Table of Contents
Statement of Purpose  ……………...pg 3
Fast Facts ……………….……...pg 5
Description of Region

Statement of Purpose
Every year it seems to be getting hotter and hotter and most of us don’t know why. Global warming is why summer feels closer every year. Global warming is how the temperature on earth increases through out time. Scientist all over the world say that humans are what is causing global warming. The gas used by cars and unneeded factories, burning coal and other human caused activities are proof on the affect humans have on global warming. However, there is another reason the earth we live in stays warm. When the suns energy hits earth it is then trapped by the atmosphere that surrounds the earth. Some of the suns heat rays do escape the ozone layer, but the majority of them do not. So because of this the people on earth suffer from rising in temperature.
Mexico, the United States of America and Canada are countries that make up North America. North America happens to be one of the places that is affected and is causing the effect of global warming. With a population of 334,534,018 can you imagine the different types of factories and gasses that are going into the earth’s atmosphere? By building un-needed stores and houses we are using up all our natural resources that is helping the world. People in North America are a big factor in global warming.

THE SUN RAY GOES THROUGH THE EARTHS ATMOSPHERE, BUT BECAUSE OF THE PULOTION, AZOL SPAY, FOSSIL FUEL AND MORE THERE IS NOW A WHOLE IN THE OZON LAYER. MEANING THAT BECAUSE OF THE ACTIVITY ON EARTH THE EARTHS ATMOSPHERE AND OZON LAY IS BECOMING SMALLER WHICH IS MAKING IT HARDER FOR THE SUNS RAYS TO GO THROUGH AND EXCAPE. THIS IS WHAT IS CAUSING GLOBAL WARMING AND AFFECTING US ON EARTH.

North America Fast Facts - Location

Size

Countries

Population

Climate

Imports & exports Gas

Natural Recourses

Agriculture Products

Industries

North America

Imports and Exports
Natural gas use in North America is growing rapidly between 1999 and 2000. Canadian natural gas exports to the United States grew by about 200 billion feet. The U.S. exports to Canada grew by over 30 between 1999 and 2000. Mexican natural gas imports from the United States increased by about 40. Mexican gas exports to the United
North America now imports nearly 80 percent of the wood used in our region. According to the California State Board of Equalization, just 1.7 billion board feet was harvested in California in 2004, down from 4.67 billion in 1988.By importing so much wood, we are in fact exporting our environmental burdens to areas of the planet that have lesser standards of forest protection and sustainability. Now since people in California (a country in North America) want to begin growing more of there own wood, rather than to continue following policies that are creating greater overall environmental damage it will help prevent global warming.

Found at: www.laballiance.com/la_info/dist/index2.htm

Other Imports & Exports

States dropped by slightly above 40
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 1.8%
Highest 10%: 30.5%
Distribution of family income - Gini index: 45
Inflation rate: 2.5%
Investment (gross fixed):16.6% of GDP
Budget: revenues: $2.409 trillion
Expenditures: $2.66 trillion; including capital expenditures of $NA
Public debt: 64.7% of GDP
Agriculture - products: wheat, corn, other grains, fruits, vegetables, cotton; beef, pork, poultry, dairy products; fish; forest products
Industries: leading industrial power in the world, highly diversified and technologically advanced; petroleum, steel, motor vehicles, aerospace, telecommunications, chemicals,
electronics, food processing, consumer goods, lumber, mining
Industrial production growth rate: 4.2%
Electricity - production: 3.979 trillion
Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 71.4%
Hydro: 5.6%
Nuclear: 20.7%
Other: 2.3%
Electricity - consumption: 3.717 trillion
Electricity - exports: 22.9 billion
Electricity - imports: 34.21 billion
Oil - production: 7.61 million
Oil - consumption: 20.73 million
Oil - exports: 1.048 million
Oil - imports: 13.15 million  
Oil - proved reserves: 22.45 billion bbl
Natural gas - production: 531.1 billion
Natural gas - consumption: 635.1 billion
Natural gas - exports: 24.18 billion
Natural gas - imports: 120.6 billion
Natural gas - proved reserves: 5

