5. Introduction
ïOver the last 100 years, global
temperatures have warmed by about 1.33
degrees Fahrenheit (0.74 degrees
Celsius) on average. The change may
seem minor, but it's happening very
quickly â more than half of it since 1979,
according to the Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change.
ïThough it can still be difficult to tease out
how much climate change plays in any
given weather event, changes are
occurring.
6. Introduction cont.
ïThus global warming is enhancing the
extreme environment temperature rise and at
the same time to uplift water in the sea level
by 0.5ft to 5.0ft due to melting of mountain
glaciers and expansion of the oceans. The
climatologists are seriously warned for polar
ice melt because of global warming and
hence it creates âenvironmental refugeesâ
throughout the world. According to IPCC, the
sea level will rise, based on present day
energy consumption pattern, in the range of
31 cm to 110 cm by 2100 A.D. Therefore
suitable measures have to be taken for
checking this global climate change.
8. An Overview
ïWhat is Global warming?
ïGlobal Warming is defined as the increase of the
average temperature on Earth.
ïAs the Earth is getting hotter, disasters like hurricanes,
droughts and floods are getting more frequent. Over the
last 100 years, the average air temperature near the
Earthâs surface has risen by a little less than 1 degree
Celsius or 1.3degrees Fahrenheit. Global warming is
the cause,climate change is the effect. Scientists often
prefer to speak about climate change instead of global
warming, because higher global temperatures donât
necessarily mean that it will be warmer at any given
time at every location on Earth.
9. Overview cont.
ïWarming is strongest at the Earth's Poles, the Arctic
and the Antarctic, and will continue to be so. In recent
years, fall air temperatures have been
ïat a record 9 degrees Fahrenheit (5 degrees Celsius)
above normal in the Arctic, according to the U.S.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. But
changing wind patterns could mean that a warming
ïArctic, for example, leads to colder winters in
continental Europe. Regional climates will change as
well, but in very different ways. Some regions like parts
of Northern Europe or West Africa will probably get
wetter, while other regions like the Mediterranean or
Central Africa will most likely receive less rainfall.
Melting ice is the most visible impact of a warming
climate. The UN Panel on Climate Change finds that
average Arctic temperatures have increased at almost
twice the global average rate in the past 100 years.
10. Overview cont.
ïGreen House Effect: When sunlight reaches Earth's surface some is absorbed
and warms the earth and most of the rest is radiated back to the atmosphere at a
longer wavelength than the sun light. Some of these longer wavelengths are
absorbed by greenhouse gases in the atmosphere before they are lost to space.
The absorption of this long wave radiant energy warms the atmosphere. These
greenhouse gases act like a mirror and reflect back to the Earth some of the heat
energy which would otherwise be lost to space. The reflecting back of heat energy
by the atmosphere is called the "greenhouse effect". The major natural
greenhouse gases are water vapor, which causes about 36-70% of the
greenhouse effect on Earth (not including clouds); carbon dioxide CO2, which
causes 9-26%; methane, which causes 4-9%, and ozone, which causes 3-7%. It
is not possible to state that a certain gas causes a certain percentage of the
greenhouse effect, because the influences of the various gases are not additive.
ïOther greenhouse gases include, but are not limited to nitrous oxide, sulfur
hexafluoride, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and chlorofluorocarbons.
Almost100% of the observed temperature increase over the last 50 years has
been due to the increase in the atmosphere of greenhouse gas concentrations like
water vapour, carbon dioxide (CO2), methane and ozone. Greenhouse gases are
those gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect The largest contributing
source of greenhouse gas is the burning of fossil fuels leading to the emission of
carbon dioxide.
12. Overview cont.
ïCauses of global warming:
ïCarbon dioxide: The buildup of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere,
mainly from your fossil fuel emissions, is the most significant human
cause of global warming. Carbon dioxide is released every time you
burn something, be it a car, airplane or coal plant. This means you
must burn less fossil fuel if you want the Earth's climate to remain
stable! And unfortunately, we are currently destroying some of the
best known mechanisms for storing that carbonâplants.
ïDeforestation increases the severity of global warming as well.
