Global Warming

Summer is nearing and we can already feel the scorching heat of the cruel sun in the month of February. Most of them have the opinion that summer is getting hotter year-by-year. Is it true? Well, scientific data suggests that the temperature is increasing day-by-day. So what happens if temperature rises? There are many problems due to rise in temperature and one of the main problems is rise in sea level. One-millimeter rise in sea level will lead to retreat of shoreline by a mile and there is possibility of submersion of many small island nations. The recent tsunami disaster was one such example. We have seen how deadly water can be. It has submerged India's southern most tip, Indira point forever and world has lost primitive tribes in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands like the Shompen, Negrito, Jarawas and Onge. And- if the trend continues- in the coming years the world would under go many more disasters and we are already facing the consequences,

· Snow had fallen over United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the first time, leaving a white blanket over the mountains of Ras al-Khaimah

· 25,000 people have died of heat wave in Europe.

· Grass is growing in Antarctica for the first time.

· The 10 hottest year in recorded history have occurred since 1990-1998 was warmest

· 2004 the fourth warmest year.

· October 2004 is the warmest October ever

· Scientist believes that the sea level will rise by an additional 19inch by 2100 and perhaps by as much as 37 inches.

· The contribution made by the Greenland ice sheet to the rise in global sea level has increased from .23 mm a year in 1996 to .57 mm in 2005.

So what is the reason? Why does the earth undergo such drastic change in weather? The reason is “Global Warming". But before going into Global warming it is necessary to understand how the climate changes and its fundamentals.

Climate change is a shift in the "average weather" that a given region experiences. This is measured by change in all the features we associate with weather such as temperature, wind patterns and storm. Global climate change does occur naturally; it had been and still is, constantly changing. But the climate change we are seeing today differs from previous climate changes in both its rate and its magnitude. The temperature on earth is regulated by a system known as the "green house effect". Green house gases primarily are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide that trap the heat of the sun; as a result the temperature increases. Since these gases form a layer in the atmosphere and do not allow the heat to dissipate into space- (-which is similar to glass panes in a greenhouse-) the temperature in the atmosphere increases.

Is the green house effect harmful? No, if this effect is not there the heat will dissipate into space and earth atmosphere will be cooler and the average temperature on the earth would be -18 0c, where as the current average temperature is 150c. So it is clear that we should need green house gases other wise our earth would be an ice sheet.

But over the past 200 years, emissions of these gases have increased. Since the Industrial Revolution, concentration of carbon dioxide has increased by 30%, methane by 145% and nitrous oxide by 15%. The other reason is burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas to generate electricity and in factories and cars. As well, we have cleared more land for human use in the past 100 years than in all of prior human history. This has resulted in the loss of forest and wetland, which absorb and store greenhouse gases and naturally regulate the atmosphere. Since the emission of green house gases have increased the heat received from sun is not dissipated to the space and stays in earth's atmosphere and as a result temperature rises.

Is the International community silent on Global Warning? The answer is No. Under the aegis of UN, Kyoto protocol was signed at Kyoto, Japan by most developed and developing nations. Under the Kyoto Protocol to the 1992 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), industrialized countries are to reduce their combined emissions of six major greenhouse gases - Carbon dioxide, Methane, Nitrous oxide, Sulphur hexa fluoride, HFCS and PFCS- during the five-year period from 2008 to 2012 to 5.2 % below 1990 levels. So far 140 countries have ratified the accord.

The Kyoto treaty against global warming came into force recently on 16 the Feb 2005 with United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan urging the world to save the planet by adding to the limits on greenhouse gases and the UN environment chief stressing that many in the United States, the world's top polluter, support the protocol despite the US Government's opposition. Only four industrial states are yet to ratify the protocol- Australia, US, Monaco and Liechtenstein.

  • The largest share of historical and current global emissions of greenhouse gases has originated in developed countries;
  • Per capita emissions in developing countries are still relatively low;
  • The share of global emissions originating in developing countries will grow to meet their social and development needs.
  • Today's rich nations are the ones responsible for global warming as greenhouse gases tend to remain in the atmosphere for many decades, and rich countries have been industrializing and emitting climate changing pollution for many more centuries than the poor countries;

Position of US:-

The US, although a signatory to the protocol, has neither ratified nor withdrawn from the protocol. The protocol is non-binding over the US until ratified. The US felt the cost of meeting Kyoto's commitments would be too high for the fossil fuel-dependent US economy and claimed industrialized nations were unfairly targeted. US is the largest emitter of green house gases. The US, which has only 4.7% of the global population, consumes 25% of the words resources and generates upto 30% of solid wastes. As compared to country like India an US citizen uses: -

50 times more Steel

56% times more Energy

170 times more Synthetic rubber

250 times more Motor fuel

300 times more Plastic

Conclusion: -

Raising the Global temperature may trigger a series of changes within the overall global climate system. For instance, Global Sea levels has risen 10-25 cm over the past 100 years and are expected to continue to rise due to increase in temperature. We are also seeing increase in severe weather events. Such impacts of climate change could have far-reaching and/or unpredictable environmental, social and economic consequences. Indeed, the problems that, the climate change and the related changes may bring about are among the most serious of the environmental issues that we face today.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
Nathula Pass The India-China bilateral trade is expected to exceed $20 billion in 2006, the reopening of Nathula Pass on July 6, 2006 linking Sikkim with Tibet and neighbouring areas of China marks a new chapter.This route was used to trade silk between two countries was halted following the Indo-China war in 1962 and after 44 years it has opened again. This will become the third trade point between the two counties the other two being Gunji in Uttranchal Namgaya Shipkila in Himachal Pradesh The agreement to open the pass was signed when former Prime Minister Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee visited china in 2003. A total of 29 items can be exported and 15 items can be imported.
Read more
Inclusive branding Inclusive branding is about building brand propositions that embrace one and all and make the brand accessible to an inclusive mass of people. For example let’s take the brand portioning of toothpaste: In the beginning, one spoke of a toothpaste that brushes your teeth well and clean Then it went on to say that it whitens the best. And then one added colours to the toothpaste. There came red stripes and then blue and then all three red, white and blue in one toothpaste. When consumers got tired of this, in came the gels of different colours. The colours kept changing. When consumers got tired of this, in came the gels of different colours. The colours kept changing. Even this is done to death. Toothpaste that can make you fall in love? A toothpaste that can get you a new job? And then one taps into the final frontier. This frontier is what I call `inclusive branding. Branding is essentially an exclusive pr...
Read more
Indian Agriculture The number of deaths reported in the last 10 years has exceeded 30000 and almost all state have been effected at one time or another. So, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has announced a relief plan of 3750 crore for resuscitates the enervated lives of tens of thousands of farmers in six district of Vidarbha region of Maharashtra . The cotton econonly is rather doing well the last three season with rising production 250 lakh bales, higher yields over 400kg a hectare and better price. Indeed India has begun to export cotton in a big way 35 lakh bales in 2005-06.
Read more