Global warming

Global Warming effects on the natural balance of environment. The world climate is going a significant change day by day. There are many causes of Global Warming. The destruction and burning down of tropical forests , traffic clogging up the city streets , rapid growth of unplanned industries, the use of CFCs in packaging and manufacturing products, the use of detergents etc. cause Global Warming. Besides, overpopulation, deforestation are the causative factors of Global Warming. The setting up of mills and factories in an unplanned way has a great effect on environment. These mills and factories produce black smoke which gets mixed with air and increases the amount of CO2. Burning of Gas such as Methane (CH4) and fuel also increase CO2 in the environment. Killing animals like birds, big cats, lions, tigers is also a alarming cause of Global Warming. The effects of Global Warming is very dangerous for our existence and survival. The suns scorching heat comes to earth in a direct way. Therefore, the earths surface becomes seriously heated. Agriculture, forestry and fishery is seriously be damaged. This can catastrophically reduce mankinds ability to grow foods, destroy wildlife. Global Warming also cause sea-water to swell up. All species are important for maintaining ecological balance. If one is lost, the whole natural environment changes. To prevent the dangerous effects of Global Warming necessary steps should immediately be taken. People should not be allowed to cut off trees which causes deforestation. Rather they should be advised and suggested to plant more and more trees in accordance with their capability and convenience. Forests also control the natural balance. People should be made aware of it. Mills, factories, brick-fields should be set up in a very good planned way. There should be well drainage system to pass away waste materials, wastages and poisonous chemicals. The alarming worlds climate is very dangerous for mankind and ecological balance. Unless Global Warming is not controlled, no men, animals will be able to live, grow and thrive. So, we should try maintaining the ecological balance to decrease the effects of Global Warming.

Global Warming is caused by many things. The causes are split up into two groups, man-made or anthropogenic causes, and natural causes. Natural Causes Natural causes are causes created by nature. One natural cause is a release of methane gas from arctic tundra and wetlands. Methane is a greenhouse gas. A greenhouse gas is a gas that traps heat in the earth's atmosphere. Another natural

cause is that the earth goes through a cycle of climate change. This climate change usually lasts about 40,000 years. Man-made Causes Man-made causes probably do the most damage. There are many man-made causes. Pollution is one of the biggest man-made problems. Pollution comes in many shapes and sizes. Burning fossil fuels is one thing that causes pollution. Fossil fuels are fuels made of organic matter such as coal, or oil. When fossil fuels are burned they give off a green house gas called CO2. Also mining coal and oil allows methane to escape. How does it escape? Methane is naturally in the ground. When coal or oil is mined you have to dig up the earth a little. When you dig up the fossil fuels you dig up the methane as well. Another major man-made cause of Global Warming is population. More people mean more food, and more methods of transportation, right? That means more methane because there will be more burning of fossil fuels, and more agriculture. Now youre probably thinking, "Wait a minute, you said agriculture is going to be damaged by Global Warming, but now you're saying agriculture is going to help cause Global Warming?" Well, have you ever been in a barn filled with animals and you smell something terrible? You're smelling methane. Another source of methane is manure. Because more food is needed we have to raise food. Animals like cows are a source of food which means more manure and methane. Another problem with the increasing population is transportation. More people means more cars, and more cars means more pollution. Also, many people have more than one car. Since CO2 contributes to global warming, the increase in population makes the problem worse because we breathe out CO2. Also, the trees that convert our CO2 to oxygen are being demolished because we're using the land that we cut the trees down from as property for our homes and buildings. We are not replacing the trees (an important part of our eco system), so we are constantly taking advantage of our natural resources and giving nothing back in return.

Some impacts from increasing temperatures are already happening.

Ice is melting worldwide, especially at the Earths poles. This includes mountain glaciers, ice sheets covering West Antarctica and Greenland, and Arctic sea ice. Researcher Bill Fraser has tracked the decline of the Adlie penguins on Antarctica, where their numbers have fallen from 32,000 breeding pairs to 11,000 in 30 years. Sea level rise became faster over the last century. Some butterflies, foxes, and alpine plants have moved farther north or to higher, cooler areas. Precipitation (rain and snowfall) has increased across the globe, on average. Spruce bark beetles have boomed in Alaska thanks to 20 years of warm summers. The insects have chewed up 4 million acres of spruce trees.

Solutions:

Boosting energy efficiency: The energy used to power, heat, and cool our homes, businesses, and industries is the single largest contributor to global warming. Energy efficiency technologies allow us to use less energy to get the sameor higherlevel of production, service, and comfort. This approach has vast potential to save both energy and money, and can be deployed quickly. Greening transportation: The transportation sector's emissions have increased at a faster rate than any other energy-using sector over the past decade. A variety of solutions are at hand, including improving efficiency (miles per gallon) in all modes of transport, switching to low-carbon fuels, and reducing vehicle miles traveled through smart growth and more efficient mass transportation systems. Revving up renewables: Renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, geothermal and bioenergy are available around the world. Multiple studies have shown that renewable energy has the technical potential to meet the vast majority of our energy needs. Renewable technologies can be deployed quickly, are increasingly cost-effective, and create jobs while reducing pollution. Phasing out fossil fuel electricity: Dramatically reducing our use of fossil fuelsespecially carbon-intensive coalis essential to tackle climate change. There are many ways to begin this process. Key action steps include: not building any new coal-burning power plants, initiating a phased shutdown of coal plants starting with the oldest and dirtiest, and capturing and storing carbon emissions from power plants. While it may sound like science fiction, the technology exists to store carbon emissions underground. The technology has not been deployed on a large scale or proven to be safe and permanent, but it has been demonstrated in other contexts such as oil and natural gas

recovery. Demonstration projects to test the viability and costs of this technology for power plant emissions are worth pursuing.

