Group

Members
Name
Name:
Roll no.
Anuja Desai 3
Komal Gupta 5
Divya Kabra 7
Nitin Aashiwal 14

Nasrulla Adamji 15
 Kunal Chehria 20
Ankit Jain 28
Pratik Kapadia 35
Vikas Vyas 38
Neel Mehta 39

Index
Sr. Particulars Remark
No. s
What is GLOBAL WARMING in general
sense?
Global warming in general sense means a change
in the atmosphere. As the word itself suggests that
it is due to large amount of heat produced on the
earth surface which causes change in temperature.
Now the question to be asked is that is this
because of human or due to nature?

GLOBAL
WARMING
 Definitions of Global Warming:
1) Global warming is the increase in the average
temperature of the Earth's near-surface air and
oceans in recent decades and its projected
continuation.

2) According to World Web Dictionary An increase

in the average temperature of the earth's
atmosphere (especially a sustained increase that
causes climatic changes).
3) According to MSN Encarta-Dictionary global
warming means increase in the world's
temperatures, believed to be caused in part by the
greenhouse effect.
4) According to Merriam-Webster an increase in the
earth's atmospheric and oceanic temperatures
widely predicted to occur due to an increase in the
greenhouse effect resulting especially from
pollution.

Introduction:
Global Warming was thought to be a new hot topic in the
science world, and for the most part this is true. The
concentrated research on "Global Warming" began after
the very hot and dry summer of 1988 in parts of the world
(U.S., Europe, Asia). However scientists and
paleoclimatologists have been studying past climates and
the climate changes for over 100 years.

Global Warming is not only a meteorological

issue. Oceanographers are concerned with the increase
of the sea surface height and glaciers. Economists are
concerned with change in crops and commodities caused
by the warming. Environmentalists are concerned how
plant and animals habitats may be altered from the
warming. Global Warming is also very much political.
Treaties are developed to attempt to control the warming,
and global efforts are beginning to develop.
Global Warming is one of the most
controversial scientific issues of the twenty-first century.
This is a problem that has serious economic, sociological,
geopolitical, political, and personal implications.
A warmer Earth may lead to changes in rainfall
patterns, a rise in sea level, and a wide range of impacts
on plants, wildlife, and humans. When scientists talk about
the issue of climate change, their concern is about global
warming caused by human activities. A warmer Earth may
lead to changes in rainfall patterns, a rise in sea level, and
a wide range of impacts on plants, wildlife, and humans.
When scientists talk about the issue of climate change,
their concern is about global warming caused by human
activities.
Three of the four methods of measuring global
temperature show no signs of global warming Proxy
measurements
(Tree rings, sediments etc) for the past 1000 years.
Weather balloons (radio sondes) for the past 44
years.
 Satellites (MSU Units) for the past 21 years.
The fourth method, surface measurement at weather
stations, gives an averaged mean global rise of a mere
0.6°C over 140 years, but is intermittent and irregular.
Individual records are highly variable, regional, and
sometimes, particularly in remote areas, show no change,
or even a fall in temperature. It is concluded that
temperature measurements carried out away from human
influence show no evidence of global warming.

Globe getting
hotter
CAUSES OF GLOBAL
WARMING:
The Earth's climate changes in response to
external forcing, including variations in its orbit
around the Sun (orbital forcing), volcanic eruptions,
and atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations.
The detailed causes of the recent warming remain
an active field of research, but the scientific
consensus is that the increase in atmospheric
greenhouse gases due to human activity caused
most of the warming observed since the start of
the industrial era. One hypothesis proposes that
warming may be the result of variations in solar
activity. None of the effects of forcing are
instantaneous. The thermal inertia of the Earth's
oceans and slow responses of other indirect effects
mean that the Earth's current climate is not in
equilibrium with the forcing imposed. Climate
commitment studies indicate that even if
greenhouse gases were stabilized at 2000 levels, a
further warming of about 0.5 °C (0.9 °F) would still
occur.
A warmer Earth may lead to changes in rainfall
patterns, a rise in sea level, and a wide range of
impacts on plants, wildlife, and humans. When
scientists talk about the issue of climate change,
their concern is about global warming caused by
human activities.

1)Greenhouse Effect:
          The greenhouse effect was discovered by Joseph
Fourier in 1824 and was first investigated quantitatively by
Svante Arrhenius in 1896. It is the process by which
absorption and emission of infrared radiation by
atmospheric gases warm a planet's lower and surface. The
greenhouse effect is the rise in temperature that the Earth
experiences because certain gases in the atmosphere trap energy
from the sun. Without these gases, heat would escape back into
space and Earth’s average temperature would be about 60ºF
colder. Because of how they warm our world, these gases are
referred to as greenhouse gases.
A schematic representation of the exchanges of energy
between outer space, the Earth's atmosphere, and the
Earth surface. The ability of the atmosphere to capture
and recycle energy emitted by the Earth surface is the
defining characteristic of the greenhouse effect

The greenhouse effect is important. Without the 
greenhouse effect, the Earth would not be warm enough for 
humans to live. But if the greenhouse effect becomes stronger, it 
could make the Earth warmer than usual. Even a little extra 
warming may cause problems for humans, plants, and animals.
2) Climate and Weather:

Weather:
Weather describes whatever is happening outdoors in a
given place at a given time. Weather is what happens from
minute to minute. The weather can change a lot within a very
short time. For example, it may rain for an hour and then
become sunny and clear. Weather is what we hear about on the
television news every night. Weather includes daily changes in
precipitation, barometric pressure, temperature, and wind
conditions in a given location.

Climate :
Climate describes the total of all weather occurring over a period 
of years in a given place. This includes average weather 
conditions, regular weather sequences (like winter, spring, 
summer), and special weather events (like tornadoes and floods). 
Climate tells us what it's usually like in the place where you live.

