Global warming

What is global warming?

It is described as the increase of the average temperature on Earth. The Earth is getting hotter over the last 100 years. The human race causes the increase in the earth’s temperature and its effects also affect them in a cruel and severe way. The measure of global warming is represented by the increase of near-surface atmospheric temperature but most of the additional energy stored in the climate system since 1970 has gone into ocean warming. This rising temperature has melted ice and warmed the continents and atmosphere. In the last 30 years, land temperatures have increased about twice as fast as ocean temperature because the ocean has a larger effective heat capacity and it loses more heat by evaporation.

About half the light reaching Earth's atmosphere passes through the air and clouds to the surface, where it is absorbed and then radiated upward in the form of infrared heat. About 90 percent of this heat is then absorbed by the greenhouse gases and radiated back toward the surface. This phenomenon produces Earth’s warming.

SOURCES:

http://climate.nasa.gov/causes/

http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/gw-causes/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming

 Causes 

 of 

 GLOBAL WARMING  

The main cause of global warming is human expansion of the greenhouse effect (warming that results when the atmosphere traps heat radiating from Earth toward space).

Certain gases in the atmosphere block heating from escaping and they contribute to the greenhouse effect and consequently to the Earth’s warming.

Most gases come from the combustion of fossil fuels in cars, factories and electricity production. The gas responsible for the most warming is carbon dioxide, also called CO2. Other gases that contribute with the greenhouse effect are:

• methane released from landfills and agriculture (from the digestive systems of grazing animals)
• nitrous oxide from fertilizers, gases used for refrigeration and industrial processes
• chlorofluorocarbons (which have been banned in much of the world because they also degrade the ozone layer)
• the loss of forests that would otherwise store CO2.

Several lines of evidence show that current global warming cannot be explained by changes in energy from the sun. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concluded there's a more than 90 percent probability that human activities over the past 250 years have warmed our planet.

 Effects or Consequences 

• MOUNTAIN GLACIERS, ICE SHEETS AND SEA ICE ARE MELTING.

 

• FLOODS AND DROUGHTS

Precipitation (rain and snowfall) has increased across the globe, on average.

  

• RISING OF SEA LEVELS 

Sea levels are expected to rise between 18 and 59 centimeters by the end of the century, and continued melting at the poles could add between 10 to 20 centimeters.

• ANIMAL AND PLANTS EXTINCTION

Ecosystems will change so some species will move farther north or become more  successful; others won’t be able to move and could become extinct. Polar bears will disappear if sea ice continues melting.

 

• LESS FRESH WATER WILL BE AVAILABLE

• SOME DISEASE WILL SPREAD, such as malaria carried by mosquitoes.

 

• HEAT WAVES WILL AFFECT HEALTH, ENERGY AND AGRICULTURE.

• HURRICANES, TORNADOES AND OTHER STORMS ARE LIKELY TO BECOME STRONGER

                             POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS 

As the Climate Hot Map demonstrates, the impacts of a warming world are already being felt by people around the globe. If climate change continues unchecked, these impacts are almost certain to get worse. From sea level rise to heat waves, from extreme weather to disease outbreaks, each unique challenge requires locally-suitable solutions to prepare for and respond to the impacts of global warming. Unfortunately, those who will be hit hardest and first by the impacts of a changing climate are likely to be the poor and vulnerable, especially those in the least developed countries. Developed countries must take a leadership role in providing financial and technical help for adaptation.

• Boosting energy efficiency: The energy used to power, heat, and cool our homes, businesses, and industries is the single largest contributor to global warming. Energy efficiency technologies allow us to use less energy to get the same—or higher—level of production, service, and comfort. This approach has vast potential to save both energy and money, and can be deployed quickly.
• Greening transportation: The transportation sector's emissions have increased at a faster rate than any other energy-using sector over the past decade. A variety of solutions are at hand, including improving efficiency (miles per gallon) in all modes of transport, switching to low-carbon fuels, and reducing vehicle miles traveled through smart growth and more efficient mass transportation systems.
• Revving up renewables: Renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, geothermal and bioenergy are available around the world. Multiple studies have shown that renewable energy has the technical potential to meet the vast majority of our energy needs. Renewable technologies can be deployed quickly, are increasingly cost-effective, and create jobs while reducing pollution.
• Phasing out fossil fuel electricity: Dramatically reducing our use of fossil fuels—especially carbon-intensive coal—is essential to tackle climate change. There are many ways to begin this process. Key action steps include: not building any new coal-burning power plants, initiating a phased shutdown of coal plants starting with the oldest and dirtiest, and capturing and storing carbon emissions from power plants. While it may sound like science fiction, the technology exists to store carbon emissions underground. The technology has not been deployed on a large scale or proven to be safe and permanent, but it has been demonstrated in other contexts such as oil and natural gas recovery. Demonstration projects to test the viability and costs of this technology for power plant emissions are worth pursuing.
• Managing forests and agriculture: Taken together, tropical deforestation and emissions from agriculture represent nearly 30 percent of the world's heat-trapping emissions. We can fight global warming by reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation and by making our food production practices more sustainable.
• Exploring nuclear: Because nuclear power results in few global warming emissions, an increased share of nuclear power in the energy mix could help reduce global warming—but nuclear technology poses serious threats to our security and, as the accident at the Fukushima Diaichi plant in Japan illustrates to our health and the environment as well. The question remains: can the safety, proliferation, waste disposal, and cost barriers of nuclear power be overcome?
• Developing and deploying new low-carbon and zero-carbon technologies: Research into and development of the next generation of low-carbon technologies will be critical to deep mid-century reductions in global emissions. Current research on battery technology, new materials for solar cells, harnessing energy from novel sources like bacteria and algae, and other innovative areas could provide important breakthroughs.
• Ensuring sustainable development: The countries of the world—from the most to the least developed—vary dramatically in their contributions to the problem of climate change and in their responsibilities and capacities to confront it. A successful global compact on climate change must include financial assistance from richer countries to poorer countries to help make the transition to low-carbon development pathways and to help adapt to the impacts of climate change.

Source: http://www.climatehotmap.org/global-warming-solutions/

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SOURCES:

http://www.indjst.org/index.php/indjst/article/view/29971

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming

http://planetsave.com/2009/06/07/global-warming-effects-and-causes-a-top-10-list/

IPCC Fourth Assessment Report, 2007

United States Global Change Research Program, "Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States," Cambridge University Press, 2009

Naomi Oreskes, "The Scientific Consensus on Climate Change," Science 3 December 2004: Vol. 306 no. 5702 p. 1686 DOI: 10.1126/science.1103618

Mike Lockwood, “Solar Change and Climate: an update in the light of the current exceptional solar minimum,” Proceedings of the Royal Society A, 2 December 2009, doi 10.1098/rspa.2009.0519;

Judith Lean, “Cycles and trends in solar irradiance and climate,” Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, vol. 1, January/February 2010, 111-122.

http://climate.nasa.gov/causes/

http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/gw-causes/

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