Manicore

• Greenhouse effect
  • Physical aspects
    • What is the greenhouse effect ?
    • Why is it said that the earth is warming up ?
    • Has this warming up started already ?
    • Is climate change something different from the hole in the ozone layer ?
    • Is man the only cause of climate change ?
    • Are weather and climate the same thing ?
  • Greenhouse gases : what are they ?
    • What gases are greenhouse gases ? How much do they contribute to the greenhouse effect ?
    • Is it legitimate to say that carbon dioxide is a poison ?
    • What are the aerosols ? - what role do clouds play ?
    • Are we really sure that it's man that modified the atmosphere ?
  • Trying to guess the future
    • A climate change, is it just a change of the average temperature ?
    • What is a climate model ? What are the models' first conclusions ?
    • Should we trust climate models ?
    • How many extra degrees can we get ?
    • How do the present temperatures compare to the past ones ?
    • Will temperatures and precipitations evolve the same way everywhere ?
    • What is an emission scenario ? Is it important for the future ?
    • Will climate change get rapidely to a halt if we quickly decrease the emissions ?
  • Risks
    • Do we know if there is a "threshold of danger" ?
    • Will extreme phenomena of all kind increase in the future ?
    • Will marine currents change ?
    • Are the ecosystems at risk ?
    • Will we turn the ocean into an acid lake ?
    • Will we all be sick ?
    • Will oceans submerge everything ?
    • Will the "hole in the ozone layer" increase ?
    • Will men be able to stay calm ?
    • Won't certain regions of the world be spared by climate change ?
    • Can't we expect that "something" will slow down the process ?
    • Can the whole process get totally out of control ?
    • Should we fear methane hydrates ?
    • Tobacco and climate change : a little comparison
  • The carbon cycle
    • Won't the carbon sinks absorb the extra CO2 ?
    • Can't we just grow forests to compensate for our CO2 emissions ?
  • Scientists
    • Who are "the scientists" ?
    • Since when do "scientists know" for climate change ?
    • What is the IPCC ?
    • Should we believe anybody just because he(she) writes in the paper ?
    • Is the press correctly accounting for the available scientific information ?
  • Greenhouse gases and us
    • How do greenhouse gas emissions presently evolve ?
    • What is our present energy consumption like ?
    • Do I emit greenhouse gases through my daily acts ?
    • How much greenhouse gases in our plate ?
    • How much greenhouse gases in our wastebin ?
    • How much greenhouse gases does the author's family emit ?
  • Acting collectively
    • Won't a soon to come fossil fuel shortage solve the problem for us ?
    • Shouldn't we wait until we are totally sure of what's going on before we do anything ?
    • At what level must we stabilize atmospheric CO2 ?
    • What amount of CO2 should each of us be allowed to emit ?
    • Is leaving one's car in the garage sufficient to suppress the CO2 emissions in excess ?
    • Won't "the technique" save us ?
    • Can't we put the carbon dioxide in a big hole and just forget it ?
    • What collective actions could be done ?
    • What are the international negociations aiming at ?
    • Are the Americans the kings of evil ?
    • Who should reduce first ?
  • Acting individually
    • Doing one's good deed regarding climate change : what is the impact of individual actions ?
    • I run a business : can I "do something" ?
    • An example of emission calculation : how much carbon equivalent at Jancovici and co ?
  • Is there an ideal world ?
    • Are there "CO2 free" energies ?
    • What can be expected from the electric cars ?
    • Could we live just like today with only renewable energies ?
    • What would an "energetically vertuous" world look like ?
  • Economy
    • Does economic growth "create" greenhouse effect ?
    • Does it make sense to give a price to climate change consequences ?
    • What price increases would follow a carbon tax ?
    • What are the tradable permits ?
    • What is Kaya's equation ?
  • France
    • How much extra greenhouse gases emissions if we build a new airport near Paris ?
    • How much extra greenhouse gases emissions if we replace nuclear power plants by gas turbines ?
• Oil, gas, coal, and friends
  • Oil and co
    • How do oil, gas and coal form ?
