What is global warming ?
 

The Earth has a natural temperature control system. Certain atmospheric gases are critical to this system and are known as greenhouse gases. On average, about one third of the solar radiation that hits the earth is reflected back to space. Of the remainder, some is absorbed by the atmosphere but most is absorbed by the land and oceans. The Earth's surface becomes warm and as a result emits infrared radiation. The greenhouse gases trap the infrared radiation, thus warming the atmosphere. Naturally occurring greenhouse gases include water vapour, carbon dioxide, ozone, methane and nitrous oxide, and together create a natural greenhouse effect. However, human activities are causing greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere to increase.

What are the effects of global warming?

Humanity's greenhouse gas emissions are expected to lead to climatic changes in the 21st century and beyond. These changes will potentially have wide-ranging effects on the natural environment as well as on human societies and economies. Scientists have made estimates of the potential direct impacts on various socio-economic sectors, but in reality the full consequences would be more complicated because impacts on one sector can also affect other sectors indirectly.


Some of the effects include:

  1. Temperature increase: Global average temperature may increase from 15.40C to 200C; rise of 4.60C.

  2. Sea Level: Global Sea level may rise by upto 94 cm.
  3. getation: climate warming in the past has caused vegetation zones to shift to higher elevations, resulting in the loss of some species and ecosystems. Simulated scenarios for temperate-climate mountain sites suggest that continued warming could have similar consequences.
  4. Thinning of arctic: Draft in the 1990s is over a meter thinner than two to four decades earlier due to increase in global temperatures.
  5. Coastal Areas: Rising sea level would destroy weak parts of the sand belt, which is essential for the protection of lagoons and the low-lying reclaimed lands. The impacts would be very serious: One third of Egypt's fish catches are made in the lagoons. Sea level rise would change the water quality and affect most fresh water fish. Valuable agricultural land would be innundated.
  6. Freash Water: Even if the world maintained the pace of the 1990s in water supply development, it would not be enough to ensure that everyone had access to safe drinkning water by 2025.
  7. Diseases: Climate change and altered weather patters would affect the range (both altitude and latitude), intensity, and seasonality of many vector-borne and other infectioius diseases.

From Hurricane Katrina to Asian Tsunami to European flooding; we are constantly being reminded that we are NOW living in the age where unprecedented climatic changes are occurring. These climatic changes are horrendously affecting the precious lives of many innocent human beings across the globe. Scientific research has proven that the changes in climatic conditions are NOT self induced. On the contrary, it is the human induced factors that are leading to rapid changes in climates; some of the repercussions are being witnessed in forms of natural disasters.



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A by-product of burning fossil fuels is carbon dioxide, perhaps the greatest contributor to global warming. This warming trend is evident in continuing changes in local and regional climates all over the world. PV systems do not cause emissions of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases, so using PV energy helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and thus mitigate global warming.

 

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