Incalzirea globala este fenomenul de crestere a temperaturilor medii inregistrate ale atmosferei in imediata apropiere a solului, precum si a oceanelor. Fenomenul de incalzire globala a inceput sa ingrijoreze dupa anii '60, in urma dezvoltarii industriale masive si a cresterii concentratiei gazelor cu efect de sera care sunt considerate in mare masura responsabile de acest fenomen.
Modelele climatice elaborate de specialistii in domeniu estimeaza ca clima globala se va incalzi cu 1,1 - 6,4°C in cursul secolului al 21-lea. Estimarile variaza din cauza faptului ca nu poate fi prevazuta evolutia emisiilor de gaze care cauzeaza efectul de sera. De altfel, tendinta de incalzire continua a planetei in secolul XXI este relevata de foarte multe studii in domeniu. Foarte ingrijorator este insa faptul ca aceste scenarii climatice arata ca zonele polare se vor incalzi cel mai mult, ceea ce ar putea avea consecinte dramatice.
Cauza principala a incalzirii globale este cresterea concentratiei de CO2 in atmosfera in ultimele secole. Aceasta a fost de 280 ppm inainte de revolutia industriala, fiind acum de 430 ppm, adica aproape dubla, iar in anul 2035 ar putea fi de 550 ppm, daca fluxul emisiilor actuale de gaze cu efect de sera (GES) s-ar mentine peste capacitatea naturala de absorbtie. Aceasta ar putea duce in imediata perioada la o crestere cu inca 2°C. Aceasta este probabil sa se intample daca tinem seama de dezvoltarea impetioasa a economiilor in China, India, Brazilia, Australia, Asia de Sud-Est sau in Europa rasariteana si de faptul ca SUA nu a ratificat inca Protocolul de la Kyoto, in timp ce utilizarea surselor inlocuitoare regenerabile curate de energie si retinerea CO2 la centralele pe combustibili fosili avanseaza greu.
Pe langa dezvoltarea industriala, o alta cauza la fel de importanta o reprezinta defrisarile masive ale padurilor. Acestea duc la o crestere a concentratiei de noxe ceea ce provoaca efectul incalzirii globale si epuizarea stratului de ozon. Pentru a stopa efectele negative provocate de aceste defrisari, specialistii spun ca ar fi nevoie de o impadurire cu 20% fata de totalul deja existent la nivlul intregului glob.
Efectele incalzirii globale Expertii Grupului Interguvernamental asupra Evolutiei Climei (GIEC) au lansat un diagnostic alarmant asupra pericolelor incalzirii globale. Potrivit acestora, o incalzire cu 2 sau 3 grade Celsius pe plan global fata de nivelul mediu de temperatura din 1990 va avea un impact negativ urias asupra tuturor regiunilor planetei.
Pana in anul 2080, circa 3,4 miliarde de oameni vor suferi de pe urma penuriei grave de apa provocata de topirea ghetarilor, iar alti 600 de milioane de oameni vor suferi de foame de pe urma secetei, degradarii si salinizarii solului. Seceta va afecta regiuni intinse din sudul Africii, America Latina, zona mediteraneeana, Orientul Mjlociu si Africa de Nord. Unele studii prezic spre exemplu ca padurile amazoniene s-ar putea usca pur si simplu, antrenand pieirea unui numar urias de specii de animale si plante. Expertii spun ca la fel s-a intamplat acum 55 de milioane de ani, la sfarsitul Paleocenului, cand o crestere cu 5 grade Celsius a temperaturilor medii a pustiit planeta.
Pentru a se putea salva, speciile trebuie sa se adapteze acestor schimbari sau sa migreze odata cu zonele climatice. Acele specii care nu se pot adapta sau nu pot sa migreze, risca sa dispara din cauza schimbarilor climatice din habitatul lor. De exemplu, speciile din zonele montane nu vor avea unde sa se mute in zone mai inalte si mai reci ceea ce ar duce la disparitia lor daca acestea nu se vor adapta. O situatie similara se va inregistra in regiunea arctica. Flora si fauna din zona nu se pot muta mai spre nord pentru a se feri de incalzirea globala si risca sa dispara.
Valurile de caldura - consecinta a incalzirii globale - implica unele riscuri pentru sanatatea populatiei, mai ales in zonele urbane, unde temperaturile sunt mai ridicate. Se cunoaste ca vremea caniculara poate creste riscul de deces, indeosebi la persoanele susceptibile de sensibilitate la efectele stresului termic. Cea mai mare vulnerabilitate o au, in general persoanele din grupele de varsta care depasesc 65 de ani.
