Category: Carbon Dioxide

Carbon emission is the main cause of deteriorating environmental conditions that have led to global warming. The effects of global warming are so immense that world leaders have organized global meetings to curb environmental concerns. There was the Kyoto Protocol and the recent Copenhagen World Summit that aimed at solving the climatic change challenges. These sorts of meetings are geared towards finding consensus on measures to curb environmental degradation at the global level and the eventual effects of greenhouse gases on global warming. Laws and policies have been set, some of which make no significant impacts on the overall goal. In this essay, therefore, we are going to look at recent laws and policies that can deal with these effects of carbon emission and global warming in general.

The G8 Summit

Gleneagles, Scotland, was the venue of the July 2005 meeting of the Group of Eight industrialized nations (G8) on measures to curb climatic changes (Maltby, Kenneth & Rummery, 71- 76). The meeting resolved that the G8 embark on scientific research to establish the causes of environmental degradation rather than streamlining a given course of dealing with the problem which has not yet been identified. Critics of the meeting were also dissolution by lack of discussion to tackle the increasing level of Green-House Gas (GHG) emission. On the contrary, the meeting realized some positive results as the leaders, including the United States, agreed that human activities are the main causes of environmental degradation and changing climatic conditions. They also resolved to change action plans: adopting the use of cleaner energy for sustainable development and having a dialogue on the same proposal.

The G8 summit was followed by the Stern Review that was commissioned by UK’s Prime Minister Gordon Brown as part of Dialogue on Climate Change. It is argued that the Stern review was the best ever produced action plan that would address climate change given its concentration on economic assessment and how these economic activities influence climatic changes. The Stern Review was also criticized; however, it is significant because it has influenced the setting up of new policies on the environment. Among the policies set are the implementation of carbon pricing via building regulations, climatic change agreements, climatic change levy, and carbon trust, among other pricing policies for businesses. There are also policies developed for agricultural activities, the transport sector, domestic and public energy use monitoring.

In the US, the federal-state has not developed any package to curb climatic changes, more so, in dealing with the emission of carbon. The Bush administration did little towards achieving a reduced carbon emission but all that is bound to change under President Obama’s reign. US Supreme Court seems to have included a discussion of climate change on the government agenda (Bouthillier, Richardson & Rummery, p. 364). Climate Security Act (CSA) made a proposal to the Congress on the climate agenda, and following adjustments to the bill by Senator Boxer, it was defeated, fronting its reintroduction in the year 2009. Since then, the US seems to be getting more and more concerned with threats posed by changing climatic conditions. The citizens of America want the federal to come up with legislation that would ensure businesses adopt measures aimed at curbing environmental degradation.

Most stakeholders in the industrial sector made a proposal that the US administration imposes stringent measures for developing countries whose products enter the US market. These groups suggest that the countries’ manufacturing processes adhere to climate change policies comparable to the ones applied in the US. The US House of Representatives formed a sub-committee from the Energy and Air Quality wing to prepare White Paper on Competitiveness. The committee came up with recommendations that would responsibly check climatic change challenges. The three recommendations are the use of green technologies in the production of goods and services by developing countries, setting up of energy use and performance standards that must be complied with by all sectors of the economy, and Border Adjustment Measures (BAMs), and (Bouthillier, Richardson & Rummery, 364-365).

In New York City, the City Council passed legislation aimed at reducing the emission of GHG, especially from buildings that are the main source of heat-trapping gases. According to Mayor M. Bloomberg, this measure would see a reduction of carbon footprint by 30% by the year 2030. The bill contains a section requiring building owners of more than or equal to 50,000 square feet to review their energy audits after a ten years lapse (Kugler). In the whole of the US, this move by the City Council of New York is the first to come with climate change policies applicable by building owners so as to attain green buildings that are friendlier to the environment than the typical ones.

The United Kingdom is one of the nations that are at the forefront in curbing climate change resulting from GHG emissions. It has well-developed building standards policies that even include the imposition of levies. The most striking and modest step the British administration has taken recently is to cut their carbon emission by 60% by the year 2050, which surpasses the European Union’s 20% reduction of GHG by 2020. For the same time frame, Britain’s target is a 26-32% GHG emission cut. Britain’s draft Bill on Climate Change, if passed, is bound to affect the lives of its citizens. Britain’s environment minister, David Miliband, said the bill was the first of its kind in the world over, given that its carbon footprint reduction targets are legally binding (Cowell).

The measures that have been taken by Britain and other European nations comply with the recommendations made at the Kyoto Protocol. Indeed, they surpass the GHG emission reduction recommendation of the Kyoto Protocol. On the other hand, the US signed the agreement, but the immediate former president was against the agreement. Indian and Chinese economies are growing at a very fast rate. This makes them potential polluters in the near future. Due to these unfolding events, Britain’s bill recommended that her authority be given the power to influence other countries to come up with similar policies and laws.

Conclusion

The entire globe is faced with the challenges of curbing climate change. Our world leaders have demonstrated efforts to curb the challenges at hand via the climate summits that have been held (Copenhagen and Kyoto Protocol) in a bid to resolve the debacle. As time passes by, legislation and policies that are put in place must be reviewed to meet emerging climate challenges. Hence, there is a need to come up with cutting-edge environmental sustainability measures to be adopted by all industrial players, the public administrations, and at the domestic/household level. If we all take responsibility and ensure we comply with set policies and observe law binding remedies, the carbon footprint would be put in check, and our environment will be sustained for future generations.

