Global warming: Experts endorse UN panel’s findings

Share this articlePrint this pageEmail

Intergovernmental panel releases the first part of its report, concluding global warming is ‘unequivocal’. 

Read More

Global warming: Experts discuss measures to make capital climate-resilient

Share this articlePrint this pageEmail

Experts discuss measures to make capital climate-resilient. PHOTO: FIL

ISLAMABAD: 

The move to make the federal capital a climate-resilient city has started with an initiative to assess its vulnerability to climate change and determine adaptation measures.

The Climate Change Division (CCD) and UN-Habitat convened a consultative meeting of stakeholders at the division’s office on Thursday to discuss the “Climate Change Vulnerability Adaptation Assessment in Islamabad Capital Territory.” At the meeting, Irfan Tariq, a director general at CCD, said after assessing risks and identifying gaps in institutional capacity, an action plan would be hammered out to address climate vulnerability. The plan would help improve the ability of city authorities t0 cope with changing weather patterns.

Read More

The Consequences Of Global Warming

The Consequences Of Global Warming

Read More

Global Warming

Learn about the causes and effects global warming and climate change. Social, biological and physical impacts of climate change, as well as raising awareness for carbon emissions and greenhouse gases.

Global warming - which is caused mainly by carbon emissions and greenhouse gases - is a problem. This has been forced into the minds of global citizens for the past generation. Why it is a problem is a largely unanswered question. The short answer is that global warming will probably make life harder, not easier, for most people. Of course the validity of this statement varies depending on where one is living and which economic class one falls into.

The Relationship of Global Warming and Climate Change

Global warming is a mode of climate change that is affecting our planet. A climate change can be defined as a change in the state of the climate identifiable via changes in the variability of its properties that persist over times. Climate change can be a result of natural causes or human activity. NASA has observed that the larger the change inclimate (the greater the variability of its properties), the more negative the consequences will be. These consequences come as a result of the fact that the current economic, social, biologic and political infrastructures that exist on planet Earth are all constructed according to the specific climate of the time of the infrastructure's inception.

Effects and Impacts of Global Warming

People in temperate zones may benefit from milder winters and expanding crop production while people in other areas will suffer from increased heat waves,coastal erosion, rising sea levels, and droughts. The products that sustain people (food) may be unable to adapt to local or regional climate changes. Temperature also invites a larger range for diseasesto expand into. Intensified heat waves or rising sea levels affects the livelihood of millions by altering the norms of their constructed culture. Heavy rains will change crop seasons and therefore change shipping routes and market prices.

Environmentalgraffiti.com has identified the five most deadly effects of global warming. The spread of diseases like malaria due to warmer climates,warmer waters and thus more hurricanes, increased probability of droughts, economic consequences, and the melting of the polar ices caps comprise the list.

These are some serious problems, the specifics of which are increasingly complicated as their interconnectedness to the functioning world is spelled out. To summarize, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has stated: "Taken as a whole, the range of published evidence indicates that the net damage costs of climate change are likely to be significant and to increase over time."

Read on about the effects of global warming and climate change:

• social effects and impacts of global warming
• biological effects and impacts of global warming
• physical effects and impacts of global warming

Raising Awareness for Global Warming and Climate Change

A project supported by Environmental Defense Fund, a Washington D.C. (United States) based awareness initiative, suggests that people who live in industrial countries are not aware of the effect of global warming in their everyday lives. They know what global warming is when they are asked, but they are not taking action to address the issue. They are not taking action because they either do not wish to, or are not sure of what action they should take. This is the essential issue with raising awareness, it is generally intended to incite discussion, but solid feasible solutions are lacking. They will come.

These problems that we are facing unite us as a species and are forcing the global infrastructure to accommodate discussions like the one about global warming. There is no obvious answer because the effect of global warming has such a wide impact zone. It cannot be addressed economically or socially, but rather generally.

If a generalist attitude is maintained and more data is dutifully gathered and awareness is raised, practices will evolve that will solve the climate change challenge. Although not apparent at the moment, global warming will be ingrained into our daily lives and we will learn to live with it and the knowledge of its potential effects. Most importantly, we will learn to live in such a way that actively negates its effect.

