Climate Change -Threaten for all

Climate Change is a real and immediate threat to our planet's survival and requires action by the global community to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, industrialization and other human-induced environment impacts.

Well, well! Climate and Climate Change are words that always linger in our mind and be heard for many years.  Everyone in the world today, irrespective of literate and illiterate can know what climate change is. We have been experiencing the climate change since centuries and in recent decades. To intensify the actual meaning of the two terms, I quoted the dictionary meaning as below. The ‘Climate’ termed in Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary as “the general weather conditions usually found in a particular place”. Then coming to ‘Climate Change’, it is defined as “the way the world’s weather is changing”. However, various people have diverse views on it. I, personally feel that ‘Climate Change’ is the change in weather conditions of the world owing to the growth of industrial estates, greenhouse gas emissions, and daily human activities that impairs the environment.

Climate change is a long-term shift in the climate of a specific location, region or planet. The shift is measured by changes in features associated with average weather, such as temperature, wind patterns and precipitation. What most people don’t know is that a change in the variability of climate is also considered climate change, even if average weather conditions remain the same.

Climate change occurs when the climate of a specific area or planet is altered between two different periods of time. This usually occurs when something changes the total amount of the sun’s energy absorbed by the earth’s atmosphere and surface. It also happens when something changes the amount of heat energy from the earth’s surface and atmosphere that escapes to space over an extended period of time.

Such changes can involve both changes in average weather conditions and changes in how much the weather varies around these averages. The changes can be caused by natural processes like volcanic eruptions, variations in the sun’s intensity, or very slow changes in ocean circulation or land surfaces which occur on time scales of decades, centuries or longer. But humans also cause climates to change by releasing greenhouse gases and aerosols into the atmosphere, by changing land surfaces, industrialization, and by depleting the stratospheric ozone layer. Both natural and human factors that can cause climate change are called ‘climate forcings’, since they push, or ‘force' the climate to shift to new values.

The last decade of the 20^th Century and the beginning of the 21^st have been the warmest period in the entire global instrumental temperature record, starting in the mid 19^th century. To control it or solve the problem, the countries all over the world are working on it, but it still remained as main problem on the globe.

The Climate Change is believed to be major and excruciating problems in the current scenarios of the modern world; the upcoming generations should work jointly to control or solve it. Our young blood like ‘I’ and ‘You’ should work selflessly to fight with changing climate in the country and world as a whole. The issues should not keep only raised among community and ruined in the midst of our day to day life, but we should get our hands together in combating it. Climate Change is constantly alarmed by scientists, environmentalists, socialists, ecologists, conservationists, etc. and debated in and around the world, irrespective of size of the nations.

Climate change affects the entire globe. Developed and developing or rich and poor countries are working together to find solutions to climate change. An awareness, advocacy, and sensitization programs were organized well-timed. Various rich countries and civil society organizations of the world are jointly conducting seminars, symposiums, conference, conventions, and forums to battle the climate change. In June 1992, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) was signed by over 154 countries that agreed to stabilize the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere at levels that won’t cause harm. In December 1997, in Kyoto, Japan, Canada and 160 industrialized nations committed to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, as part of an international agreement on climate change called the Kyoto Protocol.

Climate is vital for the survival of the human beings and other living beings. The outer surface of the earth is made up of soil, rock and water; from where the trees and plants are survived. With help of soil, water, trees and plants, the citizens survived on the earth. How do we survive until now? We survived as we were provided with moderate climate and fresh air. The atmosphere around us was fresh and clean. Now, the time has already emerged, we should be extra cautious for the change climate. If climate is changed or affected by some factors such as greenhouse gas emissions, industrialization and other human-induced environment impacts, I am sure that this should be taken measures by each and every individual in the world. The globe is place where our ancestors lived in for thousands of years, this is our time living on it and next generations, the children of ours may live in. So, take care of our climate and make sure that it would remain unchanged for our young generations.

Why is Climate Changing?

