Words: 2912
Today global warming is considered as one of the major environmental issues, which threatens to disrupt the basic balance of the environment and cause large scale destruction. The Greenhouse Effect: [pick] There are certain gases that raise the temperature by trapping the sun’s heat and energy. The Earth’s average temperature would have been about error! Hyperlink reference not valid. Colder if it weren’t for these gases. These gases are referred to as “greenhouse effect” because of the way they help to keep the Earth warm. The greenhouse effect makes the Earth suitable for all living things.
The Earth might have been freezing or it might also have been burning hot if the roundhouse effect did not occur. However, the presence of too many such gases can cause the Earth to get unusually warmer. The plants would not be able to take such heat and eventually they would have died. The scarcity of plants would cause animals to die of hunger and simultaneously resulting in the end of the human race. Cause of Global warming: Many things contribute to global warming. The causes can be split into two groups: 1 . Natural causes. 2. Man-made or anthropogenic causes. 1. Natural causes: Natural causes are causes created by nature.
The release of methane gas from arctic tundra and wetlands is one such natural cause. Methane, being a greenhouse gas, traps heat in the Earth’s atmosphere resulting in global warming. Another natural cause is that the earth goes through a cycle of climate change. This climate change usually lasts about 40,000 years. Solar variation Green house gases and solar forcing affect temperatures in different ways. While both increased solar activity and increase greenhouse gases are expected to warm the troposphere, an increase in solar activity should warm the stratosphere while an increase in greenhouse gases should cool the stratosphere. . Man-made Causes: Pollution There are many man-made causes. Human activities cause pollution which is introducing a contaminant into the environment. Pollution is one of the biggest man-made problems. Humans pollute the environment in various different ways. Humans burn fossil fuel to produce electricity and run vehicles. This results in air pollution because burning fossil fuel releases carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere. Example of fossil fuel includes oil and petroleum. Although petroleum is used for 38% of United States’ energy, it gives off a lot of pollution. Pick Some other ways of polluting the air by using energy: Watching TV Playing video games sing a hair dryer or dish washer Turning on a light Deforestation Cutting down of trees and forests is known as deforestation. People have been doing this for thousands of years to different purposes such as manufacturing furniture. If trees are pulled down then they cannot capture carbon dioxide. This carbon dioxide escapes into the atmosphere contributing to global warming. Population Another major man-made cause of Global Warming is population.
More people means more food, and more methods of transportation. That means more methane because there will be more burning of fossil fuels, and more agriculture. Another source Of methane is manure. Because more food is needed we have to raise food. Animals like cows are a source of food which means more manure and methane. Another problem with the increasing population is transportation. More people means more cars, and more cars means more pollution. Also, many people have more than one car. Effects of Global warming on Humans: The World Health Organization estimates that 150. 00 people are killed by climate-change-related issues every year. Authorities in China say warmer temperatures are responsible for an optics in heat-wave associated deaths, such as strokes and heart disease. They calculated between 1 73 and 685 Chinese citizens per million die every year from ailments related to global warming. Canadian doctors say smog-related deaths could rise by 80 percent over the next 20 years. And since warm air is a key ingredient in smog, warmer temperatures will increase smog levels. Doctors warn global warming will bring more cardiovascular problems, like heart attacks. ‘The hardening of the heart’s arteries is like rust developing on a car,’ said Dry. Gordon Timescale, chief of cardiology at Johns Hopkins University. ‘Rust develops much more quickly at warm temperatures and so does atherosclerosis. “‘ Most infectious diseases are transmitted by insects and rodents. Transmitters of disease are called vectors. For example, mosquitoes transmit malaria, dengue and viral encephalitis (inflammation of the brain). Like other animals and plants, vectors are accustomed to certain climate conditions.
If the climate becomes warmer, the mosquito will try to fly to new places where it can survive and expose more people to the disease. Changes in sea surface temperature and sea level can lead to higher incidence of water-borne infectious and toxin-related illnesses such as malaria (severe chills and fever), cholera (intestinal disease), dengue (characterized by severe pains in the joints and back), and lesbianism’s (skin ulcers). Human susceptibility to infections can be further com pounded by malnutrition. XIV-B radiation from ozone depletion damages both plants and animals.
XIV;B harms amphibian eggs, midge larvae and trout. Crops that are damaged will reduce food availability. UP-B also can damage mammalian immune systems which makes humans and other animals more susceptible to infectious diseases. Approximately 92 million people are expected to become refugees from global warming and climate change by 2100, not including any added from population growth. Global warming effect on Animals: The latest report from the World Conservation Union says that a minimum of 40 percent of the world’s species are being threatened and global warming’s one of the main reasons behind this.
