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OZONE LAYER DEPLETION AND GLOBAL WARMING

OZONE LAYER DEPLETION AND GLOBAL WARMING. The ozone layer acts as a giant sunshade, protecting plants and animals from much of the suns harmful ultraviolet radiations. Ozone forms a layer in the stratosphere, 15-40 km above the earth surface. If the ozone in the atmosphere from the ground level to a height of 60 km could be assembled at the earths surface, it would comprise a layer of gas only about 3mm thick. Global stratospheric ozone levels have declined, which means that the ozone layer is changing. Stratospheric ozone has large natural temporal and spatial variations, up to 30 % variation may be regarded as normal. However, we now have evidence of significant thinning of the ozone layer during spring and summer. This is observed in both the Northern and the Southern hemispheres at middle and high latitudes. During the last 10-15 years, the ozone layer above the Northern hemisphere has been reduced by 5-6 % in spring per decade. The latest tests (January- March 1995) have shown very large reductions, with maximum of more than 30 % reduction compared to normal. UV RADIATION: A depletion of the ozone layer will increase the UV- radiations at ground level. Increasing doses of UV-B may cause skin cancer, eye cataracts, damage to the immune system in animals as well as human beings, and have an adverse impact on plant growth. The UV index developed by Environment Canada. It runs on a scale from 0 to 10 being a typical mid summer, sunny day in the tropics. A relative scale ranging from low to extreme is also applied: In extreme conditions ( UV Index higher than 9) light, sensitive and un tanned skin may burn in less than 15 minutes. UV radiations will affect human health through for example sunburn, snow blindness, other eye damage, early aging of the skin and rising rates of skin cancer. It may also cause suppression of the immune system. It will like wise affect the productivity of the aquatic and terrestrial eco-systems. Single celled algae, chlorophyll and plant hormones are especially sensitive to UV radiation. As the ozone layer is reduced the earths surface is exposed to more of the shorter UV wavelengths of suns radiation that damage living things. For each 10 % depletion of the ozone layer, we can expect 20 % more radiations in these damaging wavelengths.

OZONE DEPLETION GASES: The Ozone depletion Potential, ODP , is described as a potential relative to that of CFC-11.The various ozone depleting substances vary in the degree to which they contribute to the reduction in the ozone layer. Halogens, for example, are more efficient than the CFCs in depleting ozone, and there fore have a higher ODP. Choro fluoro carbons CFCs, halogens, methyl chloroform, methyl bromide, carbon tetra chloride and several other chemicals are ozone depleting substances. When CFCs and halogens are released into the atmosphere, they rise slowly, taking up to seven years to reach the stratosphere. But once they are there, under the influence of the suns ultraviolet light, chlorine is released and react with ozone layer as a consequence. This allows the harmful solar UV radiation to pass through to the earths surface. Because it takes so long for the CFCs and halogens to reach the stratosphere , any reduction in their use on the earth does not have an immediate effect on the concentration in the stratosphere. Some of the ozone depleting substances are persistent, remaining active in the atmosphere for upto 50 years. Most of the CFCs imported to Norway are eventually emitted into the atmosphere. A minor part is degraded and some is recycled. Imports of CFCs, halogens and carbon tetra chloride to Norway have been stopped. CFCs only allowed use is in certain refrigerating systems. Halogens are only allowed in existing fire extinction plants, but refillment of halons is prohibited. Ecological effects: Impact on the oceans: Increasing amounts if UV radiations will have an impact on plankton and other tiny organisms at the base of the marine food web. These organisms provide the original food source for all other living organisms in the oceans. Plankton phytoplankton as well as zoo plankton are highly sensitive to UV radiation, as they lack the protective UV-B absorbing layers that higher forms of plants and animals have.( Phyto = plant. Zoo = animal). More UV B radiation reduces the amount of food phytoplankton create through photosynthesis. Zoo plankton, feeding off the phytoplankton, are also affected. UV- B also damages the small fish, shrimp and crab larvae. It has been estimated that on shallow coastal shelves, a 16 % reduction of the ozone layer would kill more than 50% of e.g anchovy larvae, and cause a 5 % drop in plankton numbers and 69% drop in fish yield.

