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Definition
Global warming is the significant increase in the Earth's climatic temperature over a
relatively short period of time as a result of the activities of humans.
In specific terms, an increase of 1 or more degrees Celsius in a period of one hundred to two
hundred years would be considered global warming. Over the course of a single century, an
increase of even 0.4 degrees Celsius would be significant.
Weather vs Climate
Weather is local and short-term. If it rains in Mumbai next Tuesday, that's weather.
Climate is long-term and doesn't relate to one small location. The climate of an area is the
average weather conditions in a regionover a long period of time. If the part of the world
you live in has cold winters with lots of snow, that would be part of the climate for the
region you live in. The winters there have been cold and snowy for as long as weather has
been recorded, so we know generally what to expect.
It's important to understand that when we talk about climate being long-term, we mean
really long-term. Even a few hundred years is pretty short-term when it comes to climate. In
fact, changes in climate sometimes take tens of thousands of years. That means if you
happen to have a winter that isn't as cold as usual, with not very much snow -- or even two
or three such winters in a row -- that isn't a change in climate. That's just an anomaly -- an
event that falls outside of the usual statistical range but doesn't represent any permanent,
long-term change.
It's also important to understand that even small changes in climate can have major effects.
When scientists talk about "the Ice Age," you probably envision the world frozen, covered
with snow and suffering from frigid temperatures. In fact, during the last ice age (ice ages
recur roughly every 50,000 to 100,000 years), the earth's average temperature was only 5
Celsius degrees cooler than modern temperature averages.
It can take the Earth thousands of years to warm up or cool down just 1 degree when it
happens naturally. In addition to recurring ice-age cycles, the Earth's climate can change
due to volcanic activity, differences in plant life, changes in the amount of radiation from
the sun, and natural changes in the chemistry of the atmosphere.
Global Warming Statistics
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a group of over 2,500 scientists
from countries across the world, convened in Paris in February, 2007 to compare and
advance climate research.
The scientists determined that the Earth has warmed .6 degrees Celsius between 1901 and
2000. When the timeframe is advanced by five years, from 1906 to 2006, the scientists
found that the temperature increase was .74 degrees Celsius.
Other observations from the IPCC include:
• Of the last 12 years, 11 have ranked among the warmest years since 1850.
• The warming trend of the last 50 years is nearly double that of the last 100 years,
meaning that the rate of warming is increasing.
• The ocean's temperature has increased at least to depths of 3,000 meters (over
9,800 feet); the ocean absorbs more than 80 percent of all heat added to the climate
system.
• Glaciers and snow cover have decreased in regions both in the Northern and
Southern hemispheres, which has contributed to the rise of sea levels.
• Average Arctic temperatures increased by nearly twice the global average rate over
the last 100 years.
• The area covered by frozen ground in the Arctic has decreased by approximately 7
percent since 1900, with seasonal decreases of up to 15 percent.
• Precipitation has increased in eastern regions of the Americas, northern Europe and
parts of Asia; other regions such as the Mediterranean and southern Africa have
experienced drying trends.
• Droughts are more intense, have lasted longer and covered larger areas than in the
past.
• There have been significant changes in extreme temperatures -- hot days and heat
waves have become more frequent while cold days and nights have become less
frequent.
• While scientists have not observed an increase in the number of tropical storms,
they have observed an increase in the intensity of such storms in the Atlantic
correlated with a rise in ocean surface temperatures.
Causes
Greenhouse Gases:
The greenhouse effect happens because of certain naturally occurring substances in the atmosphere.
Unfortunately, since the Industrial Revolution, humans have been pouring huge amounts of those
substances into the air.
2. Methane:
Methane is a combustible gas, and it is the main component of natural gas. Methane occurs
naturally through the decomposition of organic material.Methane can absorb and emit twenty
times more heat than CO2.
Man-made processes produce methane in several ways:
• By extracting it from coal
• From large herds of livestock (i.e., digestive gases)
• From the bacteria in rice paddies
• Decomposition of garbage in landfills
1. Polar ice caps melting: The ice caps melting is a four-pronged danger.
First, it will raise sea levels. There are 5,773,000 cubic miles of water in ice caps,
glaciers, and permanent snow. According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center,
if all glaciers melted today the seas would rise about 230 feet. Luckily, that’s not
going to happen all in one go! But sea levels will rise.