A recent study completed by the U. S. Geological Survey shows that cannibalism-??while brutal-??may be the least of the bear’s problems. Many are also drowning, unable to swim in the increased spaces between melting sea ice. Two-thirds of them may be gone by 2050. Scientists blame global warming for the declining penguin population, as warmer waters and smaller ice floes force the birds to travel further to find food. “Emperor penguins” have dropped from 300 breeding pairs to just nine in the western Antarctic Peninsula.
Australia’s Climate Action Network reports that higher tem apertures are killing off eucalyptus trees while higher levels of ICC in the atmosphere are decreasing the nutritional value of the eucalyptus leaves Koala bears eat. They warn that the cute furry creatures could become extinct in the next few decades. An estimated two-thirds of the 110 known species of harlequin frog in Central and South America have vanished since the asses due to the outbreak Of a deadly frog fungus brought on by global warming. Scientist J. Allen Pound: “Disease is the bullet killing frogs, but climate change is pulling the trigger. Global warming effects on Birds: Recent research found that “up to 72 percent of bird species in northeastern Australia and more than a third in Europe could go extinct due to global warn-Eng. ” Hundreds of Pacific seabirds-??such as common murders, assaults, and tufted puffins-??washed ashore last year after starving to death. Scientists blame global warming which led to less plankton, which led to fewer small fish for the birds to eat. Global warming effects around the world: Grass has started to grow in Antarctica in areas formerly covered by ice sheets and glaciers.
While Antarctic hair grass has grown before in isolated tufts, warmer temperatures allow it to take over larger and larger areas and, for the first time, survive through the winter. Greenland is melting at a rate of 52 cubic miles per year-??much faster than once predicted. If Grassland’s entire 2. 5 million cubic kilometers Of ice were o melt, it would lead to a global sea level rise of 7. 2 meters, or more than 23 feet The amount of ice in the Arctic at the end of the 2005 summer “was the smallest seen in 27 years of satellite imaging, and probably the smallest in 100 years. Experts said its the strongest evidence of global warming in the Arctic thus far. The oceans are turning to acid! Oceans absorb ICC which, when mixed with seawater, turns to a weak carbonic acid. Calcium from eroded rocks creates a “natural buffer” against the acid, and most marine life is “finely tuned” to the current balance. As we produce more and more ICC, we throw the whole lance out of whack and the oceans turn to acid. The sacred Ganges River in India is beginning to run dry. The Ganges is fed by the Gangster glacier, which is today “shrinking at a rate of 40 yards a year, nearly twice as fast as two decades ago. Scientists warn the glacier could be gone as soon as 2030. Global warming is “bleaching’ the coral in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, killing the coral, tourism, and local fish that live among the coral for protection. Global warming may unleash giant “sand seas” in Africa-??giant fields of sand dunes with no vegetation-??as a shortage of rainfall and increasing winds may reactivate” the now-stable Calamari dune fields. That means farewell to local vegetation, animals, and any tourism in the areas. During the summer of 2007, Britain suffered its worst flood in 60 years.
Scientists point the finger directly at global warming, which changed precipitation patterns and is now causing more “intense rainstorms across parts of the northern hemisphere. ” Hotter temperatures could also mean larger and more devastating wildfires. This past summer in California, a blaze consumed more than 33,500 acres, or 52 square miles. Global warming has also allowed non-native grasses to thrive in the Mojave Desert, where they act as fast-burning fuel for wildfires Global warming effects on nature/natural disasters: Global warming does not occur evenly across the world.
Temperature changes have been, and will be, much more extreme in the Arctic and Antarctic. A 5 degree Fahrenheit warming for the whole world means only 1 degree at the equator, but 12 degrees at the poles. Http:// WV. Accelerometer. Com/effects-of-global-warming/ – ref Global temperatures have already risen about . 8 degrees Celsius, or 1. 4 degree Fahrenheit. The arctic tundra is melting already, which may be causing an increase in methane levels in the atmosphere. A mysterious spike in atmospheric methane was measured in 2007.
In addition, the rate of carbon increase in the atmosphere is accelerating each year, which may also be related to the thawing of arctic areas. You may be contributing to a positive feedback loop whereby the warming of polar regions puts more carbon and methane into the atmosphere, thus causing yet more warming in an unstoppable cycle. Severe drought and flooding will occur as weather pattern become more extreme. Unfortunately, the world’s economic and agricultural systems rely on existing patterns of weather, and as global warming changes hose patterns, our ability to produce food is declining.
Over the past century, the number Of hurricanes that strike each year has more than doubled. Scientists blame global warming and the rising temperature of the surface of the seas. Drought conditions have doubled since 1970. Many plants become less productive or will not pollinate when it gets too hot. For all of these reasons, we should be concerned about the impacts of climate change on agriculture and food scarcity. Higher Sea Levels Scientists believe sea levels will be three feet higher by the end of the century than they are now. Global Warming effects on Bangladesh:
Bangladesh tops the 2009 Global Climate Risk Index, a ran king of 170 countries most vulnerable to climate change compiled by Germantown, an international nongovernmental organization that works on environment and development issues. The nation is particularly at risk because it is a vast delta plain with 230 rivers, many of which unstably swell during the monsoon rains. This geology, combined with river water from the melting Himalayan glaciers in the north and an encroaching Bay of Bengal in the south, makes the region prone to severe flooding.
