Global
Warming
By:-Sumedh S. Sarwade
IX-D
40
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INDEX
What is Global Warming?........................................................... 3
What causes Global Warming?................................................. 4
Temperature Rise Due to Global Warming ……………………… 5
Climate Change …………………………………………………………………… 6
Effects of Global Warming …………………………………………………. 7
Preventive Measures and Solutions for Global Warming and
Climate Change …………………………………………………………….…………. 14
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What is Global Warming?
Global warming is the long-term heating of Earth’s surface observed since the
pre-industrial period (between 1850 and 1900) due to human activities,
primarily fossil fuel burning, which increases heat-trapping greenhouse gas
levels in Earth’s atmosphere. The greenhouse effect is when the Sun’s rays
penetrate the atmosphere, but when that heat is reflected off the surface cannot
escape back into space. Gases produced by the burning of fossil fuels prevent
the heat from leaving the atmosphere. These greenhouse gases are carbon
dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons, water vapour, methane, and nitrous oxide. The
excess heat in the atmosphere has caused the average global temperature to
rise overtime, otherwise known as global warming.
Since the pre-industrial period, human activities are estimated to have increased
Earth’s global average temperature by about 1 degree Celsius (1.8 degrees
Fahrenheit), a number that is currently increasing by more than 0.2 degrees
Celsius (0.36 degrees Fahrenheit) per decade. The current warming trend is
unequivocally the result of human activity since the 1950s and is proceeding at
an unprecedented rate over millennia.
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What causes Global Warming?
Global warming occurs when carbon dioxide (CO2) and other air pollutants
collect in the atmosphere and absorb sunlight and solar radiation that have
bounced off the earth’s surface. Normally this radiation would escape into
space, but these pollutants, which can last for years to centuries in the
atmosphere, trap the heat and cause the planet to get hotter. These
heat-trapping pollutants—specifically carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide,
water vapour, and synthetic fluorinated gases—are known as greenhouse
gases, and their impact is called the greenhouse effect.
Though natural cycles and fluctuations have caused the earth’s climate to
change several times over the last 800,000 years, our current era of global
warming is directly attributable to human activity—specifically to our burning of
fossil fuels such as coal, oil, gasoline, and natural gas, which results in the
greenhouse effect. In the United States, the largest source of greenhouse gases
is transportation (29 percent), followed closely by electricity production (28
percent) and industrial activity (22 percent).
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Temperature Rise Due To Global
Warming
Multiple independent instrumental datasets show that the climate system is
warming.The 2011–2020 decade warmed to an average 1.09 °C [0.95–1.20 °C]
compared to the pre-industrial baseline (1850–1900).Surface temperatures are rising
by about 0.2 °C per decade, with 2020 reaching a temperature of 1.2 °C above the
pre-industrial era.Since 1950, the number of cold days and nights has decreased, and
the number of warm days and nights has increased.
There was little net warming between the 18th century and the mid-19th century.
Climate information for that period comes from climate proxies, such as trees and ice
cores.Thermometer records began to provide global coverage around 1850. Historical
patterns of warming and cooling, like the Medieval Climate Anomaly and the Little Ice
Age, did not occur at the same time across different regions. Temperatures may have
reached as high as those of the late-20th century in a limited set of regions. There
have been prehistorical episodes of global warming, such as the Paleocene–Eocene
Thermal Maximum. However, the modern observed rise in temperature and CO2
concentrations has been so rapid that even abrupt geophysical events in Earth's history
do not approach current rates.
Evidence of warming from air temperature measurements are reinforced with a wide
range of other observations.For example, changes to the natural water cycle have been
predicted and observed, such as an increase in the frequency and intensity of heavy
precipitation, melting of snow and land ice, and increased atmospheric humidity. Flora
and fauna are also behaving in a manner consistent with warming; for instance, plants
are flowering earlier in spring. Another key indicator is the cooling of the upper
atmosphere, which demonstrates that greenhouse gases are trapping heat near the
Earth's surface and preventing it from radiating into space.
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Climate Change
Climate change is generally defined as a significant variation of average weather
conditions—say, conditions becoming warmer, wetter, or drier—over several decades or
more. It’s the longer-term trend that differentiates climate change from natural weather
variability.
-How Global Warming Affects
Climate Change?
