Global warming demands “New Way of Doing Business,” says U of Iowa’s Schnoor in Nov. 3 address
–by Ali Carlson, Kirkwood News Service
Traveling from Iowa City to speak with students, faculty members and members of the Cedar Rapids community, Dr. Jerald Schnoor taught individuals about the mitigating and response to the climate change in Iowa.
Schnoor spoke in Ballantyne Auditorium Monday evening, Nov. 3 as part of the “Connections” speaker series. Kirkwood and a wide ranging group of area environmental groups and colleges host annual talks on the environment and earth sciences.
Describing the changes that are being felt in more areas than just the state of Iowa, Schnoor explained how humans are a large part to why climate change is an issue. Global warming has always been an issue but has increased since the Holocene geological period.
With the dependence on fossil fuels it causes for a large amount of greenhouse gases to be stored in our atmosphere. The fossil fuels in the atmosphere are gases that store heat after a majority of the sunlight is absorbed into the ground.
Schnoor stated, “Man is now controlling the amounts.” Using myriad facts to back up his statements, he pointed out that with the amount of fossil fuels that are being produced and used in the United States, more emissions are released into the atmosphere. Greenhouse gases can be not be recycled but they can be added to. The gases can last for several years depending on the type.
“Even if we stopped using the greenhouses gases today, we will still have the problem of global warming because of the material that is stored in our atmosphere,” said Schnoor.
Besides the cost of trying to keep away from the emissions of fossil fuels and greenhouse gases, there would have to be an 80 percent cutback of emissions. “We need a whole new way of doing business,” Schnoor added.
There are other ways of production but the cost is still high and production technology is limited. Some of the renewable sources include wind and wave power.
Schnoor ended with the comment that each individual needs to look at what they are doing and what they can do to prevent further damage.
“We are the difference and each one of us can help reduce the amount of emissions being put into the atmosphere,” he stated.