(Picture from http://www.calforests.org/forest_economics-37-Imports_And_Exports.htm)

Climate Change
   It was about 1895 when the major predicted about what was going to happen on climate events. Each prediction carried its own component of fate. A number of studies have examined long-term records of climate variables over the North American region. Most of this work has fitted to analyses near the surface air temperature and precipitation. The analyses near the surface of North American, the air temperatures for the time of 1901-1996 show the trends toward increasing temperatures over most of the continents. The temperature increases over the land and over an area of extending from North Western Canada, across the Southern Canada and Northern United States region to South Eastern Canada and the North Eastern United States. These increases range mainly from 1 through 2°C 100 years ago. The decreases in the annual temperature on the order of 1°C 100 years ago are observed along the Gulf Coast and on the order of 0.5°C 100 years ago off the North East Coast of Canada Sea Surface temperatures appear to have warmed off both the West and East Coasts of the continent, especially in the Gulf of Alaska.

Greenhouse Gases

Carbon Dioxide (CO2) = Occurs naturally. Also a by-product of burning fossil fuels (oil, coal) and biomass as well as land-use changes and various industrial processes.
Methane (CH4) = Occurs naturally. Other sources are landfills, coal mines, paddy fields, natural gas systems, and livestock.
Nitrous Oxide (N2O) = Generated by burning fossil fuels, in the manufacture of fertilizer and by cultivation of soils.
Perfluorocarbons (PFCs) = Human-made chemicals. A by-product of aluminum smelting. Also used as a replacement for CFCs in manufacturing semiconductors.
HFC’s = Human-made chemical. Used largely in refrigeration and insulating foam.
Sulphur Hexafluoride (SF6) = Used largely in heavy industry to insulate high voltage equipment and to assist in the manufacture of cable cooling systems.
Water Vapor (H2O (gas)) = Naturally occurring. Rising global temperatures may act to increase water vapor in the atmosphere.
Ozone (O3)  = Naturally occurring. Also created by reactions involving nitrogen oxide gases resulting from motor vehicles and power plants. Ozone at ground level and in the lower atmosphere is linked with smog and health problems. However, in the upper atmosphere, it helps to protect the earth from ultra-violet radiation and chemicals which tend to destroy ozone in the upper atmosphere are regulated under the Montreal Protocol

Economy

North America has great agricultural lands because of the favorable climate conditions, fertile soils, and technology. This is why Agriculture has a big impact on the regions economy. North America produces most of the world’s corn, meat, cotton, soybeans, tobacco and wheat; this must and does leave a lot of money. These are only the major money makers, there’s many more but only a few leave as much money as this. Manufacturing also leaves a lot of money, especially with inexpensive labor forces. Mineral are another way of making money since they are abundant in this region, and with so many like coal, iron ore, bauxite, copper, natural gases, petroleum, mercury, nickel, potash, and silver, there’s definitely money to make.

North America vs. other regions & the world

North America is one of the regions with the most carbon emissions. As you can see from the graph above china is the region with the most carbon emissions. China is the region with the most carbon emissions because it one of the most populated areas and one with the most factories. With all these factories producing all these carbon emissions, chine is expected to have a rise of 1-5ºC by the end of the Europe has about the same amount of carbon emissions as the US. This means that they both contribute to the green house effect as the second and third highest regions with carbon emissions, preventing fewer rays from the sun escaping Earth. With all these carbon emissions, the sun’s rays are being bounced off / reflected off the atmosphere and back to Earth. These three regions; North America, Asia, and Europe are the tree highest contributors of the greenhouse effect, turning it to global warming.
There are many reasons why these particular three regions have the highest impact on global warming. One reason is that these regions are very populated. People mean more carbon emission and more greenhouse gas producing machines for all these persons. Another reason might be that other regions have poverty, like South America, Africa, and India. No money means lees machines and factories that pollute our atmosphere. Jet another reason is that other regions are less populated, so humans produce less green house gases. There are many more reasons and ways how North America along with other regions contribute to global warming.

