Solution and Effects to Global Warming - Essay Example

Introduction: The term ‘Global Warming’ refers to the continual increase in earth’s average temperature since 1950s due to the human activity and environmental deterioration. A term closely associated with the global warming is the Green House Effect which is the trapping of heat by the gases such as carbon dioxide, hydrocarbons and fuel particles, water vapors etc. Green House Effect was first studied by S. Arrhenius in the last decade of nineteenth century. The effect is explained in the following lines. Sun is a continuous source of energy for our earth and its energy reaches the earth in form of electromagnetic radiations. A part of these radiations is absorbed by the outer atmosphere of the earth while the remaining is allowed to enter the lower atmosphere where life exists. The radiations reaching the lower atmosphere are the main source of energy for the organisms living here. Plants absorb this energy and convert it into chemical form which then supports the entire food chain. Humans have also learnt various methods to harness this energy to fulfill their requirements. The part of energy not utilized by humans or plants falls on different parts of dry land and oceans around the world. A very small amount of this energy is absorbed while most of it is reflected back into the atmosphere. This phenomenon is illustrated in figure 1. As can be seen here, the 30% of total energy is reflected back to the sun by the atmosphere and land. The remaining 70% which is initially absorbed by earth either leaves through direct radiation or through conduction and convection of adjacent layers of air or through the latent heat of vaporization absorbed during cloud formation. Hence almost all the heat absorbed initially by earth is reflected back to the atmosphere. This heat energy which enters the atmosphere should ideally leave the atmosphere through radiation into the outer space. This natural process keeps the temperature of the earth stable within a certain range. Recently, due to human activity, the amount of gases such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, sulphur oxides and hydrocarbons in the atmosphere has increased substantially. These gases do not allow the heat in the atmosphere to leave to the outer space and hence it has caused ‘trapping’ of the incoming solar energy in the earth’s atmosphere just like a Green House plastic sheet which allows the heat to enter through it but does not allow the heat flow in opposite direction. This has caused an increase in the average temperature of the earth over the past few decades. According to the reports of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the average earth temperature has risen by more than 0.7 degrees centigrade over the twentieth century. It is anticipated that the temperature will further rise by almost 1 to 6 degree centigrade during the twenty-first century. It is further observed that the rise in temperature was 0.51 degree centigrade, 0.52 degree centigrade and 0.53 degree centigrade in the years 1998, 2005 and 2010 respectively. These values of temperature rise are significantly high and can have adverse effects on the natural ecosystem prevailing in earth. Causes of Global Warming: Global warming is caused due to different reasons, a few of which are natural and other are caused by humans. The following causes of global warming are discussed in detail. 1. Heat absorption by earth 2. Sunspots 3. Earth’s rotation 4. Green House Gases emission 5. CFCs emission 6. Deforestation These causes are further discussed in detail in the following lines. 1. Heat absorption by earth: As the sun continues to radiate huge amounts of energy to the earth, a part of this energy is being accumulated in the lower atmosphere of the earth as a natural process. This sometimes causes a short duration increase in the average temperature of the earth. Such an increase is however short lived (spread over a few years). Natural climatic changes causing cooling such as volcanic eruption then balance this increase in the temperature. 2. Sunspots: The intensity of solar radiation varies over the time. An increase in the intensity of solar radiation results in more amount of energy flowing towards the earth. This increased energy flow when trapped in the atmosphere can cause a global rise of average temperature. Such changes in temperature are however very small and very few. But their accumulated effect over the past few centuries could have caused a significant rise in the average earth temperature. 3. Earth’s rotation: Earth’s rotation around its own axis is a natural phenomenon which gives us the changes of day and night. However, a less known fact is that the earth sometimes wobbles around its axis as it rotates causing significant impact on the climate. It is recently discovered that the wobbling of earth around its own axis is one of the major reasons of global warming in the prehistoric times. The wobbling of earth even continues today as a natural phenomenon and it is feared that it may contribute towards the recent trend of global warming observed by scientists. It is observed that these discoveries about the impact of tilting of earth’s axis will affect the present understanding of the climate changes around the world. 