Climate change is a normal part of the Earth’s natural variability, which is related to interactions among the atmosphere, ocean, and land, as well as changes in the amount of solar radiation reaching the earth. The geologic record includes significant evidence for large-scale climate changes in Earth’s past. The change is happened and happens owing to the industrialization, greenhouse gas emissions, human-induced environment impacts and others factors.

Industrialization

In the rapid developing countries in the world, industrialization is main source of climate change. The industries are developing now and then. The needs of the people increase with changing time. The necessary and unnecessary things are often being created, invented and discovered in the world. Many scientists often invent new things. When new things are being created or invented, the industries are set up to produce these new things to reach to the hands of each and every individual.

In our country, the people start factories and industries in order to produce goods whether it’s necessary or not. In Gomtu, Pasakha and other parts of the country, it’s very clear that factories and industries are being installed. The number of the industries is on the edge of increasing yearly. The Hydroelectric Projects are stationed in various places; new projects are still in the verge of completing, other new projects are yet to come in place. When industries are set up the huge amount of land is being used for construction.

The lands used for industrial sites are being clear up. The trees are cut down which lead to negative impacts on environment. When construction of industries is completed, then industries produce goods. In the process of producing goods, machines are used which release huge amount of harmful gases in the air. This air will directly go into the atmosphere; it will remain in the atmosphere and act like thin layer cloth.

In the process of upward radiation of energy from the earth surface, this thin layer absorbs the air. This reflects some amount down to the earth and some in other directions. This process will is repeated until finally, the energy does escape from the atmosphere to space. So, it will increase the temperate of the surface of the earth, where it leads to change in climate on the Earth’s surface.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Certain naturally occurring gases, such as carbon dioxide (CO₂) and water vapor (H₂O), trap heat in the atmosphere causing a greenhouse effect. Burning of fossil fuels, like oil, coal, and natural gas is adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.

The earth has various places; hot, warm, cold and extreme cold, where thousands of people of the world settled. There are seasons, where some places never experience the summer season. Where there is extreme cold and does not experience summer, the people started using greenhouse to cultivate crops and vegetables. The huge arable lands were cultivated using greenhouse. The greenhouse observes the heat from sun and release carbon-dioxide and other gases in the atmosphere which is believed to be the cause of a gradual warming of the Earth’s surface. Thus, it is requires action by the global community to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. So, there is very need to reduce greenhouse usage on the earth.

Not only Carbon dioxide contributes greenhouse gas to global warming, but also water vapor acts as a greenhouse gas at high altitudes, trapping heat on the Earth’s surface. Water vapor acts as positive feedback to the greenhouse gas phenomenon because it prevents heat from leaving the Earth’s atmosphere, just like carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide causes the greenhouse effect, but water vapor is a more serious problem because as the temperature rises from the greenhouse, more water is able to stay in its gaseous form higher in the atmosphere. Scientists have used computer models to find that the water vapor intensifies the warming effects of carbon dioxide by at least a factor of two. On the other hand, water vapor also contributes the global cooling process as it condenses and falls as rain when too much of it exists lower in the atmosphere. It also blocks some of the sun’s heat from reaching the Earth.

It is a natural system known as the “greenhouse effect” regulates temperature on Earth. Just as glass in a greenhouse keeps heat in, our atmosphere traps the sun’s heat near earth’s surface, primarily through heat-trapping properties of certain “greenhouse gases”.

Earth is heated by sunlight. Most of the sun’s energy passes through the atmosphere, to warm the earth’s surface, oceans and atmosphere. However, in order to keep the atmosphere’s energy budget in balance, the warmed earth also emits heat energy back to space as infrared radiation. As this energy radiates upward, most is absorbed by clouds and molecules of greenhouse gases in the lower atmosphere. These re-radiate the energy in all directions, some back towards the surface and some upward, where other molecules higher up can absorb the energy again. This process of absorption and re-emission is repeated until finally, the energy does escape from the atmosphere to space.

However, because much of the energy has been recycled downward, surface temperatures become much warmer than if the greenhouse gases were absent from the atmosphere. This natural process is known as the greenhouse effect.