            Now that Global Warming is getting to be a concern to the ecosystem, the regions are trying to have less or more healthy impact on global warming. North America has a lot of ways to help out our environment. Recycling is one way of helping out the environment. You cut down fewer trees and those trees help out by turning more carbon emissions back into oxygen. The region supports walking, jogging, or running instead of driving to places. This is healthy for you and you don’t pollute the atmosphere with toxic gasses. Researching new ways of doing thing that have a less of a polluting impact to the atmosphere is another way the region help lower or maintain global warming. These are some ways North America positively impacts the green house effect and global warming.

Location

                             

North America is the 3rd largest continent of the world with over 9,400,000 miles taking up 16.5% of the Earth. It’s made up of three countries: Canada, US, and Mexico.  North America is located in the Northern Western Hemisphere. North America is east of the Pacific Ocean, west of the Atlantic Ocean, north of South America, and south of Artic Ocean. North America is surrounded by vast bodies of water, there’s: the Beaufort Sea, Hudson Bay, Labrador Sea, Artic Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, Pacific Ocean, Gulf of Alaska, and Bering Sea.

 Areas of Pollution

Industries in North America

North Americas industries are mostly forestry, commercial farming, limited economic activity, and livestock raising. North America has approximately 55 major manufacturing and trade centers which help us trade our resources such as coal, oil, natural gas, nuclear power, hydroelectric power, gold, silver, uranium and other minerals with other regions. This region trades what we don’t have for other things we need. This is why many industries in other region and in this one focus on only one thing, because whatever we don’t need is traded to another region for something better. Every region depends on all the other regions for thing they’re missing or need.

Density Forest

Population of North America

            North America started as a small country. In 1750, North America only had a population of 2,000,000. Even though North America started as a small country, it grew very rapidly, by 1800; 50 years later North America’s population had more than tripled to 7,000,000. The growing kept going, in 1900 it had gown to 82,000,000. North America grew very quickly; it a land with a lot of free space and people couldn’t get enough of it. North America was being populated so much; it is know the third most populated continent on Earth. By the year 2005, its population had grown to 332,156,000. Just two year later, to the present, in 2007 the population became 334,538,018. A difference of 2,538,018 in just two years, while in 1750-1800 it too 50 years to grow only 5,000,000.
There are 298,444,215 people living in North America.

Livestock effects on global warming

Extensive livestock production is critical to land derogation, climate change, and water and biodiversity loss. Livestock accounts for nine percent of all carbon dioxide emissions derived from human related activities. Livestock also accounts for thirty seven percent of methane emissions primarily gas from the digestive system of cattle and other domesticated ruminants. Livestock also accounts for sixty five percent of nitrous oxide gasses mostly from manure.
Livestock Population
The population of livestock is just about half of North America. The number of livestock is so high because there are highly productive industries for meat and dairying. The types of animals vary from cows and pigs to chickens and goats. Industries are destroying different environments like forests to make grasslands for livestock every day. There are also a large number of fisherman and fishing areas. The grounds are off of the Atlantic and Pacific coasts because the cold Labrador Current flows there. 

Carbon Pollution

Carbon pollution is being created very rapidly throughout North America. Whether it’s using your car, turning on your chimneys, or breathing, you’re releasing a lot of fossil fuel. These fossil Fuels have nowhere to go. So where do they go? They go into the atmosphere, making it thicker and thicker making it harder for the suns’ ray to go back out into space. They are making the green house effect warm up the earth faster, they are creating global warming. Scientists are keeping track of the amount of carbon gases getting stuck in the atmosphere. They have concluded that the more humans populate the more cars that are producing the carbon pollution that contributes to global warming. North America is the region with the highest concentration of carbon pollution.