Since the industrial revolution took place, it has been observed that there has been a steady and gradual increase in temperature at the earth’s lower atmosphere and this global warming is the result of a natural process called the greenhouse effect. Visible, shortwave light from the sun travels through the medium of greenhouse gases composed mostly of water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone. Infrared radiation from the planet’s surface is reflected away from the earth’s surface towards space, but some portion of it is kept trapped and reflecting towards the earth by the blanket of greenhouse gases around the earth (CE, 2007). As a result, the planet is kept at a moderate temperature that is suited for living things. However, with the advent of industrialization and advanced transportation methods, there is an increased number of gases in the earth’s atmosphere, as gases such as chlorofluorocarbons are added to natural greenhouse gases. As a result of additional gases, more heat is trapped and the earth’s average temperature climbs up steadily. It is predicted that global warming can cause the melting of polar ice which in turn would lead to a rise in sea levels and coastal flooding, cause problems to drinking water supplies; changes in agriculture due to climate change; destruction of ecology; more natural hazards and increased occurrence of tropical diseases (CE, 2007). Global warming is said to be caused mostly by burring of coal and petroleum products, deforestation, increased cattle production, and the use of fossil fuels. The UN Conference on Climate Change, held in Kyoto, Japan, in 1997 focussed on creating an international agreement to fight global warming, by reducing greenhouse gases in developed countries. Though the Kyoto Protocol was not universally accepted by the developed countries, it provided the first framework for fighting global warming.

The significance of the Original Kyoto protocol

The United States was found to be the main contributor towards greenhouse gases producing about one-fourth of the world’s total production. According to the Kyoto Protocol, Annex I countries have to agree to reduce their total GHG emissions in comparison to their emissions in 1990. To be more precise, they had to reduce their total GHG emissions by about 5% on average for the period 2008-20012. Annex I countries include the US, Eastern, and Western Europe, Russia and Ukraine, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. The Kyoto Protocol is very significant because it paved the way for an international treaty to fight global warming, which came into force in 2005 after ratification by more than 125 nations.

US President Bush’s rejection of Kyoto proposal and his own ‘know how’ proposal

President Bush was against the Kyoto Protocol and he expressed his protest even in the 2000 Presidential election campaign. He talked about the inherent weaknesses in the Kyoto protocol such as its failure to recognize the pollution caused by developing countries such as China and India. However, the public was more in support of the Kyoto protocol as they felt it was pro-environmental and against global warming. Since the public supported the Kyoto Protocol, candidate Bush was forced to obscure his position on the issue by pledging that if he was elected he would label carbon dioxide as a power plant pollutant. He even accepted that global warming is a serious issue in the national television debate in October 2000. When President Bush assumed office, EPA administrator Christine Todd Whitman declared in the Senate in February 2001 that there would be limits imposed on greenhouse gas emissions. But Republican senators such as Helms opposed the setting of such limits. In March 2001, Bush openly expressed his disapproval of the Kyoto Protocol despite the fact he understood the seriousness of global warming. He wrote that he did not believe in government restrictions on power plants. By making his position clear on the issue, President Bush raised the issue into an international legal context. He was widely criticized for his opposition to the Kyoto Protocol. In July 2001, at the global warming conference in Bonn, major blocs such as the European Union and Japan came together and signed the Bonn Agreement to take steps to reduce global warming (Tiefer, 2004). These countries were shocked by the stance of President George Bush.

President Bush formulated a new domestic plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. His proposal focussed on the “carbon intensity” of the economy rather than on the emissions. He asked “generators of carbon dioxide to reduce their emissions increase to one third the rate of economic growth” and thus he linked voluntary emission reductions to economic output (Rabe, 2004, p. 14). Many observers felt this proposal was meaningless as the number of greenhouse gases generated in proportion to one unit of economic activity had been steadily decreasing since the mid-nineteenth century and there was no need for any government support to keep it declining. However, President Bush made some changes to existing voluntary and incentive programs to reduce GHG emissions. He excluded carbon dioxide from a related proposal aimed at the reduction of conventional pollutants. According to Bush’s energy plan, there would be an expansion of using coal energy in power generation plants, intensification of oil exploration, and a likely increase in the use of fossil fuel to maintain standards of motor vehicle fuel efficiency. Hence, the Bush plan tried to mitigate the possibility of federal efforts to reduce GHG emissions shortly (Rabe, 2004).

The Russian approach, signing of the proposal, and following changes in the international approach to climate change, before the 2005 United Nation Climate Change conference

When the US withdrew from the treaty, the fate of the Kyoto Protocol became dependent on Russia which was responsible for 17% of total emissions. The Russian vote was very important for the treaty to become successful. The European Union tried to pressure Russia to sign the treaty. “A minimum of 55 country signatures was needed from the states responsible for 55 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in 1990.” (Tulder and Zwart, 2006, p. 321). Russia ratified the Kyoto Protocol on 22 October 2004 and it came into effect officially on 16 February 2005 involving 128 countries – though it was delayed by seven years and did not include the US. Putin and Russia are considered as “saviors of the Kyoto Protocol” (Tulder and Zwart, 2006).