Over the past many centuries, the amount of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere has been relatively stable. Then a few centuries ago, their concentrations began to increase due to the increasing demand for energy caused by industrialization and rising populations, and due to changing land use and human settlement patterns.

There are many green house gases which is harmful on the earth. The most harmful and exaggerated gases consist of: Water vapour is the most common greenhouse gas. But others that are very important too. Some occur naturally and some come from human activity. Carbon Dioxide is the most significant greenhouse gas released by human activities, mostly through the burning of fossil fuels. It is the main contributor to climate change. Methane is produced when vegetation is burned, digested or rotted with no oxygen present. Garbage dumps, rice paddies, and grazing cows and other livestock release lots of methane. Nitrous oxide can be found naturally in the environment but human activities are increasing the amounts. Nitrous oxide is released when chemical fertilizers and manure are used in agriculture. Halocarbons are a family of chemicals that include CFCs (which also damage the ozone layer), and other human-made chemicals that contain chlorine and fluorine.

Human-induced Environment Impacts

As and when population increases considerably in the world, the ratios of developmental activities are growing in same or little more. The developmental activities are in the threshold of increasing, the human activities such as construction of houses, shifting cultivation, use of firewood, forest fire, use of vehicles, and many more. When houses are constructed, the people use timbers, planks, etc. to mount their house. To look their houses beautiful and to have comfortable and fastidious living; woods are mainly used. More than three to five trees are being cut down for a house to be constructed. This directly has negative impacts on environment.

Shifting cultivation is famous in the many parts of the world. When the population of the world increases, the arable land decreases to low ratio. To make living with sustainably and equitably, the people clear up the forest and bushes around them for cultivation purposes. The people change cultivation areas yearly for more yields of the crops. Therefore, the trees are cut down for new arable land or for shifting cultivation, thus, it have negative impacts on environment, reduce trees and plants in and around us and world as a whole.

Fire woods are used for cooking and warming the homes. Every year, a household use more than truck load of fire woods. Only for the rationale of fire wood, people cut down numerous numbers of matured trees, some plants got affected while cutting down the trees. To take fire woods to homes, the people use vehicles which emit unsafe gases in the atmosphere of forest, which directly affects the growth of small plants. Cutting down the trees are not the problem if people plant new saplings in deforested areas. A forestation should carry where trees are being cut down, to replace old trees by new saplings.

The forest fires are very prominent in the country and also in the world. The people set fire in the forest without any concrete reasons. When forest fires being set, it burn huge amount of forest areas within very short span of time. The forest fire lead to decrease in forest covered area, decrease trees and plants in the forest. The people never care of fire and some intentionally set fire in the forest which produces Methane. This is how human activities have impacts on environment.

Running cars is on road emits harmful gases, use of fertilizers in the fields and various other human activities are also one of the factors affecting the environment. It has negative impacts on environment in various ways as I mentioned in above paragraphs.

Natural causes of Climate Change

The climate change is of natural process. The changes in the intensity of sunlight reaching the earth cause cycles of warming and cooling that have been a regular feature of the Earth’s climatic history. Other natural causes of climate change include variations in ocean currents (which can alter the distribution of heat and precipitation) and large eruptions of volcanoes (which can sporadically increase the concentration of atmospheric particles, blocking out more sunlight).

Still, for thousands of years, the Earth’s atmosphere has changed very little. Temperature and the balance of heat-trapping greenhouse gases have remained just right for humans, animals and plants to survive. But today we are having problems keeping this balance. This is because we burn fossil fuels to heat our homes, run our cars, produce electricity, and manufacture all sorts of products; we are adding more greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. By increasing the amount of these gases, we have enhanced the warming capability of the natural greenhouse effect.

It is human-induced enhanced greenhouse effect that causes environmental concern, because it has the potential to warm the planet at a rate that has never been experienced in human history prior to.

What may possibly happen if the climate changes?

