Global Warming

Global warming is the unusually rapid increase in Earths average surface temperature over the past century primarily due to the greenhouse gases released by people burning fossil fuels. The average facade temperature of the globe has augmented more than 1 degree Fahrenheit since 1900 and the speed of warming has been almost three folds the century long average since 1970. This increase in earths average temperature is called Global warming. More or less all specialists studying the climate record of the earth have the same opinion now that human actions, mainly the discharge of green house gases from smokestacks, vehicles, and burning forests, are perhaps the leading power driving the fashion. The gases append to the planet's normal greenhouse effect, permitting sunlight in, but stopping some of the ensuing heat from radiating back to space. Based on the study on past climate shifts, notes of current situations, and computer simulations, many climate scientists say that lacking of big curbs in greenhouse gas discharges, the 21st century might see temperatures rise of about 3 to 8 degrees, climate patterns piercingly shift, ice sheets contract and seas rise several feet. With the probable exemption of one more world war, a huge asteroid, or a fatal plague, global warming may be the only most danger to our planet earth. As said, the major cause of global warming is the emission of green house gases like carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide etc into the atmosphere. The major source of carbon dioxide is the power plants. These power plants emit large amounts of carbon dioxide produced from burning of fossil fuels for the purpose of electricity generation. About twenty percent of carbon dioxide emitted in the atmosphere comes from burning of gasoline in the engines of the vehicles. This is true for most of the developed countries. Buildings, both commercial and residential represent a larger source of global warming pollution than cars and trucks. Building of these structures require a lot of fuel to be burnt which emits a large amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Methane is more than 20 times as effectual as CO2 at entrapping heat in the atmosphere. Methane is obtained from resources such as rice paddies, bovine flatulence, bacteria in bogs and fossil fuel manufacture. When fields are flooded, anaerobic situation build up and the organic matter in the soil decays, releasing methane to the atmosphere. The main sources of nitrous oxide include nylon and nitric acid production, cars with catalytic converters, the use of fertilizers in agriculture and the burning of organic matter. Another cause of global warming is deforestation that is caused by cutting and burning of forests for the purpose of residence and industrialization.

Deforestation
Deforestation is clearing Earth's forests on a massive scale, often resulting in damage to the quality of the land. Forests still cover about 30 percent of the worlds land area, but swaths the size of Panama are lost each and every year. The worlds rain forests could completely vanish in a hundred years at the current rate of deforestation. Forests are cut down for many reasons, but most of them are related to money or to peoples need to provide for their families.The biggest driver of deforestation is agriculture. Farmers cut forests to provide more room for planting crops or grazing livestock. Often many small farmers will each clear a few acres to feed their families by cutting down trees and burning them in a process known as slash and burn agriculture. Logging operations, which provide the worlds wood and paper products, also cut countless trees each year. Loggers, some of them acting illegally, also build roads to access more and more remote forestswhich leads to further deforestation. Forests are also cut as a result of growing urban sprawl. Not all deforestation is intentional. Some is caused by a combination of human and natural factors like wildfires and subsequent overgrazing, which may prevent the growth of young trees. Deforestation has many negative effects on the environment. The most dramatic impact is a loss of habitat for millions of species. Seventy percent of Earths land animals and plants live in forests, and many cannot survive the deforestation that destroys their homes. Deforestation also drives climate change. Forest soils are moist, but without protection from sun-blocking tree cover they quickly dry out. Trees also help perpetuate the water cycle by returning water vapor back into the atmosphere. Without trees to fill these roles, many former forest lands can quickly become barren deserts. Removing trees deprives the forest of portions of its canopy, which blocks the suns rays during the day and holds in heat at night. This disruption leads to more extreme temperatures swings that can be harmful to plants and animals. Trees also play a critical role in absorbing the greenhouse gases that fuel global warming. Fewer forests means larger amounts of greenhouse gases entering the atmosphereand increased speed and severity of global warming. The quickest solution to deforestation would be to simply stop cutting down trees. Though deforestation rates have slowed a bit in recent years, financial realities make this unlikely to occur.