The justification (or not) of problems involving the exclusion of developing countries in particular China and India

Under the Kyoto Protocol, industries in the United States had to reduce emissions of mercury, sulfur dioxide, and nitrous oxide. Studies show that this can be very expensive and time-consuming. Based on 1990 levels, it was found that the United States was the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases – producing over 36% of calculated carbon dioxide emissions – 5 million metric tons. The Kyoto Protocol was based on countries that had high emission levels in 1990 and did not include developing countries like China, India, Indonesia, Brazil, and Nigeria which are projected to increase their share of global greenhouse gas emissions in the NEA future. These countries are not under any obligation to reduce their GHG emissions by the Kyoto Protocol and have not accepted any limits shortly. The fact that these developing countries have been exempted from the Kyoto Protocol has raised the fear that American companies might be at a competitive disadvantage and environmental gains might be offset by economic disadvantages and emissions by developing countries (Kowalski, 2004). President Bush has mentioned the exclusion of these countries as one of the reasons why he opposes the Kyoto Protocol. In his words “I oppose the Kyoto Protocol because it exempts 80 percent of the world, including major population centers such as China and India”. While this accusation may sound justified, it is important to take into account the fact that in these countries, the per capita carbon dioxide emission is very small compared to those in the US. The GHG emissions in the US are ten times that of China and 25 times that of India and their aggregate contributions to the problem are less than that of the US. Statistically speaking, “China and India’s combined carbon dioxide emissions were 9% of the global total compared with the US’s 30 percent” (Vig and Faure, 2004, p. 264). Some figures show that China has been able to reduce its GHG emissions in the late 1990s based on its awareness of the problem. Hence it is not right of President Bush to blame poor countries for greenhouse gas pollutions.

The 2005 Montreal conference. What were the significance and output of this conference, positive and negative, promising and disappointing?

The 2005 Montreal conference was held over two weeks and focused on climate change. It included two meetings: The Meeting of the Parties of the Protocol (MOP) – including developed countries that had agreed to the Kyoto Protocol and The Eleventh Conference of the Parties to the Convention (COP 11) that involved the whole world – 189 member countries of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) (Shah, 2005). In this meeting, several implementation plans regarding the Kyoto Protocol were reconfirmed including “emissions trading, joint implementation, and clean development mechanisms”. A new working group was set up to discuss future commitments after 2012 and a plan has been set up for having second round discussions for the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol (2013–2017). Such discussions may resolve the conflicts involving China and India. Other issues addressed in the conference included helping poorer countries achieve their development goals, ways to adapt to climate changes, the use of technology to develop solutions, and exploration of market-based opportunities (Shah, 2005). The main strengths of the Montreal conference have been that it included developing country commitments such as India and China. The conference emphasized that the Kyoto Protocol will continue with or without the support of the United States and launched a four-track approach under the Kyoto Protocol and under the UNFCCC to be implemented after 2012. The Montreal Conference also ensured that the Marrakech Accords were adopted in full making it possible for the key actions of the Kyoto Protocol to progress further (Morgan, 2006). The COP/MOP approved and adopted methods for compliance on fairgrounds by setting up compliance bodies with elected members. The CDM that was created to assist developed countries to follow the Kyoto Protocol by helping them invest in developing countries was strengthened by the allotment of more funds and provision of a basis for increasing the number of projects approved (Morgan, 2006). The Eleventh Conference of Parties created a five-year program for informing developing and least developed countries about the impact and problems of global warming and what measures can be taken to protect the environment (Morgan, 2006).

The weakness of this program is that there are no specific adaptation activities on the ground to protect the livelihoods of the local people. One of the serious disappointments of the Montreal conference was that the United States attended the first meeting as an outsider and its delegates tried to disturb the implementation and talks on future emission reductions. It is to the success of the conference that the meeting ended with the Kyoto Protocol fully operational and nations promising to work on meeting the targets and set further controls beyond 2012 after negotiations.

The solutions make a lot of sense from the scientific, political, and environmental sustainability points of view. The meeting has signaled an international awareness of the problem of global warming and it has paved a way to counter the problem. If the political and industrial worlds trusted the scientific findings they would cooperate and work together with commitment and planning. The Kyoto Protocol and the Montreal Conference have encouraged a huge amount of study, planning, collaboration, and concern even in the private sector. Many countries in Europe and elsewhere are not aware of the dangers of global warming and are planning to reduce emissions even beyond what is required of them through the Kyoto Protocol. Scientifically speaking to hold temperature change this century to less than an additional 2o F, total global CO2 output must decrease by half before 2050, and then that level must be maintained despite population growth. Politically, as most of the CO2 comes from the developed countries, they need to be responsible and allow lesser developed countries to raise their standards of living. The Kyoto approach of ranking the world’s nations according to their population, economy, and carbon emissions is not the only possible model for cutting down GHG emissions. There can be other models such as the “contraction and convergence” model which allows all nations to contribute equally to the solution. By estimating the amount of GHG that would be a safe level in the atmosphere, nations must move towards it based on equal distribution of emissions per person (Braasch, 2009). In the research paper titled “Environmental Sustainability and Analysis” By Michael K. Ewert (2006), Johnson Space Center discusses efforts that can be taken by companies to promote environmental sustainability. According to Ewert, natural resources such as air, water, and food are becoming in short supply and there is a lot of waste being produced by businesses. He suggests that by combining heat- and power-generation systems for the supply of electricity and heat, there would be less waste; increasing efficiency of refrigerators and freezers can prevent damage to the ozone layers and must be used in public places. He also suggests using fuel cells and solar panels can provide more electricity (Ewert, 2006) sustainably. Alisa Gravitz in her article in “Yes!” Magazine titled “12-Step Program to Stop Climate Change”(2007) lists a framework to avoid the perils of global warming: by constructing new buildings with zero emissions; banning cutting of forest trees and planting tree saplings; controlling soil erosion; using conservative farming techniques; harnessing wind and solar power; increasing efficiency of existing coal plants and avoid building new ones; storing CO2 underground; promoting the use of zero-emission vehicles, etc. (Gravitz, 2007).

