Global Warming: Impact On Environment, Health, And Ecosystem

Definition of Global Warming

What is Global warming ? explain the impact of global warming in the world.
 

Man has travelled from a very long way from the era of the stone age to modern era but in the pursuit of his comfortable journey of life he has to forget the pollution threat and degradation of the environment caused by industrialisation and globalisation around the world (Jaspers 2014).

The increment in the average temperature of the earth is global warming.  The greenhouses gases like methane, water vapor, nitrous oxide and largely carbon dioxide and some more traps light and heat  from the sun causes the temperature to rise but in general greenhouse gases allow some of  the heat to be trapped and allow some of them to escape but carbon dioxide  emissions by human activity leads to the increase in the temperature. This fluctuation in the world’s  temperature has many adverse impacts on the polar regions, vegetation, health, rainfall pattern, ecosystem.  Sustainability refers to the minimum use of resources for the present needs without compromising the future needs (Agnew 2013).

The warming temperature of the polar region, especially in the Arctic region, has been increased by five degrees which are ten times faster than the mean temperature of the global surface. In the northern areas the ice cover of sea has decreased by 10-15%.  Arboreal forests have been expanding for every 1°C in the temperature. The peninsula of Antarctica has shown increased precipitation over the time. There has been decreased in the salinity of the sea water due to the global warming (Marshall et al 2014).

In the 21^st century, there would be continued warming of both the arctic and Antarctica regions. There would be more disappearance of sea ice. Due to the warming of the polar regions, there is also an imbalance in the ocean circulation.

he changes done to decrease this effect is very less because the polar regions are highly vulnerable to the climatic change and their adaptability level is also very less. The indigenous communities have limited limitations to such changes. 

There has been many tools and approaches for improving the sustainability in the polar regions. The Environmental impact assessment is an effective tool which has kept a record in evaluating the environmental opportunities and risks with the polar regions. The sustainable appraisal is for the analysis of the social, economic and environmental actions of the aims and principles associated with the warming of the polar regions.

Impact on the Polar Regions and Ecosystem

There has been an additional stress on the wildlife and ecosystem due to global warming as all the species of plants and animals have been migrating earlier than their time or getting extinct. The plant species of the Alps, have migrated at least 1-4 metres and some species of the mountains have totally disappeared. The changes in the climate have given rise to many pests and outbreaks of the diseases. The cold water fishes have lost their habitat and the warm water fish have expanded their ranges. The migratory birds arrive earlier in the season and their breeding is also earlier (Catano et al 2015).

The geographic distribution and the climatic shapes in the 21^st century have resulted in the loss of many plants and animals . The CO2 rising levels have diminished the protein content of rice and wheat.  The animals and plants have to adapt to the new climatic season and hence their productivity is less.  This, in turn, has also affected the human ecosystem as they are dependent on the ecosystem for many goods and services  (Lunt et al 2013).

This effect could be changed by introducing the conservation program.  This program is mainly focused on the ecosystem to protect the extinction of the species. It identifies the areas and option for the plant and animals for their adaptation by considering their genotypes and species ratio. There should be strategies for land use and integrated coastal management of fisheries could also reduce the pressure on the ecosystem.

Sustainability regarding the ecosystem should be regarding improving the quality of air, food, water and shelter in such regions because most of the natural resources have been derived from such ecosystem and if the environment of such places is not good then there would be effect on the products. Many policies have been made to upgrade the needs in such areas.

There has been increasing in the sea level when the ocean waters warm due to the global warming as the mean temperature of the global surface rises and the increase is almost ten times faster the rate which it was used to be three thousand years before. There has been tremendous increase in the water vapour level at the atmospheric level because of the evaporation.  Sea water is getting sweep into the low-lying island thus affecting the water equilibrium (Dutton et al  2015).

There would be many changes in the 21^st century as climatic factors would be changing considerably bringing a change in the reduction of the ice cover, conditions of the water salinity, wave conditions and circulation in the oceans. These would have influence on the supply of freshwater, change in the pattern of the weather. Floods and hurricanes would also affect the coastal regions in near future.

Tools and Approaches for Improving Sustainability

The sustainability adaptation strategies in the coastal regions must be given focus. The hard and protective features such as the sea walls and boundaries which must be helpful in managing the retreat island.  Many strategies like flood promoting as well as salt tolerant crops are being promoted. Disaster mitigation plans have also been developed to encourage sustainability. Procedures in case of emergency have also been adopted. 

The food security is getting affected by global warming as it varies from various places to regions. The changes in the regional temperatures, moisture in the soil, cloudiness, precipitation affect the cultivation of the vegetation. The mid-latitudes and the temperate zones are mostly affected by the rain due to global warming.  The global warming would not have affected the agriculture if its temperature had not risen by 2.5°C (Tai et al  2014).

The initiatives for sustainability have been taken by the individual farmers of the temperate regions to prevent losses plan their dates of the crops, selection procedure for cultivation, and strategies for disease control. 

Global warming has affected the human health directly by bringing a change in the weather pattern. The new pattern has brought the changes in the floods, heat and cold waves, droughts, local pollution and allergens which have affected the human health. The intensity of the heat and cold waves has resulted in the death of many elder and poor people.  The hazards from the storms and floods have lad people to have mental stress death and injury. The indirect effects of the global warming on the health of the people are sheltering loss, reduced water and food supplies (Martens 2014).

The strategies towards the sustainable development has led people to lessen the negative impacts on the health.  These strategies are technological, institutional, social and behavioural which could lead to better adaptations among people and improving health also. 

Global warming had also affected coral reef when the record of 16% of the death of corals was observed. This mass killing of the corals was due to the excessively high temperatures due to increasing in the ocean surface temperature (Palumbi et al  2014).

Scientists have taken immediate action to protect the coral reefs from global warming by rebuilding the fish stocks for restoration of ecosystem. They have also aimed to reduce the destruction of mangroves which are the coral reef habitats. They have also adopted aquaculture techniques to reduce pressure on the coral reefs.  They have also made efforts to protect the marine habitat by balancing the ecosystem.

Impact on Wildlife and Food Security

Vanishing glaciers are also the result of global warming because of the very high temperature of the earth’s surface and this, in turn, is melting the glaciers at a very high speed. This melting of glaciers has resulted in the higher level of sea water changing the line of the sea and causing an improper balance in the hydrological table.  A classic example of this can be understood from the Montana’s glacier national park, where the melting of the glaciers has been dramatic (Haeberli et al 2013).

Conserving water is the major strategy for sustainable development. To have sufficient water for future use and also for present use, it is very much necessary to conserve water by ground water recharge, water harvesting and by improving the quality of existing water(Barbier  2015).

Two of the major problem faced by the society of the 21^st century is the global warming and the sustainable development. This challenge has brought many uncertainties related to the climatic changes, its impacts and methods of adopting it.  Both the social and natural ecosystems have to get adapted to the changes at least to some degree. This climate change has resulted in a large number of death, sufferings of the people due to the disease, injury, floods, heat waves, storms. The weather disasters vulnerabilities are mainly dependent upon the person’s attributes as well as the social and environmental factors. The ozone in the stratosphere has also increased due to greenhouse gas emissions. Thus, climate change has become internationally debatable topic (Dunlap 2013). 

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