Canicula poate cauza de asemenea si dezastre naturale. Aceasta poate produce incendii, sau poate intretine incendiile de padure provocate din neglijenta omului. In acest caz sunt distruse suprafete insemnate de padure (uneori, zeci de mii de ha), punand, totodata, in pericol viata persoanelor aflate in apropiere. De asemenea, ele provoaca nori de fum care impiedica desfasurarea in conditii bune a transporturilor.
Prin impactul asupra productiei de hrana, seceta poate avea efecte devastatoare asupra sanatatii umane. Aceasta cu atat mai mult cu cat seceta este un fenomen cu frecventa mare in zone extinse din state in curs de dezvoltare, cu populatie numeroasa. Insuficienta de hrana determina un nivel mai ridicat al morbiditatii, cauzat de o serie de afectiuni, intre care se deosebesc pelagra, anemia feripriva, hipocalcemia, hipomagnezia, continutul scazut in macro- si, mai ales, micronutrienti (vitamine, saruri minerale), dar si slabirea rezistentei organismului fata de factori patogeni.
Anemia, malnutritia si, respectiv, subnutritia sunt efecte ale consumului inadecvat de hrana. Aproximativ doua miliarde de persoane din tarile in curs de dezvoltare sunt anemice, iar 1,1 miliarde de persoane din intreaga lume sunt malnutrite (UNPF, 2001). Frecventa subnutritiei este, de asemenea, ridicata in multe regiuni ale lumii. Se estimeaza ca numarul persoanelor subnutrite cronic era, in 1996–1998, de 792 de milioane de persoane, ceea ce reprezinta 18% din populatia totala a regiunilor respective.
Pentru a evita un viitor sumbru al planetei, ar trebui ca, pana in 2050, emisia gazelor cu efect de sera sa scada de doua ori la nivel mondial si de patru ori pentru tarile industrializate.
Exista si un scenariu optimist, conform caruia, pana in 2100, temperatura va creste cu 1,1 - 2,9 grade Celsius. Insa specialistii considera ca e putin probabil acest lucru, de vina fiind inertia sistemelor ecologice si cantitatile de dioxid de carbon adunate in atmosfera de-a lungul ultimelor sute de ani.
Awaking t0 a nightmare People used to tell me Yeti- the snow man, not sure about my name at the moment. For telling you my story, I have to remember y0urs…
I can’t remember asking why it has happened, but since then I would keep thinking to myself “Where did this came fr0m?”… We all remember the darkness of the pine forest, and the footprints in the fluffy white snow... This were my h0me.. The h0w and wHy… when I first time went to see the w0rld and its cities, I was terrified to see what I had to- no air to breathe with, n0 more life, and not my trees... Everything I was doing since I had th0se first communications through the psychic was based purely on intuition. I didn't know why I was going to meet this kind of w0rld, but everything I wanted was to f0llow the rapidly changing course of my life. Wake up caLl!! People kept asking, "How can global warming be happening when we're having record cold spells?" So, the name became climate change, and now both an early snow and a late snow indicate climate change. Same with more rain than usual and less rain than usual, and there’s no advantages f0r me, unf0rtunately. Did you know the burning and slashing of forests contributes 20% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions and fuels climate change?- even I kn0w that. Protecting f0rrests is something y0u can do right now... Is there anybody? It seems to me that you don’t understand how human activities affect the biological and physical systems of our planet. Just think about the droughts, floods, epidemics and wind-storms every year- doesn’t it affect and your economical status? My territory, the Republic of Moldova is considerable vulnerable to climate disasters, and still we don’t have such a great impact for causing climate change. My next step was visiting our thermo-energetic centre, in Chisinau (CET1). Yep..it was nice… no pe0ple ar0und it.. Impossible to pass by. Every year we release in the air the whole productivity of this energetic stati0n, ..global warming?.. or ec0logical health? We don't live in a 'world' so much as a frequency range; the one that our five-senses can access and perceive and the five-sense range of perception is tiny. Creation is not structured like a chest of draws, one level on top of another, and may be y0u, humans, sh0uld just look around you?