Carbon dioxide is released from the human conversion of forests
and grasslands into farmland and cities. All living plants store
carbon. When those plants die and decay, carbon dioxide is
released back into the atmosphere. As forests and grasslands are
cleared for your use, enormous amounts of stored carbon enter the
atmosphere. An unstoppable feedback loop may happen if you let
this continue. If the activities mentioned above warm the Earth just
enough, it could cause natural carbon sinks to fail.
13. Overview cont.
ïA "carbon sink" is a natural system that stores carbon over
thousands of years. Such sinks include peat bogs and the
arctic tundra. But if these sinks destabilize, that carbon will be
released, possibly causing an unstoppable and catastrophic
warming of the Earth. The oceans are no longer able to store
carbon as they have in the past. The ocean is a huge carbon
sink, holding about 50 times as much carbon as the
atmosphere. But now scientists are realizing that the
increased thermal stratification of the oceans has caused
substantial reductions in levels of phytoplankton, which store
CO2. Increased atmospheric carbon is also causing an
acidification of the ocean, since carbon dioxide forms
carbonic acid when it reacts with water. The tiny plants of the
ocean, the very bottom of that vast watery food chain, are
suffering from the effects of global warming, which means
they are becoming less able to store carbon, further
contributing to climate change. As carbon sinks fail, the
amount of carbon in the atmosphere climbs!
15. Overview cont.
ïMethane's huge impact: Methane is created when bacteria
break down organic matter under oxygen-starved conditions.
This occurs when organic matter is trapped underwater, as in
rice paddies. It also takes place in the intestines of
herbivorous animals, such as cows, sheep, and goats.
Because human agriculture has grown over time to engulf
most of the arable land on the planet, it is now adding a lot of
methane to the atmosphere. Landfills and leakage from
natural gas fields (methane is a component of natural gas)
are also significant sources of methane. Clathrates are a
hidden source of Methane. Clathrates are frozen chunks of
ice and methane that rest at the bottom of the world's oceans.
As the water warms, the ice melts, and the methane is
released. If the current global warming, which is caused by
humans, were to cause changes in the Earth's ocean
currents, then a rapid melting of clathrates would be possible.
This too would create a positive feedback loop that would
cause further global warming. It is believed that some of the
warming cycles in the Earth's history have been caused by
the sudden thawing of clathrates
17. Overview cont.
ïA growing problem
ïThe "green revolution" of the twentieth century
has allowed the farmers of the world to use
chemical fertilizers and machines to produce far
more food than they ever did before. One of the
primary components of the green revolution has
been the development of nitrogen fertilizers that
dramatically accelerate the growth and
productivity of plants in the field. Plants "fix,ââ or
capture, nitrogen on their own as well, but green
revolution technologies have become so popular
that humans are now adding more nitrogen to the
earth than all of the plants in the world combined.
18. Overview cont.
ïEffects of Global Warming
Increasing global temperatures are causing a broad range of
changes. Sea levels are rising due to thermal expansion of the
ocean, in addition to melting of land ice. Amounts and patterns of
precipitation are changing. The total annual power of hurricanes has
already increased markedly since 1975 because their average
intensity and average duration have increased (in addition, there has
been a high correlation of hurricane power with tropical sea-surface
temperature). Changes in temperature and precipitation patterns
increase the frequency, duration, and intensity of other extreme
weather events, such as floods, droughts, heat waves, and
tornadoes. Other effects of global warming include higher or lower
agricultural yields, further glacial retreat, reduced summer stream
flows, species extinctions. As a further effect of global warming,
diseases like malaria are returning into areas where they have been
extinguished earlier. Although global warming is affecting the
number and magnitude of these events, it is difficult to connect
specific events to global warming. Although most studies focus on
the period up to 2100, warming is expected to continue past then
because carbon dioxide (chemical symbol CO2) has an estimated
atmospheric lifetime of 50 to 200 years.
19. Overview cont.
ïEffects on weather:
ïIncreasing temperature is likely to lead to increasing
precipitation but the effects on storms are less clear.
