An average sea level rise of 10 cm by 2030 and half a meter by the end of the next century may not sound like much. However, half of humanity lives in coastal areas around the world. Many of them living below poverty line. For people living in these areas, even a fraction of a …
There is ample evidence of major sea level changes in Earth’s history. For example, during the warm period before the start of the last ice age, about 120,000 years ago, the global mean temperature in was slightly warmer than it is today. The mean sea level at that time was about 5 or 6 m …
The effects of global warming are felt by people, wildlife, and ecosystems. In no continent was spared.• In Antarctica, shrinking sea ice has reduced the Adélie penguin population by 33% in 25 years.• In the Canadian Arctic, the Peary caribou population has declined from 24,000 in 1961 to 1,100 in 1997 in islands due to …
The causes of global warming can be natural or caused by human intervention. Natural causes Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere Carbon dioxide is commonly known as a greenhouse gas.It is responsible for about half of of the atmospheric heat retained by trace gases and also for 50% of the greenhouse effect. Methane (CH4) is 2030 …
The nitrogen and oxygen gases that make up most of the atmosphere do not absorb or emit thermal radiation. It is water vapor, carbon dioxide, and some other minor gases, present in much smaller amounts in the atmosphere that absorb some of the thermal radiation leaving the surface, acting as a partial blanket for that …
This section sets out what the WWF’s 2007 Climate Solutions Report says needs to be done to meet the world’s growing energy needs without further damaging the global climate. Reducing people’s energy consumption is an essential part of reducing greenhouse gas emissions; Stop forest loss. Caring for plants that store carbon dioxide like trees is …
In the last three decades, the world population that lives in urban areas has tripled. Earth cannot replenish its resources at the same rate that humans are currently consuming them, and its replenishment rate may continue to slow as climate change continues to affect both land and the oceans. Add to this an increasing urbanization …
In 2007, the United Nations IPCC adopted a report based on an expert review of scientific evidence from around the world. The authors came to four related conclusions: That both air temperature and sea level have risen faster over the past century than in the past. The warmth of the last half-century is unusual in …
When sun’s rays come to the earth, about 30% of their energy is reflected back into space by surfaces such as clouds, ice and snow. The rest stays nearby, heating the oceans and continents, which eventually release the heat into the atmosphere and from there into space. However, with global warming, there is a barrier …
Non-renewable fuels have helped drive the growth of modern society, particularly by providing the ability to industrialize and transport people and materials from one place to another. They exist in infinite number and cannot easily be replenished. They took a long time to create and the people are using them far faster than Earth can …
