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 20th Century and the beginning of the 21st have been
the warmest period in the entire global instrumental temperature record, starting
in the mid 19th 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 20th 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.