GLOBAL WARMING: Ozone layer depletion seems likely to increase the rate of green house warming, by reducing the effectiveness of the carbon dioxide sink in the oceans. Phytoplankton in the oceans assimilates large amounts of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Increased UV radiations will reduce phytoplankton activity significantly. This means that the large amounts of carbon dioxide will remain in the atmosphere. A 10 % decrease in carbon dioxide uptake by the oceans would leave about the same amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere as is produced by the fossil fuel burning. IMPACT ON LAND PLANTS: A high increase in UV radiation may disrupt many ecosystems on land. Rice production may be drastically reduced by the effects of UV-B on the nitrogen assimilating activities of the micro-organisms. With a diminishing ozone layer, it is likely that the supply of natural nitrogen to ecosystems such as the tropical rice paddies , will be significantly reduced. Most plants (and trees) grow more slowly and become smaller and more stunted as adult plants when exposed to large amounts of UV-B. Increased UV-B inhibits pollen germination. INCREASED EFFECTS OF AIR POLLUTION: UV-B stimulates the formation of reactive radicals- molecules that react rapidly with other chemicals, forming new substances. The hydroxyl radicals, for example, stimulate the creation of tropospheric ozone and other harmful pollutants. Smog formation creates other oxidized organic chemicals, such as formaldehydes. These molecules can also produce reactive hydrogen radicals when they absorb UV-B. In urban areas, a 10% reduction of the ozone layer is likely to result in 10- 25 % increase in tropospheric ozone. More UV-B radiation seems likely to cause the global increases in atmospheric hydrogen peroxide. This is the principal chemical that oxidizes sulfur dioxide to form sulfuric acid in cloud water, making it an important part of acid rain formation. DAMAGE TO MATERIALS: UV radiations cause many materials to degrade more rapidly. Plastic materials used outdoors will have much shorter lifetimes with small increases of UV radiation. PVC sidings, window and door frames, pipes, gutters, etc used in buildings degrade faster.

OZONE DEPLETION SOLUTIONS: The discovery of the ozone depletion problem came as a great surprise. Now action must be taken to ensure that the ozone layer is not destroyed. Because CFCs are so wide spread and used in such a great variety of products, limiting their use is hard. Also, since many products already contain components that use CFCs, it would be difficult if not possible to eliminate those CFCs already in existence. The CFCs problem may be hard to solve because there are already great quantities of CFCs in the environment. CFCs would remain in the stratosphere for another 100 years even if none were ever produced again. Despite the difficulties, international action has been taken to limit CFCs. I n the Montreal Protocol, 30 Nations worldwide agreed to reduce the usage of CFCs and encouraged other countries to do so as well. However many environmentalists felt the treaty did too little, too late , as the Natural Resources Defense Council put it. The treaty asked for CFC makers to only eliminate half of their CFC production, making some people feel that it was in adequate. By the year 2000, the US and twelve other nations in Europe have agreed to ban all use and production of CFCs. This will be highly significant, because these countries produce three quarters of the CFCs in the world. Many other countries have signed treaties written laws restricting the use of CFCs. Companies are finding substitutes for CFCs and people in general are becoming more aware of the dangers of ozone depletion. GLOBAL WARMING: Global warming is the increase in the average temperature of the Earth near surface air and oceans since the mid 20th century and its projected continuation. Global surface temperature increased 0.74+_ 0.18(1.33 +_ 0.32) during the last century. The Intergovernmental Panel On Climatic Change (IPCC) concludes that increasing green house gas concentrations resulting from human activity such as fossil fuel burning and deforestation caused most of the observed temperature increase since the middle of the 20th century. The IPCC also concludes that the variations in natural phenomena such as solar radiations and volcanoes produced most of the warming from pre industrial times to 1950 and had a small cooling effect afterwards. The basic conclusions have been endorsed by more than 40 scientific societies and academic science, including all of the national academies of science of the major industrialized countries. A small number of scientists dispute the consensus view.

