Global warming is the rise of global average temperature that usually happens on the earths near surface air and the ocean in recent years. This has been projected to continue increase with the current rise of the population and industrial activities over the world. According to the report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on their fourth Assessment in 2007, the global temperature has increased in more than 0.74 0c in the twentieth century (Mani, p.56).
Most of the increased temperature change in the 20th century is the increase of the greenhouses gases that results from the human activities. These activities include use of fossil fuels and deforestation. According to the analysis that was done on the above temperature, it is worrying that the temperature of the globe may increase to as high as 60Cin the course of the 21st century. The effect is due to the estimated increase in the greenhouse gas emissions. This is projected to have a great effect on the level of the sea level as they are estimated a rise at its level. This will be caused by increased precipitation and deserts are estimated to expand especially at the Arctic region. This is because of the retreat of the glaciers, permafrost and sea ice.
Impact of global warming
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There are various impacts that are projected that will be caused by the global warming. Examples of these impacts are as follows.
In course of several years, global warming has been instrumental in the increased temperatures in the world. Therefore, there has been observable effect that comes hand in hand with arctic shrinkage, arctic methane release, release of terrestrial carbon and sea level rise. The temperature is predicted to increase highly causing rainfall pattern change. There will be a lot of climate change over the globe due to increased global warming in terms of the rate, magnitude and duration. Most of the physical impacts are irreversible and are expected to form long period of effects (Maslin, p.56). Such things are deglaciation that expected to be high in the arctic regions making the sea kevel rise.
Effects on weather
Increase in temperature will increase precipitation. However, the issue of effects of the storms is not well known. Extra tropical storms usually depend on temperature gradient, which is usually weak in the northern hemisphere due to higher warming in the polar region than the other part of the hemisphere.
Due to increased temperature, there are likelihood of most of the areas to frequently hit by warm spells and heat waves. There is projected increase of drought in most of the areas as well as intense tropical cyclone activity. The global warming will cause increased high sea level
Increased fresh water flow
The high temperature will cause a lot of ice to melt making fresh water to flow to the sea and oceans. Through precipitation that is likely to increase at high level, there will increases flow of this water to the seawater bodies. According to 2004, research that was done through the help of satellite, the increase of freshwater globally is 18%. Much of this increase is based on the effect of high rainfall that has been caused by the precipitation (Gasper- Gombatz p.78). An example that has happened in 2010 is the Pakistan floods. Local climate change
Regional climatic change varies in nature. Some of tem are rise in temperature that causes local effect such as ice melting. In other places, a change can be associated from a particular ocean current and weather systems. In such circumstances, the effect will be misappropriated and it will not follow a global trend. Some of the examples that will make the regional climate change regionally is melting or forming of ice, changing of hydrological cycle that is precipitating and evaporation and finally change in ocean currents and the airflow in the atmosphere. An ocean as a region will also suffer from severe impact in the sea level rise.
Climatic change has an effect on the carbon cycle where it affects the interactive feedback process. The carbon cycle exists where the initial process triggers the second process that will influence the initial process. Through this, the initial process will intensifies the original process and the initial process increases the initial process. This makes the temperature to increase therefore increasing the global warming.
Glaciers retreat and disappearance
There has been a great decree as in the issue of the glaciers in the northern and southern hemisphere due to the effect of the global warming. This effect has been notable due to the rise of the sea level in the recent past. Due to this, tendencies of change in glaciers it is projected those mountainous places especially in the Europe will suffer from glacier retreat. Changes in precipitation patterns and glaciers are liable of affecting availability of water for agricultural purposes, human consumption a well as production of energy. In polar region, glaciers will decrease in the thickness making it shrink (Lee, p.35).
Climate change will decrease agricultural food production globally due to increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, elevated temperature, changed precipitation and transpiration, , extreme changes of events, modified pest and weed that may be more tolerant to control and more persistent pathogens that will affect the food adversely. This cause will be experienced especially on the lower latitude areas where the yield of the crop will drop.
Human will be affected through being exposed to adverse condition of temperature, precipitation, sea level rise and extreme events occurrence. There is also change in water, air, food quality ecosystem, agriculture, settlement as well as economy. This has made alteration in the distribution of the infectious vectors and has increased heat wave related deaths
According to Kramer, p.58 in IPCC 2007 research, the health of the people will be affected through malnutrition, increased deaths, diseases and injuries following high weather events. There is projected increase in diseases such as diarrhea, cardio respiratory diseases due to increased ground level ozone layer in urban areas.
Mitigation of global warming
Mitigation of global warming is reducing of the intensity of the radioactive forcing associated to the global warming to ensure that the effects of global warming are reduced. The mitigation of the global warming can be done through reducing the concentration of the green house gases through reducing their sources or increasing their sinks. Through human intervention, the sources of the greenhouse gases can be reduced or sinks increased. Some of the main causes of these greenhouses gases are uses of fossil fuels. This is mostly in the industrial processes and in electricity generation. This can be greatly reduced by switching to the renewable energy. Some of this renewable energy is solar energy and wind power. Insulation improvement of the building as well as expanding forest and other sinks to remove greater amounts of the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Mitigation may also involve carbon capture and storage of carbon dioxide that is mostly produced by the industries, gas, coal power fuel station, and store it preferably under ground.
Political issue about global warming
In developing and developed world, there are various arguments for who is supposed to take the responsibility of the cost of cutting the emissions. The developing country concentrates on the per capita emission that is the amount of the emission that has been divided by the population of the country. However, the industrialized countries, the per capita emissions are above ten times the average size of the developing countries. Therefore, an argument broke that the lifestyle of those who are living in the rich countries are the one who causes more of the emissions that causes global warming.
Total carbon emissions, carrying capacity, efficient energy and the civil and political rights are very important. According to Jacobs p.74 argument, land is not equal in all the places. The debate that has been going on is not only the quantity of the fossils fuel but also the quantity of the energy used. Efficient energy use that support technological change may improve the carbon dioxide on the global scale. The amount of consumption of fossil fuel as well as excessive entertainment is issues that have contentious within the civil and political arena. People from countries that are developed argue that history has failed to prove problems that have been used in the implementation of the rationing program indifferent countries, as there are no global systems of checks and balances and civil liberties.
According to Kyoto protocol 2005, it has set regulations of the emission limits for most of the developed countries. Otherwise, failure of the developing countries to be subjected on the limitations, it made the US not to ratify the treaty.
Global warming is a very thorny issue, as most of the activities that brought it cannot be eliminated in the world. The political issues are the other reasons that will see effects of this not reduce soon. Therefore, to ensure that this brought to rest, all the people including the political people should embrace the mitigation issues.