Conclusion

Environmental protection has so far been the prerogative of international meetings and government agencies. There have been many national and international laws passed to protect the environment in many ways. However, all the regulations have not stopped the world from facing global crises such as inadequate water, impure air, destroyed ozone layer, and diminishing fuel resources. Now, the time has come when there needs to be a joint effort to protect the land in such a way that the dangers of global warming are thwarted without causing danger to businesses the world over. This is possible only if companies the world over, develop long-term sustainable environmental strategies that can provide economic profit, social welfare, and a great public image.

Intro

In order for me to be able to build and sustain a colony on Mars I will need to find out the following things about Mars: Firstly I will need to find out what we have on Earth that helps us survive, Secondly I will need to find out what Mars doesn’t have that Earth does so that we are able to implement what Mars still needs for humans to survive and colonize on it. Finally, I will need to find ways of actually colonizing Mars using my findings

Using Earth as a benchmark

If we ever want to colonize Mars we first need to compare it to another planet that sustains life and see what that planet has that Mars doesn’t and what better planet to compare Mars to than our very own planet, Earth? Since Earth supports life and is able to sustain itself, it tells us immediately that Earth would be the best benchmark if we want a guidebook in colonizing other planets.

What are its structures and interactions?

Earth is a planet with a diameter of 12,756km and 1 moon. Its orbit distance is 149.6 million km and it takes an average of 365.2 days to rotate around the sun. Its surface temperature is between -88 to 58°C.

Biotic and Abiotic Factors

One of the reasons Earth is able to sustain life is because of its Biotic and Abiotic Factors which help each other sustain life in their ecosystems and ultimately the biosphere as a whole. They are able to do this with the help of the Biotic Factors of living organisms. These include:

• Producers that convert the abiotic factors into food (example: Photosynthesis),
• Consumers which obtain energy from producers or other consumers (this category mostly includes animals)
• Decomposers which break down the chemicals produced by the producers and the consumers into simpler molecules (these help the plants grow).

They are also able to sustain life in the biosphere with the help of Abiotic non-living organisms which are needed for an organism or population to grow and reproduce. These non-living organisms include sunlight, water, temperature, pH, minerals, and events like volcanic eruptions and storms.

Importance of Nitrogen, Carbon and Water Cycles

A brief description of the Cycles

The Water Cycle works as water from the sea evaporates and goes into the air. Afterward, it condenses into a cloud, then floats away until it can’t keep the water in it anymore and it precipitates releasing all its water where it can end up back in the ocean, underground or it is sucked up into the plant to help it grow. Then the cycle then repeats itself.

Nitrogen, Carbon, and Water Cycles are extremely important for us and are essential if we want to survive. These cycles are the reasons plants are able to grow, herbivores and carnivores are able to survive, and why humans are able to harvest plants for food and use herbivores and carnivores for food as well.

The Water Cycle helps sustain life on Earth by water regulating the Earth’s temperature if the Earth gets too hot/cold. It does this by freezing water to release heat into the atmosphere but on the other hand, it allows water to transpire taking the heat with it and cooling the air.

We also use water to help keep our plants alive and we also convert water into energy, which we then use to help us with our daily tasks.

Transporting nutrients into the soil and disposing of waste by raining to clear out whatever passes through the air and Earths soil water helps the plants stand straight up (without the water the plants won’t be strong enough to stand upright) drinking water helps us hydrate and stay alive

Water helps us with our cooking, water also helps us with our washing to prevent contamination and illness,

The Carbon Cycle works as carbon is released into the air by fossil fuels, decomposing animals, or respiration which the plants then absorb to help themselves photosynthesize. Then afterward the animals eat the plants passing the carbon over to the animals and then the cycle repeats itself.

The Nitrogen Cycle works as Lightning or decomposing animals send nitrogen into the soil which the Nitrogen Fixing Bacteria then feeds the plant through the plant’s roots. Then an animal comes over and eats the plant transferring the nitrogen from the plant to the animal. The cycle then repeats itself.

The Nitrogen/Carbon Cycles help sustain life on Earth by:

Nitrogen helps plants photosynthesize as Nitrogen is needed to create the plant’s food which makes it healthier for us humans to eat, Carbon helps grow more productively as the Carbon fertilizes the plants giving them the nourishment and food that they need to grow and they also help the animals as when the animals eat the plants they absorb some nitrogen compounds that they then convert into protein. Both the Nitrogen and Carbon cycles are essential for the survival of all living creatures as it’s important for the plants (which are our food source keeping all animals alive) to get the right amount of carbon/nitrogen if they want to grow. Animals are important as they help both these cycles flourish. The plants are the most affected by these cycles but the plants can’t have too much or too little of either carbon or nitrogen otherwise it will damage them (and might even kill them!). Nitrogen is one of the common limiting nutrients in nature (and is a reason why the Nitrogen Cycles are really important).