Global warming has presented another issue called climate change. Sometimes these
phrases are used interchangeably, however, they are different. Climate change refers to
changes in weather patterns and growing seasons around the world. It also refers to
sea level rise caused by the expansion of warmer seas and melting ice sheets and
glaciers. Global warming causes climate change, which poses a serious threat to life on
earth in the forms of widespread flooding and extreme weather. Scientists continue to
study global warming and its impact on Earth.
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Effects of Global Warming
What are and will be the effects ?
There are three major ways in which global warming makes changes to
regional climates, aka climate change: melting or forming ice, changing the
hydrological cycle of evaporation and precipitation, and changing currents
in the oceans and air flows in the atmosphere. Extreme weather conditions
may also arise such as the frequency and severity of storms as well as the
frequency of heat waves, floods or droughts.
Scientists predict a worldwide increase in sea levels due to the melting of
massive ice sheets in Antarctica and Greenland. Many nations around the
world (the Maldives to name one) will experience the effects of the rising
sea levels, which could displace millions of people. The change in weather
conditions will also have an impact on agriculture and food production
around the world, resulting in a decrease in food and water security.
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Extreme weather
A view of the Seine river flood in Paris near Bir-Hakeim bridge, which reached a 30-year
high in June 2016
As the earth’s atmosphere heats up, it collects, retains, and drops more water,
changing weather patterns and making wet areas wetter and dry areas drier.
Higher temperatures worsen and increase the frequency of many types of
disasters, including storms, floods, heat waves, and droughts. These events can
have devastating and costly consequences, jeopardising access to clean drinking
water, fueling out-of-control wildfires, damaging property, creating
hazardous-material spills, polluting the air, and leading to loss of life.
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Dirty air
Smog in Turin, Italy
Air pollution and climate change are inextricably linked, with one
exacerbating the other. When the earth’s temperatures rise, not only does
our air get dirtier—with smog and soot levels rising accordingly—but it
also becomes filled with more allergenic pollutants, such as circulating
mold (thanks to damp conditions from extreme weather and more floods)
and pollen (due to longer, stronger pollen seasons).
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Health risks
The Aedes mosquito can spread serious diseases such as dengue fever, yellow fever, and the Zika virus.
According to the World Health Organization, “climate change is expected to cause approximately
250,000 additional deaths per year” between 2030 and 2050. As global temperatures rise, so do the
number of fatalities and illnesses from heat stress, heatstroke, and cardiovascular and kidney disease.
And as air pollution worsens, so does respiratory health—particularly for the 300 million people living
with asthma worldwide; there’s more airborne pollen and mold to torment hay fever and allergy
sufferers too. Extreme weather events, such as severe storms and flooding, can lead to injury, drinking
water contamination, and storm damage that may compromise basic infrastructure or lead to community
displacement. Indeed, historical models suggest the likelihood of being displaced by a disaster is now 60
percent higher than it was four decades ago—and the largest increases in displacement are being driven
by weather- and climate-related events. (It’s worth noting that displacement comes with its own health
threats, such as increases in urban crowding, trauma, social unrest, lack of clean water, and transmission
of infectious diseases.) A warmer, wetter world is also a boon for insect-borne diseases such as dengue
fever, West Nile virus, and Lyme disease.
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Rising seas
Aerial of the Marshall Islands landscape, which are feeling the effects of rising sea
levels
The Arctic is heating up twice as fast as any other place on the planet. As its ice sheets
melt into the seas, our oceans are on track to rise by anywhere from 0.95 to 3.61 feet
by the end of this century, threatening coastal ecosystems and low-lying areas. Island
nations face particular risk, as do some of the world’s largest cities, including New York
City, Miami, Mumbai in India, and Sydney in Australia.
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Warmer, more acidic oceans
Fish and corals near Limestone Island, Indonesia
The earth’s oceans absorb between one-quarter and one-third of our fossil fuel emissions and are now
30 percent more acidic than they were in preindustrial times. This acidification poses a serious threat to
underwater life, particularly creatures with calcified shells or skeletons like oysters, clams, and coral. It
can have a devastating impact on shellfisheries, as well as the fish, birds, and mammals that depend on
shellfish for sustenance. In coastal communities where fishing and seafood production sustain the local
economy, this impact extends to human populations as well, destroying livelihoods and opening the
door to economic ruin. Rising ocean temperatures are also altering the range and population of
underwater species and contributing to coral bleaching events that are capable of killing entire
reefs—ecosystems that support more than 25 percent of all marine life.