All of this information is daunting and crucial to figuring out our future. The future must be cleaner and more sustainable without sacrificing efficiency. This is a tall order that can only be met by collective innovation. There must be innovation because these new problems require new, unheard of solutions, and it must be collective because these new problems impact us all, and have the potential to do so in extremely transformative ways. In order to preserve our way of life, some sacrifices may have to be made, but if conceived in the right spirit of collective innovation, the solutions to the problem of global warming will create a cleaner future for all.

Resources

• Climate Change (US Environmental Protection Agency)
• Global Warming (Natural Resources Defense Council)
• Global Warming (Union of Concerned Scientists)
• Global Warming Report (National Academy of Sciences)
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
• Global Warming (Wikipedia)

More From This Category

Biological Impacts of Global Warming

Information on the harmful ecological and biological impacts and consequences of global warming and climate change. Rising temperatures, atmospheric gases, mass-dying of animal species and diseases.

Social Impacts of Global Warming

Information on the social and economic consequences and impacts of global warming. The occurring of so called "environmental refugees" and how climate change may destabilize democracies and societies.

Climate Change

Comprehensive articles, data, educational essays, pictures and images on the issues of climate change and global warming in general. Deforestation, desertification,... Learn how you can help to stop and prevent climate change.

Read More

Global warming and its effects

Global warming and its effects

Click to enlarge

sea level rise on an endangered island	endangered polar bear	polar bear on melting ice
puppy polar bear	polar bear

An article about Global Warming from a research done by the student of year 10 :

Greenhouse effect  
On Planet Earth, we can identify many factors that make life possible. One of these is the heat radiated from the sun which is the Earth's primary energy source, a burning star so hot that we can feel its heat from over 150 million kilometers away. Its rays enter our atmosphere and shower upon on our planet.
About one third of this solar energy is reflected back into the universe by shimmering glaciers, water and other bright surfaces. Two thirds, however, are
absorbed by the Earth, warming land. oceans and atmosphere.

Our atmosphere is known to be a combination of natural gases such as nitrogen, oxygen, water vapor and few other gases including carbon dioxide. 

However, in the last decades, the level of concentration of greenhouse gases, whose purpose is to keep the lower atmosphere warm, has been increasing. This has caused a global warming which could upset most of the ecosystems of the globe, leading to their destruction.

The most recent assessment report complied by the IPCC observed that changes in atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases and aerosols, land cover and solar radiation alter the energy balance of the « climate system ». Indeed, the element of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere nowadays is 30% reater than in the 18th century. 
  The greenhouse effect was discovered by Joseph Fourier, a French physicist and mathematician in 1824. The greenhouse effect refers to circumstances where the visible light of the sun passes through the layers of the atmosphere. In that case, some are absorbed and transformed into a warming instrument to the earth's surface. Contributing to the equivalent exchange of the incoming energy, the lands and oceans release heat into the atmosphere. Some of the
gases mentioned above, such as the water vapor and carbon dioxide, absorb a fraction of that heat helping to a warm atmosphere. What's left of that heat is
then released into space. This absorption of heat leads to more heating and a higher resultant temperature, aiding to provide a suitable temperature warm
enough to our sustainability. Without this radiation heat-trapping caused by the so-called greenhouse gases, the surface would have an average temperature
of -18ºC rather than our presently quite warm 15ºC. The latter temperature is necessary to preserve life on earth. Carbon dioxide and water vapour are
probably the main human produced gases contributing to the greenhouse effect and global warming. The earth reflects about 30% of the incoming solar
radiations. The remaining 70% warms the earth after being absorbed. Thus, the more solar radiations are absorbed, the more the earth releases infrared
radiation to balance the flux of radiations.                  
  
Lately, the Earth has faced a warming of the litosphere which is known as anthropogenic global warming. It is due to the increasing concentration of greenhouse effect gases in the atmosphere caused by the overuse of cars, planes, factories, etc. despite the Kyoto Protocol signed on the 11th December 1997 by mostly developped countries except the USA. These accords are about decreasing the member countries greenhouse gases emissions. The increase of greenhouse gases cause a reduction in outgoing infrared radiation, which means that, to restore the balance between incomming and outgoing radiation, Earth's climate must change. Global Warming is the simplest way for the climate to get rid of excess energy. But a rise in temperature could cause many other events, such as the consequences that follow ....