Climate change is more than a warming trend. Increasing temperatures will lead to changes in many aspects of weather, such as wind patterns, the amount and type of precipitation, and the types and frequency of severe weather events. Such climate change could have far-reaching and or unpredictable environmental, social and economic consequences.

The global sea level could rise due to several factors including melting ice and glaciers on the mountains. Rising sea levels could damage coastal regions through flooding and erosion. The climate of various regions could change too quickly for many plant and animal species to adjust. Harsh weather conditions, such as heat waves and droughts, could also happen more often and more severely in the society.

Climate change could also affect health and well-being of the human beings. Many larger cities could experience a significant rise in the number of very hot days. For instance, compare the temperate records before few years and present of our Capital City. Air pollution problems would increase, placing children, the elderly and people suffering from respiratory problems at greatest risk of health effects. Increases in molds and pollens due to warmer temperatures could also cause respiratory problems such as asthma for some people

Our responsibility on about climate change

Our country and the world will continue to warm, but there are many variables that can affect the speed and magnitude of the changes. Staying informed about climate change, and supporting efforts to slow its progress are things everyone can do jointly.

Taking action on climate change can also create our country’s name and fame standing in the world. The developmental activities in country should be more internationally competitive by producing less waste, pollutions and greenhouse gases. Creating jobs to sensitize climate change will help our nation and world as whole to combat the climate change. 

Our climate is changing and will change in near future because of the existing buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and we must be prepared to adapt to those changes. While action now to reduce emissions is critical, the existing build-up of greenhouse gas concentrations means that some climate change in the coming decades is inevitable and planning must start now on adapting our economy and society to these changes.

Adaptation involves taking action to minimize the negative impacts of climate change and taking advantage of new opportunities that may arise. The types of adaptation measures adopted will depend on the impact of climate change on particular regions and economic sectors. Increasing our capacity to adapt reduces our vulnerability to the effects of climate change. However, we must start planning our adaptive responses now; by doing so, we may help to lessen some of the environmental, economic and social costs of climate change.

The upcoming industries should be set with various methods to reduce harmful gases and substances emitting in the air or on the earth’s surface. Many industries and factories will come soon in the country including Hydroelectric Projects to make sustainable development. Our 2020 sustainable development would bring in the country the various industrial changes which will contribute harmful substances in the air, on the earth’s surface, in the water, etc.

When global climate has already changed and is still in the process of changing, an international scientific consensus has emerged that our world is getting warmer. The scientists from around the world and also lay people knew that climate has changes and various survey data demonstrate that global climate was warmed during the past 150 years. The increase in temperature was not constant, but rather consisted of warming and cooling cycles at intervals of several decades. Nonetheless, the long term trend is one of net global warming.

Corresponding with this warming, alpine glacier has been retreating, sea levels have risen, and climatic zones are shifting. For instance, before few years, our capital city during summer was moderate. Now a day, during summer, the temperate is already increased and people living in the city uses fans to cool down. This shows how climate has changed in capital city. As per the books on climate change the 1980s and 1990s were the warmest decades on record. The 10 warmest years in global meteorological history have all occurred in the past 15 years and the 20^th century has been the warmest globally in the last 600 years.

The world’s largest climate change adaptation project will begin from this in the country.  The UNDP, Gross National Happiness Commission and National Environment Commission Secretariat (NECS) signed the project document at the Tashichodzong, Thimphu on April 18, 2014, which is one the biggest ever step Bhutan is taking with international agencies to combat climate change.

Therefore, Climate Change is a real and immediate threat to our planet’s survival and requires action by the global community to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, industrialization and other human-induced environment impacts.

My Terminology

“Our earth is our mother. Whatever we desire for, get from it. We should work hands in hands to combat climate change which is in the verge of altering.”

I love nature, so I walk the words that I shared in above lines.

Water: the source of Happiness

Bhutan - our motherland is located in the heart of eastern Himalayas. Our country shares its international boundaries with China in the North and India in the East, West and South. We all know that our 38,983 square kilometer land is divided into mountainous terrain and some very smaller amount of plains in the south. Despite being in culture and traditions, our country is rich with more than 72 percent forest covered land, surrounded by land from all the sides of the country.