Climate model projections summarized in the latest IPCC report indicate that the global surface temperature will probably rise a further 1.1 to 6.4 C (2 TO 1105 F) during the twenty first century. The uncertainty inn this estimate arises from the use of models with differing sensitivity to green house gas concentrations and use of differing estimates of the future green house emissions. Some other uncertainties include how warming and related changes will vary from region to region around the globe. Most of the studies focus on the period up to the year 2100. However, warming is expected to continue beyond 2100 even if emission stops, because of the large heat capacity of the oceans and the long life time of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. An increase in the global temperature will cause sea levels to rise and will change the amount and pattern of precipitation, probably including expansion of subtropical deserts. The continuing retreat of glaciers, permafrost and sea ice is expected, with warming being the strongest in the Arctic. Other likely effects include increases in the intensity of extreme weather events, species extinctions and changes in the agricultural yields. Political and public debate continues regarding climatic changes, and what actions if any to take in response. The available options are mitigations to reduce further emissions, adaptations to the damage caused by warming; and more speculatively, geo engineering to reverse global warming. Most national governments have signed and ratified the Kyoto Protocol aimed at reducing green house emissions. TEMPERATURE CHANGES: The most commonly discussed measure of the global warming is the trend in globally averaged temperature near the earths surface. Expressed as a linear trend, this temperature rose by 0.74C +_ 0.18 C over the period 1906-2005. The rate of warming over the last 50 years of that period was almost double that for the period as a whole. (0.13 C+_ 0.03C per decade, versus the 0.07C+_ 0.02C per decade). The urban heat island effect is estimated to account for about 0.002C of warming per decade since 1900. Temperatures in the lower troposphere have increased between 0.12 C and 0.22C (0.22 and 0.4F) per decade since 1979, according to satellite temperature measurements. Temperature is believed to have been relatively stable over the one or two thousand years before 1850, with regionally varying fluctuations such as the Medieval warm period or the little Ice Age. Based on estimates by NASAs Goddard Institute for Space Studies, 2005 was the warmest year since reliable, widespread instrumental measurements became available in the late 1800s , exceeding the previous record set in 1998 by a few hundredths of a degree. Estimates prepared by the World Meteorological Organization and the Climatic Research Unit conclude that the 2005 was the

second warmest year, behind 1998. Temperatures in 1998 were unusually warm because the strongest El Nino in the past century occurred during that year. Temperature changes vary over the globe. Since 1979, land temperatures have increased about twice as fast as oceans temperature.(0.25 C per decade against 0.13C per decade ).Ovean temperatures increase more slowly than land temperatures because of the larger effective heat capacity of the oceans and because the oceans loose more heat by evaporation. The Northern hemisphere warms faster than the southern hemisphere because it has more land and because it has extensive areas of seasonal snow and sea ice cover subject to the ice- albedo feedback. Although more green house gases are emitted in the northern than the southern hemisphere, this does not contribute to the difference in warming because the major green house gases persist long enough to mix between hemispheres. The thermal inertia of the oceans and slow responses of other indirect effects mean that climate can take centuries or longer to adjust to the changes in forcing. Climate commitment studies indicate that even if green house gases were stabilized at 2000 levels, a further warming of about 0.5 C (0.9F) would still occur. GREEN HOUSE GASES: Green house effect schematic showing of energy flows between the atmosphere, space, and earths surface. Energy exchanges are expressed in watts per square meter(W/m2) . Recent atmospheric carbon dioxide increases, monthly carbon dioxide measurements display seasonal oscillations in over all yearly uptrend; each years maximum occurs during the Northern hemispheres late spring, and declines during the growing season as plants remove some atmospheric carbon dioxide. The green house effect is the process by which absorption and emission of infrared radiation by gases in the atmosphere warm the planets lower atmosphere and surface. It was discovered by Joseph Fourier in 1824 and was first investigated quantitatively by Svante Arrhenius in 1896. Existence of the green house effect as such is not disputed, even by those who do not agree that the recent temperature increase is ia attributable to human activity. The question is instead how the strength of the green house effect changes when human activity increases the concentrations of green house gases in the atmosphere. Naturally occurring green house gases have a mean warming effect about 33C (59F). The major green house gases are water vapors ,which causes about 36 70 % of the green house effect; carbon dioxide which causes 9-26% , methane which causes 4-9 % and ozone, which cause 3-7 %. Clouds also affect the