  Sea level rise

  One serious consequence raised by the Greenhouse effect is the rate of sea level rise. For the past century, the sea level has risen at an average rate of 1.8mm per year. However between 1993 and 2003 there was a mean increase rate of 31mm per year in the sea level change.

This rate is estimated to increase in the next one hundred years due to the increases of gases in the atmosphere and global warming. In the next century the sea level is estimated to rise anywhere between 90 and 880mm.
The two main causes of sea level rise are thermal expansion and the addition of water due to the melting of ice sheets. Both these are linked to to climate change and the Greenhouse effect.
Thermal expansion can be described as the tendency of matter to change in volume to change in response to a change in temperature. It is the decrease in water density that results from global warming. This leads to the expansion of the ocean and an increase in the sea levels.
The ice sheets in a Antarctica and Greenland melt, due to the increases in temperature and contribute to the rise of the sea levels.
An increase in the sea level could cause major disasters all over the world. These include eroding shorelines, coastal flooding, storm damage and saltwater contamination of freshwater supplies. The rise in sea lever also puts beaches, freshwater, coral reefs, fisheries and wildlife habitats at risk. Some of these consequences endanger human and animal life such as flooding.
The increase in sea levels could also cause the submerging of islands and could cause massive economic damage with billons spent on adaptation. Pacific Islands called Kiribati, located between Australia and Hawaii, and the Maldives are both in danger of being submerged.
Their tides are rising and their freshwater is becoming to salty to drink. This shows a situation were many lives are at risk and peole will have to rellocate
to continue with their lives. Indonesia is also threatened by rising sea levels and if indonesia is submerged millions of people will need to be accepted in
other countries. 
However if we act rapidly to reduce emissions we can still prevent the worst effects of climate change but to do this we must switch to renewable energy sources.
  
POLAR BEARS

Although it is difficult to connect specific weather events to Global warming, an increase in global temperatures may in turn cause broader changes, including
glacial retreat, arctic shrinkage and worldwide sea level rise.
These “natural” disasters affect many animals too. The Polar bear is one among many of the affected animals.
The Polar Bear also known as “the great white bear” is the largest bear species in the world, it lives in the Arctic.  This great animal is completely dependent of on a sea of ice for survival however the shrinkage of 15 to 20% of sea-ice in the Arctic is slowly killing its prey, causing the species to die of starvation. 
The melting ice-caps also mean the polar bear has to travel greater distances without any rest. The number of bears found dead in the water due to
drowning has therefore increased.  
As a result of the melting, solar radiations that are supposed to bounce back on the ice are being absorbed in the water. Consequently, the water's  temperature around the polar caps are getting higher and melting more ice; it is a circular phenomenon.
According to experts, “a rapid, dramatic reduction in greenhouse gas emissions is necessary to prevent the extinction of the species.”
A 15% drop in birth rate has been detected by scientists. This is due to the lack of freezing which causes Polar Bears to lose critical fat reserves necessary for
females to produce enough milk for their cubs.

The polar bear could be extinct in 100 years. The Polar Bear is in danger of extinction due to Global warming. These animals are faced with the threat of Global warming everyday, due to dangerous levels of CO2 emitted into the atmosphere by our use of planes, cars and other carbon producing equipment. 65% of greenhouse gases are due to public transport like those listed above. With the Arctic getting smaller and smaller the Polar bear will be the first mammal in the world to lose 100% of its habitat through Global warming.


Alex Karonis, Elisa Lau, Maïré Perrottet, Sébastien Printant, Zoé Richard and Kareem Salem




 

Read More

Global warming and its effects

Global warming and its effects

Click to enlarge

sea level rise on an endangered island	endangered polar bear	polar bear on melting ice
puppy polar bear	polar bear

An article about Global Warming from a research done by the student of year 10 :

Greenhouse effect  
On Planet Earth, we can identify many factors that make life possible. One of these is the heat radiated from the sun which is the Earth's primary energy source, a burning star so hot that we can feel its heat from over 150 million kilometers away. Its rays enter our atmosphere and shower upon on our planet.
About one third of this solar energy is reflected back into the universe by shimmering glaciers, water and other bright surfaces. Two thirds, however, are
absorbed by the Earth, warming land. oceans and atmosphere.

