The quantity of carbon dioxide has increased in the atmosphere on account of increasing pace of industrialization, thereby resulting in green house effect.
Due to increase in quantity of carbon dioxide found on the surface of the earth, thermal energy released by reflected rays is concentrated in the atmosphere, resulting in increase of average temperature of the earth. This is called global warming.
Scientists believe that climate of the earth would change on account of catastrophic rise in temperature of the world, resulting in decrease of rainfall. Direct effect of decrease in rainfall would come on agriculture, incidence creating of drought. Forest area would reduce in the world due to rise in temperature and it would lead to decrease of rainfall.
Wildlife and other creatures would also reduce because of this. Besides, carbon dioxide, methane, chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) compound and nitrous oxide are also responsible for rise in temperature. Immediate and far reaching consequences of warming of ionosphere would do severe harm to human health as well as environment.
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Immediate effects mainly include death, drought, storm, flood and environmental degradation, while far reaching effects will be various kinds of infection and related diseases, food problem, famine, and danger to biotic life. Besides these, many cities located in coastal regions of seas may submerge in water due to melting of snow at the arctic’s and high mountains due to rise in temperature.
According to meteorological scientists, temperature has increased by 0.3 to 0.6 degree Celsius during last century. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) scientists have remarked after estimating the severity of Green House Effect in view of the population increase and economic and technical progress, that the quantity of carbon dioxide would be doubled as compared to the industrial era in the earlier period.
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As a result of this, average temperature of the earth would increase at the rate of 0.3°C every century. It would this increase by 1°C by 2025 and 2°C by the year 2100. The increase of temperature in atmosphere by 0.3 to 0.6 degree Celsius has raised water level of seas by 10.25 cms. Scientists have estimated on such a basis that water level in oceans can rise from 15 to 95 cms during the next century.
Due to the rising height of oceanic water, many towns and metropolitan cities situated beside seashores of Indian Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, African Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea can submerge under water in the future. According to the famous ‘Time’ magazine, Maldives would submerge under water by 2025.
According to scientists of Meryland University, the life of about 9.40 crore people of Egypt, Bangladesh, China, Nigeria, would be in danger if water level of oceans rises by one metre. Fifteen per cent agricultural land on coasts of Mediterranean Sea of Egypt alone would be destroyed. Similarly, the famous ‘Sunderbans’ of West Bengal in India and Bangladesh would drown in water. It would destroy the ecological marshy system and Peninsular India may also face danger.
Climate as a natural element, possesses a complex composition which is interconnected with the atmosphere, oceans, snow, land, rivers, lakes, mountains etc. Climate produced by their interaction harms the existing vegetation and biotic life.
Change in composition of climate becomes visible in the form of famine. According to a study by American Environmental Security Agency, production of wheat, rice and other food grains would be reduced by 1.2 to 7.6 per cent by the year 2060. Global water crisis would also become acute due to rise in temperature.
Due to the process of global warming, the glaciers of Himalayas are converting into ice lakes. These lakes are becoming wider day by day. According to International Science magazine “New Scientist”, all the glaciers of Himalayas would be destroyed by the year 2025 and a dangerous flood situation can arise due to it, affecting all the people living in the nearby mountain region.
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Recent discoveries have revealed that glaciers of Greenland in the North are speedily melting because of global warming. Due to breaking of vast glaciers from the original place (Ross Sea) in Antarctica, penguin birds are starving for want of food.
The New Zealand Herald Times has published a news that the biggest habitat of ‘Adele Penguins’, Cape Crazier, has been encircled by glaciers and it has endangered the life of about 1.30 lakh ‘Adele Penguins’. The paper quoted Dean Paterson, Antarctica Science Chief of New Zealand, who said that newly born children of penguin birds are dying of hunger due to the inability to find a way from the source of feeding place to the habitat. This situation has been created because of the coming of 37 km wide and 55 km long glaciers in March 2001. These glaciers have created an obstacle between Ross Sea area and the open sea.
160 countries signed a resolution regarding climate change in the ‘Earth Conference’ held at Rio city in 1992. In December 1997, many countries consented to reduce the level of quantity of carbon dioxide at the ‘Kyoto Conference’ held in Japan. 300 non-governmental organizations also participated in this conference along with the representatives of 160 countries.