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| Sunday, 21 November 2004 |
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Junior Observer |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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The burning issue Did you know that the Earth has warmed by about one Fahrenheit over the past 100 years and according to the world's leading climatologists the inhabitants are responsible for making the Earth warmer? Global warming refers to an average increase in the Earth's temperature, which in turn causes changes in climate. 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.
Recent climate history The four warmest years of the 20th century are recorded in the 1990s. Periods of increased heat from the Sun too may have helped make the Earth warmer. As the Earth continues to warm, there is a growing risk that the climate will change in ways that will seriously disrupt our lives. While on an average the entire globe will get warmer, individual regions will experience different climatic changes and environmental impacts. Among the most severe consequences of global warming are; a faster rise in sea levels, more heat waves and droughts resulting in more and more conflicts for water resources, more extreme weather, producing floods and property destruction and a greater potential for heat-related illness and deaths, as well as the wider spread of infectious diseases carried by insects and rodents into areas previously free from them. Many glaciers in the world are now melting (a glacier is a large sheet of ice that moves very, very slowly),partly because the Earth is getting warmer. Rising sea level is another problem caused by global warming. All around the world the level of the sea is rising, so high tides are higher than they were before. Over the last 100 years the level of the sea has risen about 6-8 inches worldwide. Scientists think the sea has risen partly because of the melting of glaciers and sea ice. Scientists also think that the warmer temperature in the sea makes it rise even more. Heat makes water expand. When the ocean expands, it takes up more space. If climate trends continue unabated, global warming will threaten our health, our cities, our farms and forests, beaches and wetlands and other natural habitats. Do you know, whenever you watch TV, use the air conditioner, turn on a light, use a hair dryer,play a video game, listen to a stereo, use a dish washer,washing machine or microwave a meal, you are helping to send greenhouse gases into the air? Many other things we do, send greenhouse gases into the air too; the trash that we send to landfills produces a greenhouse gas called methane. Methane is also produced by the animals we raise for dairy and meat products and when we take coal out of the ground. And when the factories make the things that we buy and use everyday, they too are sending gases into the air. We can take action to reduce this threat. In order to reduce the emission of heat-trapping gases like carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide into the atmosphere, we can curb the consumption of fossil fuels, use technologies that minimise the amount of emissions wherever possible, and protect the world's forests. Find out how each country is affected by global warming and which countries are most responsible for the present situation. - Chamitha Kuruppu ***** Fact file-Heating up! Here are some 'hot facts' on global warming: * Some of the warming since the end of the cold spell in mid - 19th century can be attributed to solar cycles but green house gases play a major role. * The world has warmed by 0.5 degrees Celsius over the past century and an average 2 degrees Celsius warming is predicted by 2100. * Global sea levels have risen between 10 and 25 centimetres in the last 100 years and will rise faster in the coming decades. * Millions of people will be exposed to more health risks. By the year 2050, upto one million additional deaths from malaria may occur annually as a result of climate change. About 30 new infectious diseases have emerged over the past couple of decades. * The hydrological cycle will become intense, increasing evaporation. This will in turn increase rainfall and intensity of storms in coastal regions and cause drought and desertification in the interior regions. * Decrease in water availability. * General reduction of crops. * More monsoon floods in South-East Asia, and more drought in Central Asia and other parts of the world. Facts: WWF Nature and Red Cross Red Crescent ***** The big picture on CO2 The accumulation in the atmosphere of gases, especially carbon dioxide (CO2) from burning fossil fuels, is trapping solar energy at particular wavelengths close to the Earth's surface which is known as the 'greenhouse effect'. Carbon dioxide stays in the air for at least a century and we need to cut down emissions of the gas by more than half soon, just to stabilise temperatures at existing levels. Carbon dioxide accounted for over 80 per cent of global warming pollution in 1990 - and 97 per cent of the CO2 emitted by western industrialised countries came from burning coal, oil and gas for energy. There is now over 30 per cent more carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere than before the industrial revolution. Source: WWF for Nature **** The Green House Effect The greenhouse effect is the rise in temperature that the Earth experiences because certain gases in the atmosphere (water vapour, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane) trap energy from the Sun. Without these gases, heat would escape back into space and Earth's average temperature would be about 60 degrees Fahrenheit colder. Because of how they warm our world, these gases are referred to as 'greenhouse gases'. 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.Human activities that release heat-trapping gases and particles into the air include burning of fossil fuels such as coal, gas, oil and deforestation. |
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| Politics | Produced by Lake House |
It may seem hard to believe that people can actually change the Earth's
climate. But scientists think that the things people do, especially those
that release greenhouse gases into the air are making our planet warmer.
