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Showing posts from April, 2009

Global Warming And What Can We Do About It?

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Ever seen a greenhouse? They are the sheds with roofs and sometimes even walls made of glass and other transparent material. This lets a huge amount of solar heat in and warms the air which is trapped inside by the roof and the walls, keeping the temperature inside the greenhouse much warmer than outside. In cold climates this helps certain species of plants that prefer a more tropical environment to thrive. The sun’s rays enter the Earth’s atmosphere and bring life and heat to the planet. However a huge amount of this radiation is reflected back by the planet. It’s a very delicate balance, because too much heat reflected would mean an ice age and too little would mean we would be a burnt toast! Carbon Dioxide, Nitrous Oxide, Methane and Water vapour are called greenhouse gases. These gases form a layer in the atmosphere and prevent the reflected radiation from leaving the Earth. Just like a green house, this will make the temperature on the surface become steadily hotter. This effe...

The Main Cause for Global Warming

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We humans who think of ourselves as the most intelligent things on this planet are intentionally or unintentionally destroying our own surroundings. One of the chief causes for global warming can be accredited to the behaviors of humans. It took more than twenty years for the world to finally accept that we humans are causing global warming with the emission of greenhouse gases which include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrogen oxide etc. the gases have formed an effect of green house on the earth’s exterior which prevents the reflection of the sun’s rays and therefore causes the boost in temperature. The radical boost in the emission of carbon dioxide in the last 30 years caused by burning fossil fuels has been recognized as the major reason for the change of temperature in the atmosphere.

Global warming will lead to infrequent rainfall in India

New Delhi (PTI): Major climatic changes due to global warming would lead to disturbed rainfall patterns in the country, an eminent environmentalist said on Sunday. "The rise in global warming will lead to major changes in rainfall patterns. In essence rainfall will decrease and become more erratic, said R K Pachauri, chairman of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. According to the noble laureate, global warming is happening at a very steep rate and its implication for South Asian continent means serious water problems for farmers. "A large number of farmers in the continent are dependent on rainfall," he said, while speaking at a memorial lecture organised by Babu Jagjivan Ram Foundation on Climate Change here. "India will experience heavy rains in a very short time similar to 2005 Mumbai floods,which left a million people homeless," Mr.Pachauri said, warning that the frequency of such flash floods will increase with time. He cautioned that India wi...