By Vicky Lam
MIND MAP
This mind map of global warming covers the human (stakeholders) and non-human (environment) aspects.
TEN IMAGES
I include these images mainly on scientific and statistical data since they can help us to visually grasp the trends, disparity, and hence impacts of global warming and climate change on our environment and economy.
Image 1: Global abatement cost curve beyond business-as-usual – 2030 (Dauncey G., 2009, The Climate Challenge: 101 Solutions to Global Warming, New Society Publishers, Leicester, p.71)
This image compares relative abatement costs of different mitigation measures, which is useful to understand the financial impact when considering various mitigation options for reducing carbon emissions.
Image 2: Global Temperatures from 1860 to 2000 (“Global Warming and Climate Change”, The Cheaper Petrol Party, viewed 7 August 2016, < http://www.cheaperpetrolparty.com/Global_Warming.php >)
This image compiled by Climate Research Unit of University of East Anglia and Hadley Centre of UK Meteorological Office records global temperature change from 1900 to 2000 as around 0.57 degree Celsius.
Image 3: Global Fossil Carbon Emissions (“Global Warming and Climate Change”, The Cheaper Petrol Party, viewed 7 August 2016, < http://www.cheaperpetrolparty.com/Global_Warming.php >)
This image shows the sharply rising trends of global fossil carbon emissions after 1950 due to fossil fuel burning. Cement production releases carbon dioxide resulting from thermal decomposition of limestone to lime.
Image 4: Recent Sea Level Rise (“How rising sea levels will affect US: Miami and New Orleans underwater by 2100”, Zime Science, viewed 7 August 2016, <http://www.zmescience.com/ecology/climate/sea-level-rise-global-warming-states-043232/ >)
The data in this image indicate a sea level rise of around 18.5cm from 1900 to 2000.
Image 5: Annual Carbon Emissions by Region (Finn M., “Israel Cuts Carbon Emissions to Boost Economic Success”, posted 11 April 2016, Science World Report, viewed 7 August 2016, <http://www.scienceworldreport.com/articles/38146/20160411/israel-walmart-cuts-carbon-emissions-to-boost-economic-commercial-success.htm >)
This image shows the comparative rise in annual carbon emissions by regions, data source from Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Centre. China acknowledged in 2010 it was the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, surpassing USA who is the top emitter of the world in 20th century. Carbon emissions is proportional to a region’s wealth and hence its energy consumption.
Image 6: Global Warming Predictions (“Global Warming Predictions Map”, 2016, Wikimedia Commons, viewed 7 August 2016, <https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Global_Warming_Predictions_Map.jpg >)
This image shows predicted distribution of temperature change from Hadley Centre HadCM3 climate model, and plotted colors depict average change is 3oC, with predicted change of 1.4 to 5.8oC from 1990 to 2100. Continents warm more rapidly than oceans (due to lower heat capacity of landat ) in the model. The lowest predicted warming is 0.55oC south of South America and the highest is 9.2oC in Arctic Ocean, indicating largest carbon emitters located in northern hemisphere.
Image 7: Fossil Fuel Usage per Person (“Fossil Fuel Usage per Person (Global Warming)”, what-when-how, viewed 7 August 2016, <http://what-when-how.com/global-warming/fossil-fuel-usage-per-person-global-warming/>)
This image shows the comparison of fossil fuel consumption per capita for the top 20 largest populated countries. Large range indicates disparity between the rich, industrialized and poor/developing countries. Australia’s fossil fuel usage per capita can be very high but not on the list due to its small population.
Image 8: Economic Efficiency of Fossil Fuel Usage (“Economic Efficiency of Fossil Fuel Usage”, Exploring the Environment, viewed 7 August 2016, <http://ete.cet.edu/gcc/?/resourcecenter/slideshow/3/51 >)
This image shows how efficiently the 20 largest economies convert fossil fuel usage into wealth (tied to availability of fossil fuel energy sources) in terms of the ratio of gross domestic product generated to number of kg fossil fuel carbon released. France and Brazil ranked top two because they heavily rely on alternative energy source, hydroelectric and nuclear power while other countries rely on coal as energy source.
Image 9: Global Trends in Greenhouse Gases (Verheggen, B., 2012, “Global Trends in Greenhouse Gases”, Encyclopedia of Global Warming & Climate Change, 2nd Ed, SAGE Publications Inc., Thousand Oaks, California, Vol. 3, p.1549)
These images illustrate the trends in major greenhouse gas concentrations from 1970 to 2010. Carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide show continuous rise that they account for 99% of global warming potential in the past 50 years. CFC-11 & 12 show gradually drop after Montreal Protocol that limited their release to protect ozone layer.
Image 10: Australians’ Thoughts about Climate Change 2010 – 2014 (“54% of Australians skeptics of man-made global warming, 80% don’t donate to environment or vote for it”, JoNova, viewed 7 August 2016, <http://joannenova.com.au/2015/11/54-of-australians-skeptics-of-man-made-global-warming-80-dont-donate-to-environment-or-vote-for-it/ >)
This image shows the survey carried out by CSIRO – Australian Attitudes to Climate Change 2010 – 2014 regarding the thoughts of the Australians about the causes of climate changes. 46% respondents indicated that climate change is largely caused by humans while a substantial percentage believed that it is just a natural fluctuation. Surprisingly, this indicates most Australians (54%) disagree with IPCC experts and do not believe climate change is dominant by human activities. Full survey report of CSIRO can be seen at: https://publications.csiro.au/rpr/download?pid=csiro:EP158008&dsid=DS2.
Emergent Practices 
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