The neW beginning is the hardest step… Let’s do it t0gether! Do y0u remember the st0ries of childh0od, of a beast that stalked the upper reaches of the mountains, and how fear spread through village every time it was sp0tted? okay, it was ab0ut me, recognize.. but noW I’m no danger for you, besides those were only tales,.. the real danger is the climate change that has drastic results in the wh0le w0rld, starting with this new age… From what I saw, s0rry for being a litTle selfish, but you can make great Money while taxing the C02 emissi0ns and you could use them if y0u are n0t selfish like me, in charitable causes: for ec0logy! Not saying that I didn’t enj0y my visit.. But in cities there is a lot of work to do f0r coming back t0 go0d old days.. And speaking about ecol0gy, have you been recently to circus? That’s a great view… of course, it’s autumn… what about the leaves felt down from trees??.. a g0od source of natural fertilizer for the ground (lo0ks great also) and it could also be used like a thermal-source by population, by burning them. Jesus, how smart I am!! It’s getting colder and colder, because winter is next to come. But I already felt h0w warm are winters and how hot suMmer around here is. Did you have any dreams last night? Or is just me? We all have a great need for acceptance, but you must trust that your beliefs are unique, your own, even though others may think them odd or unpopular, even though the herd may go that's bad. Everything depends on y0u… and I wish I could get up from this nightmare and see a entire new world, progressive life and n0 fights with the nature. It will be 0ver when y0u feel the rain…
P.S: How do y0u think why there are n0 unicorns????
Negrescu Dana Lyceum of the Academy of Science of Moldova, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova
3) The global warming has bad effects on the world. There are a lot of negative effects of global warming. Some of them, the most dangerous are: 1. Polar ice caps melting The ice caps melting will raise sea levels. There are 5,773,000 cubic miles of water in ice caps, glaciers, and permanent snow. According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center, if all glaciers melted today the seas would rise about 230 feet. Luckily, that’s not going to happen all in one go! But sea levels will rise. 2. Economic consequences Most of the effects of anthropogenic global warming won’t be good. And these effects spell one thing for the countries of the world: economic consequences. Hurricanes cause do billions of dollars in damage, diseases cost money to treat and control and conflicts exacerbate all of these. 3. Increased probability and intensity of droughts and heat waves Although some areas of Earth will become wetter due to global warming, other areas will suffer serious droughts and heat waves. Africa will receive the worst of it, with more severe droughts also expected in Europe. Water is already a dangerously rare commodity in Africa, and according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, global warming will exacerbate the conditions and could lead to conflicts and war. 4. Warmer waters and more hurricanes As the temperature of oceans rises, so will the probability of more frequent and stronger hurricanes. We saw in this in 2004 and 2005. 5. Spread of disease As northern countries warm, disease carrying insects migrate north, bringing plague and disease with them. Indeed some scientists believe that in some countries thanks to global warming, malaria has not been fully eradicated.
4) Combating climate change requires unity and responsibility between societies and governments, and only like this fighting the problem, will give more results.
We can stop this problem.Only the collaboration between countries will build a strong opposing force against the common problem of global warming. Except governments nobody can introduce limits for the emissions greenhouse gases, special taxes. Only big organizations have the necessary resources to invest in a plan of long term to prevent climate change.
Plans which would make Europe a world leader in tackling climate change and renewable energy policy were released by the European Commission .The proposal describes how the European Union can reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to 20% below 1990 levels by 2020.The package has been called "brave" by the Dutch environment agency and has been welcomed by the UK government, which says the package will give industry the secure framework it needs to build a low-carbon economy.Other environmental groups, meanwhile, say that it could and should have done more.The European Commission first adopted the 20% by 2020 target in 2007.After that another proposal describes a package of concrete measures and policies, which the commission says will allow Europe to meet this target.As part of that, Europe will increase the share of renewables in its energy mix to 20% by 2020 – an 11.5% increase on current levels.
By joining forces of big organization, countries, and states there will be a bigger result.
The Kyoto Protocol arose from the 1992 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and was adopted in 1997. This Protocol requires industrialized countries to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases by 5 percent below the 1990 levels by 2008-2012. It is the world's only agreement on limiting global warming pollution and has been ratified by more than 120 countries. United States not being one of them. In 1992, at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, named also Earth Summit, , in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil over 150 nations signed a binding declaration on the need to reduce global warming. Each of us can help to stop global warming in 3 steps: Reduce The amount of energy you consume and start using renewable energy sources, such as wind power and solar power. Sign up for Green Energy with your local power provider. If they don't have it, then tell them to get it. Reuse By using products made with recycled materials. Make or buy a compost bin to use your organic waste as fertilizer for your trees, shrubs, and garden. Recycle All materials to your best ability in your local area and purchase Carbon Offsets.