Environmental Impact
Tsunamis, volcanoes, and earthquake activity are impacting the Pacific Basin; hurricanes hit the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts; tornadoes in the Midwest and southeast are being formed; mud slides in California; forest fires in the west; flooding; permafrost in northern Alaska. These are all that is happening to the North American region and how it’s being impacted by global warming. Also, current issues like air pollution are resulting in acid rain especially in the US and Canada. Although the reason might be that he US is the single, largest carbon dioxide emitter from fossil fuels and water pollution caused by pesticides and fertilizer. This gives the US a limited supply of drinking water which is why we need to carefully manage our water.

Changes in the Environment in the last 100 years
Global warming has changed North America in the last 100 years. Global warming has made many changes in the environment like in weather patterns, wild life, and population. With the melting ice caps do to global warming, the water level has risen in many places around the globe 10-20cm. With water levels rising, there’s also an increase in the amount of rainfall, snow, and natural disasters like hurricanes, tornadoes, and landslides. These increases are mainly in the areas with an increase in the water level.

Do to the change in climate; many industries like farming have been ruined. It might be that the area doesn’t have enough water and plants die, or it could be the area has too much water and plants die. No matter what or how the changes, the regions of Earth will suffer the consequences. This is why we shouldn’t mess with Mother Nature.
The Current Policy
The United States and Canada have experience with environmental policies. Not all have been successful but, compared with most other countries. The region also has a well developed set of institutions for environmental policies. Finding the pattern that defines success or failure of policy is challenging, given the multiple and complexity of environmental issues. Indicating the successful policies are those based on approaching issues in their full socio economic and ecological context and understanding their dynamic changes over time. The report on management and creative partnerships in environmental policies making the region interest in ecosystem management, stakeholder participation and processes has been increasing with sustain development as an over riding objective. This is perhaps the most evident areas in such regional fisher and climate where earlier policies measure failed to bring the expect results.
Regions Effect on Global Warming
North America is damaging our environment and effecting global warming negatively. North America is a region with a lot of people. With so many people, we are using up our resources and making our atmosphere weaker and weaker, especially with our growing population. This region and its inhabitants don’t know how to manage our ecosystem correctly. More trees are being cut down every day to be replaced by factories that contaminate the atmosphere even more. With the trees being cut down and factories being build, we are creating more pollution and destroying things that help recycle some of the pollution, it’s a double loss. Don’t forget about the cars, our generation is too lazy to walk so more and more polluting machines are being used. People don’t know how to defend or help out the atmosphere with all the green house gases causing global warming.

            It was till a few years ago that we have found and been using alternatives ways of going through life without causing so much harm to our atmosphere. It just recently that the solar power, wind, and water are being used to perform or work machines that needed fuels that contaminated our atmosphere. Now you can find all sorts of machines that are electrically powered. Plus the electricity is being generated by water and wind, this means we hardly have a negative impact if any on the atmosphere, The job is not done though there’s still a lot of pollution and scientist are now trying to find ways of cleaning up or even more alternatives to let the green house effect work naturally. People are starting to realize the harm that has been done to the atmosphere and are now trying to make it a smaller and healthier impact.

Future Policy
We agreed that our region can contribute to global warming in a more positively way. For example, our region can try to walk short distances of two to three blocks instead of driving such a distance. With less cares on the street the less carbon gases they produce. It’s healthier for the region, both its people and its environment. Another thing we can do is to stop littering everywhere. Most of the litter pollutes the water of the region and habitats of thousands of animals. When the littering pollutes our environment and most litter contains green house gases that end up in the atmosphere. We can start to use more electronic machines and less gas machines. Electric machines produce less gas which means less harm. The atmosphere will start to grow stronger or stay the same but not increase and global warming will be manageable or slow down for the sake of the environment.

Works Cited

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