Due to motherland being landlocked and mountainous topography, and moreover, some 72 percent of the land is covered with forest areas, water sources in the country is available. This is how ‘we’ Bhutanese enjoy tremendous peace and happiness in everyone’s life on the earth. The rivers flow from high altitudes to the low altitudes throughout the year. The stream, springs, rivers, tributaries, and lakes are the main sources of water supply in the country. Wherever we stay and move, we are surrounded by waters. We could get fresh and clean water everywhere.

The rivers flow from the top of the mountains to the plains in the south through various hills and gorges. The rivers are originated from the glaciers, streams, and springs and sometimes out of melting of the snow on the mountains, and many more. The spring and stream water that come out from the soil have high potential of mineral contents and its said to be good for health.

Today, the country like ours is under developing stage. The developmental activities such as construction of roads, schools, houses, hydroelectric projects, industries, etc. are in the process. Such construction works are carried on in forested areas and also in farmlands. The thousand acres of land are used for above purpose. The trees in that particular area are cut down without hesitation. This may lead decrease forest covered area drastically. When the numbers of trees are reduced, the stream and spring water sources would dry up. Industries are set up in the country, the industrial wastes such as harm gases are emit in the air, harmful liquids in the water, and in open area. These would have negative impacts on environment which force to water pollution, in which water sources are being lessened.

In the scenarios of the world’s water bodies, only 3 percent of the water on the earth surface is fresh and drinkable. The 97 percent of the water on earth’s surface is salty. The salty water is not good for our health. The 3 percent of the fresh water is shared amongst the world’s population. Coming to Bhutan, the waters in our country is useable. Some spring water contains enough amounts of minerals that are good for health. We, the Bhutanese people does not have water shortage problem as of now. But things are changing with development activities are underway. Water shortage will soon hit the cities and towns.

For example, Thimphu is our capital city; before few decades, the buildings in the city were sparsely erected. The less people were lived there. The fresh and clean water was supplied in every household for 24 hours a day. Today, the houses are already crowded; population is increasing every now and then. Due to crowded and congested area, more construction works carried in the area, the water sources are dried up, which was connected to Thimphu city. Now the scenario has changed. The water supplied for 24 hours a day has changed to few hours a day. This is happens due to the climate change over the year.

The situation of the country of being available fresh and clean water sources is in the process changing. Every dzongkhag have towns, where thousands of people settled together. Water supply has become scarcer than before. There are many rivers flowing in the valleys which have become unusable, because the waste drains from the houses are connected to. If this is the case, how we can conserve water for our younger generations?

In our country, until now, water has been sources of happiness for all individuals. Compare our country with our neighbor country or our friend, India. In 2009, I was referred to Vellore, India for further treatment. I stayed there for few weeks. It was sophisticated to stay there, because of unavailability of fresh and clean water for drinking purposes, forget about taking bath and all. We had to buy bottled water for drinking and cooking purposes. To take bath and wash clothes, we had use tap water that’s muddy and dirty. These were the water problems in India. Back to Bhutan, as soon as I reached Phuentsholing, I could experience or see fresh and clean water. This is difference between our country and our neighbor country.

Due to climate change taking place in the country and in world as a whole, the water is getting scarcer and scarcer yearly. This problem is rising because, the people in the world today use greenhouse to plant crops and vegetables. The greenhouse has positive impacts but also has negative impacts, which lead to climate change that directly affect our water sources. Industrialization is one of the reasons for water becoming scarcer. For the industries to be set up, large amount of land is needed. The land is being cleared up and construction starts on thereafter. Though, growths of industries are good for the country from economy point of view, but it undoubtedly affects the sources of the water. Human-activities such as use of vehicles, shifting cultivation, forest fires, etc. also harm environment and lead to scarcer of the water.

With this our water sources that I mentioned in above paragraphs would dry up. The sources would be lessened. Streams and springs water will one day go nowhere. Our country’s situation would be poor in water sources.