3)Carbon Dioxide Power Plants:

In 2002 about 40% of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions stem
from the burning of fossil fuels for the purpose of electricity
generation. Coal accounts for 93 percent of the emissions from
the electric utility industry.
Coal emits around 1.7 times as much carbon per unit of
energy when burned as does natural gas and 1.25 times as much
as oil. Natural gas gives off 50% of the carbon dioxide, the
principal greenhouse gas, released by coal and 25% less carbon
dioxide than oil, for the same amount of energy produced. Coal
contains about 80 percent more carbon per unit of energy than
gas does, and oil contains about 40 percent more. For the typical
U.S. household, a metric ton of carbon equals about 10,000
miles of driving at 25 miles per gallon of gasoline or about one
year of home heating using a natural gas-fired furnace or about
four months of electricity from coal-fired generation.
4)Cars:
About 20% of U.S carbon dioxide emissions comes from
the burning of gasoline in internal-combustion engines of cars
and light trucks (minivans, sport utility vehicles, pick-up trucks,
and jeeps). Vehicles with poor gas mileage contribute the most
to global warming. In other words for each gallon of gas a
vehicle consumes, 19.6 pounds of carbon dioxide are emitted
into the air. A new Honda Insight that gets 61 miles to the gallon
will only emit about 161 pounds of carbon dioxide over the
same distance of 500 city miles. Sports utility vehicles were
built for rough terrain, off road driving in mountains and deserts.
When they are used for city driving, they are so much overkill to
the environment. If one has to have a large vehicle for their
family, station wagons are an intelligent choice for city driving,
especially since their price is about half that of a sports utility.
The United States is the largest consumer of oil, using 20.4
million barrels per day. In his debate with former Defense
Secretary Dick Cheney, during the 2000 Presidential campaign,
Senator Joseph. Lieberman said, "If we can get 3 miles more per
gallon from our cars, we'll save 1 million barrels of oil a day.
If car manufacturers were to increase their fleets' average
gas mileage about 3 miles per gallon, this country could save a
million barrels of oil every day, while US drivers would save
$25 billion in fuel costs annually.
4)Airplanes:
The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
estimates that aviation causes 3.5 percent of global warming,
and that the figure could rise to 15 percent by 2050.
5)Buildings:
Buildings structure account for about 12% of carbon
dioxide emissions. This also gives an helping hand to global
warming .
6)Methane:
While carbon dioxide is the principal greenhouse gas,
methane is second most important. According to the IPCC,
Methane is more than 20 times as effective as CO2 at trapping
heat in the atmosphere. Levels of atmospheric methane have
risen 145% in the last 100 years. Methane is derived from
sources such as rice paddies, bovine flatulence, bacteria in bogs
and fossil fuel production.

7)Nitrous oxide :
Another greenhouse gas is Nitrous oxide (N2O), a
colourless, non-flammable gas with a sweetish odour, commonly
known as "laughing gas", and sometimes used as an anaesthetic.
Nitrous oxide is naturally produced by oceans and rainforests.
Man-made sources of nitrous oxide include nylon and nitric acid
production, the use of fertilisers in agriculture, cars with
catalytic converters and the burning of organic matter. Nitrous
 oxide is broken down in the atmosphere by chemical reactions
that involve sunlight.
8)Deforestation :
After carbon emissions caused by humans, deforestation is
the second principle cause of atmospheric carbon dioxide.
Deforestation is responsible for 20-25% of all carbon emissions
entering the atmosphere, by the burning and cutting of about 34
million acres of trees each year. We are losing millions of acres
of rainforests each year. The destroying of tropical forests alone
is throwing hundreds of millions of tons of carbon dioxide into
the atmosphere each year. We are also losing temperate forests.
The temperate forests of the world account for an absorption rate
of 2 billion tons of carbon annually. In the temperate forests of
Siberia alone, the earth is losing 10 million acres per year.

Effects of global
warming:
1) What is Acid Rain and What
Causes It?
"Acid rain" is a broad term used to describe several ways that
acids fall out of the atmosphere. A more precise term is acid
deposition, which has two parts: wet and dry.
 Wet deposition refers to acidic rain, fog, and snow. As this acidic
water flows over and through the ground, it affects a variety of
plants and animals. The strength of the effects depend on many
factors, including how acidic the water is, the chemistry and
buffering capacity of the soils involved, and the types of fish,
trees, and other living things that rely on the water.
Dry deposition refers to acidic gases and particles. About half of
the acidity in the atmosphere falls back to earth through dry
deposition. The wind blows these acidic particles and gases onto
buildings, cars, homes, and trees. Dry deposited gases and
particles can also be washed from trees and other surfaces by
rainstorms. When that happens, the runoff water adds those
acids to the acid rain, making the combination more acidic than
the falling rain alone.
Acid rain occurs when these gases react in the atmosphere with
water, oxygen, and other chemicals to form various acidic
compounds. Sunlight increases the rate of most of these
reactions. The result is a mild solution of sulfuric acid and nitric
acid.

 Effects of Acid Rain:

Acid rain causes acidification of lakes and streams and

contributes
to damage of trees at high elevations (for example, red spruce
trees above 2,000 feet) and many sensitive forest soils. In
addition, acid rain accelerates the decay of building materials
and paints, including irreplaceable buildings, statues, and
sculptures that are part of our nation's cultural heritage. Prior to
falling to the earth, SO2 and NOx gases and their particulate
matter derivatives, sulfates and nitrates, contribute to visibility
degradation and harm public health.
We’re not suggesting that global warming is going to be all
puppies and rainbows.

Here are the top 5 alleged

“positive” effects of global
warming.
1. Less dead people
Assuming there aren’t any wars over scarce resources,
food production stays ok, sea levels don’t drown people,
and basically nothing else bad happens, we can expect
less people to die in the winter. Global warming would
cause winter temperatures to rise. In addition to saving
us money on our heating bills, this could literally save
billions in health care costs and mean less dead people
during the colder months. One study said that warmer
winters could save up to 40,000 lives a year in the US
alone, mostly the young and elderly, with the reductions
mostly in things like pneumonia deaths and other cold
weather diseases.