    • What is an oil reserve ?
    • Using oil ? But what for ?
    • How come it's been 40 years that we have 40 years of oil ?
    • Getting oil out of the ground, a piece of cake ?
    • What is non conventional oil ?
    • Have you ever seen an oil peak somewhere ?
  • Gas and co
    • What is a gas reserve ?
    • Using gas ? But what for ?
    • Is gas a miracle energy ?
    • WHat is non conventional gas ?
    • WHat is non conventional gas ?
    • What is producing gas about ?
    • Have you seen any gas peak somewhere ?
  • Coal and co
    • What is a coal reserve ?
    • What does producing coal look like ?
    • Using coal ? But what for ?
    • What is "liquid coal" ?
    • A coal production peak, have you seen any ?
  • Oil and economy
    • Buying fuels : who gets what ?
    • How did the price evolve since 1860 ?
    • Is the price of oil driving the price of energy at a whole ?
    • Is the price of oil driving the economy ?
  • Trying to foresee the future
    • When does the world oil production peak ?
    • When does the world gas production peak ?
    • When does the world coal production peak ?
    • How much will oil cost ?
• Energy
  • Energy
    • Energy, what is it about exactely ?
    • Could the economy stop growing ? (because it lacks energy)
    • How much of a slave master am I ?
    • Could we totally substitute oil by biofuels ?
    • Let there be taxes !
    • Do energy savings mostly consist in efficient light bulbs ?
    • Do renewable energies mostly consist of wind power ?
    • Is it easy to store energy ?
    • What role did I play in the french national debate on energy ?
    • Could we live as today with just renewable energy ?
    • What is exactely the share of electricity in France's energy consumption ?
    • Discussion on a couple of common statements on nuclear energy
    • What is the "true cost of energy" ? (July 2001)
    • Did nuclear energy kill renewables ?
    • What would an "energetically vertuous" world look like ?
    • Could we produce France's electricity with wind power ?
    • Could we produce France'ss electricity with solar panels ?
    • Could we produce France'ss electricity with biomass ?
    • What can we expect from fuell cells ? (january 2001)
    • How much fossil fuels may we use if we want to stop perturbing the climate ?
    • How fast can we decrease our energy consumption ?
  • Moving
    • Should we encourage the growth of air trafic ?
    • Could we replace all cars by trains ?
    • Is the electric car an ideal solution for tomorrow's mobility ?
    • Doing without car for daily life, is it possible ?
  • Miscellaneous
    • Is there an "environmentally friendly" tourism ?
    • What was there in the famous "Report to the Club of Rome" ?
    • Is sustainable development useful ?
    • Is the "polluter payer" principle a real principe ?
    • They are ecologists without knowing it...
    • Corsican autonomists
    • Jean-Pierre COFFE and his last book
    • What value have forecasts ?
    • How much is the planet worth ?
    • Are nature lovers necessarily ecologists ?
    • Could we all eat organic ?
    • A couple of dead-ends linked to our present "developpement"
    • Urbanization : a couple of figures on the french situation, and a little prolongation of trends
• Publications
  • Articles
    • Energy and climate change : discussing two opposite evolutions (december 2004)
    • Little address given during the presentation of the movie "The Day After" to the french press (may 2004)
    • Renovating ancient housing, a widely unknown action possibility against climate change (march 2004)
    • Discussing a couple of common statements on nuclear energy (january 2003)
    • Electricity and concurrence : dogma for all thinking ? (november 2002)
    • A letter published in the reader's section of Le Monde about hydrogen (september 2002)
    • Are we going towards a climate shock ?
    • Prayer for a teaching of environment matters at ENA
    • Energy and choice of life (may 2001)
    • Tradable permits in transportation (may 2001)
    • By wishing the withdrawal from nuclear energy, Germany is living in the wrong world
• Readings
  • Climate
    • Climate Change 2001, The Scientific Basis
  • Miscellaneous
    • Gaïa : a new look at life on Earth
    • Democraty in America
  • "Skeptics"
    • State of Fear
    • The Skeptical Environmentalist
    • The Wall Street Journal of april 2001
    • A letter to the president of Arte (june 2003)
• Acknowledgments