The situation is made worse by the prevalence of intense storms, a marker of climate stresses. Side, the Category 4 cyclone that ravaged southern Bangladesh in November 2007, killed some 3,500 people, displaced 2 million, and wiped out payday fields. Side was followed by heavier-than-normal floods that killed some 1 ,500 people and damaged about 2 million tons of food. The United Nations warns that a quarter of Bangladesh coastline could be inundated if the sea rises 3 feet in the next 50 years, displacing 30 million Bangladesh from their homes and farms.
If that happens, the capital, Dacha, now at the center of the country, would have its own sea promenade. Bangladesh is a central point of reference for the injustice of climate change. Its per capita energy consumption is the equivalent of about one liter of oil per week, contributing a small fraction of 1% of global greenhouse gas emissions, Yet the country is listed in numerous risk assessments as one of the most vulnerable in the world to the effects of climate change.
Increased temperatures in the Himalayas means a torrent Of additional melt- water from glaciers is gushing down the great rivers of India -?? the Ganges and the Premature -?? into the Bangladesh delta country, causing savage erosion. At the same time the nation’s coastal areas are being gradually inundated by the rising sea. Bola is also cyclone-prone and likely to experience more frequent and extreme storms as sea temperatures rise due to global warming. But Bola is also home to nearly 2 million people, ensuring that the experience of Nanas Aimed and his family will be replicated over and over again as global warming reshapes Bangladesh.
Rising sea levels threaten inundation and saline intrusion in the southern coastal region, the risk accentuated by prediction of greater cyclone intensity. In a climate pincer pavement from the north, melting Himalayan glaciers may disrupt the flows of the three great rivers, first with excess flooding and eventually with diminished volume. Erratic monsoon patterns and longer periods of drought in the north complete the roll call of climate predictions for Bangladesh. Scientists are squabbling over the extent of these effects.
The World Meteorological Organization recently suggested that tropical cyclones may decrease in frequency, contrary to mainstream climate science. Questions about the Himalayan glaciers have continued in the wake of the correction by he Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (EPIC) of its prediction that they would disappear by 2030. The impact on rice yields is another key variable. The EPIC warning that 20 million people will be forced to migrate from the Low Elevation Coastal Zone by 2050 relates broadly to occupation Of land less than one meter above sea level.
The estimate has been moderated to 6-8 million in the latest version of the Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan published in 2009. Conversely, some observers caution that the sea level is reported to be rising faster in the Bay of Bengal than elsewhere in the world. Whatever the eventual resolution of these scientific debates, it is not disputed that, as global temperature continues to rise, the relationship between people and the land in Bangladesh is subject to increasing risk of desalination.
Anthropogenic global warming will to a greater or lesser degree aggravate a range of environmental stresses that already expose the limitations of eve poor families. A rise in temperature will also melt the polar and alpine ice sheets. Since Bangladesh is delicate, vast areas of the country will be submerged with the rise of the sea level. How much of the country will be lost to the sea will upend on the relative change in the sea level. As Bangladesh is part of an active delta a huge load of sediments is brought down and deposited by the great river systems of the Ganges, Premature and Meghan.
This leads to elevation of land. However, the weight of the huge load of Sediment results in compaction of the soil and land subsidence. The sea floor is also rising because of deposition of sediments brought down by the rivers. Subsidence and uplift of land may also occur from tectonic processes. A Testators report predicts that for one meter rise in the sea level will lead to loss of about 2,889 sq km of land, which is about 15. 8% of the total area of Bangladesh. Being a low-lying and densely populated country Bangladesh would be worst hit by any rise in the sea level.
Coastal areas will experience erosion and inundation due to intensification of tidal action. A rise in seawater will enable saline water to intrude further inland during high tides. Destruction Of agricultural land and loss of sweet water fauna and flora could also occur. The shoreline will retreat inland, causing changes in the coastal boundary and coastal configuration. The process will also shrink the land area of Bangladesh. It is predicted that the surface temperature of the earth could rise by about 1. 80 to 6. ICC by 2100.
This could lead to a rise in sea levels by 0. Mm and could threaten with inundation heavily populated coastal and delicate areas from Mississippi to Bangladesh. Climatic disasters such as hurricanes, cyclones and droughts could become more frequent and severe. Tropical diseases such as Malaria and Cholera may move north and south of the equatorial region due to global warming. To sum up, for Bangladesh, the climate changes caused by global warming may lead to more rainfall, massive floods, great cyclones and droughts.