4. Green House Gas Emission: Since the industrial revolution, human beings have traditionally relied on fossil fuels for all their energy needs. The fossil fuels including natural gas, gasoline, heavy fuel oil and coal are burnt in the industrial boilers and furnaces, in the automobiles and in the domestic stoves and heaters. The natural products of this combustion process are carbon dioxide and water in the form of vapors. These gases were previously considered to be harmless as these are non-toxic to human health. However, it is recently discovered that the emission of these and some other gases, collectively referred to as the Green House Gases are the main cause of global warming. This is because of the fact that they inhibit the rate of radiation of energy from earth’s atmosphere thereby trapping it on earth. The extent to which a gas can be responsible for green house effect is different for different gases. Traditionally, carbon dioxide was considered to be the main culprit in this regard. However, it has become known recently that water vapors and hydrocarbons cause up to four times the Green House Effect caused by carbon dioxide. Moreover, there are oxides of nitrogen and suphur which are released in to the atmosphere due to burning of coal in industries. These gases can have up to one hundred times the green house effectiveness as compared to that of carbon dioxide. Hence, the liberation of all these gases due to human activity is considered to be the main cause of global warming. 5. CFCs emission: CFCs or Chlorofluorocarbons are commonly used as refrigerants and aerosol propellants. These gases are linked with the depletion of ozone layer from the earth’s atmosphere. The ozone layer acts as a protective layer which absorbs the high energy ultraviolet radiations coming from the sun and does not allow it to reach the lower atmosphere. The depletion of this layer implies that more and more energy will reach the lower atmosphere which will then be trapped in the atmosphere and cause an increase in the earth’s average temperature. 6. Deforestation: Trees and plants in forests absorb huge amounts of carbon dioxide as a natural process in order to produce food for their living. Hence, they are a source of reduction of the green house gas emission specifically carbon dioxide emission. If earth has plenty of forests to absorb all the carbon dioxide liberated by human activity on earth than the problem of global warming can be significantly reduced. However, a tragic reality is that the humans have been cutting down the trees to use their wood as a raw material and energy source. This has drastically reduced the density of forests around the globe and hence their ability to absorb carbon dioxide of the atmosphere. Effects of Global Warming Global Warming is a global issue and therefore the whole world is equally affected by the drastic environmental conditions which are result of Global Warming. The various effects of climate change ranges from physical to ecological and from social to economic. In the recent years various different climate changes have indicated that the Earth is moving towards destruction because of the rise in the overall temperature of the world which is due to the greenhouse gases and high carbon emissions into the environment causing global warming. The increase in temperature has resulted in the rise of sea levels and the coastal areas of various countries and important ports are under a threat of complete destruction due to this and the problem is critical in countries which already lay below the sea level e.g. Netherlands. This is due to the increase in melting of glaciers in the Northern Hemisphere which is in turn due to the global warming. The United Nations has taken considerable steps to address the issue of global warming and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Control is very actively and efficiently working in this regard by issuing recommendations and providing incentives to various states and regions in the world for incorporating green and environmental friendly practices to eradicate the threat of global warming altogether. Despite these efforts from the international bodies and United Nations committees the threat of global warming is increasing and the temperature of the Earth is increasing very rapidly, as a result the effects of global warming are increasing in magnitude and need to be addressed promptly to save the planet. The various effects of global warming are as follows: 1. Melting of Ice in Polar Regions: Because of the increasing temperature due to global warming the glaciers and icebergs in North and South Poles are melting. As a result the level of water in the seas and oceans of the world are increasing very rapidly. There are 5,773,000 cubic miles of water in ice caps, glaciers and permanent snow and if all of this snow will melt the level of seas will go up by approximately 80 meters and if the temperature of the Earth goes on increasing at the current rate, this is not very far away from being possible. The melting of these glaciers will result in the disturbance in the global ecosystem and the balance will not be maintained. The water present in these icebergs and glaciers is fresh in nature and has very low concentrations of salt as compared to the water in the seas and oceans. When this water will get mixed up with the saline water of the oceans, the change in concentration of salt in the oceanic water will result in the change in the global pattern of the oceanic currents which will disturb the climatic conditions of the whole planet. The change in the global climatic conditions will change the weathers of various regions in the world resulting in the extinction of various species of animals from the planet. The melting of snow in will cause indirect increase in global warming because snow, being white in color is a good reflector of sunlight and reflects all of the sunlight back to the space, when the snow will melt the area of dark patches in the world will increase resulting in the absorption of larger amount of sunlight and thus increase in the Earth temperature. 