Climate change (global warming) : a couple of answers to some elementary questions

 

website of the author : www.manicore.com - contact the author : jean-marc@manicore.com

first online edition : september 2003

If you want to be informed of the updates (once a month roughly for the french part, and for the english one I'll do what I can !) all you have to do is send me a message

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Is the following list too long? Search the site !

Physical aspects of climate change : a general overview

What is the greenhouse effect ?

Why is it said that the earth is warming up ?

Has this warming up started already ?

Is climate change something different from the hole in the ozone layer ?

Are weather and climate the same thing ?

Is man the only cause of climate change ?

 

Greenhouse gases : what are they ?

What gases are greenhouse gases ? How much do they contribute to the greenhouse effect ?

Is it legitimate to say that carbon dioxide is a poison ?

What are the aerosols ? - what role do clouds play ?

Are we really sure that it's man that modified the atmosphere ?

 

Trying to guess the future

What is a climate model ? What are the models' first conclusions ?

Should we trust climate models ?

How many extra degrees can we get ?

How do the present temperatures compare to the past ones ?

Will temperatures and precipitations evolve the same way everywhere ?

What is an emission scenario ? Is it important for the future ?

Will climate change get rapidely to a halt if we quickly decrease the emissions ?

A climate change, is it just a change of the average temperature ?

 

Risks

Do we know if there is a "threshold of danger" ?

Will extreme phenomena of all kind increase in the future ?

Will marine currents change ?

Are the ecosystems at risk ?

Will we turn the ocean into an acid lake ?

Will we all be sick ?

Will oceans submerge everything ?

Will the "hole in the ozone layer" increase ?

Will men be able to stay calm ?

Won't certain regions of the world be spared by climate change ?

Can the whole process get totally out of control ?

Should we fear methane hydrates ?

Can't we expect that "something" will slow down the process ?

Comparing tobacco and climate change....

 

The carbon cycle

Won't the carbon sinks absorb the extra CO2 ?

Can't we just grow forests to compensate for our CO2 emissions ?

 

Should we believe what scientists say about the future of our climate?

Who are "the scientists" ?

Since when do "scientists know" for climate change ?

What is the IPCC ?

Is the press correctly accounting for the available scientific information ?

Should we believe anything just because it is written in the paper ?

 

Greenhouse gases and us

How do greenhouse gas emissions presently evolve ?

What is our present energy consumption like ?

Do I emit greenhouse gases through my daily acts ?

How much greenhouse gases in our plate ?

How much greenhouse gases in our wastebin ?

How much greenhouse gases does the author's family emit ?

 

Acting collectively : when, how, and to achieve what ?

Shouldn't we wait until we are totally sure of what's going on before we do anything ?

Won't a soon to come fossil fuel shortage solve the problem for us ?

At what level must we stabilize atmospheric CO2 ?

What amount of CO2 should each of us be allowed to emit ?

Is leaving one's car in the garage sufficient to suppress the CO2 emissions in excess ?

Won't "the technique" save us ?

Can't we put the carbon dioxide in a big hole and just forget it ?

What collective actions could be done ?

What are the international negociations aiming at ?

Are the Americans the kings of evil ?

Who should reduce first ?

 

Acting individually, at home or at work

Doing one's good deed regarding climate change : what is the impact of individual actions ?

I run a business : can I "do something" ?

An example of emission calculation : how much carbon equivalent at Jancovici & co ?

 

Is there an ideal world ?

Are there "CO2 free" energies ?

Could we live just like today with only renewable energies ?

What can be expected from the electric cars ?

What would an "energetically vertuous" world look like ?

 

Global warming and economy

Does economic growth "create" greenhouse effect ?

Does it make sense to give a price to climate change consequences ?

What price increases would follow a carbon tax ?

What are the tradable permits ?

What is Kaya's equation ?

 

Climate change and France

How much extra greenhouse gases emissions if we build a new airport near Paris ?

How much extra greenhouse gases emissions if we replace nuclear power plants by gas turbines ?

 

Thanks and acknowledgments

****

Got a couple of spare euros ? Part of the content of these pages can be found in two books (only in French, but don't tell me you are not fluent in Moliere's tongue...).

Roberval Prize 2002

I will gladly accept only half of the amount Hillary Clinton got for the publication of her memoirs if any editor is interested in an english version of these titles !