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Global Warming

The slow gradual rise in the temperature of the Earth due to emission of excess quantities of radiation trapping gases (green house gases), is called global warming. It is estimated that by 2030 the average global temperature will have risen by 1 to 3o C . The green house gases absorb the radiated heat and re-emit to the surface again to maintain the optimum temperature of the surface. This is called green house effect. But, due to rapid industrialization, the rate of emission of green house gases specially CO 2 , CH 4 , water vapour is increasing and as a result the slow and gradual rise in temperature is taking place. Thus, the excess green house effect is responsible for the global warming.

Impact of Global Warming on Environment


Impact of global warming on climate: Emission of green house gases in the atmosphere in increasing rates may affect the climate to a large extent. Due to increase of average global temperature, water from various sources on Earth may evaporate more rapidly and as a result of which the overall amount of rainfall may increase. But this phenomenon will not occur evenly in all the parts of the Earth, there may be heavy rainfall in some parts and drought in some other parts of the world. In some region, the summer may be hotter & prolonged, and winter becomes shorter & warmer. Impact of global warming on Sea water level: If the global temperature increases, the icecaps and glaciers of the polar regions of the Earth may be melted partially, the floating ice on the water of the seas may also melt partially or completely. Due to an increase in temperature there may be an expansion of volume of sea water and as a result of which the level of sea water may rise. If the global temperature increases by 3oC-5oC on average, then a vast populated low-land area of the world specially coastal areas may be flooded. Impact of global warming on Agriculture: An increase in the amount of CO 2 in air is favourable for an increasing rate of photosynthesis of plants, therefore increase in CO 2 may increase the production of crops in some cases and on the other hand crop production may be reduced in some cases due to dry soil having higher temperature. There may be acute scarcity of water for irrigation in some places. In some regions, again, production of crops may decrease due to soil erosion rate becoming faster due to heavy rainfall and washing away of fertile top soil reducing thereby the available cropland area. Impact of global warming on marine food: Due to increase in temperature, the ice-caps, glaciers melt and as a result, expansion of volume of sea-water takes place. This expansion reduces the concentration of salts and changes the pH of the sea water. The average temperature of sea water is also changed. This changed environment is not suitable for the existence of different marine living organisms, especially fish. Different marine algae that are considered as food also die due to this disturbed condition.

400 ppm CO2 e 450 ppm CO2 e 550 ppm CO2 e 650 ppm CO2 e 750 ppm CO2 e Eventual temperature change (relative to pre industrial era) 0C Food 1C 2C 3C 4C 5C

Failing crop yields in many developing countries Entire regions experience major declines in crop yields

Rising number of people at risk from hunger

Rising crop yields in high Latitude developed countries if strong carbon fertilization

Yields in many developed regions declines even if strong carbon fertilization

Water

Small mountain glaciers disappear world wide

Significant changes in water availability Greater than 30% decrease in run off Sea level rise threatens major world cities

Ecosystem

Corel reef ecosystems extensively damaged

Possible onset of collapse of part on all Amazonian rainfall

Large fraction of ecosystems unable to maintain current form

Many species face extinction

Weather and Climate change

Rising intensity of stroms, forest, fires, droughts, flooding and heat wave Onset of irreversible meeting of green land ice sheet

Different impacts expected at different levels of warming (global temperature change)

Sustainable Development
Sustainable development is a development, which meets the needs of current generation without jeoparadising the needs of the future generation. There are three basic components of sustainable development a) Economic System b) Social System c) Environmental System. These three components are interdependent. The objective of sustainable development is to maximize the goals in the three systems balancing the trade offs and setting priorities among the various goals. Objectives of Sustainable Development Usually, there are two objective of sustainable development a) Improvement of life style of human beings. b) Protection of environment. Improvement of Life Style of Human Beings Both economic and social systems are responsible for the improvement of the life style of human beings. The economic component of sustainability requires that societies pursue the growth path that generate optimal flow of income while maintaining their basic stock of man made capital, human capital, natural capital. There are three basic goals of an economic system i) Increasing production of goods and services ii) Satisfying basic needs iii) Improving the economic equity. But economic development of a particular area should not be considered as a total development of the area. Economic development is only a part of the total development. To achieve the sustainable development, along with economic development, the social development is also required. The social dimension of sustainable development is built on twin principles of social justice and social equity.

Protection of Environment
The development should be always based on conservation of the ecological and environmental systems. All kinds of living organisms including human beings are directly or indirectly depend upon the environment for their existence. So it is quite necessary to conserve the quality of environment. It should be remembered that, no development become sustainable without the proper conservation of both natural resources and biodiversity.

Guidelines for Sustainable Development The following guidelines are suggested for achieving sustainable development 1. Reduce the input of matter and energy resources to prevent excessive depletion and degradation of planetary sources. 2. Use energy more efficiently and not use high quality energy for task that require only moderate quality energy 3. Shift from exhaustible and potentially polluting fossil and nuclear fuels to less harmful renewable energy obtained directly or indirectly from the sun. 4. Use potentially renewable resources, and use them no faster than the rate at which they are regenerated. 5. Not waste non renewable resources, and use them no faster than the rate at which a renewable resource, used sustainably can be substituted. 6. Recycle and reuse at least 60% of the matter now discarded as trash. 7. Reduce use and waste matter resource by making things that last longer and are easier to recycle, reuse and recover. 8. Add waste and pollutants to environmental sinks no faster than the rate at which they can be recycled, reused, absorbed or rendered harmless to us and other species by natural processes. 9. Emphasize pollution prevention and waste reduction instead of pollution cleanup and waste management. 10. Slow human population growth to help reduce stress on global life support. 11. Greatly reduce poverty, which degrades humans and the environment by forcing people to use resources, unsustainably to stay alive.

Certainly, the preservation of the environment will not only require substantial financial resources, it must also be fully integrated into the mechanics of development. To sum up, we think we have clearly demonstrated that a real effort of will is needed to combat poverty. But, at first sight, the safeguarding of our environment requires changes in our behaviour vis--vis nature, and an understanding of the limited resources of our planet, stemming from an effective participation of the people in the management of everything touching their environment, whether local or planetary.

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