2. More food
This one’s related a bit to the longer summers. Those
hotter temperatures would also translate into a longer
growing season. Plus, plants love CO2! It’s like food for
them. All that global warming causing CO2 would act like
a fertilizer. With free airborne plant fertilizer and longer
growing seasons, food production will skyrocket. Of
course, this is assuming that global warming doesn’t
cause massive droughts or floods that destroy the crops.
As long as that doesn’t happen we’re golden!

3.
More summer fun!
WOOOOOOOO!:
Summer itself won’t technically last longer, as the dates
are based on sunlight instead of temperature. But if you
define summer by warm temperatures, you’re in luck. It’ll
stay hot for much longer, so stock up on bathing suits
now.

Florida trailer parks will finally

4.
be safe:
For years scientists have been quick to claim that global
warming will cause more severe storms and a rise in
hurricanes and all that sort of severe weather. But a
brand new study in the journal Geophysical Research
Letters suggests that it might actually be the opposite.
The researchers suggest that warmer temperatures will
actually decrease the amount of hurricanes that hit the
US each year. So feel free to drive your RV down near
Miami and just hang out for a while. You’re safe from
everything except alligators and high murder rates!

Booming businesses….in the

5.
Arctic
The world economy needs a shot in the arm. I know the
feds just cut interest rates by .75, but that’s nothing
compared to what a melted Arctic circle could do. Without
all that pesky ice in the way, the Arctic ocean would be
completely open, creating a brand new trade route from
the Atlantic to Asia. It’s only traversable in the summer
now, but global warming could open it year round, saving
money for everyone. It might kill the polar bears, but
business would boom in the north, which it sorely needs.
Plus you’d save fuel on shipping, so if you think about it a
melted Arctic circle is almost “green”.

The 5 deadliest effect of global

warming:
1)Spread of disease :

As northern countries warm, disease carrying insects migrate north,

bringing plague and disease with them.

2)Warmer waters and more hurricanes

As the temperature of oceans rises, so will the probability of more

frequent and stronger hurricanes. We saw in this in 2004 and 2005.

3) Increased probability and intensity of

droughts and heat waves

Although some areas of Earth will become wet due to global warming,
other areas will suffer serious droughts and heat waves. Africa will
receive the worst of it, with more severe droughts also expected in
Europe. Water is already a dangerously rare commodity in Africa, and
according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, global
warming will exacerbate the conditions and could lead to conflicts and
war.

4) Economic consequences

Most of the effects of anthropogenic global warming won’t be good.

And these effects spell one thing for the countries of the world:
economic consequences. Hurricanes cause do billions of dollars in
damage, diseases cost money to treat and control and conflicts
exacerbate all of these.

5) Polar ice caps melting

The ice caps melting is a four-pronged danger.

* First, it will raise sea levels. There are 5,773,000 cubic miles of water
in ice caps, glaciers, and permanent snow. According to the National
Snow and Ice Data Center, if all glaciers melted today the seas would
rise about 230 feet. Luckily, that’s not going to happen all in one go! But
sea levels will rise.
*Second, melting ice caps will throw the global ecosystem out of
balance. The ice caps are fresh water, and when they melt they will
desalinate the ocean, or in plain English - make it less salty. The
 desalinization of the gulf current will “screw up” ocean currents, which
regulate temperatures. The stream shutdown or irregularity would cool
the area around north-east America and Western Europe. Luckily, that
will slow some of the other effects of global warming in that area!
*Third, temperature rises and changing landscapes in the artic circle
will endanger several species of animals. Only the most adaptable will
survive.
*Fourth, global warming could snowball with the ice caps gone. Ice
caps are white, and reflect sunlight, much of which is relected back into
space, further cooling Earth. If the ice caps melt, the only reflector is the
ocean. Darker colors absorb sunlight, further warming the Earth.

Other effects of Global

Warming:
Methane release from
1)

melting permafrost
peat bogs:
Western Siberia is the world's largest peat bog, a one million square
kilometer region of permafrost peat bog that was formed 11,000 years
ago at the end of the last ice age. The melting of its permafrost is likely
to lead to the release, over decades, of large quantities of methane. As
much as 70,000 million tonnes of methane, an extremely effective
greenhouse gas, might be released over the next few decades, creating an
additional source of greenhouse gas emissions. Similar melting has been
observed in eastern Siberia.

2) Effects on weather
Global warming is responsible in part for some trends in natural
disasters such as extreme weather. Increasing temperature is likely to
 lead to increasing precipitation but the effects on storms are less clear.

Extratropical storms partly depend on the temperature

gradient, which is predicted to weaken in the northern hemisphere as the
polar region warms more than the rest of the
Over the course of the 20th century, evaporation rates have reduced
worldwide this is thought by many to be explained by global dimming.
As the climate grows warmer and the causes of global dimming are
reduced, evaporation will increase due to warmer oceans. Because the
world is a closed system this will cause heavier rainfall, with more
erosion. This erosion, in turn, can in vulnerable tropical areas (especially
in Africa) lead to desertification due to deforestation. On the other hand,
in other areas, increased rainfall lead to growth of forests in dry desert
areas.
Many scientists think that increased evaporation could result in more
extreme weather as global warming progresses. The IPCC Third Annual
Report says: "...global average water vapor concentration and

precipitation are projected to increase during the 21st century. By the

second half of the 21st century, it is likely that precipitation will have
increased over northern mid- to high latitudes and Antarctica in winter.
At low latitudes there are both regional increases and decreases over
land areas. Larger year to year variations in precipitation are very likely
over most areas where an increase in mean precipitation is projected".