A more workable solution is to carefully manage forest resources by eliminating clearcutting to make sure that forest environments remain intact. The cutting that does occur should be balanced by the planting of enough young trees to replace the older ones felled in any given forest. The number of new tree plantations is growing each year, but their total still equals a tiny fraction of the Earths forested land.

Types Of Pollution
In the post-industrial world that we reside in, pollution is one of the ill effects of the rapid progress made by mankind. Pollution is nothing but the contamination of the environment around us. Mainly caused due to human activities, it can also result due to natural disasters. It has a severe form of detrimental effect on any living organism, making it virtually impossible to sustain. Without pollution control, the waste products, emitted due to human activities, tend to accumulate or disperse and degrade the environment. As such, control of emissions and effluents into the air, water or soil is required, along with other methods of pollution prevention and waste minimization. In order to curb the growing menace of pollution of various forms, many nations all across the globe have enacted legislation of pollution control. This article entails the different kinds of pollution which affect us.

Different Kinds Of Pollution Air Pollution

A disturbance in the composition of the compounds which make up the atmosphere is called air pollution. The imbalance can occur due to the excessive emission of gases or vapors into the atmosphere, saturation of the chemical compounds or particulate matters or atmospheric chemical reactions of various reactive and non-biodegradable compounds. Few commonly seen effects of air pollution are global warming, acid rain, smog and ozone depletion. Major activities which lead to contamination of atmospheric air include motor vehicle exhausts, fertilizer plants, industrial processes, automobile manufacturing, demolition of buildings, construction of roadways, disposal of solid waste, volcanic eruption, manufacturing of electrical components, extraction of metals, forest fires and numerous other activities.

Water Pollution
When the original quality of water deteriorates due to the contamination by foreign matter, it is called water pollution. This form of pollution can occur due to release of toxic substances, pathogenic germs, substances which require a large quantity of oxygen to decompose, or radioactive substances which tend to accumulate and interfere with the aquatic ecosystem. For instance, when a water body is enriched with nutrients, it leads to an excessive growth of algae, which, in turn, leads to lack of oxygen in the water body. This condition is called eutrophication. The major sources which lead to water pollution are petroleum products, synthetic agricultural chemicals, heavy metals, hazardous wastes, excess organic matter, sediment and infectious organisms. Even, air, thermal and soil pollution lead to water pollution as well.

Soil Pollution
Any form of alteration in the soil chemical composition leads to soil pollution. This form of pollution occurs due to deposition of solid waste in the soil, accumulation of nonbiodegradable substances or toxification of chemicals into poisons. Not following proper soil management methods, excessive tillage of soil resulting in the deterioration of soil

structure, improper irrigation practices, no proper supply of organic matter in the soil or poorly drained soil can lead to soil pollution. Few major sources of this category of pollution include agriculture, mining and quarrying, demolitions and construction activities, sewage sludge and industrial wastes.

Noise Pollution
The amount of noise pollution is synonymous to the standard of living of a particular country. This form of pollution is caused when a particular sound reaches an unfavorably high intensity and in turn causes adverse effects on our daily mechanisms. The intensity of noise is measured in decibels and the scale by which it is measured is logarithmic. This implies that a 10 decibel increase in noise results in the doubling of loudness. While noises above 45 decibels can disturb a persons sleep, noises above 120 decibels can cause hearing impairment.

Radioactive Pollution
Although nuclear energy is said to be a clean form of energy because it does not release pollutants such as carbon dioxide, the waste resulted from a nuclear reaction leads to a form of pollution known as radioactive pollution. When a radioactive element becomes unstable and begins to decay in order to regain molecular stability, the process is known as radioactivity. There are three types of radiation: alpha rays, beta rays and gamma rays. While alpha radiation can be blocked by a piece of paper as well as human skin, beta particles can penetrate through the skin but can be blocked by a piece of glass or metal. Gamma rays, in turn, penetrate through the human skin and damage cells on its way. They can be only blocked by a massive piece of concrete. Major sources which can cause radioactive pollution are nuclear power plants, nuclear weapons, improper disposal of nuclear waste and uranium mining.