CLIMATE CHANGE AND ENVIRONMENT

CLIMATE CHANGE AND ENVIRONMENT

Submitted By: - Dr. Deepak Sharma

 “Climate change refers to a statistically significant variation in either the mean state of the climate or in its variability, persisting for an extended period (typically decades or longer). Climate change may be due to natural internal processes or external forcing, or to persistent anthropogenic changes in the composition of the atmosphere or in land use.”

Introduction

The Earth is the only planet in our solar system that supports life. The complex process of evolution occurred on Earth only because of some unique environmental conditions that were present: water, an oxygen-rich atmosphere, and a suitable surface temperature.

Mercury and Venus, the two planets that lie between Earth and the sun, do not support life. This is because Mercury has no atmosphere and therefore becomes very hot during the day, while temperatures at night may reach -140 ⁰C. Venus, has a thick atmosphere which traps more heat than it allows to escape, making it too hot (between 150 and 450 ⁰C) to sustain life.

S K Dash, an atmospheric scientist at IIT-Delhi, reported on temperature changes in various parts of the country in the past century. Most importantly, he said, in western Himalayas the maximum had gone up by .9 degree Celsius while the minimum had risen by .5 degree Celsius. In northwest India, which includes Delhi, the maximum had gone up by .6 degree Celsius while the minimum had gone up by 0.2 degrees Celsius.

Only the Earth has an atmosphere of the proper depth and chemical composition. About 30% of incoming energy from the sun is reflected back to space while the rest reaches the earth, warming the air, oceans, and land, and maintaining an average surface temperature of about 15 ⁰C.

The chemical composition of the atmosphere is also responsible for nurturing life on our planet. Most of it is nitrogen (78%); about 21% is oxygen, which all animals need to survive; and only a small percentage (0.036%) is made up of carbon dioxide which plants require for photosynthesis.

Climate change is one of the complex problems facing mankind today. The overriding complexity of the problem is attributed to its deeper global ramifications on a vast range of issues impacting the very survival of life on Earth. Understanding such a complex issue with vast and varied dimensions and implications, assumes greater significance for all stakeholders, especially for our policy makers. There are varieties of perceptions regarding the exact size and consequences of climate change. Yet, it is no secret that risks emanating from climate change are indeed profound, which call for urgent mitigation. There is now strong evidence that climate change is a reality.

Today, it has been scientifically established that significant global warming is occurring. Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice and rising global average sea level.2 There is no denying the fact that the problem exists and it is assuming alarming proportions, each passing day. Therefore, there is an imperative need to take urgent and strong measures in the interest of calibrating an appropriate response to meet the emerging challenges of climate change.

Climate change is not an isolated issue. It has several aspects and inter-linkages namely, science and technology, economy and trade, diplomacy and politics - that makes it not just another issue in this complicated world of proliferating issues, but the mother of all issues. Climate change, however, is different from other problems facing humanity and it compels us to think differently at many levels. It obliges us to think about what it means to live as part of an ecologically interdependent human community. In the face of many diversities that characterize human society, climate change provides a potent reminder of one thing that we share in common - the planet Earth. All nations and all people share the same atmosphere. And, we only have one. Addressing the climate chaos by all the countries both individually and collectively will be critical to the human well-being and prosperity of the present as well as the future generations.

Understanding Climate Change

"Climate change" means a change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods.

Climate change refers to the variation in the Earth’s global climate or in regional climates over time. It describes changes in the state of the atmosphere over time scales ranging from decades to millions of years. Climate change has been defined by many in many ways. While some define it as an offshoot of Earth’s natural processes, others define it as a result of human activities. Striking a balance between these two varying perspectives, climate change is defined as “a change which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods”. Truly, the present changes in the Earth’s climate cannot be explained alone by the natural processes that explain Earth’s previous warm periods. There is a broad scientific consensus that most of the warming in the recent decades can be attributed to human activities. If humanity is, in large part, responsible for this change, then whatever choices we make today, will have a significant bearing on the climate of the future. This makes climate change a formidable concern.