Our atmosphere is known to be a combination of natural gases such as nitrogen, oxygen, water vapor and few other gases including carbon dioxide. 

However, in the last decades, the level of concentration of greenhouse gases, whose purpose is to keep the lower atmosphere warm, has been increasing. This has caused a global warming which could upset most of the ecosystems of the globe, leading to their destruction.

The most recent assessment report complied by the IPCC observed that changes in atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases and aerosols, land cover and solar radiation alter the energy balance of the « climate system ». Indeed, the element of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere nowadays is 30% reater than in the 18th century. 
  The greenhouse effect was discovered by Joseph Fourier, a French physicist and mathematician in 1824. The greenhouse effect refers to circumstances where the visible light of the sun passes through the layers of the atmosphere. In that case, some are absorbed and transformed into a warming instrument to the earth's surface. Contributing to the equivalent exchange of the incoming energy, the lands and oceans release heat into the atmosphere. Some of the
gases mentioned above, such as the water vapor and carbon dioxide, absorb a fraction of that heat helping to a warm atmosphere. What's left of that heat is
then released into space. This absorption of heat leads to more heating and a higher resultant temperature, aiding to provide a suitable temperature warm
enough to our sustainability. Without this radiation heat-trapping caused by the so-called greenhouse gases, the surface would have an average temperature
of -18ºC rather than our presently quite warm 15ºC. The latter temperature is necessary to preserve life on earth. Carbon dioxide and water vapour are
probably the main human produced gases contributing to the greenhouse effect and global warming. The earth reflects about 30% of the incoming solar
radiations. The remaining 70% warms the earth after being absorbed. Thus, the more solar radiations are absorbed, the more the earth releases infrared
radiation to balance the flux of radiations.                  
  
Lately, the Earth has faced a warming of the litosphere which is known as anthropogenic global warming. It is due to the increasing concentration of greenhouse effect gases in the atmosphere caused by the overuse of cars, planes, factories, etc. despite the Kyoto Protocol signed on the 11th December 1997 by mostly developped countries except the USA. These accords are about decreasing the member countries greenhouse gases emissions. The increase of greenhouse gases cause a reduction in outgoing infrared radiation, which means that, to restore the balance between incomming and outgoing radiation, Earth's climate must change. Global Warming is the simplest way for the climate to get rid of excess energy. But a rise in temperature could cause many other events, such as the consequences that follow ....

  Sea level rise

  One serious consequence raised by the Greenhouse effect is the rate of sea level rise. For the past century, the sea level has risen at an average rate of 1.8mm per year. However between 1993 and 2003 there was a mean increase rate of 31mm per year in the sea level change.

This rate is estimated to increase in the next one hundred years due to the increases of gases in the atmosphere and global warming. In the next century the sea level is estimated to rise anywhere between 90 and 880mm.
The two main causes of sea level rise are thermal expansion and the addition of water due to the melting of ice sheets. Both these are linked to to climate change and the Greenhouse effect.
Thermal expansion can be described as the tendency of matter to change in volume to change in response to a change in temperature. It is the decrease in water density that results from global warming. This leads to the expansion of the ocean and an increase in the sea levels.
The ice sheets in a Antarctica and Greenland melt, due to the increases in temperature and contribute to the rise of the sea levels.
An increase in the sea level could cause major disasters all over the world. These include eroding shorelines, coastal flooding, storm damage and saltwater contamination of freshwater supplies. The rise in sea lever also puts beaches, freshwater, coral reefs, fisheries and wildlife habitats at risk. Some of these consequences endanger human and animal life such as flooding.
The increase in sea levels could also cause the submerging of islands and could cause massive economic damage with billons spent on adaptation. Pacific Islands called Kiribati, located between Australia and Hawaii, and the Maldives are both in danger of being submerged.
Their tides are rising and their freshwater is becoming to salty to drink. This shows a situation were many lives are at risk and peole will have to rellocate
to continue with their lives. Indonesia is also threatened by rising sea levels and if indonesia is submerged millions of people will need to be accepted in
other countries. 
However if we act rapidly to reduce emissions we can still prevent the worst effects of climate change but to do this we must switch to renewable energy sources.
  