Glacier retreat and

3)

disappearance
A map of the change in thickness of mountain glaciers since 1970.
Thinning in orange and red, thickening in blue.
Lewis Glacier, North Cascades, WA USA is one of five glaciers in the
area that melted away
In historic times, glaciers grew during a cool period from about 1550 to
1850 known as the Little Ice Age. Subsequently, until about 1940,
glaciers around the world retreated as the climate warmed. Glacier
retreat declined and reversed in many cases from 1950 to 1980 as a
slight global cooling occurred. Since 1980, glacier retreat has become
increasingly rapid and ubiquitous, and has threatened the existence of
many of the glaciers of the world. This process has increased markedly
since 1995.
Excluding the ice caps and ice sheets of the Arctic and Antarctic, the
total surface area of glaciers worldwide has decreased by 50% since the
end of the 19th century.
The loss of glaciers not only directly causes landslides, flash floods and
glacial lake overflow, but also increases annual variation in water flows
in rivers.
Glacier runoff declines in the summer as glaciers decrease in size, this
decline is already observable in several regions. Glaciers retain water on
mountains in high precipitation years, since the snow cover
accumulating on glaciers protects the ice from melting. In warmer and
drier years, glaciers offset the lower precipitation amounts with a higher
melt water input.
Of particular importance are the Hindu Kush and Himalayan glacial
melts that comprise the principal dry-season water source of many of the
major rivers of the South, East and Southeast Asian mainland. Increased
melting would cause greater flow for several decades, after which "some
areas of the most populated regions on Earth are likely to 'run out of
water'" as source glaciers are depleted.
According to a UN climate report, the Himalayan glaciers that are the
sources of Asia's biggest rivers - Ganges, Indus, Brahmaputra, Yangtze,
Mekong, Salween and Yellow - could disappear by 2035 as temperatures
 rise. Approximately 2.4 billion people live in the drainage basin of the
Himalayan rivers. India, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and
Myanmar could experience floods followed by droughts in coming
decades. In India alone, the Ganges provides water for drinking and
farming for more than 500 million people.

4) Oceans
The role of the oceans in global warming is a complex one. The oceans
serve as a sink for carbon dioxide, taking up much that would otherwise
remain in the atmosphere, but increased levels of CO2 have led to ocean
acidification. Furthermore, as the temperature of the oceans increases,
they become less able to absorb excess CO2. Global warming is
projected to have a number of effects on the oceans. Ongoing effects
include rising sea levels due to thermal expansion and melting of
glaciers and ice sheets, and warming of the ocean surface, leading to
increased temperature stratification. Other possible effects include large-
scale changes in ocean circulation.

5) Sea level rise

Sea level has been rising 0.2 cm/year, based on measurements of sea
level rise from 23 long tide gauge records in geologically stable
environments
With increasing average global temperature, the water in the oceans
expands in volume, and additional water enters them which had

previously been locked up on land in glaciers, for example, the

Greenland and the Antarctic ice sheets. An increase of 1.5 to 4.5 °C is
estimated to lead to an increase of 15 to 95 cm (IPCC 2001).
The sea level has risen more than 120 metres since the peak of the last
ice age about 18,000 years ago. The bulk of that occurred before 6000
years ago. From 3000 years ago to the start of the 19th century, sea level
was almost constant, rising at 0.1 to 0.2 mm/yr; since 1900, the level has
risen at an average of 1.7 mm/yr; since 1993, satellite altimetry from
TOPEX/Poseidon indicates a rate of about 3 mm/yr.
6) Temperature rise
From 1961 to 2003, the global ocean temperature has risen by 0.10°C
from the surface to a depth of 700 m. There is variability both year-to-
year and over longer time scales, with global ocean heat content
observations showing high rates of warming for 1991 to 2003, but some
cooling from 2003 to 2007. The temperature of the Antarctic Southern
Ocean rose by 0.17 °C (0.31 °F) between the 1950s and the 1980s,
nearly twice the rate for the world's oceans as a whole. As well as having
effects on ecosystems (e.g. by melting sea ice, affecting algae that grow
on its underside), warming reduces the ocean's ability to absorb CO2.

7) Acidification
The world’s oceans soak up much of the carbon dioxide produced by
living organisms, either as dissolved gas, or in the skeletons of tiny
marine creatures that fall to the bottom to become chalk or limestone.
Oceans currently absorb about one tonne of CO2 per person per year.

It is estimated that the oceans have absorbed around half of all CO2
generated by human activities since 1800 (120,000,000,000 tonnes or
120 petagrams of carbon).
But in water, carbon dioxide becomes a weak carbonic acid, and the
increase in the greenhouse gas since the industrial revolution has already
lowered the average pH (the laboratory measure of acidity) of seawater
by 0.1 units, to 8.2. Predicted emissions could lower it by a further 0.5
by 2100, to a level not seen for millions of years.
 There are concerns that increasing acidification could have a particularly
detrimental effect on corals (16% of the world's coral reefs have died
from bleaching caused by warm water in 1998, which coincidentally was
the warmest year ever recorded) and other marine organisms with
calcium carbonate shells.

8) Tundra region
effected by global
warming
A name very suited to the environs of the arctic and subarctic,
tundra means 'treeless plain' in Finnish. The tundra is a biome (a
major segment of a particular region having distinctive vegetation,
animals and microorganisms adapted to a unique climate), home to
about 1700 kinds of plants, including shrubs, mosses, grasses, lichens
and 400 kinds of flowers.

About 50 billion tons of carbon are estimated to be held in a

frozen state in the tundra, and now the tundra is beginning to become
a source of carbon dioxide. In the 1970's University of California
biologist Walter Oechel studied carbon dioxide emissions in the
tundra, which until this time had been thought of as a carbon sink.
Doing further tests in the 1980's, Oechel discovered that this was no
longer the case, that warming temperatures had changed the tundra to
a net emitter of carbon dioxide. Says Oechel, "We found to our great
surprise that the tundra was already losing carbon dioxide to the
atmosphere. So that by the start of these experiments, which was in
1982, the tundra had already warmed and dried enough, that its
historic role as a carbon sink had reversed and changed. It was now
losing carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. That was totally
unexpected."