radiation balance, but they are composed of liquid water or ice and so are considered separately from water vapor and other gases. Human activity since the Industrial Revolution has increased the amount of green house gases in the atmosphere, leading to increased radiative forcing of carbon dioxide, methane, tropospheric ozone, CFCs and nitrous oxide. The concentrations of CO2 and methane have increased by 36% and 148% respectively since the mid 1700s. These levels are much higher than at any time during the last 650,000 years, the period for which reliable data has been extracted from ice cores. Less direct geological evidence indicates that carbon dioxide values this high were last seen about 20 million years ago. Fossil fuels burning has produced about three quarters of the increase in carbon dioxide from human activity over the past 20 years. Most of the rest is due to land use change, particularly deforestation. Carbon dioxide concentrations are continuing to rise due to the burning fossil fuels and land use change. The future rate of rise will depend on uncertain economic, sociological, technological, and natural developments. Accordingly, the IPCC Special report on Emissions Scenarios gives a wide range of future carbon dioxide scenarios, ranging from 541 to 970 p.p.m by the year 2100. Fossil fuel reserves are sufficient to reach these levels and continue emissions past 2100 if coal, tar sands or methane clathrates are extensively exploited. The destruction of stratospheric ozone by CFCs is sometimes mentioned in relation to global warming. Although there are a few areas of linkage, the relation ship between these two is not so strong. Reduction of stratospheric ozone has a cooling influence, but substantial ozone depletion did not occur until the late 1970s. Tropospheric ozone contributes to surface warming. AEROSOLS AND SOOT Global dimming, a gradual reduction in the amount of global direct irradiance at the Earths surface, has partially counteracted global warming from the present. The main cause of this dimming is aerosols produced by volcanoes and pollutants. These aerosols exert a cooling effect by increasing the reflection of incoming sunlight. James Hansen and colleagues have proposed that the effects of the products of fossil fuel combustion CO2 and aerosols have largely offset one another in recent decades, so that net warming has been driven mainly by the non carbon dioxide greenhouse gases. In addition to their direct effect by scattering and absorbing solar radiation, aerosols have indirect effect on the radiation budget. Sulfate aerosols act as cloud condensation nuclei and thus lead to clouds that have more and smaller cloud droplets. These clouds reflect solar radiations more efficiently than clouds

with fewer and larger droplets. This effect also causes droplets to be of more uniform size, which reduces growth of raindrops and makes the cloud more reflective to incoming sunlight. Soot may cool or warm, depending on whether it is airborne or deposited. Atmospheric soot aerosols directly absorb solar radiation, which heats the atmosphere and cools the surface. Regionally (but not globally), as much as 50% of the surface warming due to greenhouse gases may be masked by atmospheric brown clouds. When deposited, especially on the glaciers or on the ice in Arctic regions, the lower surface albedo can also directly heat the surface. The influences of aerosols, including black carbon, are most pronounced in the tropics and the subtropics, particularly in Asia, while the effects of green house gases are dominant in the extra tropics and Southern hemisphere. SOLAR VARIATION: Variations in solar output have been the cause of past climatic changes. Although solar forcing is generally thought to be too small to account for a significant part of global warming in recent decades, a few studies disagree, such as a recent phenomenological analysis that indicates the contribution of solar forcing may be under estimated. Green house gases and solar forcing affect temperatures in different ways. While both increased solar activity and increased green house gases are expected to warm the troposphere, an increase in the solar activity should warm the stratosphere while an increase in the green house gases should cool the stratosphere. Observations show that temperatures in the stratosphere have been steady or cooling since 1979, when satellite measurements became available. Radiosonde, (weather balloon) data from the pre satellite era show cooling since 1958, though there is greater uncertainty in the early Radiosonde record FEEDBACK: A positive feedback is a process that amplifies some change. Thus, when a warming trend results in effects that induce further warming, the result is a positive feedback; when the warming results in effects that reduce the original warming, the result is a negative feedback. The main positive feedback in global warming involves the tendency of warming to increase the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere. The main negative feedback in global warming is the effect of temperature on emission of infra red radiation; as the temperature of the body increases, the emitted radiation increases with the forth power of its absolute temperature.

WATER VAPOR FEEDBACK: If the atmosphere is warmed, the saturation vapor pressure increases, and the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere will tend to increase. Since water vapor is a green house gas, the increase in water vapor content makes the atmosphere warm further, this warming causes the atmosphere to hold still more water vapor( a positive feedback), and so on until other processes stop the feedback loop. The result is a much larger green house effect than that due to carbon dioxide alone. Although this feedback process causes an increase in the absolute moisture content of the air, the relative humidity stays nearly constant or even decreases slightly because the air is warmer. CLOUD FEEDBACK: Warming is expected to change the distribution and type of clouds. Seen from below, the clouds emit infra red radiation back to the surface, and so exert a warming effect; seen from above, the clouds reflect sunlight and emit infra red radiations to space, and so exert a cooling effect. Whether the net effect is warming or cooling depends on details such as the type and altitude of the cloud. These details were poorly observed before the advent of satellite data and are difficult to represent in the climate models. LAPSE RATE: The atmosphere temperature decreases with height in the troposphere. Since emission of infrared radiation varies with temperature, long wave radiation escaping to space from the relatively cold upper atmosphere is less than that emitted toward the ground from the lower atmosphere. Thus, the strength of the green house effect depends on the atmospheres rate of temperature decrease with height. Both theory and climate models indicate that global warming will reduce the rate of temperature decrease with height, producing a negative lapse rate feedback, that weakens the green house effect. Measurements of the rate of temperature change with height are very sensitive to small errors in observations, making it difficult to establish whether the models agree with observations. ICE-ALBEDO FEEDBACK: The lighter blue areas are melt ponds and the darkest areas are open water, both have a lower albedo than the white sea ice. The melting ice contributes to the ice-albedo feedback. When ice melts, land or open water takes its place. Both land and open water are on average less reflective than ice and thus absorbs more solar radiation. This causes more warming, which in turn causes more melting, and this cycle continues.