POLAR BEARS

Although it is difficult to connect specific weather events to Global warming, an increase in global temperatures may in turn cause broader changes, including
glacial retreat, arctic shrinkage and worldwide sea level rise.
These “natural” disasters affect many animals too. The Polar bear is one among many of the affected animals.
The Polar Bear also known as “the great white bear” is the largest bear species in the world, it lives in the Arctic.  This great animal is completely dependent of on a sea of ice for survival however the shrinkage of 15 to 20% of sea-ice in the Arctic is slowly killing its prey, causing the species to die of starvation. 
The melting ice-caps also mean the polar bear has to travel greater distances without any rest. The number of bears found dead in the water due to
drowning has therefore increased.  
As a result of the melting, solar radiations that are supposed to bounce back on the ice are being absorbed in the water. Consequently, the water's  temperature around the polar caps are getting higher and melting more ice; it is a circular phenomenon.
According to experts, “a rapid, dramatic reduction in greenhouse gas emissions is necessary to prevent the extinction of the species.”
A 15% drop in birth rate has been detected by scientists. This is due to the lack of freezing which causes Polar Bears to lose critical fat reserves necessary for
females to produce enough milk for their cubs.

The polar bear could be extinct in 100 years. The Polar Bear is in danger of extinction due to Global warming. These animals are faced with the threat of Global warming everyday, due to dangerous levels of CO2 emitted into the atmosphere by our use of planes, cars and other carbon producing equipment. 65% of greenhouse gases are due to public transport like those listed above. With the Arctic getting smaller and smaller the Polar bear will be the first mammal in the world to lose 100% of its habitat through Global warming.


Alex Karonis, Elisa Lau, Maïré Perrottet, Sébastien Printant, Zoé Richard and Kareem Salem




 

Read More

Global warming and its effects

Global warming and its effects

Click to enlarge

sea level rise on an endangered island	endangered polar bear	polar bear on melting ice
puppy polar bear	polar bear

An article about Global Warming from a research done by the student of year 10 :

Greenhouse effect  
On Planet Earth, we can identify many factors that make life possible. One of these is the heat radiated from the sun which is the Earth's primary energy source, a burning star so hot that we can feel its heat from over 150 million kilometers away. Its rays enter our atmosphere and shower upon on our planet.
About one third of this solar energy is reflected back into the universe by shimmering glaciers, water and other bright surfaces. Two thirds, however, are
absorbed by the Earth, warming land. oceans and atmosphere.

Our atmosphere is known to be a combination of natural gases such as nitrogen, oxygen, water vapor and few other gases including carbon dioxide. 

However, in the last decades, the level of concentration of greenhouse gases, whose purpose is to keep the lower atmosphere warm, has been increasing. This has caused a global warming which could upset most of the ecosystems of the globe, leading to their destruction.

The most recent assessment report complied by the IPCC observed that changes in atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases and aerosols, land cover and solar radiation alter the energy balance of the « climate system ». Indeed, the element of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere nowadays is 30% reater than in the 18th century. 
  The greenhouse effect was discovered by Joseph Fourier, a French physicist and mathematician in 1824. The greenhouse effect refers to circumstances where the visible light of the sun passes through the layers of the atmosphere. In that case, some are absorbed and transformed into a warming instrument to the earth's surface. Contributing to the equivalent exchange of the incoming energy, the lands and oceans release heat into the atmosphere. Some of the
gases mentioned above, such as the water vapor and carbon dioxide, absorb a fraction of that heat helping to a warm atmosphere. What's left of that heat is
then released into space. This absorption of heat leads to more heating and a higher resultant temperature, aiding to provide a suitable temperature warm
enough to our sustainability. Without this radiation heat-trapping caused by the so-called greenhouse gases, the surface would have an average temperature
of -18ºC rather than our presently quite warm 15ºC. The latter temperature is necessary to preserve life on earth. Carbon dioxide and water vapour are
probably the main human produced gases contributing to the greenhouse effect and global warming. The earth reflects about 30% of the incoming solar
radiations. The remaining 70% warms the earth after being absorbed. Thus, the more solar radiations are absorbed, the more the earth releases infrared
radiation to balance the flux of radiations.                  
  
