Planet In Crisis: Global Warming Irreversible...
Water crisis in Punjab-A global issue
Brazil and global warming
Do you think Global Warming will destroy the planet?
The Menace Called Global Warming
Is global warming a myth?
The verdict is out - global warming is a man made crisis. The Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change has indicted humans for contributing to the drastic climate changes being witnessed around the world. Worse, the process is now considered irreversible.
Efforts to control global warming can at most be delayed, the report says. Scientists predict that the temperatures will continue to rise, no matter how much we try and check pollutants and emission of green house gases.
The Earth's average temperature is projected to rise by 2 to 4.5C (3.6-8.1F) in 100 years. The results will be catastrophic: frequent heat waves; severe droughts; rain storms; violent typhoons; destructive hurricanes; all will wreck havoc on the planet and its living species. The Arctic and Antarctic ice sheets will shrink or melt away, there will be abrupt changes in ocean currents and the sea levels will rise - inundating many cities.
Why is Man to Be Blamed?
The planet was never as dominated by any one species as it is today. The human species has evolved a lifestyle that puts an enormous demand on earth's resources to meet out its needs of more energy. And they find it very difficult to change this pattern of their lifestyles.
The more fossil fuels we burn, the more carbon-dioxide we add to cause greenhouse effect. The pace set, is way too fast and the planet is responding with an alarming rise in temperatures. The panel concluded, with 90 percent certainty, that it was human emissions of greenhouse gases rather than natural variations that was causing global warming.
Achim Steiner - Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme concluded:
This report closes the doors to those who were able to detract from the issue, and puts an end to the notion of uncertainty and doubt about man's role in climate change.
Greenhouse gases being emitted because of human intervention are at least five times more than those caused by the nature cycle or the normal alterations in output of solar energy observed. Atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide and methane has increased at the fastest rate when compared to assimilated data for the last 650,000 years.
So what now can we do beyond the Kyoto protocol? Politicians can no longer brush the issue under the carpet. The fight against global warming should be at a global level where countries that do not comply should be economically boycotted by the rest of the world. At a personal level we all can try to reduce our carbon footprint and move to a greener way of life.