2. Spread of Diseases: As the global warming is causing the temperature of certain countries to increase above the normal values, the disease causing insects, pathogens and bacteria whose bodies and biological features are suited to warm climates are flourishing in those areas. This is the reason behind the increase in the spread of diseases like malaria, dengue and other insect causing and bacterial diseases in the countries with warm climates. The countries which were safe from these threats in the past because of comparatively colder climates are also experiencing such diseases due to an overall increase in the global temperature. 3. Frequent Hurricanes: The warmer waters due to the increase in the temperature of waters of oceans and seas will result in large disturbances in oceans and seas resulting in a turbulent condition in which the frequency of hurricanes is considerably increased. 4. Increased Draughts: Global warming will result in the increase in rainfall to some areas but the overall condition of the presence of water in the world will be deteriorated and Africa and Europe will be affected the most. The conditions in African and Middle Eastern countries are already very dry and hot; increase in the intensity of these conditions will make life impossible in these areas. 5. Economic Setbacks: The climatic calamities caused by global warming have already resulted in large losses of life and property in various regions of the world. Further worsening of the situation will hamper the overall economy of the world more drastically resulting in a global recession because the eradication of the effects of global warming requires large amounts of money to be spent on rehabilitation and infrastructure rebuilding projects. Moreover the shifting of energy from nonrenewable to sustainable and environment friendly resources also requires large initial capitals. Solution to Global Warming: Global warming is being caused by the emissions from the power plants, motor vehicles, homes and various different manufacturing industries. The issue of global warming has very detrimental effects on the global environment and is a threat to the survival of living beings on Earth therefore extensive research is being carried out to find the solutions to global warming, a few of the proposed solutions are discussed in the following paragraphs. The emissions from power plants, industry, businesses and homes account for nearly two-third of heat-trapping emissions of the atmosphere this means that energy generation techniques are contributing large amounts of greenhouse gases to the environment. The solution to this issue can be achieved by reducing the energy consumption and shifting towards renewable energy sources by adopting the following methodologies: 1. Renewable Electricity Standards: The international environmental agencies like the United Nations Environment Program should give recommendations for shifting of energy generation from fossil fuels to renewable sources like wind, solar, hydropower and bio-energy and should also incentivize the states and private bodies for doing so. 2. Clean Energy Funding: The international monetary funding bodies like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund should provide funding for the establishment and development of alternative energy resources. 3. Building Standards and Codes: The international bodies should ask the governments of the states to devise environment friendly standards and codes for their buildings for the construction of energy efficient buildings and proper legislation should be done for the implementation of these codes and standards. 4. Energy Efficient Lighting and Heating: The techniques of passive solar heating and passive cooling are very effective for minimizing the energy use moreover all the incandescent lights should be shifted to compact fluorescents (CFL’s) in order to save energy. Effective lighting can also be achieved by utilizing maximum sunlight using large windows and skylights in buildings. The second major contributor to the greenhouse gases is the means of transportation and vehicles, following are a few recommendations for minimizing the production of greenhouse gases from the vehicles: 1. Incentives for Energy Efficient Cars: The governments of various countries should incentivize the manufacturing and use of energy efficient cars which consume fuel economically, moreover funding should be provided for the manufacturing of cars which use renewable sources of energy. 2. Encouragement to use Public Transport: The governments should develop proper public transportation systems based on monorails and biodiesel buses so that the use of cars can be minimized to ensure limited and economical use of nonrenewable fuels for transportation. Agricultural emissions in the form of nitrogen oxides are the next big contributor to global warming. Following are a few solutions to minimize the agricultural emissions: 1. Nutrient-Trading Programs: Such programs in which the wastewater from industries and homes can be disposed off such that the agricultural disposal of nitrogenous waste is facilitated by the path of disposal in this way nitrogenous emission from the agricultural land could be reduced considerably. 