CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF GLOBAL …

1 2 7 Int. J. LifeSc. Bt & Pharm. Res. 2012 Anjali Goel and Ranjana Bhatt, 2012 CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCESOF GLOBAL WARMINGA njali Goel1 and Ranjana Bhatt2*Review ArticleGlobal warming is melting glaciers in every region of the world, putting millions of people at riskfrom floods, droughts and lack of drinking water. It is a complex issue full of uncertainties andcontroversies. This article discusses amongst cause of GLOBAL warming and CONSEQUENCES ofglobal warming on the : GLOBAL warming , Greenhouse gas, GLOBAL environment, Atmosphere.*Corresponding Author: Ranjana Bhatt, warming is a very large area of scientificuncertainty. There are literally thousands ofscientists working around the world. What will theclimate be like in 50 or 100 years time?

2 No onecan know for certain. However, there are real fearsthat rapid climate change will have a dramaticimpact on life on earth. Over the last 10,000 yearsthe earth has experienced a very stable climateand life has adapted to it. Recently, however, theearth has seen an increase in temperaturechange and many scientists now believe that thereis a direct link between this warming andemissions of greenhouse gases such as carbondioxide (CO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) causedby human activities. In the past the greenhousegases were in balance. It is feared that, at thepresent rate of increase of greenhouse gases,ISSN 2250-3137 , Issue. 1, January 2012 2012 IJLBPR. All Rights ReservedInt. J. LifeSc. Bt & Pharm. Res. 20121 Department of Chemistry, Kanya Gurukul Mahavidyalaya, Gurukul Kangri University, Haridwar, of Chemistry, Kanya Gurukul Mahavidyalaya, Gurukul Kangri University, Haridwar, natural balance will be upset.

3 It takes millionsof years for fossil fuels to form but only a fewminutes for them to burn, releasing largequantities of CO2 into the air. In the pastfluctuations in CO2 levels have been explainedby natural CAUSES such as volcanic eruptions andthe number of phytoplankton in the sea. Thereare currently several other theories about globalwarming such as positive and negative feedbacksystems of ocean currents and the position ofthe Earth in real problem for the scientist is that climatechang e is very diff icult to predict. Theenvironmental community rightly recognizesglobal warming as one of the gratest threats tothe planet. GLOBAL temperatures are already higherthan they have ever been in at least the pastmillennium, and the increase is accelerating even2 8 Int.

4 J. LifeSc. Bt & Pharm. Res. 2012 Anjali Goel and Ranjana Bhatt, 2012faster than scientists had predicted. Theexpected CONSEQUENCES include coastal flooding,increases in extreme weather, spreading disease,and mass warming poses one of the most seriousthreats to the GLOBAL environment ever faced inhuman history. GLOBAL warming will not only befelt many decades from now it is alreadyhappening and its impacts are clearly visible. TheChemistry of the atmosphere is changing due toemission of carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides,and volatile organic compounds, among otherspecies, in addition to the changes in thegreenhouse gases (Climate Change; and NoamMohr, 2005). CAUSES OF GLOBAL WARMINGThe CAUSES of GLOBAL warming may be natural ormay be caused by human CausesAtmospheric Carbon DioxideCarbon dioxide is commonly known as thegreenhouse gas.

5 It is responsible for about halfof the atmospheric heat retained by trace gasesand also for 50% of the greenhouse (CH4) is 20-30 times more effective thanCO2 in trapping heat. The potential of agreenhouse gas to cause greenhouse warmingis expressed by GLOBAL warming Potential (GWP). The rate and duration of the warming ofthe 20th century is larger than any other time duringthe last 1,000 years. The 1990s are likely to havebeen the warmest decade of the millennium inthe Northern Hemisphere, and 1998 is likely tohave been the warmest year (Houghton et al.,2001).Volcanic EruptionsMount Etna, an active but at present a relativelysubdued volcano in Sicily, is a case in point. It isone of the most potent natural sources of carbon-dioxide.