Greenhouse Gases and Global Warming

The Earth’s climate is dynamic and always changing through a natural cycle. It took billions of years for the Earth’s climate to become conducive for the evolution of mankind. The solar energy, passing through the atmosphere, is absorbed by the Earth’s surface and a significant part of it is reflected back into the atmosphere. However, the atmosphere of the Earth contains small quantities of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide (collectively called greenhouse gases (GHGs)) which act as a partial blanket that trap some of the outgoing infra red radiation and reflect it back to Earth thus keeping the surface warmer than it would otherwise be. In the absence of this greenhouse effect (trapping by GHGs) the Earth’s mean temperature would be 30°C lower than it is, which would mean that the Earth would be an ice covered place. Thus, most of the present life forms on the Earth depend on the natural greenhouse effect for their existence. However, increase in the emission of these GHGs due to human activities causes the enhanced greenhouse effect. Global GHG emissions due to human activities have grown since pre-industrial times, with an increase of 70% between 1970 and 2004. Apart from the three natural GHGs (carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide), the increased emission also includes several “man-made” gases including chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6). Increase in the concentration of these GHGs tends to increase the surface temperatures. This rise in the average temperature of the Earth is called global warming, which is likely to lead to unprecedented climate changes on a global scale threatening the ecosystems of the entire world.

However, ever since the Industrial Revolution began about 150 years ago, man-made activities have added significant quantities of GHGs to the atmosphere. The atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide have grown by about 31%, 151% and 17%, respectively, between 1750 and 2000 (IPCC 2001).

An increase in the levels of GHGs could lead to greater warming, which, in turn, could have an impact on the world's climate, leading to the phenomenon known as climate change. Indeed, scientists have observed that over the 20th century, the mean global surface temperature increased by 0.6 ⁰C (IPCC 2001). They also observed that since 1860 (the year temperature began to be recorded systematically using a thermometer), the 1990's have been the warmest decade.

However, variations in temperature have also occurred in the past - the best known is the Little Ice Age that struck Europe in the early Middle Ages, bringing about famines, etc. It is therefore difficult to determine whether current observations of increasing temperature are due to natural variability or whether they have been forced by anthropogenic (man-made) activities.

Scientific studies and projections are further complicated by the fact that the changes in temperature that they have been observing do not occur uniformly over different layers of the lower atmosphere or even different parts of the earth.

The Earth's climate system constantly adjusts so as to maintain a balance between the energy that reaches it from the sun and the energy that goes from Earth back to space. This means that even a small rise in temperature could mean accompanying changes in cloud cover and wind patterns. Some of these changes may enhance the warming (positive feedback), while others may counteract it (negative feedback). Negative feedback (causing a cooling effect) may result from an increase in the levels of aerosols (small particles of matter or liquid that can be produced by natural or man-made activities). Positive feedback may result from an increase in water vapour (because of greater evaporation with temp rise), which itself is a GHG and can further add to the warming effect.

All the factors described above complicate the work of scientists who try to predict the fallout of climate change. Despite these uncertainties, the Third Assessment Report published by the IPCC states, 'there is new and stronger evidence that most of the warming observed over the last 50 years is attributable to human activities' (IPCC 2001

Today, there is evidence that we are overloading the carrying capacity of the Earth’s atmosphere. Stocks of greenhouse gases that trap heat in the Earth’s atmosphere are accumulating at an unprecedented rate. Today, increasing number of scientists believe that we have already crossed into a new weather regime marked by extremes of all kinds.

It is predicted that in the course of the 21st Century, average global temperature could increase by more than 5°C. Behind this prediction, there is an overwhelming fact that we are playing havoc with our environment, upsetting the ecological interdependence. In effect, our generation is compelling future generations to inherit an unsustainable ecological debt, which will jeopardize the future development and prosperity.

The atmosphere carries out the critical function of maintaining life-sustaining conditions on Earth, in the following way: each day, energy from the sun (largely in the visible part of the spectrum, but also some in the ultraviolet and infra red portions) is absorbed by the land, seas, mountains, etc. If all this energy were to be absorbed completely, the earth would gradually become hotter and hotter. But actually, the earth both absorbs and, simultaneously releases it in the form of infra red waves (which cannot be seen by our eyes but can be felt as heat, for example the heat that you can feel with your hands over a heated car engine). All this rising heat is not lost to space, but is partly absorbed by some gases present in very small (or trace) quantities in the atmosphere, called GHGs (greenhouse gases).

Greenhouse gases (for example, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, water vapour, ozone), re-emit some of this heat to the earth's surface. If they did not perform this useful function, most of the heat energy would escape, leaving the earth cold (about -18 ⁰C) and unfit to support life.

