ARTICLE WRITING ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING USING THIS HINT
Answers
Answer: Climate change includes both global warming driven by human-induced emissions of greenhouse gases and the resulting large-scale shifts in weather patterns. Though there have been previous periods of climatic change, humans have since the mid-20th century had an unprecedented impact on Earth's climate system and have caused change on a global scale.[2]
The largest driver of warming is the emission of gases that create a greenhouse effect, of which more than 90% are carbon dioxide (CO
2) and methane.[3] Fossil fuel burning (coal, oil, and natural gas) for energy consumption is the main source of these emissions, with additional contributions from agriculture, deforestation, and manufacturing.[4] The human cause of climate change is not disputed by any scientific body of national or international standing.[5] Temperature rise is accelerated or tempered by climate feedbacks, such as loss of sunlight-reflecting snow and ice cover, increased water vapour (a greenhouse gas itself), and changes to land and ocean carbon sinks.
Temperature rise on land is about twice the global average increase, leading to desert expansion and more common heat waves and wildfires.[6] Temperature rise is also amplified in the Arctic, where it has contributed to melting permafrost, glacial retreat and sea ice loss.[7] Warmer temperatures are increasing rates of evaporation, causing more intense storms and weather extremes.[8] Impacts on ecosystems include the relocation or extinction of many species as their environment changes, most immediately in coral reefs, mountains, and the Arctic.[9] Climate change threatens people with food insecurity, water scarcity, flooding, infectious diseases, extreme heat, economic losses, and displacement. These impacts have led the World Health Organization to call climate change the greatest threat to global health in the 21st century.[10] Even if efforts to minimise future warming are successful, some effects will continue for centuries, including rising sea levels, rising ocean temperatures, and ocean acidification.[11]
Energy flows between space, the atmosphere, and Earth's surface. Current greenhouse gas levels are causing a radiative imbalance of about 0.9 W/m2.[12]
Many of these impacts are already felt at the current level of warming, which is about 1.2 °C (2.2 °F).[13] The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has issued a series of reports that project significant increases in these impacts as warming continues to 1.5 °C (2.7 °F) and beyond.[14] Additional warming also increases the risk of triggering critical thresholds called tipping points.[15] Responding to climate change involves mitigation and adaptation.[16] Mitigation – limiting climate change – consists of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and removing them from the atmosphere;[16] methods include the development and deployment of low-carbon energy sources such as wind and solar, a phase-out of coal, enhanced energy efficiency, reforestation, and forest preservation. Adaptation consists of adjusting to actual or expected climate,[16] such as through improved coastline protection, better disaster management, assisted colonisation, and the development of more resistant crops. Adaptation alone cannot avert the risk of "severe, widespread and irreversible" impacts.[17]
Under the 2015 Paris Agreement, nations collectively agreed to keep warming "well under 2.0 °C (3.6 °F)" through mitigation efforts. However, with pledges made under the Agreement, global warming would still reach about 2.8 °C (5.0 °F) by the end of the century.[18] Limiting warming to 1.5 °C (2.7 °F) would require halving emissions by 2030 and achieving near-zero emissions by 2050.[19]
Explanation:
Answer:
Global warming or climate change has today become a major threat to the mankind. The Earth’s temperature is on the rise and there are various reasons for it such as greenhouse gases emanating from carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, burning of fossil fuels or deforestation.
Impact of Greenhouse Gases
The rise in the levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) leads to substantial increase in temperature. It is because CO2 remains concentrated in the atmosphere for even hundreds of years. Due to activities like fossil fuel combustion for electricity generation, transportation, and heating, human beings have contributed to increase in the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere.
Global Warming: A Gradual Phenomenon
Recent years have been unusually warm, causing worldwide concern. But the fact is that the increase in carbon dioxide actually began in 1800, due to the deforestation of a large chunk of North-eastern American, besides forested parts of the world. The things became worse with emissions in the wake of the industrial revolution, leading to increase in carbon dioxide level by 1900.
Cause of Concern
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), global temperature is likely to rise by about 1-3.5 Celsius by the year 2100. It has also suggested that the climate might warm by as much as 10 degrees Fahrenheit over the next 100 years.
Impact of Global Warming
The sea levels are constantly rising as fresh water marshlands, low-lying cities, and islands have been inundated with seawater.
There have been changes in rainfall patterns, leading to droughts and fires in some areas, and flooding in other areas.
Ice caps are constantly melting posing a threat to polar bears as their feeding season stands reduced.
Glaciers are gradually melting.
Animal populations are gradually vanishing as there has been a widespread loss of their habitat.
Conclusion
As per Kyoto protocol, developed countries are required to cut back their emissions. There is a need to reduce coal-fired electricity, increase energy efficiency through wind and solar power, and also high efficiency natural gas generation.