Requirements for life to exist (and when pushed to their extremes)

The main requirement for life to exist is water as it is necessary for many chemical reactions to happen. Water gives us the ability for chemicals to be transported through objects or just dissolved. We also need water in order for us to drink it and survive so we can water our food resources. If for some reason water is pushed to its extremes and we suddenly have an all-time low in fresh clean supply of water we will need to start finding water underneath the surface and start filtering out that. Other measurements will be required (like conserving water and using water for only important stuff) but our main concerns will be actually finding ways of making fresh clean supplies of water for us to drink.

Energy is definitely needed in order for life to exist. Energy, both in a light form and a chemical form key forms and is used to fuel the reactions that allow lifelike organisms to reproduce. We also must make sure that any planet we colonize has a protective atmosphere that keeps the cosmic radiation from the sun from bombarding us (like our ozone layer), while still keeping the colonized planet warm. It would be near impossible for us to push energy to its extreme and somehow run low on it but if we somehow managed to do that we would need to have prepared for that situation beforehand and start storing up on energy (in the forms of batteries). We would also need to try and find new ways for gathering energy and we will also need to conserve our energy for only emergencies (or if we need it to survive).

Food is also needed for life to exist so we humans can use the food to gain nutrients that will help us sustain ourselves. The atmosphere of a planet or moon can help us provide these. This planet or moon also needs to be able to replenish nutrients. This isn’t a problem for Earth as our planet has events like volcanic eruptions or storms that produce water and also fertilize the soil. If we start running low on food supplies we will need to first start rationing our food (we could start splitting up food between us or just only allow the public to buy a certain amount of food each day/week). Then if we start running even lower on the food we should tell everyone to start growing their own food and we should also tell farmers to start letting their live food stock live so that there is always a certain amount of each animal on each farm.

This is why we’ll be looking for the planets with food (that gives us nutrients), energy (which makes our daily lives a whole lot easier), and water (which is the only thing we humans absolutely need in order to sustain life).

Information about Mars (how we get it with research and exploration)

Mars is a planet with a diameter of 6,805km and 2 moons, its orbit distance is 227.9 million km and it takes an average of 1.9 years to rotate around the sun and its surface temperature is around -63°C. We know that Mars’s waters are frozen (mostly), in the atmosphere (as vapor), or in its regolith (underground). We could use the water to transport nutrients and waste throughout the soil (we just need it to get into its liquid form first), we could convert the water into energy (it would be hard for Mars though) and most importantly we can use Mars’s water as drinking water (again when it’s in its liquid form) as most of Mars’s frozen water is fresh and clean. We know that there is not enough nitrogen on Mars to help plants grow (we will need to increase the amount of nitrogen there is in the atmosphere that is constantly releasing nitrogen) and we also know that there is too much Co2 for the plants to survive on Mars (too much Co2 will damage the plants). We know that the gravity on Mars is about 3.711 m/s² which is around 38 percent the gravity that Earth has and that Mars is smaller than the Earth so the gravitational forces won’t be as much as they are on Earth. This is confirmed when using a formula as the mass of Mars is 6.471 x 10^23 and the radius of Mars is 3389.5 km, therefore we get the result that Mars’ gravity is 3.711 m/s^2. This tells us that if you weighed 100 pounds on Earth you would only weigh about 38 pounds on Mars (it’s good for the colonists if they want to lose weight! LOL). There are dust storms on Mars and the soil is able to support life if we give it a bit more nutrients. We have found out all this information by using telescopes to look at Mars’s surface and by using rovers like ‘Spirit’, ‘Curiosity’, and ‘Opportunity’ to send us pictures of Mars’s surface and send us samples like soil. We have also found out by probing the planet’s interior using ‘InSight’, NASA has already discovered that “marsquakes” shake the surface of Mars. Finally, NASA is using Several spacecraft to send data from Mars’s orbit for the same reason The United Arab Emirates is. The United Arab Emirates which Launched the spacecraft ‘Hope’ are using the spacecraft to orbit Mars so that it can study Mars’s atmosphere and weather patterns. We also have reason to believe that there might be other organisms living on Mars as we have some extremophiles on Earth that we have tested on that we believe should be able to survive the extreme conditions on Mars. Halophiles for example might be able to survive in the salty waters that are underneath Mars’s surface. The salt waters under Mars’s surface can remain in a liquid form at temperatures below 0 degrees Celsius. Methanogens as another example might also be able to survive on Mars as they don’t need oxygen to survive. Some scientists even hypothesize that methanogens are the reason methane has been produced and detected in Mars’s atmosphere. And my final example is Tardigrades as they can survive in the heat, the cold, moisture being drained out of them, withdrawal of oxygen, and intense radiation (like cosmic radiation). The little microorganism is even able to survive 10 days in space, showing us that the Tardigrade is the kind of creature that we could make life on Mars.

What Earth has that Mars doesn’t (And why we’ll need it on Mars)

Mars needs an atmosphere. Earth’s atmosphere is extremely important as it keeps the oxygen in and it helps with the Water, Nitrogen, and Carbon Cycles. If we have no cycles then we have no plants and if we have no plants we have no chance of colonizing Mars. Mars has a lot of water on it but most of it’s frozen, so we’ll need a way of transforming the water from a solid form to a liquid form. Food is a must because as far as we can tell there is no food source on Mars. Even though we are able to bring food to mars we’ll need to be able to also grow the food so we can have a sustainable amount of food that we can consume, the problem with that is the fact that the soil is not able to support life to its fullest yet, so we’ll need to be able to nurture the land to a point where it’s able to successfully grow plants to its fullest. And finally, we’ll need a good amount of Biotic and Abiotic factors on Mars so that we are able to sustain the cycle between Biotic and Abiotic factors. Abiotic Factors shouldn’t be too much of a problem as we already have water, storms, and sunlight on Mars. But the Biotic factor is a bit harder. In order to introduce a good amount of biotic factors we’ll need to bring a lot of animals to Mars, this is a problem as we have no idea how animals will react on mars (whether it will damage them immensely or not). Once we finally know how we will implement all these features onto Mars then we can start colonizing it.