2. Soil Management: The use of effective soil management techniques like low input, use of cover crops and biological insecticides and pesticides can reduce the use of nitrogenous fertilizers and environmentally dangerous insecticides and pesticides. Conclusion: The phenomenon of global warming has become very significant in the recent years with a lot of research and debate on its causes, effects and possible remedies. Everyone however agrees on the fact that global warming can have drastic impact on the environment of our planet and hence on the human beings living on it. Hence, its trend has to be contained. The first step towards finding out the remedies of the global warming is to find out its causes. As discussed above, the causes of global warming can be natural phenomena or human activity. Natural phenomena such as tilting of earth’s axis are known to cause significant global warming during the prehistoric times. Human activities such as green house gas emissions and deforestation are having a considerable impact on the average global temperature. However, comparing the effects of these two, scientists agree that the human factors are more pronounced in the rising trend of global warming as compared to the natural phenomenon. This is because of the fact that nature has created an antidote to all its adverse impacts on the ecosystem of our planet. For the global warming, there are phenomena which cause a ‘global’ cooling of the earth. Most significant among these is the volcanic eruption which causes a layer of sulphates to be suspended in the atmosphere. These sulphates react with water vapours to form acids which increase the radiation rate of the atmosphere. Hence, the energy accumulated due to other natural phenomena is dissipated in this fashion. The effects of Global Warming are detrimental for the survival of the planet, the human race and various animals and plants species. The global warming has already caused drastic changes in the global environment by the rapid increase in the global temperature. The increase in global temperature directly affects various different factors related to the global environment which includes the change in oceanic currents and changed paths of air currents. These changes in turn affects the local climatic and weather conditions of the various regions of the world and when the climatic conditions of a region change the people living in that region have to adapt to the new changed conditions by changing their social, cultural and economic life therefore Global Warming is actually changing the whole scenario of life on this planet. Under these circumstances the international environmental protection bodies and organizations including the United Nations Environment Program should devise a strategy to propose solutions to the problem of global warming. Since Global Warming is the problem of the whole world therefore each and every individual in this world will have to play a part in the solution of this issue of paramount significance. Extensive research is being carried out and has actually yielded practical and effective solutions to minimize and eradicate Global Warming but for the implementation of these solutions the whole world will have to join hands and the international bodies will have to assume the lead role by providing incentives and recommendations for solving this problem. References Faust, D. (2008). Global Warming: Greenhouse gases and ozone layer. The Rosen Publishing Group. Provides a detailed study of the effects of various greenhouse gases which are emitted in the environment with reference to the sources of these emissions. A detailed study of the greenhouse effect is also presented along with the harmful chemical compounds and gases which cause ozone depletion in the atmosphere. Houghton, J. (2004). Global Warming: the complete briefing. Cambridge University Press. Gives a detailed study of the phenomena of Global Warming with its background, its history, technical and scientific aspects along with its drastic effects on environment and the global climate. Maslin, M. (2007). Global Warming: causes, effects and the future. MBI Publishing Company. Describes the causes of Global Warming referring to the role of rapid industrialization and development in the transportation system. The effects and the future consequences of the phenomena of global warming are also discussed in detail. Morgan, S. (2009). Global Warming. Heinemann Library. Provides an introduction to the phenomena of Global Warming and current status of various regions of the world with respect to environmental and climatic conditions. A detailed investigation of various effects of Global Warming in various regions of the world is also presented. Pringle, L. (2003). Global Warming: the threat of Earths changing climate. Chronicle Books. Discusses the future of the planet Earth, the human race and the various animals and plants species as a result of changing environmental and climatic conditions due to Global Warming identifying various threats. Royston, A. (2008). Global Warming. Heinemann/Raintree. Gives a short introduction of Global Warming with reference to its environmental, social, cultural and economic effects. Read More