Refrigerant gas tracking and management is necessary to assure that no ozone depleting or greenhouse gases escape into the atmosphere and contribute to destructive climate change. EPA Inspectors, governmental regulators, as well as many state officials are responsible for monitoring commercial AC and HVAC systems. They can do spot checks of the refrigerant service records, purchase orders, transit logs of gas transport for destruction, as well as many other pieces of data related to refrigerant gas management.

There are many factors that could lead to a refrigerant leak in a refrigeration and air-conditioning (AC RAC) system or heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system. A valve could weaken, rust could form in the filter dryers or heat pump accumulator, small holes could form on capillary tube as a result of friction, the line set that carries refrigerant from the condenser to the evaporator coil could be damaged, or a flare connection could fail.

What makes the whole energy/ climate change issue so difficult for people to engage with? I believe it is because it really does challenge us to think about what it means to be human. Can this generation ignore the selfish desire for an “easy life” in order to give future generations a chance of having a liveable planet?

The science of climate change isn’t new: the greenhouse effect was first described in 1824, the first prediction that man’s activities could impact the climate in 1908. The first claims that our activities were afflicting the climate came in the 1950′s and over the past 30 years the evidence has simply become stronger and stronger.

Over the past few years, fossil fuel prices have gone up as more of the developing world has started to compete for supplies. This has prompted some to believe that “the market” will fix the problem and that renewables will “emerge” when the price is right. Unfortunately, the real problem is that there is enough oil and coal left in the ground that if we dig it up and burn it, the mean temperature will rise to levels that were last seen when there was no human life on the planet. Whether human life could survive that is open to much debate; personally, I doubt it very much. We, the current generation, are faced with a choice; find a way to reduce our carbon pollution quickly or condemn future generations to a wrecked planet.

Global warming, or climate change, is a subject that indicates no symbol of cooling down below.     Here’s the lowdown on why it’s taking place, what is considered causing it, and how the way it would change the planet.

Is It Happening?

Yes. Earth is presently viewing a lot of indications of worldwide climate change.

• Average temperatures have climbed 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit (0.8 degree  Celsius) world wide since 1880, a lot of this in current decades,  according to NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies.

• The speed of warming is growing. The 20th century’s last twenty years  have already been the hottest in 400 years and even possibly the warmest for some  millennia, in accordance with a range of climate studies. And the United  Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reviews that  11 of the past 12 years may be some of the dozen warmest since 1850.