Managing forests and agriculture: Taken together, tropical deforestation and emissions from agriculture represent nearly 30 percent of the world's heat-trapping emissions. We can fight global warming by reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation and by making our food production practices more sustainable. Exploring nuclear: Because nuclear power results in few global warming emissions, an increased share of nuclear power in the energy mix could help reduce global warmingbut nuclear technology poses serious threats to our security and, as the accident at the Fukushima Diaichi plant in Japan illustrates to our health and the environment as well. The question remains: can the safety, proliferation, waste disposal, and cost barriers of nuclear power be overcome? Developing and deploying new low-carbon and zero-carbon technologies: Research into and development of the next generation of lowcarbon technologies will be critical to deep mid-century reductions in global emissions. Current research on battery technology, new materials for solar cells, harnessing energy from novel sources like bacteria and algae, and other innovative areas could provide important breakthroughs. Ensuring sustainable development: The countries of the worldfrom the most to the least developedvary dramatically in their contributions to the problem of climate change and in their responsibilities and capacities to confront it. A successful global compact on climate change must include financial assistance from richer countries to poorer countries to help make the transition to low-carbon development pathways and to help adapt to the impacts of climate change.

Water resources issues:

Access to and adequacy of safe water: The per capita water availability at national level has declined over the years. Deteriorating water quality, pollution problems and seasonal water shortages are increasingly making water unsuitable and inadequate for basic human needs. Key challenge is providing safe and adequate water to all. In rural areas burden of fetching water from distant sources falls on women and yet women (who are the providers and managers of water in the household) have little or no voice in water resources planning. Institutional challenges: By far the most serious challenges are those of management of the existing infrastructure and of the water resource itself. Over the past few years several high level commissions have been appointed to deal with water management issues and also new national/state policies have been

promulgated13. However, not much of it has been implemented effectively. This divide between the problem and practice has led to extensive loss of credibility of the state apparatus for water development and management. Problem is balancing between service providers and users of all kind.

Service Provision: The provision of formal irrigation and water supply services in India is the virtual exclusive monopoly of government agencies, which often do not provide services to many (especially the poor) or provide poor quality services to those who do have access. On the contrary, market competition could correctly be argued to improve efficiency. Absence of clear, enforceable water entitlements at all levels is also at the root of service shortcomings such as, water use inefficiency, corruption, financial problems and conflicts which plague the water sector in India currently. Over-extraction of Groundwater and Quality Problems: Problems related to groundwater governance include high extraction rates, fluctuating water tables, groundwater pollution, and reduced agricultural production and equity issues. Complexities such as the existence 13of millions of wells across the country, unhindered public access to groundwater and often poorly understood character of the system dependent on groundwater, pose a serious challenge to the groundwater managers. Growing Financial Crunch: Currently, Indias water sector is in severe financial distress and there is enormous liability from deferred maintenance. There is shortage of substantial funds to deal with the needs for the development of water resources infrastructure, maintenance and management. Funds are required not only for annual maintenance and rehabilitation of the sector but also for providing services to those who do not have them. Distortion in pricing of water services has further induced substantial overall economic costs by enlarging the gulf between prices and costs.

Mineral resources: issues

1. Air pollution with dust and gases due to drilling, blasting, mine haulage and transportation by road, and also from waste heaps; 2. Water pollution when atomic elements and other harmful elements are present in the ore/mineral mine effluents; 3. Modifying water regimes such as surface flow, groundwater availability and lowering down of water table; 4. Soil erosion, soil modification with dust and salt; 5. Noise and vibration problem in the mine and adjoining habitat including wild life;

6. Alteration of the landform; 7. Deforestation affecting flora and fauna; and 8. Spoiling aesthetics with untreated waste dumps.

Forest resources issues:

Soil erosion: The soil gets washed away with rain water on sloppy areas in the absence of trees leading to soil erosion. Expansion of deserts: Due to strong winds laden by rock dust, land mass gradually gets converted in atmosphere. Decrease in rainfall: In the absence of forest, rainfall declines considerably because forest brings rains due to high rate of transpiration. It maintains humidity in atmosphere Loss of fertile land: Less rainfall results into loss of fertile land owing to less natural vegetation growth. Effect on climate: Deforestation induces global climate change. Climate becomes warmer due to lack of humidity in deforested areas, also pattern of rainfall changes Lowering of Water table: Lack of recharging of underground reservoir, results into lowering of water table Economic Losses: Deforestation will cause loss of industrial timber and non timber products Loss of biodiversity: Loss of flora and fauna result into loss of bio-diversity leading to disturbance in ecological balance world wide. Environmental changes: It will lead to increase in carbon dioxide concentration and other pollutants which results in Global warming.

Land resources issues:

Shrinking land and water resources. Heavy dependence on monsoon and optimum weather conditions. low productivity.

Land in India suffers from varying degrees and types of degradation stemming mainly from unstable use and inappropriate management practices. Loss of vegetation occurs due to deforestation, cutting beyond the silviculturally permissible limit, unsustainable fuel wood and fodder extraction, shifting cultivation, encroachment into forest lands, forest fires and over grazing all of which subject the land to degradation forces. Land degradation manifest itself chiefly in the form of water erosion, followed by wind erosion, biophysical, and chemical deterioration.