Andrew Simms, Policy Director, New Economics Foundation warned (the Guardian, 15th October, 2003) of the disaster waiting to happen. He wrote “The number of people seeking refuge as a result of environmental disaster is set to increase dramatically over the coming years. Ironically, given current attitudes, we in Britain will resist accommodating them, and yet they will have become refugees as a direct result of the way we in the west live. Global warming - more than war or political upheaval - stands to displace millions. And climate change is being driven by our fossil fuel-intensive lifestyles ……”
Population of the earth has been rising; life styles of people are changing. Human activities have been releasing increasing quantities of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane, CFC, etc. in the atmosphere. In the beginning of the 18th century, industrial revolution brought about a sharp increase in emission of carbon dioxide because of the increased use of fossil fuels. Since then fossil fuels such as coal and oils are being used increasingly for generation of power, transportation, heating, cooking, and running industrial machinery; this has contributed an increase of about 65% in the amount of carbon dioxide in the green house gases. The remaining 35% increase is caused by deforestation and loss of woodlands due to change in land use for agriculture and for industry. This increase in quantity of carbon dioxide is responsible for about 55% increase in the greenhouse effect.
Increase in population world wide has put greater pressure on food production, especially rice. Rice paddy flooding in anaerobic condition produces methane gas; grazing animals release methane in the atmosphere due to the digestion of grass and herbal plants. Development of land for agricultural or industrial use requires land filling; decomposition of organic matter in landfills also release methane over a period of time. Rapidly increasing consumption of coal and oils calls for greater amount of coal mining and extraction of oil and gas; these activities also release methane gas in the atmosphere. Since the middle of the 18th century, concentration of methane gas in atmosphere has increased by more than 150 %. Methane is responsible for about 15 % of the increase in the greenhouse effect.
Burning of fossil fuels and biomass cause emission of nitrous oxides; nitrous oxide is released from grasslands, oceans, etc. The overall effect of this constituent of the greenhouse gases is about 5 % increase in the greenhouse effect.
With such a gloomy, depressing scenario is there any hope for mankind?
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Thursday, May 24, 2007
War On Greenhouse Gases Has Begun
The warning bells had been ringing for a long time about the dangers of global warming. Detailed documentation compiled by NRDC showed that since 1990 there had been more severe droughts in different parts of USA; more intense rainstorms, more devastating wildfires because of the dry conditions, more powerful and dangerous hurricanes due to warmer ocean waters. Similar data had been appearing in other place too. No matter USA still decided to pull out of Kyoto! And it is no wonder when you read the revelations brought out by Andrew Revkin (in the New York Times of June 8, 2005, ) of how a senior Bush aide had been doctoring scientific reports and other documents regarding link between greenhouse gas and global warming to cast veiled doubts about the scientific data (http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0608-05.htm).
Kyoto Treaty took a long time to come into effect. But what a nation can achieve cannot be more than what its citizens can achieve – individually or collectively. Any war on global warming has to be fought at the level of people using energy and the state has to educate, facilitate and support them.
Just as the world has to live with the detrimental effects of excessive carbon emission as a harsh reality, it also has to accept the dependence of the modern society on use of energy in every sphere of life. Obviously answers to this dilemma lie in avoiding energy wastage, increasing energy efficiency, conserving energy and finally finding alternative sources of “clean” energy – sources which are environmental friendly and safe.
All the developed countries, and many developing countries, are engaged in finding ways in which they can canalize the efforts of the individuals, industries and the scientific community to serve that one goal - saving this planet from disaster.
No two countries have identical conditions environmentally, geographically or in social preferences and practices. For instance, UK is a small country geographically as compared to USA or Canada. In UK, therefore, people do not commute long distances to-and-from their work; this is not the case in USA. Obviously the amount of fuel consumed by one in UK for commuting to work will be far less than what an average American may spend. Also the price of fuel is much lower in USA as compared to UK; avoidable excessive consumption of fuel for cars, therefore, is far greater in USA than in UK. Geographical and climatic conditions of some countries may suit the alternative sources of energy such as wind energy or solar energy better than the others. Colder countries use heating within buildings, warmer countries will have greater need of air-conditioning for cooling.
But each country is adapting its plans and policies for limiting and reducing carbon emission taking their own ground realities into account. The next post will look into these issues.
Just as the world has to live with the detrimental effects of excessive carbon emission as a harsh reality, it also has to accept the dependence of the modern society on use of energy in every sphere of life. Obviously answers to this dilemma lie in avoiding energy wastage, increasing energy efficiency, conserving energy and finally finding alternative sources of “clean” energy – sources which are environmental friendly and safe.