9) Forest fires
 Rising global temperature might cause forest fires to occur on larger
scale, and more regularly. This releases more stored carbon into the
atmosphere than the carbon cycle can naturally re-absorb, as well as
reducing the overall forest area on the planet, creating a positive
feedback loop. Part of that feedback loop is more rapid growth of
replacement forests and a northward migration of forests as northern
latitudes become more suitable climates for sustaining forests. There is a
question of whether the burning of renewable fuels such as forests
should be counted as contributing to global warming.

10) Other Consequences

As recent estimates of the rate of global warming have increased, so

have the financial estimates of the damage costs.

11) Effects on agriculture

For some time it was hoped that a positive effect of global warming
would be increased agricultural yields, because of the role of carbon
dioxide in photosynthesis, especially in preventing photorespiration,
which is responsible for significant destruction of several crops. In
Iceland, rising temperatures have made possible the widespread sowing
of barley, which was untenable twenty years ago. Some of the warming
is due to a local (possibly temporary) effect via ocean currents from the
Caribbean, which has also affected fish stocks.
While local benefits may be felt in some regions (such as Siberia), recent
evidence is that global yields will be negatively affected. "Rising
atmospheric temperatures, longer droughts and side-effects of both, such
as higher levels of ground-level ozone gas, are likely to bring about a
substantial reduction in crop yields in the coming decades, large-scale
experiments have shown".
 Moreover, the region likely to be worst affected is Africa, both because
its geography makes it particularly vulnerable, and because seventy per
cent of the population rely on rain-fed agriculture for their livelihoods.
Tanzania's official report on climate change suggests that the areas that
usually get two rainfalls in the year will probably get

more, and those that get only one rainy season will get far less. The net
result is expected to be that 33% less maize—the country's staple crop—
will be grown.
Climate change may be one of the causes of the Darfur conflict. The
combination of decades of drought, desertification and overpopulation
are among the causes of the conflict, because the Arab Baggara nomads
searching for water have to take their livestock further south, to land
mainly occupied by farming peoples.
"The scale of historical climate change, as recorded in Northern Darfur,
is almost unprecedented: the reduction in rainfall has turned millions of
hectares of already marginal semi-desert grazing land into desert. The
impact of climate change is considered to be directly related to the
conflict in the region, as desertification has added significantly to the
stress on the livelihoods of pastoralist societies, forcing them to move
south to find pasture," the UNEP report states

12) Transport
Roads, airport runways, railway lines and pipelines, (including oil
pipelines, sewers, water mains etc) may require increased maintenance
and renewal as they become subject to greater temperature variation.
Regions already adversely affected include areas of permafrost, which
are subject to high levels of subsidence, resulting in buckling roads,
sunken foundations, and severely cracked runways.

13) Flood defense

For historical reasons to do with trade, many of the world's largest and
most prosperous cities are on the coast, and the cost of building better
coastal defenses (due to the rising sea level) is likely to be considerable.
Some countries will be more affected than others — low-lying countries
such as Bangladesh and the Netherlands would be worst hit by any sea
level rise, in terms of floods or the cost of preventing them.
 In developing countries, the poorest often live on flood plains, because it
is the only available space, or fertile agricultural land. These settlements
often lack infrastructure such as dykes and early warning systems.
Poorer communities also tend to lack the insurance, savings or access to
credit needed to recover from disasters.

14) Migration
Some Pacific Ocean island nations, such as Tuvalu, are concerned about
the possibility of an eventual evacuation, as flood defense may become
economically inviable for them. Tuvalu already has an ad hoc agreement
with New Zealand to allow phased relocation.
In the 1990s a variety of estimates placed the number of environmental
refugees at around 25 million. (Environmental refugees are not included
in the official definition of refugees, which only includes migrants
fleeing persecution.) The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC), which advises the world’s governments under the auspices of
the UN, estimated that 150 million environmental refugees will exist in
the year 2050, due mainly to the effects of coastal flooding, shoreline
erosion and agricultural disruption (150 million means 1.5% of 2050’s
predicted 10 billion world population).

15) Northwest Passage

Arctic ice thicknesses changes from 1950s to 2050s simulated in one of

GFDL's R30 atmosphere-ocean general circulation model experiments
Melting Arctic ice may open the Northwest Passage in summer, which
would cut 5,000 nautical miles (9,000 km) from shipping routes between
Europe and Asia. This would be of particular relevance for supertankers
which are too big to fit through the Panama Canal and currently have to
go around the tip of South America. According to the Canadian Ice
Service, the amount of ice in Canada's
 eastern Arctic Archipelago decreased by 15% between 1969 and 2004.
In September 2007, the Artic Ice Cap retreated far enough for the
Northwest Passage to become navigable to shipping for the first time in
recorded history.
While the reduction of summer ice in the Arctic may be a boon to
shipping, this same phenomenon threatens the Arctic ecosystem, most
notably polar bears which depend on ice floes. Subsistence hunters such
as the Inuit peoples will find their livelihoods and cultures increasingly
threatened as the ecosystem changes due to global warming.

16) Development
The combined effects of global warming may impact particularly
harshly on people and countries without the resources to mitigate those
effects. This may slow economic development and poverty reduction,
and make it harder to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.
In October 2004 the Working Group on Climate Change and
Development, a coalition of development and environment NGOs,
issued a report Up in Smoke on the effects of climate change on
development. This report, and the July 2005 report Africa - Up in
Smoke? predicted increased hunger and disease due to decreased rainfall
and severe weather events, particularly in Africa. These are likely to
have severe impacts on development for those affected.