Extratropical storms partly depend on the temperature
gradient, which is predicted to weaken in the northern
hemisphere as the polar region warms more than the rest of
the hemisphere. Regional effects of global warming vary in
nature. Some are the result of a generalised global change,
such as rising temperature, resulting in local effects, such as
melting ice. In other cases, a change may be related to a
change in a particular ocean current or weather system. In
such cases, the regional effect may be disproportionate and
will not necessarily follow the global trend. There are three
major ways in which global warming will make changes to
regional climate: melting or forming ice, changing the
hydrological cycle (of evaporation) and changing currents in
the oceans and air flows in the atmosphere. The coast can
also be considered a region, and will suffer severe impacts
from sea level rise.
20. Overview cont.
ïGlacier retreat and disappearance:
ïMountain glaciers and snow cover had
decreased in both the northern and southern
hemispheres. This widespread decrease in
glaciers and ice caps has contributed to
observed sea level rise. Predictions relating to
future changes in glaciers.
ïMountainous areas in Europe will face glacier
retreat
ïIn Latin America, changes in precipitation
patterns and the disappearance of glaciers will
significantly affect water availability for human
consumption, agriculture, and energy production
ïIn Polar regions, there will be reductions in
glacier extent and the thickness of glaciers.
21. Overview cont.
ïOceans:
ïThe role of the oceans in global warming is a complex one. The oceans serve as
a sink for carbon dioxide, taking up much that would otherwise remain in the
atmosphere, but increased levels of CO2have led to ocean acidification.
Furthermore, as the temperature of the oceans increases, they become less able
to absorb excess CO2. Global warming is projected to have a number of effects
on the oceans. Ongoing effects include rising sea levels due to thermal expansion
and melting of glaciers and ice sheets, and warming of the ocean surface, leading
to increased temperature stratification. Other possible effects include large-scale
changes in ocean circulation.
ïHealth:
ïHuman beings are exposed to climate change through changing weather
patterns (temperature, precipitation, sea-level rise and more frequent extreme
events) and indirectly through changes in water, air and food quality and changes
in ecosystems, agriculture, industry and settlements and the economy. The effects
of climate change to date have been small, but are projected to progressively
increase in all countries and regions. It is concluded that climate change had
altered the seasonal distribution of some allergenic pollen species. With medium
confidence, they concluded that climate change had altered the distribution of
some infectious disease vectors and increased heat wave-related deaths.
25. Overview cont.
ïControl
ïBurning fossil fuels such as natural gas, coal, oil and gasoline raises the level of carbon
dioxide in the atmosphere, and carbon dioxide is a major contributor to the greenhouse effect
and global warming. You can help to reduce the demand for fossil fuels, which in turn reduces
global warming, by using energy more wisely. Here are 10 simple actions you can take to help
reduce global warming.
ï1. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: Do your part to reduce waste by choosing reusable products
instead of disposables. Buying products with minimal packaging (including the economy size
when that makes sense for you) will help to reduce waste. And whenever you can, recycle
paper, plastic, newspaper, glass and aluminum cans. If there isn't a recycling program at your
workplace, school, or in your community, ask about starting one. By recycling half of your
household waste, you can save 2,400 pounds of carbon dioxide annually.
ï2. Use Less Heat and Air Conditioning: Adding insulation to your walls and attic, and
installing weather stripping or caulking around doors and windows can lower your heating
costs more than 25 percent, by reducing the amount of energy you need to heat and cool your
home. Turn down the heat while you're sleeping at night or away during the day, and keep
temperatures moderate at all times. Setting your thermostat just 2 degrees lower in winter and
higher in summer could save about 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide each year.
ï3. Change a light bulb: Wherever practical, replace regular light bulbs with compact
fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs. Replacing just one 60-watt incandescent light bulb with a CFL
will save you $30 over the life of the bulb. CFLs also last 10 times longer than incandescent
bulbs, use two-thirds less energy, and give off 70 percent less heat. If every U.S. family
replaced one regular light bulb with a CFL, it would eliminate 90 billion pounds of greenhouse
gases, the same as taking 7.5 million cars off the road.