All the developed countries, and many developing countries, are engaged in finding ways in which they can canalize the efforts of the individuals, industries and the scientific community to serve that one goal - saving this planet from disaster.
No two countries have identical conditions environmentally, geographically or in social preferences and practices. For instance, UK is a small country geographically as compared to USA or Canada. In UK, therefore, people do not commute long distances to-and-from their work; this is not the case in USA. Obviously the amount of fuel consumed by one in UK for commuting to work will be far less than what an average American may spend. Also the price of fuel is much lower in USA as compared to UK; avoidable excessive consumption of fuel for cars, therefore, is far greater in USA than in UK. Geographical and climatic conditions of some countries may suit the alternative sources of energy such as wind energy or solar energy better than the others. Colder countries use heating within buildings, warmer countries will have greater need of air-conditioning for cooling.
But each country is adapting its plans and policies for limiting and reducing carbon emission taking their own ground realities into account. The next post will look into these issues.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Greenhouse Effect and Global Warming
A report by the Australian government's Commonwealth Scientific and Research Organization (CSIRO) in the year 2006 stated that “Millions of people in Asia-Pacific region, including India, could be forced from their homes and suffer increasing disease, cyclones and floods caused by global warming ………..Chronic food and water insecurity and epidemic disease may impede economic development in some nations………………” According to the scientists these disastrous consequences of global warming will be caused by the greenhouse gases produced mainly by burning of fossil fuels such as oils and coal...
Greenhouse effect is a naturally occurring process; without which this planet would have been so cold that it would not have been able to support life as we know today. Then why is there is so much talk of greenhouse effect and global warming and doomsday approaching? Why are we talking of hotter and drier summers, water level in the seas rising drowning villages on sea coast and floods causing devastation?
Let us see what this boon of Greenhouse effect is and why it is turning into a bane!
A greenhouse is like a small glass house or a shed. It is used to grow plants especially in winter. Sun’s rays bring heat and light in through the glass roof; but the glass roof does not allow most of the heat to escape out. The glass roof not only traps the heat in but also radiates heat downward, keeping the plants warm.
Certain gases in the atmosphere we breathe also cause a greenhouse effect on the earth. Water vapor, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane form a blanket around us and function very much like the glass roof of the greenhouse. Sunlight passes through this blanket and heats the earth – land, water and the biosphere. In the normal course, the radiation from earth would have returned the energy back to the atmosphere. These greenhouse gases, however, trap the radiation; some radiation escapes the blanket but the rest of it heats up the gases. This hot blanket of gases, in turn, radiates energy back to earth.
Without this greenhouse effect energy received from the Sun would have escaped back into space and the earth would have been quite cold. The present average temperature of earth is about 14 deg. C; without the Greenhouse effect it would have been about (-) 18 deg C, much too cold for human survival. This blanket of gases keeps the earth warm much in the way greenhouse roof keeps the plants warm.
But increased greenhouse effect would raise in the average temperature of the earth with disastrous consequences. And this is precisely what the scientists have been warning the world about for a long time!
Greenhouse effect is a naturally occurring process; without which this planet would have been so cold that it would not have been able to support life as we know today. Then why is there is so much talk of greenhouse effect and global warming and doomsday approaching? Why are we talking of hotter and drier summers, water level in the seas rising drowning villages on sea coast and floods causing devastation?
Let us see what this boon of Greenhouse effect is and why it is turning into a bane!
A greenhouse is like a small glass house or a shed. It is used to grow plants especially in winter. Sun’s rays bring heat and light in through the glass roof; but the glass roof does not allow most of the heat to escape out. The glass roof not only traps the heat in but also radiates heat downward, keeping the plants warm.
Certain gases in the atmosphere we breathe also cause a greenhouse effect on the earth. Water vapor, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane form a blanket around us and function very much like the glass roof of the greenhouse. Sunlight passes through this blanket and heats the earth – land, water and the biosphere. In the normal course, the radiation from earth would have returned the energy back to the atmosphere. These greenhouse gases, however, trap the radiation; some radiation escapes the blanket but the rest of it heats up the gases. This hot blanket of gases, in turn, radiates energy back to earth.
Without this greenhouse effect energy received from the Sun would have escaped back into space and the earth would have been quite cold. The present average temperature of earth is about 14 deg. C; without the Greenhouse effect it would have been about (-) 18 deg C, much too cold for human survival. This blanket of gases keeps the earth warm much in the way greenhouse roof keeps the plants warm.
But increased greenhouse effect would raise in the average temperature of the earth with disastrous consequences. And this is precisely what the scientists have been warning the world about for a long time!
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