants from the air such as carbon, reduce the amount of runoff (water from precipitation or irrigation) that usually contain contaminants and extend the lifespan of the roof materials by almost two times that of customary roofing materials.'

Interviewer: 'Well, thank you for your time. That has been very informative. Next we have an interview with two politicians: one is the Honourable Prime Minister, John Howard and the other is Senator Bob Brown, who is the leader of the Greens. Welcome, Mr Howard. What do you think of the global warming issue? Why haven't you signed the Kyoto Agreement? And for those who don't know, the Kyoto agreement is a UN treaty designed to reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions in the whole world. Signing the treaty means reducing greenhouse gas emissions by five per cent from what it was in 1990 by 2008-2012. Australia and the USA are the only developed countries still to sign the treaty. So, why haven't you signed the treaty?'

Howard: 'Well, it seems to me that the Kyoto Agreement is really a pathetic step towards treating this worldwide problem, and I'm not going to waste such valuable revenue from the mining and exporting of fossil fuels on a treaty that really isn't going to change anything. Why lose so many Australian jobs? The facts are that Australia is doing enough to lessen greenhouse gas emissions, and the Kyoto Protocol would only reduce global temperature by 0.28 degrees Celsius by 2050.'

Brown: 'No, the economy is not going to matter if global warming continues to heat up our planet at the rate it is. The Kyoto Agreement needs to be signed, and although it is a preliminary measure to slow down climate change, the message needs to go out that we care about climate change and we're ready to do something about it. I do agree that the Kyoto Agreement is not really what you would call drastic measures and probably won't be effective in the long run, but you need to start somewhere. We don't need any more task forces investigating the prospects of nuclear power in our country; we need to implement the Kyoto Agreement and develop renewable energy sources.'

Howard: 'It's easier said then done. There is also the issue of nuclear energy. Nobody wants a nuclear power plant next door and although they may be effective, there's always the risk of a deadly meltdown. The economy does matter to the people and is incredibly important to this country's growth.'

Brown: 'This is not a popularity contest. Global warming is definitely a long-term problem but steps need to be taken to prevent it now, no matter how small.'

Interviewer: 'Thank you for your time.'

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