Second, melting ice caps will throw the global ecosystem out of balance. The ice caps
are fresh water, and when they melt they will desalinate the ocean, or in plain English
- make it less salty. The desalinization of the gulf current will "screw up" ocean
currents, which regulate temperatures. The stream shutdown or irregularity would
cool the area around north-east America and Western Europe. Luckily, that will slow
some of the other effects of global warming in that area!
Third,temperature rises and changing landscapes in the artic circle will endanger
several species of animals. Only the most adaptable will survive.
Fourth, global warming could snowball with the ice caps gone. Ice caps are white,
and reflect sunlight, much of which is relected back into space, further cooling Earth.
If the ice caps melt, the only reflector is the ocean. Darker colors absorb sunlight,
further warming the Earth.
3. Increased probability and intensity of droughts and heat waves: Although some
areas of Earth will become wetter due to global warming, other areas will suffer
serious droughts and heat waves. Africa will receive the worst of it, with more severe
droughts also expected in Europe. Water is already a dangerously rare commodity in
Africa, and according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, global
warming will exacerbate the conditions and could lead to conflicts and war.
4. Warmer waters and more hurricanes: As the temperature of oceans rises, so will the
probability of more frequent and stronger hurricanes. We saw in this in 2004 and
2005.
• Walk or ride your bike if possible, or carpool on your way to work. Cars burn
fossil fuel, so smaller, more fuel-efficient cars emit less CO2, particularly hybrid
cars.
• Turn lights and other appliances off when you're not using them. Even though a
light bulb doesn't generate greenhouse gas, the power plant that generates the
electricity used by the light bulb probably does. Switch from incandescent light
bulbs to fluorescent bulbs, which use less energy and last longer.
• Plant trees and other plants where you can. Plants take carbon dioxide out of the
air and release oxygen.
• Don't burn garbage. This releases carbon dioxide and hydrocarbons into the
atmosphere.
To really stem the emission of greenhouse gases, we need to develop non-fossil fuel energy
sources.Hydro-electric power, solar power, hydrogen engines and fuel cells could all create
big cuts in greenhouse gases if they were to become more common.
At the international level, the Kyoto treaty was written to reduce CO2 and other greenhouse
gas emissions worldwide. Thirty-five industrialized nations have committed to reducing
their output of those gases to varying degrees. Unfortunately, the United States, the world's
primary producer of greenhouse gases, did not sign the treaty.
Impacts of Global Warming
India:
• Coral reefs, known as rain forests of the sea, are a source of food security and livelihood options for
hundreds of millions people, coastal defence and tourist hotspots. The Gulf of Mannar (GoM) is one
of the four important coral reefs in India.
The effect of global climate change is always a threat to the corals, as they are very sensitive, and
also to the fish population associated with reefs. The impact of climate change is clearly visible.
Coral bleaching was observed when the average surface water temperature was between 29.1
degree Celsius and 33 degree Celsius in Mandapam; 29.3 degree Celsius and 33.1 Celsius in
Keezhakkari ; and 29.3 degree Celsius to 33.6 degree Celsius in Tuticorin
The overall percentage of coral bleaching is 10.6 on the Mandapam coast, while it is 7.5 and 9.3 on
Keezhakkarai and Tuticorin coast.
• Climate change experts are of the view that global warming predictions are correct and the
world weather crisis that is causing floods in Pakistan, wildfires in Russia and landslides in
China is evidence of that.
The torrential rains have affected almost 14 million people in Pakistan, making it a more
serious humanitarian disaster than the South Asian tsunami and recent earthquakes in
Jammu and Kashmir and Haiti combined.
• The largest glacier on Mount Kenya has lost 92% of its mass.
• The Baltimore oriole is shifting northward and may soon disappear entirely from the
Baltimore area.
References
Wikipedia
How stuffs work
The Hindu (newspaper)
New Indian Express
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