ARCTIC METHANE RELEASE: Warming is also the triggering variable for the release of methane in the Arctic. Methane released from thawing permafrost such as the frozen peat bogs in Siberia, and form methane clathrate on the sea floor, creates a positive feedback. REDUCED ABSORPTION OF CO2 BY OCEANS: Ocean ecosystems ability to sequester carbon is expected to decline as the oceans warm. This is because warming reduces the nutrient levels of the mesopelagic zone (about 200 to 1000 m deep),which limits the growth of diatoms in favor of the smaller phytoplanktons that are poorer biological pumps of carbon. GAS RELEASE: Release of gases of biological origin may be affected by global warming, but research into such effects is at early stage. Some of these gases, such as Nitrous oxide released from peat, directly affects climate. Others, such as Di methyl sulfide released from oceans have indirect effects. CLIMATE MODELS: The main tools for projecting the future climate changes are mathematical models based on physical principles including fluid dynamics, thermodynamics, and radiative transfer. Although they attempt to include as many processes as possible, simplification of the actual climate system are inevitable because of the constraints of available computer power and limitations in knowledge of the climate system. All modern climate models are in fact combinations of models for different parts of the Earth. These include an atmospheric model for air movements, temperature, clouds, and other atmospheric properties; an ocean model that predicts temperature, salt content, and circulation of ocean waters; model for ice cover on land and sea, and a model of heat and moisture transfer from soil and vegetation to the atmosphere. Some models also include treatments of chemical and biological processes. Warming due to increasing levels of greenhouse gases is not an assumption of the models, rather, it is an end result from the interaction of green house gases with radiative transfer and other physical processes in the models. Although much of the variation in the model outcomes depends on the green house gas emissions used as inputs, the temperature effect of a specific green house gas concentration (climate sensitivity) varies depending on the model used. The representation of clouds is one of the main sources of uncertainty in present generation models. Global climate model projections of future climate most often have used estimates of greenhouse gas emissions from the IPCC Special Report on Emissions Scenarios (SRES). In addition to human caused emissions, some

models also include a simulation of carbon cycle; this generally shows a positive feedback, though this response is uncertain. Some observational studies also show a positive feedback. Including uncertainties in future greenhouse gas concentrations and climate sensitivity, the IPCC anticipates a warming of 1.1 C to 6.4 C(2.0 F TO 11.5F) by the end of the 21st century, relative to 1980-1999. Models are used to help investigate the causes of recent climate changes by comparing the observed changes to those that the models project from the various natural and human derived causes. Although these models do not unambiguously attribute the warming that occurred from approximately 1910 to 1945 to either natural variation or human effects, they do indicate that the warming since 1970 is dominated by man made green house gas emissions. ATTRIBUTED AND EXPECTED EFFECTS: ENVIRONMENTAL: It usually is impossible to connect specific weather events to global warming. Instead, global warming is expected to cause changes in the overall distribution and intensity of events, such as changes to the frequency and intensity of heavy precipitation. Broader effects are expected to include glacier retreat, Arctic shrinkage, and worldwide sea level rise. Some effects on both the natural environment and human life are, at least in part, already being attributed to global warming. A 2001 report by the IPCC suggests that glacier retreat, ice shelf disruption such as that of the Larsen Ice Shelf, sea level rise, changes in the rainfall patterns, and increased intensity and frequency of extreme weather events are attributable in part to global warming. Other expected effects include water scarcity in some regions and increased precipitation in others, changes in mountain snow pack, and some adverse effects from warmer temperatures. Social and economic effects of the global warming may be exacerbated by growing population densities in affected areas. Temperate regions are projected to experience some benefits, such as fewer cold related deaths, A summary of probable effects and recent understanding can be found in the report made for the IPCC Third Assessment Report by Working Group II. The newer IPCC Fourth Assessment Report summary reports that there is observational evidence for an increase in intense tropical cyclone activity in the North Atlantic Ocean since about 1970, in correlation with the increase in sea surface temperature ( see Atlantic Multi decadal Oscillations), but that the detection of long term trends is complicated by the quality of records prior to the routine satellite observations. The summary also states that there is no clear trend in the annual worldwide number of tropical cyclones.

