Global Warming Definition and Condition Causes of Global Warming Impacts of Global Warming Solutions to Global Warming Solutions to Global Warming in Asia

Definition and Condition Global warming is the rise in the average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans since the late 19th century and its projected continuation. Since the early 20th century, Earth's mean surface temperature has increased by about 0.8 °C (1.4 °F), with about two-thirds of the increase occurring since 1980.

Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, and scientists are more than 90% certain that it is primarily caused by increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases produced by human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation. These findings are recognized by the national science academies of all major industrialized nations.

Global warming is the term used to describe a gradual increase in the average temperature of the Earth's atmosphere and its oceans, a change that is believed to be permanently changing the Earth’s climate. There is great debate among many people, and sometimes in the news, on whether global warming is real (some call it a hoax). But climate scientists looking at the data and facts agree the planet is warming.

While many view the effects of global warming to be more substantial and more rapidly occurring than others do, the scientific consensus on climatic changes related to global warming is that the average temperature of the Earth has risen between 0.4 and 0.8 °C over the past 100 years. The increased volumes of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases released by the burning of fossil fuels, land clearing, agriculture, and other human activities, are believed to be the primary sources of the global warming that has occurred over the past 50 years.

Scientists from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate carrying out global warming research have recently predicted that average global temperatures could increase between 1.4 and 5.8 °C by the year 2100. Changes resulting from global warming may include rising sea levels due to the melting of the polar ice caps, as well as an increase in occurrence and severity of storms and other severe weather events.

Causes of Global Warming Global warming is primarily a problem of too much carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere— which acts as a blanket, trapping heat and warming the planet. As we burn fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas for energy or cut down and burn forests to create pastures and plantations, carbon accumulates and overloads our atmosphere.

Certain waste management and agricultural practices aggravate the problem by releasing other potent global warming gases, such as methane and nitrous oxide. See the pie chart for a breakdown of heat- trapping global warming emissions by economic sector.

Fig: Global Warming Emissions by Economic Sector

CO2 survives in the atmosphere for a long time up to many centuries so its heat-trapping effects are compounded over time. Of the many heat-trapping gases, CO2 puts us at the greatest risk of irreversible changes if it continues to accumulate unabated in the atmosphere.

Impacts of Global Warming Global warming is already underway with consequences that must be faced today as well as tomorrow. Evidence of changes to the Earth's physical, chemical and biological processes is now evident on every continent. To fully appreciate the urgency of climate change, it's important to understand the ways it affects society and the natural environment. Sea levels are rising and glaciers are shrinking;

High record of temperatures and severe rainstorms and droughts are becoming increasingly common. Changes in temperatures and rainfall patterns alter plant and animal behavior and have significant implications for humans. These will impact some of the world's poorest and most vulnerable people, disrupting food production, and threatening vitally important species, habitats and ecosystems. 

Not only are global warming-induced changes currently underway, but scientists also expecting additional effects on human society and natural environments around the world. Some further warming is already unavoidable due to past heat-trapping emissions; unless we aggressively reduce today's emissions, scientist’s project extra warming and thus additional impacts.

The Climate Hot Map arranges current and future climate impacts into five main groupings: People Freshwater Oceans Ecosystems Temperature

Solutions to Global Warming There is no single solution to global warming, which is primarily a problem of too much heat- trapping carbon dioxide (CO2), methane and nitrous oxide in the atmosphere. The technologies and approaches outlined below are all needed to bring down the emissions of these gases by at least 80 percent by mid-century. To see how they are best deployed in each region of the world.

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 same or higher level 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 fuels especially carbon-intensive coal is 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 warming but nuclear technology poses serious threats to our security.

•Developing and deploying new low-carbon and zero-carbon technologies: Research into and development of the next generation of low-carbon 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 world from the most to the least developed vary 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.

Solutions to Global Warming in Asia Solutions to global warming across the varied countries of the Asian region include providing cleaner cook stoves to rural families, improving rice cultivation to decrease methane emissions, reducing emissions from deforestation, cutting a deepening dependence on carbon-emitting coal, and tackling emissions from a growing number of cars, trucks, and buses.

Encompassing Indonesia, which faces significant pressures on its tropical forest resources; the oil-rich countries of the Middle East; and the rapidly developing nations of China and India (currently the world's number one and four annual emitters of CO2 respectively, (using 2008 data), Asia currently contributes the most global warming emissions annually. The Asian region also faces a range of climate impacts, including extreme heat, imperiled drinking water resources, and accelerated sea-level rise, which can lead to widespread population displacement, food insecurity, and costly damage to coastal cities and towns.

This region's diversity is also apparent in its solutions This region's diversity is also apparent in its solutions. From providing cleaner cook stoves to rural families and improving rice cultivation to reduce methane emissions to reducing emissions from deforestation and cutting deepening dependence on carbon-emitting coal, the solutions to global warming pursued by countries across Asia are specific to their unique needs and opportunities.

Presented by ANUP KUMAR MANDAL PSTU

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