26. Overview cont.
ï4. Drive less and drive smart: Less driving means fewer emissions. Besides saving
gasoline, walking and biking are great forms of exercise. Explore your community mass transit
system, and check out options for carpooling to work or school. When you do drive, make sure
your car is running efficiently. For example, keeping your tries properly inflated can improve
your gas mileage by more than 3 percent. Every gallon of gas you save not only helps your
budget, it also keeps 20 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.
ï5. Buy Energy-Efficient Products: When it's time to buy a new car, choose one that offers
good gas mileage. Home appliances now come in a range of energy-efficient models, and
compact florescent bulbs are designed to provide more natural-looking light while using far
less energy than standard light bulbs. Avoid products that come with excess packaging,
especially molded plastic and other packaging that can't be recycled. If you reduce your
household garbage by 10 percent, you can save 1,200 pounds of carbon dioxide annually.
ï6. Use Less Hot Water: Set your water heater at 120 degrees to save energy, and wrap it in
an insulating blanket if it is more than 5 years old. Buy low-flow showerheads to save hot water
and about 350 pounds of carbon dioxide yearly. Wash your clothes in warm or cold water to
reduce your use of hot water and the energy required to produce it. That change alone can
save at least 500 pounds of carbon dioxide annually in most households. Use the energy-
saving settings on your dishwasher and let the dishes air-dry.
ï7. Use the "Off" Switch: Save electricity and reduce global warming by turning off lights
when you leave a room, and using only as much light as you need. And remember to turn off
your television, video player, stereo and computer when you're not using them. It's also a good
idea to turn off the water when you're not using it. While brushing your teeth, shampooing the
dog or washing your car, turn off the water until you actually need it for rinsing. You'll reduce
your water bill and help to conserve a vital resource.
27. Overview cont.
ï8. Plant a tree: If you have the means to plant a tree, start digging.
During photosynthesis, trees and other plants absorb carbon dioxide
and give off oxygen. They are an integral part of the natural
atmospheric exchange cycle here on Earth, but there are too few of
them to fully counter the increases in carbon dioxide caused by
automobile traffic, manufacturing and other human activities. A
single tree will absorb approximately one ton of carbon dioxide
during its lifetime.
ï9. Get a report card from your utility company: Many utility
companies provide free home energy audits to help consumers
identify areas in their homes that may not be energy efficient. In
addition, many utility companies offer rebate programs to help pay
for the cost of energy-efficient upgrades.
ï10. Encourage Others to Conserve: Share information about
recycling and energy conservation with your friends, neighbors and
co-workers, and take opportunities to encourage public officials to
establish programs and policies that are good for the environment.
These 10 steps will take you a long way toward reducing your
energy use and your monthly budget. And less energy use means
less dependence on the fossil fuels that create greenhouse gases
and contribute to global warming.
28. Is this real?
ïMoving the military northward
ïAs the Arctic ice opens up, the world turns its attention to the
resources below. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, 30
percent of the world's undiscovered natural gas and 13 percent of its
undiscovered oil are under this region. As a result, military action in
the Arctic is heating up, with the United States, Russia, Denmark,
Finland, Norway, Iceland, Sweden and Canada holding talks about
regional security and border issues. Several nations, including the
U.S., are also drilling troops in the far north, preparing for increased
border patrol and disaster response efforts in a busier Arctic.
ïAltering breeding seasons
ïAs temperatures shift, penguins are shifting their breeding seasons,
too. A March 2012 study found that gentoo penguins are adapting
more quickly to warmer weather, because they aren't as dependent
on sea ice for breeding as other species.
ïIt's not just penguins that seem to be responding to climate change.
Animal shelters in the U.S. have reported increasing numbers of
stray cats and kittens attributed to a longer breeding season for the
felines.
29. Is this real?
ïChanging genetics
ïEven fruit flies are feeling the heat. According to a 2006 study, fruit fly genetic
patterns normally seen at hot latitudes are showing up more frequently at higher
latitudes. According to the research, the gene patterns of Drosophila subobscura,
a common fruit fly, are changing so that populations look about one degree closer
in latitude to the equator than they actually are. In other words, genotypes are
shifting so that a fly in the Northern Hemisphere has a genome that looks more
like a fly 75 to 100 miles (120 to 161 kilometers) south.
