In the month of December'09 there has been lot of hype and fuss about global warming and Copenhagen climate change summit around the world.
How many of us really know about the global warming alias climate change?
How many of us are really concerned about the causes and consequences of global warming?
How many of us really know the steps to prevent the global warming?
Read on to know the answer for all the above questions.
What is Global warming or Climate change?
Global warming is nothing but, the increase in the average temperature of the Earth's surface air and oceans.
What causes Global warming or climate change?
The major cause of global warming is the emission of green house gases like carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, etc into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels, coals, etc.,. Every year 27 billion tones of CO2 are being emitted into atmosphere from various sources across the world. Among the 27b tones of CO2, 30% of CO2 is absorbed by seas & oceans and another 30% of CO2 is absorbed by trees, remaining 40% of CO2 remains in atmosphere which causes imbalance in earth’s nature. India’s total annual CO2 emission is 1.5 billion tons; by average every Indian is responsible for 1.5 tons of co2 emission annually.
While generating 1 unit (kWh) of electricity, 650 grams of CO2 is being emitted into the atmosphere. Petrol and diesel emits around 2.5 kgs of CO2 per litre.
What are the effects of Global warming?
An increase in global temperature will cause sea levels to rise and will change the amount and pattern of precipitation, probably including expansion of subtropical deserts. Temperatures are already increasing sharply, glaciers are receding at unprecedented speeds, whole chunks of the Antarctic ice shelf are breaking off, warmer seasons are becoming longer, hurricanes are becoming more severe and floods are causing havoc worldwide. Also Global warming will heavily impact food production.
Climate change will force as many as 100 crore (1 billion) people to migrate over the next four decades
Who are going to be affected by Global Warming?
Almost all the countries in the world are going to be affected by Global Warming. However Countries in Indian Subcontinent are going to be severely affected by Global warming because of its geographical location. By the year 2100, the country called Maldives will not exist and same is case of several island nations. Major part of Bangladesh is going to be submerged under the Bay of Bengal; same is the case of several coastal cities and towns in India (No Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata after 2100).
What can be done to prevent global warming?
We are all responsible for climate change and we all must be part of the solution. Reducing our carbon emission allows you to become part of the solution to climate change. The important steps to prevent global warming are Energy efficiency, reforestation and renewable energy.
What is Energy efficiency?
Energy efficiency is nothing but judicious and efficient usage of various forms of energy like electricity, fuels, etc. Energy efficiency can be the most cost effective and practical than many other measures an individual can take.
Energy Efficiency @ Residence:
Replace the ordinary light bulbs (incandescent bulbs) with energy efficient CFL lamps, which emits same amount of light but saves up to 75% of electricity. A CFL can save up to 66Kwh of power and reduces C 43Kgs of carbon emission annually.
Turn OFF the lights when you leave a room. Turn off the electrical appliances when not in use; don’t leave any electrical appliance in standby mode
Energy Efficiency @ Work Place:
Switch OFF your PC monitors even if you go out of your seat for 5 minutes; Shut Down your PC before you leave for the day. This will save you 700 kWh of power and reduces 450 kgs of CO2 emission annually. A PC switched ON over a night can consume around 1.5 kWh of power which could emit around 1kg of CO2 unnecessarily.
Energy Efficiency @ Travel:
Whenever possible travel by train / bus instead of riding in your vehicle. Commuting to office by public transport or car pooling not only saves the fuel & CO2 emission but also a more safer option and also keeps you fresh & relaxed from the chaotic peak hour traffic. This alone could reduce more than 1 ton of CO2 emission annually.
What is Reforestation?
Another important measure to prevent the climatic change is by increasing the GREEN cover (green forest) globally. The Green cover across the world is coming down swiftly however the CO2 emission is going up, which is causing the imbalance in nature. Each year about 13 million hectares of the world’s green forests are lost due to deforestation, in last 100 years the global tree population has reduced by 50%. You are aware that 30% of the Global CO2 emission is being absorbed by the trees.
How can we increase the green cover?
Everyone should contribute in some way towards the increase of green cover. Make it as a habit of planting a tree on your birthday every year
Save Paper – Save TREES – Save Environment.
Every one of us aware that papers are produced from the trees. Producing one ton of paper requires 3 times its weight in trees. Newly cut trees account for 65% of the global paper supply! This is also a main reason for the deforestation. We can reduce the cutting of green trees by reducing the usage of papers. Save Paper, stop taking unnecessary print outs and whenever possible print on both sides of the paper.
What is renewable energy?
Renewable energy is the energy generated from natural resources such as sunlight, wind and bio-fuel, which are renewable. This is going to be the only source of energy in future.
Solar energy, wind energy are the most cleanest of renewable energies. India has the resources in abundance to produce solar energy, wind energy. Bio-fuel can be produced from the corn, soya beans, sugar cane, etc. Solar energy could be the cheapest and practical among renewable energies an individual can make.
Beware, Indians are going to be heavily impacted by the global warming in future. Hence every Indian should take responsible action to prevent global warming rather than waiting for the government to request you to act. This message is delivered not only for Indians alone, but for the world citizens.
By now we've got our questions about Global Warming answered. We should realize that we are in a new modern era where results does matter, not the reasons. Better living can’t be made without better environment. So Think and act immediately, let us contribute our part for preventing Global Warming
Lets begin making our contribution to save our earth!!!
-- Courtesy: Internet!
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