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Imperilled ecosystems
Two polar bears on a small ice floe
Climate change is increasing pressure on wildlife to adapt to changing habitats—and fast.
Many species are seeking out cooler climates and higher altitudes, altering seasonal
behaviours, and adjusting traditional migration patterns. These shifts can fundamentally
transform entire ecosystems and the intricate webs of life that depend on them. As a result,
according to a 2020 study, one-third of all animal and plant species could face extinction by
2070. Another study showed that mammals, fish, birds, reptiles, and other vertebrate species
are disappearing many times faster than they should be, a phenomenon that has been linked to
climate change, pollution, and deforestation—all interconnected threats. In early 2021, climate
and biodiversity experts issued a joint report illustrating these interconnections and urging
simultaneous action on both fronts.
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Preventive Measures and Solutions
for Global Warming and Climate
Change
Paris Agreement
The Biden administration has committed to the principles set forth during the 2015
Paris Climate Change Conference, where nearly every nation on the earth committed to
actions aimed at shifting away from dirty fossil fuels and toward cleaner, smarter
energy options in order to limit global temperature rise this century to 2 degrees
Celsius—or 1.5 degrees Celsius, if possible.
On Earth Day in 2021, President Biden committed the United States to cutting its
carbon pollution by 50 to 52 percent from 2005 levels—nearly double what President
Obama had promised—and to do it by 2030, just five years later than the original
deadline set when the United States first joined the agreement. While bold, the new
targets are achievable, but only if Congress, states, and the business sector join in to
help us get there by doing things like setting a national clean energy standard,
electrifying our fleet of cars and trucks, curbing methane emissions, and maximising
building efficiency.
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Developments in clean energy technology
Every year brings with it news of exciting breakthroughs in the production and
distribution of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar, which are becoming
ever cheaper to generate and ever more popular with consumers, businesses, utilities,
and governments. At the same time, carmakers around the world are working to
develop new battery technologies that will result in the replacement of hundreds of
millions of gas-powered cars with zero-emissions vehicles. These trends should be
encouraged by smart, forward-looking public policy—such as Biden’s Build Back
Better agenda, which ties the post-pandemic economic recovery in the United States to
projects that will curb climate change while putting tens of millions of unemployed or
underemployed people to work in good-paying jobs.
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Climate action at home
Tackling global climate change is a Herculean task, one that depends on international
consensus and the efforts of communities, companies, and individuals alike. To that
end, many states, from California to Iowa, are championing clean energy industries,
such as solar and wind; U.S. cities are taking action to mitigate climate change and
bolster climate resilience while placing equity at the forefront; and
corporations—including some of the world’s largest multinationals—are pledging to
change the way they do business to achieve net-zero emissions by 2040.
There are myriad ways that you can help too. You can join, amplify, or otherwise
support the international youth climate movement that has emerged in the last few
years as a galvanised response to government inaction; in rallies and marches around
the world, this movement is letting leaders know that delay on climate action will no
longer be tolerated. You can also pick up the phone to call Congress about
environmental policies that matter, supporting renewable energy projects, and
prioritising fuel and energy efficiency that will not only curb individual carbon
emissions but bolster clean alternatives to dirty fossil fuels. We must all step up—and
now.
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How much time do we have?
We do not have any time left. It is not about hundreds or thousands of years;
climate change is already happening, so acting now is crucial. The extreme
weather conditions of recent years, the floods and droughts, and the rising
average temperature are all symptoms that we can already see. Now, it is just
how far we let it go.
Are we responsible?
Yes, we are responsible. Everyone’s daily activities emit greenhouse gases, so everyone
is responsible when it comes to reducing them. In 1997, the Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change led a study based on the work of some 2,500 scientists from more
than 130 countries. They concluded that humans have caused all or most of the
current global warming. The biggest emitters, of course, have bigger liability, but all
the relatively small carbon footprints of every individual also add up.
What needs to be done?
According to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change,
industrialised countries need to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by
25-40% by 2020 (compared to levels in 1990) and by 80-95% by 2050 to have
a 50:50 chance of limiting global warming by 2° C and avoid dangerous climate
change. This means that action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions needs to
take place now.
THANK YOU
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