17) Ecosystems
Unchecked global warming could affect most terrestrial ecoregions.
Increasing global temperature means that ecosystems will change; some
species are being forced out of their habitats (possibly to extinction)
because of changing conditions, while others are flourishing. Secondary
effects of global warming, such as lessened snow cover, rising sea
levels, and weather changes, may influence not only human activities
but also the ecosystem. Studying the association between Earth climate
and extinctions over the past 520 million years, scientists from
University of York write, "The global temperatures
predicted for the coming centuries may trigger a new ‘mass extinction
event’, where over 50 per cent of animal and plant species would be
wiped out."
Many of the species at risk are Arctic and Antarctic fauna such as polar
bears and emperor penguins. Species that rely on cold weather
conditions such as gyrfalcons, and snowy owls that prey on lemmings
that use the cold winter to their advantage may be hit hard. Marine
invertebrates enjoy peak growth at the temperatures they have adapted
to, regardless of how cold these may be, and cold-blooded animals found
at greater latitudes and altitudes generally grow faster to compensate for
the short growing season. Warmer-than-ideal conditions result in higher
metabolism and consequent reductions in body size despite increased
foraging, which in turn elevates the risk of predation. Indeed, even a
slight increase in temperature during development impairs growth
efficiency and survival rate in rainbow trout.
Rising temperatures are beginning to have a noticeable impact on birds,
and butterflies have shifted their ranges northward by 200 km in Europe
and North America. Plants lag behind, and larger animals' migration is
slowed down by cities and highways. In Britain, spring butterflies are
appearing an average of 6 days earlier than two decades ago. In the
Arctic, the waters of Hudson Bay are ice-free for three weeks longer
than they were thirty years ago, affecting polar bears, which prefer to
hunt on sea ice.
Many species of freshwater and saltwater plants and animals are
dependent on glacier-fed waters to ensure a cold water habitat that they
have adapted to. Some species of freshwater fish need cold water to
survive and to reproduce, and this is especially true with Salmon and
Cutthroat trout. Reduced glacier runoff can lead to insufficient stream
flow to allow these species to thrive. Ocean krill, a cornerstone species,
prefer cold water and are the primary food source for aquatic mammals
such as the Blue whale. Alterations to the ocean currents, due to
increased freshwater inputs from glacier melt, and the potential
alterations to thermohaline circulation of the worlds oceans, may impact
existing fisheries upon which humans depend as well.
18) Forests

Pine forests in British Columbia have been devastated by a pine beetle

infestation, which has expanded unhindered since 1998 at least in part
due to the lack of severe winters since that time; a few days of extreme
cold kill most mountain pine beetles and have kept outbreaks in the past
naturally contained. The infestation, which will have killed 50% of the
lodgepole pines by 2008 has passed to Alberta and will spread further
East and eventually into America given continued milder winters.
Besides the immediate ecological and economic impact, the huge dead
forests provide a fire risk as well.
Forests in some regions potentially face an increased risk of forest fires.
The 10-year average of boreal forest burned in North America, after
several decades of around 10,000 km² (2.5 million acres), has increased
steadily since 1970 to more than 28,000 km² (7 million acres) annually.
This change may be due in part to changes in forest management
practices. In the western U. S., since 1986, longer, warmer summers
have resulted in a fourfold increase of major wildfires and a sixfold
increase in the area of forest burned, compared to the period from 1970
to 1986. A similar increase in wildfire activity has been reported in
Canada from 1920 to 1999.
Also note forest fires since 1997 in Indonesia. The fires are started to
clear forest for agriculture. These occur from time to time and can set

fire to the large peat bogs in that region. The CO2 released by these peat
bog fires has been estimated, in an average year, to release 15% of the
quantity of CO2 produced by fossil fuel combustion.
19) Mountains: Mountains cover
approximately 25 percent of earth's surface and provide a home to more
than one-tenth of global human population. Changes in global climate
pose a number of potential risks to mountain habitats. Researchers
expect that over time, climate change will affect mountain and lowland
ecosystems, the frequency and intensity of forest fires, the diversity of
wildlife, and the distribution of water.
Studies suggest that a warmer climate in the United States would cause
lower-elevation habitats to expand into the higher alpine zone. Such a
shift would encroach on the rare alpine meadows and other high-altitude
habitats. High-elevation plants and animals have limited space available
for new habitat as they move higher on the mountains in order to adapt
to long-term changes in regional climate.
Changes in climate will also affect the depth of the mountains
snowpacks and glaciers. Any changes in their seasonal melting can have
powerful impacts on areas that rely on freshwater runoff from
mountains. Rising temperature may cause snow to melt earlier and faster
in the spring and shift the timing and distribution of runoff. These
changes could affect the availability of freshwater for natural systems
and human uses.

Ecological
20)

productivity
Increasing average temperature and carbon dioxide may have the effect
of improving ecosystems' productivity. In photorespiration, carbon
dioxide that oxygen can enter a plant's chloroplasts and take the place of
carbon dioxide in the Calvin cycle. This causes the sugars being made to
be destroyed, suppressing growth. Higher carbon dioxide concentrations
tend to reduce photorespiration. Satellite data shows that the
productivity of the northern hemisphere has increased since 1982
(although attribution of this increase to a specific cause is difficult).
IPCC models predict that higher CO2 concentrations would only spur
growth of flora up to a point, because in many regions the limiting
 factors are water or nutrients, not temperature or CO2; after that,
greenhouse effects and warming would continue but there would be no
compensatory increase in growth.
Research done by the Swiss Canopy Crane Project suggests that slow-
growing trees only are stimulated in growth for a short period under
higher CO2 levels, while faster growing plants like liana benefit in the
long term. In general, but especially in rain forests, this means that liana
become the prevalent species; and because they decompose much faster
than trees their carbon content is more quickly returned to the
atmosphere. Slow growing trees incorporate atmospheric carbon for
decades.