Some people are saying that our climate is changing because we are doing weird thing to our planet and it my be true because the first thing we are destroying are the trees and one day we might die because of that because trees gives us fresh new air to breath and if we cut down trees lots of carbon dioxide float up to the atmosphere and makes a cloud full of carbon dioxide and the sun’s heat will get trapped underneath the atmosphere and will start heating up the earth and we and all living things will die.

Most climate scientists agree the main cause of the current global warming trend is human expansion of the greenhouse effects warming that results when the atmosphere traps heat radiating from Earth toward space. Gases in the atmosphere block heat from escaping. Long-lived gases that remain semi-permanently in the atmosphere and do not respond physically or chemically to changes in temperature are described as forcing climate change. Gases such as water vapor which respond physically or chemically to changes in temperature are seen.

Carbon dioxide A minor but very important component of the atmosphere, carbon dioxide is released through natural processes such as respiration and volcano eruptions and through human activities such as deforestation, land use changes, and burning fossil fuels. Humans have increased atmospheric CO2 concentration by more than a third since the Industrial Revolution began. This is the most important longlived “forcing” of climate change.

Indeed, studies show that solar variability has played a role in past climate changes. For example, a decrease in solar activity is thought to have triggered the Little Ice Age between approximately 1650 and 1850, when Greenland was largely cut off by ice from 1410 to the 1720s and glaciers advanced in the Alps. Percent of climate scientists agree that climate-warming trends over the past century are very likely due to human activities, and most of the leading scientific organizations worldwide have issued public statements endorsing this position.

Since 1978, a series of satellite instruments have measured the energy output of the sun directly. The satellite data show a very slight drop in solar irradiance which is a measure of the amount of energy the sun gives off over this time period. So the sun doesn’t appear to be responsible for the warming trend observed over the past several decades. Every single year since 1977 has been warmer than the 20th century average, with 16 to 17 warmest years records occurring since 2001 and 2016 being the warmest year on record in history.

Plants in natural habitats are subject to progressive variations in light intensity, atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations and temperature (Yamori et al. 2010). Plants make their own food by the process of photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is based on two reactions, the light reactions and the dark reactions. The light reactions make use of sunlight captured by photosystems in chloroplasts which result in the splitting of water into oxygen; the dark reactions make use of atmospheric carbon dioxide and converts it into carbohydrate in the stroma of the chloroplast. (Johnson,2016).

Photosynthesis is the basis of all life forms on Earth; providing constant supply of oxygen needed for survival and plays a significant role in fulfilling current energy needs for human beings in the form of fossilized photosynthetic fuels (Johnson,2016). Plants are of great significance to human life as they provide us with constant supply of oxygen, different medicines, essential nutrients and help maintain biodiversity (Pimental et al. 1997). If future generations are to live in safe, healthy and fruitful environment then it needs to be understood how plant life is threatened by different human activities and how this can be alleviated by understanding the effect of different environmental conditions on plant growth (Pimental et al. 1997). Growth rates of plants seem to differ even when they are exposed to constant ecological surroundings, so it is important to acquire knowledge on the factors that limit plant’s growth in order to increase crop yield for human benefit (White et al. 2015). This study was conducted to analyse how changes in environmental factors like light and carbon dioxide effect the surface area of the plant leaves.

Eruka satvia plants have been grown in different conditions(High light & low carbon dioxide; low light & high carbon dioxide; low light & low carbon dioxide and high light & high carbon dioxide) for four weeks keeping the nutrient and water supply constant and then students measured the surface area of the leaves exposed to different conditions to evaluate effect of light intensity and carbon dioxide on the plant’s growth. Several studies have been conducted in the past to determine changes in plant growth with changes in carbon dioxide and light as there has been recent climatic changes such as rise in levels of carbon dioxide due to different human activities (Sinha et al. 2011, p-432-436). The results of studies show that high light and carbon dioxide generally lead to a higher plant growth.

Two investigations were carried out in which one of the variables were changed; either carbon dioxide or light. In investigation 1, leaves from E. satvia were exposed to different light levels at ambient carbon dioxide concentrations. The hypothesis would be if plants are exposed to high light and ambient carbon dioxide concentrations then their growth in terms of their leaf area would increase.

In investigation 2, leaves from E. satvia were exposed to different carbon dioxide concentrations at high light leaves. The hypothesis would be if plants are exposed to high light and elevated carbon dioxide concentrations then their growth in terms of their leaf area would increase.

Fig 1: Average leaf surface area of E. Satvia plants in cm2 and with SE bars with respect to change in light intensity.

Fig 2: Average leaf surface area of E. Satvia plants in cm2 and with SE bars with respect to change in carbon dioxide levels.

The average leaf surface area for plants grown in ambient carbon dioxide, high light is 40.29 and for those grown in ambient carbon dioxide, low light is 31.77(Figure 1). The standard error bar for A is longer (11.57) showing that the average value is uncertain while the standard error bar for C (8.25) is smaller indicating that the average values are more accurate.