6 Every year it adds about 25 million tonsof carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. The entireregion around the volcano is, therefore, enrichedin carbon dioxide (Rajni Johar Chhatwal, 2009).ARE HUMANS CAUSING IT?Humans have been emitting extra greenhousegases, which are the result of burning fossil fuels(like coal, oil and gas). In the next 100 years, CO2produced by man will cause a lot more warming ,from as low as three degrees C to as high as 8or 10 degrees C. Human-caused GLOBAL warming may havealready doubled the chance of killer heatwaves like the one that scorched Europe inJuly August 2003. Strong evidence indicatesthat the summer was the hottest in Europe inat least the past 500 years (Luterbacher et al.,2004). The UHI (Urban Heat Island) is enhanced byhuman activities within the urban has a warming effect on a city, inaddition to the heat released by industrialprocesses, household heating and car cities grow, the UHI effect becomesstronger, creating an artificial warming .

7 CFCs (Chloro Floro Carbons) are believed tobe responsible f or 24% of the humancontribution to greenhouse gases. They alsodeplete ozone in the stratosphere. Most of the observed increase in globalaverage temperatures since the mid-20thcentury is very likely due to the observedincrease in anthropogenic GHG (green housegas) concentrations. The idea that humans are causing the worldto heat up and risking disaster by doing so hasa powerful hold on the public perception. It is2 9 Int. J. LifeSc. Bt & Pharm. Res. 2012 Anjali Goel and Ranjana Bhatt, 2012reinforced by media reporting which findsverification for it in every weather event. It isbeing taught to school children as scientifictruth. Dr. Gray offers a rebuttal to thiswidespread perception (Vincent Gray, 2001).

8 Humanity may have only a narrow window oftime left, perhaps a decade or so, to begin thelong process of stabilizing greenhouse gasconcentrations at a level that can avertdevastating and irreversible impacts fromclimate ARE THE REALISTICCURRENT ESTIMATES OFFUTURE warming ?Figure 1 shows variation in the temperature from1995 to 2005. James Hansen of NASA (the fatherof greenhouse theory) and Richard Lindzen ofMIT (the most renowned climatologist in the world)agree that, even if nothing is done to restrictgreenhouse gases, the world will only see aglobal temperature increase of about 1 C in thenext 50-100 years. Hansen and his colleagues predicted additional warming in the next 50 yearsof C, a warming rate of CFigure 1: Variations in the Temperature from 1995 to 2005per decade (Sun and Hansen, 2003).

9 CONSEQUENCES OF GLOBALWARMING The effects of GLOBAL warming have taken itsrole on people, animals, birds and habitat. Infact no continent has been spared. At Antarctica, shrinking sea ice has reducedthe population of the Adelie penguin by 33% in25 years. In Canadian Arctic, the Peary cariboupopulation has decreased due to heavy rainfallfrom 24,000 in 1961 to 1100 in 1997. Developing countries are twice as at risk toclimate change as industrialized countries,and small islands states are thrice as at risk,according to a group of UN scientists. isthe fourth country in the world responsible forCO2 emission. Estimates drawn from reports by theIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Changes(IPCC) projects increase in average globaltemperatures ranging from 0C to 0 Cby the year 0 Int.

10 J. LifeSc. Bt & Pharm. Res. 2012 Anjali Goel and Ranjana Bhatt, 2012 A slight rise in temperature even by 1 0C, canhave adverse effect on the Sea levels. Thissea level rise would threaten coastal cities(Calcutta, Mumbai, Chennai, etc.) and some60-odd island nations such as Maldives,Bangladesh, etc. Anil Kumar De and ArnabKumar De (2008) GLOBAL warming increases the desert. Itincreases temperature in North America,South Africa, Mexico, India and other of hurricanes, cyclones and floodswill be more which will damage the lagoons,estuaries and coral reefs. GLOBAL warming maycause extinction of more than one millionspecies of animals and plants by 2050 AD. Change in climate can also bring several otherproblems, such as Drying of surface waterbodies, fall in ground water table, serious watershortage, desertification of vast areas whichwere hitherto fertile and productive lands, croppattern change and reduced agricultural yields-shortage of food, growth in micro-organismsand spread of diseases, etc.