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What is Global Warming
Global warming is a gradual process of heating of earth’s surface and
whole environment including oceans, ice caps, etc
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According to the Environmental Protection Agency, in the past century
there is increase in the earth’s surface average temperature by around
1
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8 degrees Celsius)
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5
degrees F in the next century
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The most important cause of global
warming is greenhouse gases which are generated by some natural
processes as well as human activities
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Increasing demand of
industrialization in the modern world to fulfill almost each need is causing
the release of variety of green house gases through many industrial
processes in the atmosphere
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The release of carbon

dioxide gas varies according to the natural and industrial processes
including photosynthesis and oxidation cycles
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Other greenhouse gases are like oxides of nitrogen
(nitrous oxide), halocarbons, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), chlorine and
bromine compounds, etc
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They have
capability to absorb heat radiations and cause warming of the earth
surface
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Ozone layer is declining day by day by
increasing release of chlorofluorocarbon gas
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Chlorofluorocarbon gas is used at many places
as aerosol propellants in the industrial cleaning fluids and in the
refrigerators, the gradual release of which causes declination to the ozone
layer in the atmosphere
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However, gradually declining
ozone layer is the big indication of increasing global warming of the earth
surface
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According to the statistics, it has been estimated that the size of
ozone hole has been twice the size of Antarctica (more than 25 million
km2) by 2000
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Presence of various aerosols in the atmosphere is also causing earth’s
surface temperature to increase
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They are also capable to change the
microphysical and chemical properties of the clouds and possibly their
lifetime and extent
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Dust is produced by agriculture, organic
droplets and soot particles are produced by biomass burning, and
aerosols are produced by the industrial processes through the burning of
wide variety of products in the manufacturing process
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Effects of Global Warming
The effects of global warming have been very clear in the recent years
because of increasing sources of global warming
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S
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Huge level
climate changes are making hurricanes more dangerous and powerful
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Year
2012 has been recorded as hottest year since 1895 and year 2013
together with 2003 as the warmest year since 1880
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Almost one-fifth of the global warming that has occurred in the past 150
years has been missed by historical records due to quirks in how global
temperatures were recorded, a new Nasa-led study has found
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The Arctic is warming faster than the rest of Earth, but there are fewer
historic temperature readings from there than from lower latitudes because
it is so inaccessible
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Another reason for under-estimation is that the historical data mix air and
water temperatures, whereas model results refer to air temperatures only
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Also, there was considerably more Arctic sea ice
when temperature records began in the 1860s, and early observers
recorded air temperatures over nearby land areas for the sea-ice-covered
regions
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That also pushed down the reported temperature change
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"They're quite small on their own, but they
add up in the same direction, We were surprised that they added up to
such a big effect
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That's enough that calculations generated from historical
records alone were cooler than about 90 percent of the results from the
climate models that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC) uses for its authoritative assessment reports
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Solutions of Global Warming
Many awareness programmes and programmes to reduce global warming
have been run and implemented by the government agencies, business
leaders, private sectors, NGOs, etc
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However, we should not get back and try everyone’s best to reduce the
effects of global warming by reducing the human causes of global
warming
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Instead of using electrical energy we should try using
clean energy or energy produced by solar system, wind and geothermal
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Case Studies
A
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In coming decades heatwaves in the Midwest are likely to
become more frequent, longer, and hotter than cities in the region have experienced
in the past
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Studies
projecting future mortality from heat foresee a substantial increase in health risks
from heatwaves
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The
elderly living in inner cities are particularly vulnerable to stronger heatwaves; other
groups, including children and the infirmed, are vulnerable as well
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Fire in the West
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In recent decades, a trend toward earlier spring
snowmelt and hotter, drier summers has already increased the number and duration
of large wildfires in the West (Westerling et al
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Although total annual
precipitation may increase in the Northwest, climate projections generally foresee
less precipitation throughout the West during the summer when risk of fire is
greatest
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, 2006; Volney and
Fleming, 2000)
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Ironically, suppression increases the risk of catastrophic fire by allowing
vegetation to build up, providing more fuel for fires when they ignite
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Careful attention to development decisions and human-induced ecosystem
stressors may help with adapting to increased risk from fire in the West resulting
from climate change
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The coastline of the Gulf of Mexico offers a prototypical
example of how human development patterns and climate change can interact to
create high risks to human and natural systems
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Accelerated sea-level rise and more intense hurricanes resulting from climate
change would increase these risks
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Chesapeake Bay hypoxia
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Hypoxia occurs when nutrient runoff from land
stimulates biological oxygen demand, reducing oxygen levels in the Chesapeake
Bay
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Development within the Chesapeake Bay
watershed has resulted in runoff of nutrients from farms and settlements, increasing
the incidence and intensity of hypoxia in the bay
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These changes could alter the current assessment of nutrient
reductions needed to meet water quality objectives
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Cross-cutting Themes
The case studies provide but a few diverse examples of potential climate change
impacts
...
However, several key

themes emerge from these studies that are likely to cut across many distinct impacts
in many different regions:
Impacts from climate change are already apparent
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To
be sure, attribution of particular events either wholly or partially to climate change is
a difficult process that can be controversial
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Westerling et al
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Extreme heat events in the United States are on the rise
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Multi-day extreme
heat events are also increasing
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This rise is likely
contributing to some loss of wetlands in places such as the Gulf of Mexico and the
Chesapeake Bay
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, 2006)
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Enlarged
pest populations, invasive species, and fire suppression all increase the vulnerability
of ecosystems to fire
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Canals, flood-control structures, and
pollution decrease the resilience of wetlands to rising sea levels and powerful
storms
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g
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g
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Successful adaptation to climate
change will likely require close attention to the many ways that human activities can
be altered to increase ecosystem resilience to climate change
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In the four
studies presented here, development and associated planning decisions and
management practices exacerbate the impacts of climate change
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Increased population, building of impervious surfaces, and agriculture in the
Chesapeake Bay watershed increase runoff of nutrients and risk of hypoxia
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More development in wilderness areas in the West also increases the number of
people and amount of property facing wildfire risk, as climate change increases the
frequency and intensity of large fires
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There are likely to be increasing risks and costs from future climate change
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There will likely be more loss of wetlands, higher risk to human life and
property from stronger storms and hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic,
more potential for hypoxia in the Chesapeake Bay and other coastal waters, more
frequent and more intense heatwaves with greater risks to human health, and more
frequent and intense wildfires
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Droughts and flash floods, for example, will likely increase in the
future, presenting greater risks in areas that are already prone to such events (IPCC,
2007)
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Many of the impacts
discussed in these studies could affect lives and property, and therefore, are likely to
affect insurance claims as well as government response to (and perhaps preparation
for) disasters
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This effect would likely have further consequences for insurance rates,
deductibles, and profits, which could affect other parts of the economy
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Adaptation will be important in determining future vulnerability
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Significant reductions in greenhouse gas
emissions leading to lower atmospheric concentrations would reduce the magnitude
of climate change and its impacts
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Thus,
adaptation is an important component of a response to climate change
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Adoption of heatwave early warning systems and other measures such as
improving access to air conditioning have been shown to reduce risks from extreme
heat events (Ebi et al
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Wisely managing development patterns and
vegetation can reduce the risks of fire (Platt et al
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Evacuation planning,
adoption of certain building designs, and limiting development in coastal areas can
reduce risks from hurricanes
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