The average leaf surface area for plants grown elevated carbon dioxide , high light is 48.6 and for those grown in ambient carbon dioxide, high light is 40.29(Figure 2).The standard error bar for A (11.57) is slightly longer than that for B (10.25) indicating that the average values are more accurate for B. However, there is no big difference in the standard error bars so it can be said that the average values are of similar accuracy.

Statistical results were also used for the two investigations carried out. The results indicate that for both the investigations there is a significant difference between the two treatments as pInvestigation 1: t= 5.991799485, df=198, p= 9.64547 x 10-09

Investigation 2: t= 5.376231498, df=198, p= 2.12923 x 10-07

The results of the study indicate that high light and elevated carbon dioxide levels increase the growth rate of E. Satvia plants as seen by the height of the bar graph in Figure 2. The aim of the study is fulfilled, and the hypothesis can be accepted as the results match with the prediction. This research area is of significant biological importance. Plants help maintain atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide and oxygen and provide us with food so this study would help us understand how changes in environmental conditions can affect plant growth. Moreover, this study’s importance is further denoted by the values of the statistical results as p values are significant for both the investigations which shows that plant growth is affected by different levels of carbon dioxide and light.

In a previous study, Begonia × hiemalis plants were used to analyse the effect of carbon dioxide enhancement on their growth at different light levels and it was seen that increasing the CO2 concentration from 330 to 900 uL L-1 greatly increased the biomass, number of leaves and flowers of the plant ( Mortensen & Ulsaker,1985).This indicates similar results with this study. In another study where elevated carbon dioxide levels were used to determine rate of photosynthesis which drives growth rate of plants, showed positive results but it was noted that long-time exposure to carbon dioxide leads to a decrease in photosynthesis (Thompson et al.2017).However, in a different study it was concluded that for a ‘sun’ plant increase in light intensity results in a swift increase in leaf-area ratio while for a ‘shade’ plant low light intensity is more suitable for increase in growth(Blackman and Wilson, 1951).So it can be said that when determining the effect of environmental conditions on the growth of plants, the type and nature of the plant should also be taken into consideration. In a similar study, seed-grown plants of ryegrass were cultivated in growth rooms set at temperature of 20/15 degrees and was exposed to different carbon dioxide concentrations (340 or 680 uL L-1) and the results concluded that in the elevated carbon dioxide level; the specific leaf area was 13-40% lower in comparison to ambient conditions and also caused a decrease in the ratio of roots and shoots as the experiments progressed (Ryle et al.1992).

The study conducted has some limitations. The main limitation is the use of leaf area as the means to analyse growth of plants. In a model used to analyse plant growth, a non-linear relationship was seen between leaf area and plant biomass due to changes that happened in the use of carbon in different organs of the plant during shift from one growth phase to another (Weraduwage et al., 2015).This indicated that leaf area can only partly signify overall plant growth and growth is more closely associated with specific leaf area which takes into consideration the dry weight of plant than to area based photosynthesis rate (Weraduwage et al., 2015). Another limitation would be that lack of sample leaves that could be used as control to compare results. In this investigation 100 leaves were tested for each different environmental condition; so, a sample size of 100 leaves should have been used to measure growth under ideal carbon dioxide concentrations between 700 and 900 uL L-1 and light intensity. Also, the leaves were taken from only the E. satvia plants; results may vary for different type and species of plants as mentioned earlier.

Plant growth is primarily affected by light, water, temperature, soil nutrients and carbon dioxide levels. In this investigation the carbon dioxide and light levels were varied keeping the temperature, water and nutrient supply constant. Plant growth is limited by the supply of nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus in the soil as seen in a previous study that the addition of nitrogen and phosphorous in the soil resulted in an extensive increase in diameter growth of Metrosideros polymorpha plants grown in Laupahoehoe, Hawaii(Vitousek,1996).The availability of proper nutrients in soil such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium is essential for plant growth and hence the use of fertilizers is essential for crop yield (Lowler et al. 2001). Therefore, future studies can be conducted where plants will be grown in growth mediums where the soil nutrients would be varied keeping the environmental conditions constant. The effect of temperature on respiration and photosynthesis have been discussed in many studies and it has been concluded that at low temperatures the ratio of photosynthesis and respiration is over 10 while at very high temperatures respiration plays the key role ( Went,1952).Thus, this can somewhat explain the reason behind plants growing better in temperate regions when compared to tropical regions (Went,1952). So future studies can be carried out to determine how growth of E. satvia plant is affected by different extremities of temperature. Moreover, in future studies results should be based on specific leaf area which takes into consideration the plant biomass as it is more precise and will help eliminate limitations.

Plants are of biological importance to humans, so it is very essential to understand plant growth in order to ensure good living environments for our future generation. The findings of this study conclude that elevated carbon dioxide levels and high light increase plant growth which is indicated by the largest average leaf area. However, there are some limitations especially in the methodology used which draws attention towards the need to conduct future research with a different species of plant and with different independent variables such as temperature or soil nutrients.

Climate change is a problem the public has ignored for so long, the Earth has had enough. Around the world there have been many natural disasters, due to the accumulation of the effects caused by human errors. Because heat- trapping carbon dioxide emissions are increasing so quickly it is estimated that by the year 2040 the temperature of earth’s atmosphere could rise 2.2 degrees Fahrenheit above pre- industrial levels, since most of the carbon dioxide is due to factories, fires, pollution, and vehicle emissions, humanity should be educated and presented with alternative ways so they can become accustomed to our changing world and preventing to create bigger issues there are presently , unless they are comfortable living in the effects of climate change.