What is Environment

"Environment is surrounding atmosphere/ condition for existence" –

"Environment is an essential natural process or an outcome of occurrence" – "Environment is of two types, one is negative and the other is positive":

Environment is generator: creation of life form is because of environment. Sun/moon, sea/ earth, hot/ cold and forests/ desert etc; they together made an environment that is fit for our existence. There are two different environments one is positive and the other one is negative, life forms in both namely, pests, insects and others are cold blooded have different conditions which suits them to survive that may not be suitable to us, both have own identities. Most important factor is that negative positive factors have to join together to form an environment for example mother/ father for birth of a child, negative/ positive of energy for electricity. In the system of environment, both have integral role to play. Where negative dominates outlines its systems and where positive dominates forms its own. 

Environment motivates to react:  We are miserable when are in desert and delighted when we are in lush garden. In a hospital we are in different mood and in disco different. Environment motivates us to change our mood and reaction is in accordance.  

We also generate/alter environment in our surroundings by our practice: Depends on the behavior of the individuals.  Positive thinkers have positive feelings and negative thinkers it is negative, creates environment accordingly.  This process turns to evolutionary system when a group of people have same thinking that initiates others to follow. Human lust and excessive usage of natural wood causing deforestation, pollution heating temperature is NEGATIVE environment for us. 

Role of negative and positive factors in our life is as truth as birth and death. We are controlled by their influence during our entire life span.

When we are born our energy field is narrow. Expansion of energy field is by the environment around and experience we gain.

Importance of Environment

Grandparents, maiden aunts, and grown-up brothers and sisters who used to make their home with the family have abandoned it and gone to live on their own. The " extended family " is dispersing, while the immediate or " nuclear family " is coming more sharply into focus. Fortunately the focus is not exclusively on genetics, with all its tremendous advances, for the family transmits chromosomes and customs. To help unravel the complexities which beset the transmission of disease the family's way of living is under scrutiny from many different aspects.

Dr. Rutter can make his contribution clear cut because he sensibly defines and restricts

his material. From the sick parents he eliminates minor and borderline cases; he includes only those with mental disorders diagnosed by a psychiatrist, suicides, and those with incapacitating physical illness recurrent or chronic. A large group of children, attending the Maudsley Hospital

because of  behavioural or neurotic disturbances, provided the point of entry. One in every five had a mentally ill parent, a proportion three times greater than in the parents of control groups. The same trend, though to a lesser extent, was shown with chronic physical illness or after parental death. Mental and physical illnesses in parents were often associated. For reasons not always apparent, some of the children of sick parents were affected, and some escaped ; but younger children were particularly at risk, and the risk was increased when both parents were ill, while siblings were often affected. The children were rather more likely to be aggressive or over-anxious when their parents were mentally ill, more likely to be delinquent when their parents were physically ill.

Dr. Rutter's theme is that one consequence of the impact on the family of parental illness

(mental or physical) is psychiatric disorder in the child; and, he argues, environment is more important than heredity. Parental illness is usually the prime factor, but the inter reaction between illness in child and parent is two-way; consequently, one could add, it may tend to be self-perpetuating. Much remains to be worked out, but this careful study will give food for thought to those who are interested in preventing illness at the age when it can best be prevented.

The science is warning us that the climate change is the biggest environmental issue of our time. Though there is no reason for scientists to lie to us many people are still not worried about climate change as they do not consider it to be a serious environmental threat.

Climate change is term that refers to any significant and long-term change in average weather in a given region or entire Earth. Basically every significant variability of average weather over longer time period can be classified as climate change. In the early beginnings of Earth's history these changes were usually caused by different dynamic processes on Earth and recently by human activities.

This is the reason why term "climate change" refers in everyday talk to "modern climate change" or climate change caused by global warming. The most sensitive indicators of climate change are glaciers and they are currently melting at rapid level which means climate change has already started. And this time only because oh human activities that resulted in global warming phenomenon.

            Global warming has today even become synonym for climate change because of its role in climate change as excessive emission of harmful greenhouse gases into atmosphere caused increase in average temperature that affected climate on Earth. And while fossil fuels remain dominant their combustion will continue to emit CO2 and other greenhouse gases into atmosphere and cause even more serious consequences to climate change.       

As the temperatures rise globally we can expect serious changes in weather patterns, rising sea levels and not before seen frequency and intensity of extreme weather. The most vulnerable areas are around Earth's poles and Africa, and these areas are already experiencing significant increase of average temperature, with worse to follow.

The United Nations Environment Programme states "climate change impacts will range from affecting agriculture- further endangering food security-, sea-level rise and the accelerated erosion of coastal zones, increasing intensity of natural disasters, species extinction and the spread of vector-borne diseases."