CLIMATE CHANGE

SECRET

What is climate change?

The climate is different from the weather. It is the average weather we
experience over a long period of time. This includes temperature, wind and
rainfall patterns.
The climate of the earth is always changing. These changes are due to natural
causes, the effects of the sun, land, oceans and atmosphere.
Humans are changing current climate through the production of greenhouse
gases in the atmosphere such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide. In
2004, CO2 made up 85% of the UKs greenhouse gases released into the
atmosphere.

What is climate change?

Earths climate has varied, reflecting the complex interactions and dependencies
of the solar, oceanic, terrestrial, atmospheric, and living components that make
up planet Earths systems. For at least the last million years, our world has
experienced cycles of warming and cooling that take approximately 100,000
years to complete.
Earths climate has also been influenced on very long timescales by changes in
ocean circulation that result from plate tectonic movements (about 9F (5C)).
Earths climate has changed abruptly at times, sometimes as a result of slower
natural processes such as shifts in ocean circulation, sometimes due to sudden
events such as massive volcanic eruptions. Species and ecosystems have either
adapted to these past climate variations or perished.

What is climate change?

We now know that human activities burning fossil fuels and large areas of land,
for instance - have had a profound influence on Earths climate.
In its 2007 Fourth Assessment, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC) stated that it had very high confidence that the global average net effect
of human activities since 1750 has been one of warming. The IPCC attributes
humanitys global warming influence primarily to the increase in three key heattrapping gases in the atmosphere: carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide.
The U.S. Climate Change Science Program published findings in agreement
with the IPCC report, stating that studies to detect climate change and attribute
its causes using patterns of observed temperature change in space and time show
clear evidence of human influences on the climate system (due to changes in
greenhouse gases, aerosols, and stratospheric ozone.

Why is climate important?

Scientists model a range of future possible climates using different scenarios.
Each scenario makes different assumptions about factors such as how the
world's population may increase and use energy supplies, what technological
innovations there may be and how our behaviours may adapt to future changes.
Even if we stopped releasing any more CO2 into the atmosphere today, the
world's climate is still predicted to warm in the future. This is because of the
'residence' time of CO2 which lasts about 100 years in the atmosphere.
As CO2 emissions have been rising, so has the global temperature. Since 1900,
the average temperature of the earths surface has warmed by 0.6C. All of the
ten warmest years on record since 1861 have occurred since the beginning of the
1990s. 1998 was the warmest year on record and 2005 was almost as warm. The
global average temperature measurements are taken from thousands of weather
stations across the world on land, from ships at sea and more recently satellites.

If future emissions follow

the business as usual
projection, then CO2
concentration in the
atmosphere will more
than double over the next
100 years
If global emissions
remain at current levels,
concentrations would still
go on rising

What is global warming?

Global warming is the term used to describe a gradual increase in the average
temperature of the Earth's atmosphere and its oceans, a change that is believed
to be permanently changing the Earth's climate.
The scientific consensus on climatic changes related to global warming is that
the average temperature of the Earth has risen between 0.4 and 0.8 C over the
past 100 years.
The increased volumes of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases released
by the burning of fossil fuels, land clearing, agriculture, and other human
activities, are believed to be the primary sources of the global warming that has
occurred over the past 50 years.
Average global temperatures could increase between 1.4 and 5.8 C. Changes
resulting from global warming may include rising sea levels due to the melting
of the polar ice caps, as well as an increase in occurrence and severity of storms
and other severe weather events.

What is global warming?

Most climate scientists agree the main cause of the current global warming trend
is human expansion of the "greenhouse effect , warming that results when the
atmosphere traps heat radiating from Earth toward space. Certain gases in the
atmosphere block heat from escaping.
Too much carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmospherewhich acts as a blanket,
trapping heat and warming the planet.
Certain waste management and agricultural practices aggravate the problem by
releasing other potent global warming gases, such as methane and nitrous
oxide.

Global warming

Facts about global warming

1.) Loss of biodiversity
With every tree cut down we lose countless species of animals and plants. If the
rate of global warming will be moving at this rate we will end up loosing million
species. If we take polar bears for example in the past they were heavier, less hungry
and much bigger than they are now.
2.) Natural disasters
Natural disaster is an effect of earths natural hazards floods, tornado,
hurricane, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, heatwaves, landslides. They can lead
to massive financial, environmental or human losses.