The Tibetan Plateau contains the worlds third largest store of ice. Qin Dahe, the former head of the China Meteorological Administration, said that the recent fast pace of melting and warmer temperatures will be good for agriculture and tourism in the short term; but issued a strong warning. Temperatures are rising four times faster than elsewhere in China, and the Tibetan glaciers are retreating at a higher speed than in any other part of the world. In the short term, this will cause lakes to expand and bring floods and mud flows. In the long run, the glaciers are vital lifelines for Asian rivers, including the Indus and the Ganges. Once they vanish, water supplies in those regions will be in peril. ECONOMIC: One widely publicized report on potential economic impact in the Stern Review, written by Sir Nicholas Stern. It suggests that extreme weather might reduce the global gross domestic product by up to one percent, and that in a worst case scenario global per capita consumption could fall by the equivalent of 20 percent. The response to the Stern Review was mixed. According to United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), economic sectors likely to face difficulties related to climate changes include banks, agriculture, transport, and others. Developing countries dependent up on agriculture will be particularly harmed by the global warming. RESPONSES TO GLOBAL WARMING: The broad agreement among the climate scientists that the global temperatures will continue to increase led some nations, states, corporations and individuals to implement responses. These responses to global warming can be divided into mitigation of the causes and effects of global warming, adaptation to the changing global environment, and geo engineering to reverse global warming. MITIGATION: Mitigation of the global warming ids accomplished through reductions in the rate of anthropogenic green house gas release. Models suggest that the mitigation can quickly begin to slow global warming, but that temperatures will appreciably decrease only after several centuries. The worlds primary international agreement on reducing the green house gas emissions in Kyoto Protocol, an amendment to the UNFCCC negotiated in 1997. The Protocol now covers more than 160 countries and over 55 percent of global green house gas emissions. As of June 2009, only the United States, historically the worlds largest emitter of green house gases, has refused to ratify the treaty. The treaty expires in 2012. International talks began in May 2007 on a future treaty to succeed the current

one. UN negotiations are now gathering pace in advance of a meeting in Copenhagen in December 2009. Many environmental groups encourage individual action against global warming, as well as community and regional actions. Others have suggested a quota on world wide fossil fuel production, citing a direct link between fossil fuel production and Carbon dioxide emissions. ADAPTATION: A variety of measures have been suggested for adaptation to global warming. These measures range from the trivial, such as the installation of air conditioning equipment, to major infrastructure projects, such as abandoning settlements threatened by the sea level rise. Measures including water conservation, water rationing, adaptive agricultural practices, constructions of flood defenses, Martian colonization, changes in the medical care, and interventions to protect threatened species have all been suggested. A wide ranging study of the possible opportunities for adaptation of infrastructure has been published by the institute of Mechanical Engineers. GEO ENGINEERING: Geo engineering is the deliberate modifications of Earths natural environment on a large scale to suit human needs. An example is green house gas remediation, which removes the green house gases from the atmosphere, usually through carbon sequestration techniques such as carbon dioxide capture. Solar radiation management reduces insulation, such as by the addition of stratospheric sulfur aerosols. No large scale geo engineering projects have yet been under taken. DEBATE AND SKEPTICISM: Increased publicity of the scientific findings surrounding global warming has resulted in political and economic debate. Poor region s, particularly Africa, appear at greatest risk from the projected effects of global warming, while their emissions have been small compared to the developed countries. The exemption of the developing countries from Kyoto Protocol restrictions has been used to rationalize non ratification by the U.S and criticism from Australia. Another point of contention is the degree to which emerging economies such as India and China should be expected to constrain their emissions. The U.S contends that if it must bear the cost of reducing emissions, then China should do the same since Chinas gross national carbon dioxide emissions now exceeds those of the U.S. China has contended that it is less obligated to reduce the emissions since its per capita responsibility and per capita emissions are less than that of the U.S. India , also exempt, has made similar contentions.

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