21) Environmental
Secondary evidence of global warming — reduced snow cover, rising
sea levels, weather changes — provides examples of consequences of
global warming that may influence not only human activities but also
ecosystems. Increasing global temperature means that ecosystems may
change; some species may be forced out of their habitats (possibly to
extinction) because of changing conditions, while others may flourish.
Few of the terrestrial ecoregions on Earth could expect to be unaffected.
Increasing carbon dioxide may increase ecosystems' productivity to a
point. Ecosystems' unpredictable interactions with other aspects of
climate change makes the possible environmental impact of this is
unclear, though. An increase in the total amount of biomass produced
may not be necessarily positive: biodiversity can still decrease even
though a relatively small number of species are flourishing.

22) Water scarcity

Positive eustasy may contaminate groundwater, affecting drinking water
and agriculture in coastal zones. Increased evaporation will reduce the
effectiveness of reservoirs. Increased extreme weather means more
water falls on hardened ground unable to absorb it, leading to flash
floods instead of a replenishment of soil moisture or groundwater levels.
In some areas, shrinking glaciers threaten the water supply. The
continued retreat of glaciers will have a number of
 different impacts. In areas that are heavily dependent on water runoff
from glaciers that melt during the warmer summer months, a
continuation of the current retreat will eventually deplete the glacial ice
and substantially reduce or eliminate runoff. A reduction in runoff will
affect the ability to irrigate crops and will reduce summer stream flows
necessary to keep dams and reservoirs replenished. This situation is
particularly acute for irrigation in South America, where numerous
artificial lakes are filled almost exclusively by glacial melt. Central
Asian countries have also been historically dependent on the seasonal
glacier melt water for irrigation and drinking supplies. In Norway, the
Alps, and the Pacific Northwest of North America, glacier runoff is
important for hydropower. Higher temperatures will also increase the
demand for water for the purposes of cooling and hydration.
In the Sahel, there has been on average a 25% decrease in annual rainfall
over the past 30 years.

Health
23)

Direct effects of
temperature rise
The most direct effect of climate change would be the impacts of hotter
temperatures themselves. Extreme high temperatures increase the
number of people who die on a given day for many reasons: people with
heart problems are vulnerable because one's cardiovascular system must
work harder to keep the body cool during hot weather, heat exhaustion,
and some respiratory problems increase. Global warming could mean
more cardiovascular diseases, doctors warn. Higher air temperature also
increase the concentration of ozone at ground level. In the lower
atmosphere, ozone is a harmful pollutant. It damages lung tissues and
causes problems for people with asthma and other lung diseases.
Rising temperatures have two opposing direct effects on mortality:
higher temperatures in winter reduce deaths from cold; higher
temperatures in summer increase heat-related deaths.
The distribution of these changes obviously differs. Palutikof et al
calculate that in England and Wales for a 1 °C temperature rise the
reduced deaths from cold outweigh the increased deaths from heat,
resulting in a reduction in annual average mortality of 7000. The
European heat wave of 2003 killed 22,000–35,000 people, based on
normal mortality rates. Peter A. Stott from the Hadley Centre for
Climate Prediction and Research estimated with 90% confidence that
past human influence on climate was responsible for at least half the risk
of the 2003 European summer heat-wave. In the United States, more
than 1000 people die from the cold each year, while twice that number
die from the heat. The 2006 United States heat wave has killed 139
people in California as of 29 July 2006. Deaths of livestock have not
been well-documented. Fresno, in the central California valley, had six
consecutive days of 110 degree-plus Fahrenheit temperatures.

Other Impacts of
Global Warming
Global warming will have serious impacts on the environment and
on society. Higher temperatures will cause a melting of ice in Greenland
and Antarctica. This will accelerate the rise of sea level. The speed at
which global warming is expected to occur in the 21st century is faster
than most plant and animal species will be able to cope with. Some will
adapt but others will suffer and may become extinct.
Global warming will affect agriculture. New crops will be able to
be grown in areas that are currently too cold to support them. However,
more pests and diseases may offset any benefits higher temperatures
may have. Water resources will also be affected. Some reservoirs may
dry up if temperature increases, especially if rainfall also decreases.
Rising sea levels may pollute fresh groundwater supplies with salt water.
Global warming will also affect human health. There may be more
heat-related illnesses in hotter summers, and increased breathing
problems as higher temperatures increase air pollution in cities, reducing
air quality. The malaria mosquito may also be able to spread to other
regions of the world where it is currently too cold to survive and breed.
More extreme weather, for example storms, floods and droughts
will have severe impacts on the environment and on society. The poorest
 people in society will unfortunately be those least able to cope with the
impacts of global warming.

 How to prevent?

Switch to energy-
*

efficient lighting-
Replace the familiar incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent
bulbs. For each CFL bulb replacement, you'll lower your energy bill and
keep nearly 700 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the air over the bulb's
lifetime. CFL bulbs last much longer and use only a quarter of the
energy consumed by conventional bulbs. LED bulbs are also energy-
saving, but have a narrower range of application. Advances in LED bulb
technology, however, are leading to more applications for these bulbs in
the home. LEDs are more efficient than CFLs and do not have issues
surrounding disposal, as do the CFLs.
Improve the efficiency
*

of home
appliances -Home appliances vary greatly in
terms of energy-efficiency and operating costs. The more energy-
efficient an appliance is, the less it costs to run. You can lower your
utility bill and help protect the environment.

Buy energy-efficient
*

appliances –
When shopping for a new appliance - especially a major appliance such
as a refrigerator, dishwasher, or air-conditioner - select the one with the
highest
energy efficiency rating. By opting for a refrigerator with the Energy
Star label -- indicating it uses at least 15 percent less energy than the
federal requirement -- you can reduce carbon dioxide pollution by nearly
a ton in total.