Lately, the Earth has faced a warming of the litosphere which is known as anthropogenic global warming. It is due to the increasing concentration of greenhouse effect gases in the atmosphere caused by the overuse of cars, planes, factories, etc. despite the Kyoto Protocol signed on the 11th December 1997 by mostly developped countries except the USA. These accords are about decreasing the member countries greenhouse gases emissions. The increase of greenhouse gases cause a reduction in outgoing infrared radiation, which means that, to restore the balance between incomming and outgoing radiation, Earth's climate must change. Global Warming is the simplest way for the climate to get rid of excess energy. But a rise in temperature could cause many other events, such as the consequences that follow ....

  Sea level rise

  One serious consequence raised by the Greenhouse effect is the rate of sea level rise. For the past century, the sea level has risen at an average rate of 1.8mm per year. However between 1993 and 2003 there was a mean increase rate of 31mm per year in the sea level change.

This rate is estimated to increase in the next one hundred years due to the increases of gases in the atmosphere and global warming. In the next century the sea level is estimated to rise anywhere between 90 and 880mm.
The two main causes of sea level rise are thermal expansion and the addition of water due to the melting of ice sheets. Both these are linked to to climate change and the Greenhouse effect.
Thermal expansion can be described as the tendency of matter to change in volume to change in response to a change in temperature. It is the decrease in water density that results from global warming. This leads to the expansion of the ocean and an increase in the sea levels.
The ice sheets in a Antarctica and Greenland melt, due to the increases in temperature and contribute to the rise of the sea levels.
An increase in the sea level could cause major disasters all over the world. These include eroding shorelines, coastal flooding, storm damage and saltwater contamination of freshwater supplies. The rise in sea lever also puts beaches, freshwater, coral reefs, fisheries and wildlife habitats at risk. Some of these consequences endanger human and animal life such as flooding.
The increase in sea levels could also cause the submerging of islands and could cause massive economic damage with billons spent on adaptation. Pacific Islands called Kiribati, located between Australia and Hawaii, and the Maldives are both in danger of being submerged.
Their tides are rising and their freshwater is becoming to salty to drink. This shows a situation were many lives are at risk and peole will have to rellocate
to continue with their lives. Indonesia is also threatened by rising sea levels and if indonesia is submerged millions of people will need to be accepted in
other countries. 
However if we act rapidly to reduce emissions we can still prevent the worst effects of climate change but to do this we must switch to renewable energy sources.
  
POLAR BEARS

Although it is difficult to connect specific weather events to Global warming, an increase in global temperatures may in turn cause broader changes, including
glacial retreat, arctic shrinkage and worldwide sea level rise.
These “natural” disasters affect many animals too. The Polar bear is one among many of the affected animals.
The Polar Bear also known as “the great white bear” is the largest bear species in the world, it lives in the Arctic.  This great animal is completely dependent of on a sea of ice for survival however the shrinkage of 15 to 20% of sea-ice in the Arctic is slowly killing its prey, causing the species to die of starvation. 
The melting ice-caps also mean the polar bear has to travel greater distances without any rest. The number of bears found dead in the water due to
drowning has therefore increased.  
As a result of the melting, solar radiations that are supposed to bounce back on the ice are being absorbed in the water. Consequently, the water's  temperature around the polar caps are getting higher and melting more ice; it is a circular phenomenon.
According to experts, “a rapid, dramatic reduction in greenhouse gas emissions is necessary to prevent the extinction of the species.”
A 15% drop in birth rate has been detected by scientists. This is due to the lack of freezing which causes Polar Bears to lose critical fat reserves necessary for
females to produce enough milk for their cubs.

The polar bear could be extinct in 100 years. The Polar Bear is in danger of extinction due to Global warming. These animals are faced with the threat of Global warming everyday, due to dangerous levels of CO2 emitted into the atmosphere by our use of planes, cars and other carbon producing equipment. 65% of greenhouse gases are due to public transport like those listed above. With the Arctic getting smaller and smaller the Polar bear will be the first mammal in the world to lose 100% of its habitat through Global warming.


Alex Karonis, Elisa Lau, Maïré Perrottet, Sébastien Printant, Zoé Richard and Kareem Salem




 

Read More