Facts about global warming

10 facts about global warming

3.) Disappearance of Great Barrier Reef
This is the largest coral reef system which can be seen from outer space.
Increasing ocean temperatures bleach the coral reefs. Mass coral bleaching events
due to elevated ocean temperatures occurred in the summers of 1998, 2002 and
2006, and coral bleaching is expected to become an annual occurrence.
4.) Global warming creates opposites
Global warming turns some areas of the earth hotter or drier while others are
turned the opposite direction wetter and colder. Global warming creates opposites in
the nature on one side Amazon rain forest is turning into desert and Sahara is
becoming greener and greener.
5.) Disappearance of islands
With the glaciers melting and the ocean levels raising some of the islands will
disappear. But some popular cities will be lost as well, such as London, New York,
submerge 2,100 Indonesian islands, flat and low countries. Some of most beautiful
beaches will be lost as well.

Facts about global warming

Facts about global warming

6.) Lambs
It is not only polar bears who became smaller and lighter it is also animals
which serve directly to us Scottish lambs.
7.) The ships will be able to sail along the Northwest passage
This passage over North America was passable 100 years ago but melting Arctic
ice from global warming will make it passable again.
8.) People
With the changing face of the Earth people will have to move to in order to
survive. If the ocean rises by one yard will force 1,000,000 people to move. The
scientists predict that the ocean by 2100 will rise by 1 yard.

Facts about global warming

9.) Rise of sea level

Sea levels will rise by 20 feet if Greenland or West Antarctic Ice Sheets melt and
by 40 feet if both melt. This will change the maps as we know them today.
10.) Temperatures
Every day 70 million tons of carbon dioxide are released into the atmosphere.
The warmest years on record have been in the past 10 out of 12 years. The 10 hottest
years were between 1997 and 2008.

Facts about global warming

Consequences of a Warming World

Over the last century, global average temperature has increased by more than
1F (0.7C). The 2001-2010 decade is the warmest since 1880the earliest year
for which comprehensive global temperature records were available. In fact,
nine of the warmest years on record have occurred in just the last 10 years.
This warming has been accompanied by a decrease in very cold days and nights
and an increase in extremely hot days and warm nights.
Affects all regions around the world. Polar ice shields are melting and the sea is
rising. In some regions extreme weather events and rainfall are becoming more
common while others are experiencing more extreme heat waves and droughts.
A warming world also has the potential to change rainfall and snow patterns,
increase droughts and severe storms, reduce lake ice cover, melt glaciers,
increase sea levels, and change plant and animal behavior.

Consequences of a Warming World

Things can stop global warming

Replace a regular incandescent light bulb with a compact fluorescent light bulb
(cfl) CFLs use 60% less energy than a regular bulb. This simple switch will save
about 300 pounds of carbon dioxide a year.
Install a programmable thermostat: Programmable thermostats will
automatically lower the heat or air conditioning at night and raise them again in
the morning. They can save you $100 a year on your energy bill.
Clean or replace filters on your furnace and air conditioner: Cleaning a dirty air
filter can save 350 pounds of carbon dioxide a year.

Things can stop global warming

Defrost old fridges and freezers regularly. Even better is to replace them with
newer models, which all have automatic defrost cycles and are generally up to
two times more energy-efficient than their predecessors.
Dont let heat escape from your house over a long period. When airing your
house, open the windows for only a few minutes. If you leave a small opening
all day long, the energy needed to keep it warm inside during six cold months
(10C or less outside temperature) would result in almost 1 ton of CO2
emissions.
Cover your pots while cooking. Doing so can save a lot of the energy needed for
preparing the dish. Even better are pressure cookers and steamers: they can save
around 70%!

Conclusion

Climate change presents very large health risks, mainly through ecosystem
degradation.
The risks are not yet bring managed either from the health or the environment
side.
We have much of the necessary mandate, public support and evidence, and one
health is an appropriate conceptual model.
We need better incentives for integrated approaches and long term management.

Test now ,na.