Reduce energy
*

needed for heating –

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, heating and cooling
systems in the U.S. emit over a half billion tons of carbon dioxide into
the atmosphere each year. Much of the energy used for heating our
homes is wasted, and yet the prevention is, in many cases, simple and
inexpensive.
Reduce energy
*

needed for cooling –

Air conditioners alone use up to 1/6th of the electricity in the U.S. and,
on hot summer days, consume 43% of the U.S. peak power load. You
can reduce much of the need for air conditioning, and enjoy a cost
savings benefit, by using 'passive' techniques to help cool your home.

Improve vehicle fuel-

efficiency- The second largest source of
greenhouse gases is transportation. Motor vehicles are
responsible for about a third of all carbon dioxide
emissions in the U.S. and Canada.

Recycle air
*

conditioner coolant - If your

car has an air conditioner, make sure you recycle its
coolant whenever you have it serviced. You can save
thousands of pounds of carbon dioxide each year by
doing this.

* Drive less - You'll save energy by taking

the bus, riding a bike, or walking. Try consolidating trips
to the mall or longer routine drives. Encourage car-
pooling.
*Reduce lawn size - Lawn size can
be reduced by adding shrubs, beds, ground covers and mulched areas.
Try creating a lawn area small enough to be mowed using an efficient
reel (push) mower. Lawn edging can be set low enough to mow over,
reducing or eliminating the need for a weed-eater.

Recycle whenever
*

possible - aluminum cans, newspapers, magazines,

cardboard, glass - anything recycled reduces the energy needed to create
new products. To find the recycling center nearest you, call: 1 800-
CLEANUP.

*Eat locally produced

food - Today, the food choices available in
supermarkets come from all over the world. All of this
'traffic' in food requires staggering amounts of fuel -
generally by refrigerated airplanes or transport trucks.
Food transportation is one of the fastest growing sources
of greenhouse gas emissions.

* Eat vegetarian meals -

Vegetarian food requires much less energy to produce.
Enjoying vegetarian meals once or twice a week results in
significant CO2 savings.

Choose clean energy

*

options - If you can choose your electricity

supplier, pick a company that generates at least half its
power from wind, solar energy and other renewable
sources.
Buy clean energy
*

certificates and
carbon offsets - Help spur the
renewable energy market and cut global warming
pollution with "wind certificates" or "green tags," which
represent clean power you can add to the nation's energy
grid in place of electricity from fossil fuels.

Conserve energy in
*

the home and yard

Yard maintenance contributes significantly to greenhouse emissions. Per
hour of operation, a power lawn mower emits 10-12 times as much
hydrocarbon as a typical auto. A weed eater emits 21 times more and a
leaf blower 34 times more.
 “Making energy
conservation a part of
our daily awareness is
essential to the goal
of reducing global
warming.”

Scientists fear global warming higher

than expected
New scientific modelling suggests the earth's average temperature
could rise by 7.8°C by 2300 if fossil fuel consumption remains
unchanged, with polar ice caps melting and seas rising by seven
meters.

Brief News:
New climate modelling by researchers at the Lawrence Livermore
National Laboratory in California suggest the magnitude of global
warming could be much higher than expected, with dire
consequences for the economy.
The researchers' simulations show that, if humans use the
entire planet's available fossil fuels by the year 2300, the polar
ice caps will be depleted, sea levels will rise by seven meters and
median air temperatures will soar to 7.8°C warmer than the
present day. The Arctic and Antarctic would be hardest hit with
temperatures there rising more than in the tropics, by more than
20°C, forcing the land in the region to change from ice and tundra
to boreal forests.
Separate research performed by scientists at the Harvard
Medical School of Public Affairs point to significant impact of
climate change on human health with dire costs for the economy
and significant impact on the insurance industry.
Rates of vector-borne and infectious diseases such as lyme
and malaria are expected to increase as ticks and mosquitoes
responsible for their transmission proliferate. These are expected
to affect African countries most but also other regions such as
North America, the researchers pointed out. Rising incidence of
asthma is also expected as emissions of carbon dioxide rises. The
study was co-sponsored by Reinsurance firm Swiss Re and the
United Nations Development Programme (UNEP).
As a reinsurance company, our goal is to evaluate and plan
for the long-term," said Jacques Dubois, Chairman of Swiss Re
America Holding Corporation. "This report provides a crucial look
at physical and economic aspects of climate change. It also
assesses current risks and potential business opportunities that
can help minimise future risks.

Chilling global forecast

Global warming could disrupt the world's sea currents,
sending Europe into a chill within 100 years and
devastating tropical ocean life, a CSIRO scientist says.
Richard Matear, a Hobart-based marine researcher, said
the oxygen content of deep ocean water between
Australia and Antarctica had fallen 3 per cent since 1968.
If new research confirmed the decline was happening
throughout the world's southern oceans, it would be a
strong sign global warming was interfering with sea
currents.
According to NASA "the thawing of sea ice covering the
Arctic could disturb or even halt large currents in the
Atlantic Ocean.
"Without the vast heat these currents deliver -
comparable to the power generation of a million nuclear
power plants - Europe's average temperature would likely
drop 5 to 10 degrees."
While North America would not be as severely hit, the
space agency said "such a dip in temperature would be
similar to global average temperatures toward the end of
the last ice age roughly 20,000 years ago".

While NASA said many scientists were sceptical, it quoted

Dr Robert Gagosian, director of the private Woods Hole
Oceanographic Institution, Massachusetts, as saying such
a change in ocean currents could happen within 20 years.
 Conclusion:
Global temperature measurements remote
from human habitation and activity show no
evidence of a warming during the last century.
Such sites include “proxy” measurements
such as tree rings, marine sediments and ice
cores, weather balloons and satellite
measurements in the lower atmosphere, and
many surface sites where human influence is
minimal. The small average and highly
irregular individual warming displayed by
surface measurements is therefore caused by
changes in the thermal environment of
individual measurement stations over long
periods of time, and not by changes in the
background climate.
Bibliography:
www.epa.gov
www.wikipedia.com
www.ecobridge.org
www.environmentalgraffiti.com
www.eartheasy.com
www.managementparadise.com