ïHurting polar bears
ïPolar bear cubs are struggling to swim increasingly long distances in search of
stable sea ice, according to a 2011 study. The rapid loss of sea ice in the Arctic is
forcing bears to sometimes swim up to more than 12 days at a time, the research
found. Cubs of adult bears that had to swim more than 30 miles (48 kilometers)
had a 45 percent mortality rate, compared with 18 percent for cubs that had to
swim shorter distances.
ïMore mobile species
ïSpecies are straying from their native habitats at an unprecedented rate: 11
miles (17.6 km) toward the poles per decade. Areas where temperature is
increasing the most show the most straying by native organisms. The Cetti's
warbler, for example, has moved north over the last two decades by more than 90
miles (150 km).
30. Is this real?
ïSkeptics: The planet can't be warming when my front yard is covered in several
feet of snow. ⊠This winter has been one of the chilliest, how is that possible in a
warming world?
ïScience: Local temperatures taken as individual data points have nothing to do
with the long-term trend of global warming. These local ups and downs in weather
and temperature can hide a slower-moving uptick in long-term climate. To get a
real bead on global warming, scientists rely on changes in weather over a long
period of time. To find climate trends you need to look at how weather is changing
over a longer time span. Looking at high and low temperature data from recent
decades shows that new record highs occur nearly twice as often as new record
lows.
ïFor instance, a study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters in
2009, found that daily record high temperatures occurred twice as often as record
lows over the prior decade across the continental United States.
ï
ïSkeptics: Global warming has stopped and the Earth has begun to cool.
ïScience: The last decade, 2000-2009, was the hottest on record, according to
Skeptical Science. Big blizzards and abnormally chilly weather often raise the
question: How can global warming be occurring when it's snowing outside? Global
warming is compatible with chilled weather. "For climate change, it is the long-
term trends that are important; measured over decades or more, and those long
term trends show that the globe is still, unfortunately, warming," according to
Skeptical Science.
31. Is this real?
ïSkeptics: Over the past few hundred years, the sun's
activity, including the number of sunspots, has increased,
causing the world to get warmer.
ïScience: In the last 35 years of global warming, the sun has
shown a slight cooling trend, while the climate has been
heating up, scientists say. In the past century, solar activity
can explain some of the increase in global temperatures, but
a relatively small amount. (Solar activity refers to the activity
of the sun's magnetic field and includes magnetic field-
powered sunspots and solar flares.)
ïA study published in the journal Atmospheric Chemistry and
Physics in December 2011 revealed that even during a
prolonged lull in the sun's activity, Earth still continued to
warm. The study researchers found that the Earth absorbed
0.58 watts of excess energy per square meter than escaped
back into space during the study period from 2005 to 2010, a
time when solar activity was low.
34. Conclusion
ïThe climate change would increase the number of people suffering
from death, disease and injury from heat waves, floods, storms and
droughts. Floods are low-probability, high-impact events that can
overwhelm physical infrastructure and human communities. Major
storm and flood disasters have occurred in the last two decades.
Vulnerability to weather disasters depends on the attributes of the
person at risk, including where they live and their age, as well as
other social and environmental factors. High-density populations in
low-lying coastal regions experience a high health burden from
weather disasters.
ïHot days, hot nights and heat waves have become more frequent.
Heat waves are associated with marked short-term increases in
mortality. In some regions, changes in temperature and precipitation
are projected to increase the frequency and severity of fire events .
Forest and bush fires cause burns, damage from smoke inhalation
and other injuries. Background levels of ground-level ozone have
risen since pre-industrial times because of increasing emissions of
methane, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides.This trend is
expected to continue into the mid-21stcentury.
35. Our message
ïOur message to Skeptics is that they
should be objective in their approach
to scientific issues like Global
warming.
ïThis is not Politics and its not a
business. Itâs our collective concern so
we must be sincere to face the truth of
it.
ïItâs real pals!