We can expect significant changes in normal weather patterns. With these effects of Climate Change are the conditions that affect agriculture; including temperature, floods and draught, glacial melting, and ecology of the planet. These conditions determine the capacity of the planet to produce enough food for the ever increasing human population, as well as domesticated animals.
Let's pretend nothing has been proved and the pictures of the polar caps are in question. Do we really have the luxury to wait and see if the doubters are correct? There is no quick fix when the ice melts with climate change. So why not change the way you consume energy and the products you use? At the very least, you will be helping This is not something you would like to reminisce about and say: "If only we did something".make a better planet for the future.
So, the causes and effects of Global Warming are real. What we decide to do about it is up to everyone of us. The first, and most important, course of action we can take is to make a major shift to renewable energy sources. Wind power, solar energy, ocean energy, and geothermal power are energy sources we have to utilize on a major scale if we are to succeed in stopping this man-made climate change. The ecology of our planet is at stake.
2) Global warming is caused my man Man-made causes probably do the most damage. There are many man-made causes. Pollution is one of the biggest man-made problems. Pollution comes in many shapes and sizes. Burning fossil fuels is one thing that causes pollution. Fossil fuels are fuels made of organic matter such as coal, or oil. When fossil fuels are burned they give off a green house gas called CO2. Also mining coal and oil allows methane to escape. How does it escape? Methane is naturally in the ground. When coal or oil is mined you have to dig up the earth a little. When you dig up the fossil fuels you dig up the methane as well. Another major man-made cause of Global Warming is population. More people means more food, and more methods of transportation, right? That means more methane because there will be more burning of fossil fuels, and more agriculture. Now your probably thinking, "Wait a minute, you said agriculture is going to be damaged by Global Warming, but now you're saying agriculture is going to help cause Global Warming?" Well, have you ever been in a barn filled with animals and you smell something terrible? You're smelling methane. Another source of methane is manure. Because more food is needed we have to raise food. Animals like cows are a source of food which means more manure and methane. Another problem with the increasing population is transportation. More people means more cars, and more cars means more pollution. Also, many people have more than one car. Since CO2 contributes to global warming, the increase in population makes the problem worse because we breathe out CO2. Also, the trees that convert our CO2 to oxygen are being demolished because we're using the land that we cut the trees down from as property for our homes and buildings. We are not replacing the trees (an important part of our eco system), so we are constantly taking advantage of our natural resources and giving nothing back in return.
TOPIC: “THE WORLD SHOULD ADOPT A PLAN TO SIGNIFICANTLY COMBAT CLIMATE CHANGE”
AFFIRMATIVE TEAM PURPOSE: A secure future for earth Keywords: The world- Humankind considered as social beings; human society. To adopt-to accept or act in accordance with (a plan, principle, etc.). Plan-A scheme, program, or method worked out beforehand for the accomplishment of an objective. Combat- To oppose vigorously and fight against something. Climate-The meteorological conditions, including temperature, precipitation, and wind, that characteristically prevail in a particular region. Climate change- a change in the world's climate, that can have disastrous consequences Arguments: 1)GLOBAL WARMING IS REAL SO WE MUST ACT QUICKLY. For years our governments have been pretending Global Warming doesn't exist; mainly due to money and influence from the Coal and Oil Energy Industries. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concluded, "most of the observed increase in globally averaged temperatures since the mid-20th century is largely due to the observed increase in anthropogenic(caused by human activities) greenhouse gas concentrations" via the greenhouse effect. The latest IPCC report says that as early as 2020, between 75 million and 250 million people in Africa will suffer from water shortages, main Asian urban centers will be at risk for flooding, and many species will disappear from Europe.
The European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica determined that there is more carbon dioxide present in the atmosphere currently than at any time during the last 650,000 years. This refutes the skeptics of Global Warming, who say temperature and carbon dioxide levels are cyclical; the real reason for what is happening.
Arctic ice is rapidly disappearing, and the Arctic may have its first completely ice-free summer by 2040 or earlier. Polar bears and other native species are already suffering from the loss of sea ice.