Throughout civilizations, deforestation has been used to clear land for crops, urbanization and deforestation grazing lands for cattle using controlled fires, using the wood for construction, and mining. Recently there has been countless fires in California creating vast amounts of deforestation. Fire deforestation destroys the ecosystem of countless species of animals and plants including bugs that help with the decomposition of dead matter that help return the nutrients back to the Earth. The Brazilian Amazon rain forest also known as the world’s “Lungs” known for its conversion of large amounts of atmospheric carbon, carbon is being cleared away at a rapid pace (climate experts and the U. N). With the deforestation of the world’s “Lungs” slowly the earth is struggling for the air it needs to maintain itself and the living organisms occupying its resources breathing well maintained air. The main cause of these changes are the people.

The biggest impact humans make to climate change is ignoring the changes in front of them, such as strange weather conditions with the impact it has on ecosystems. People refuse to acknowledge the changes that are happening in the climate and refuse to make some changes to their lifestyle as simple as recycling and throwing their trash away in the proper places instead on the ground leading to the destruction of the ecosystem. In the political world, politicians and big business men are hesitant in supporting the climate change movement, since they are primarily big contributors of this problem. These big time contributors are hesitant to make changes resulting in the cut down of production causing them to lose money. A group of finance ministers and central bank governors of 20 of the largest economies had a meeting in June of 2019 in Japan to renew their vows to address climate change, but there have been some countries who refused to move towards the 2050 Zero Carbon goal which was set by the other economies who met in Japan. Poland and the Czech Republic refused to sign which also influenced the Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban to oppose despite earlier being ready to compromise on the EU text (Rankin, Jenifer). Their reasoning was “Why should we decide 31 years ahead of time that will happen in 2050”(Rankin, Jennifer) the public refuse to plan the earth’s future, yet they are constantly planning theirs. Their reasoning was the emissions in China is the one that is rising not Europe. These powerful individuals are the ones that are deciding the public’s future yet they behave as children who refuse to take the blame and take action. Rather the people should take responsibility even when its not their fault though it may feel unjust other people will learn from our actions no matter how insignificant it may seem.

The cause of slowly suffocating the planet by using harmful chemicals and gases such as factory waste and fossil fuels. The downfall of the use of fossil fuels is that it takes time to fully break down. Under the Paris agreement more than 180 governments agreed to cut carbon emissions to keep the average temperature increases below 2 degrees celsius by the year 2100 (climate change by Christina L. Lyons). An alternative to fossil fuels are biofuels for instance ethanol and biodiesel. Most of the gasoline used for cars has 10% ethanol. the biodiesel can be made from oil such as corn grain. China is known for its industrialization of mass production and pollution with their coal factories that lead to the civilians unable to go outside due to air pollution , but it is not their fault.

State officials are addressing climate change and made deals with major industries that contribute to the greenhouse emissions. The California Air Resources Board in July signed a deal with Ford, BMW, Honda and Volkswagen to produce cars that will reach an average fuel-efficiency standard of about 50 miles per gallon by 2026 (Christina L lyons). These fuel efficient vehicles are being a growing trend with the various forms of alternative fuel some examples solar, electric, biodiesel, and ethanol.

On September 18, activist Greta Thunberg gave her public argument to the U.S Congress to ‘listen to the scientists’ warn about global warming (Christina L Lyons) . She led the Youth Climate strike in September 20, 2019 whom were inspired by the 16 year old Swedish activist by rising up and demanding the world leaders to take action on the problem of climate change.

With the constant increase of climate change the weather is constantly being altered and unpredictable. This leads to the thriving of organisms such as bacteria and insects a popular example would be mosquitoes. The people who are the most at risk are third world countries where resources are limited such as their crops, vegetation for land, water which are the basic needs for survival food and water.

But would this truly make an impact. To make these changes it would need the support of many not just organizations but also time and money. Time would need to change appliances of every home and to help maintain a cleaner environment.It seems ironic we are trying to save the environment when there will be major production of these eco friendly appliances.

Climate change is a problem we have to get accustomed unless we make changes to our way of living. There will be a continuation of the extreme weather in order to go through the Earth’s fury we will have to prepare for what is to come.

Introduction

Global warming has been an ever-growing problem since the industrial revolution in 1770 yet we have failed to act and now will have to take substantial action to solve the problem that we have created for ourselves. Global warmings effects hit especially hard on China due to the large air pollution because of their tremendously large industry, unfortunately China will most likely continue to face the harsh effects of global warming because of how much they rely on their non-renewable energy to fuel their economy and country. This report will explain how global warming works, its causes and the effects of global warming on China.

Global warming

Manmade global warming is caused by the combustion or burning of fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are non-renewable energy sources such as coal-oil and natural gas. When combusted these fossil fuels release greenhouse gas. These greenhouse gasses trap sun rays as figure 1 shows. The earth naturally warms naturally with the carbon cycle however with the rise of industry people have started to burn more fossil fuels contributing to a warmer climate. Although the earth needs greenhouse gasses to keep some of the sun rays in, so the earth doesn’t freeze, too much of these sun rays have been trapped inside our planet.

Different greenhouse gasses

There are many kinds of gasses released when fossil fuels are burned, some of the most common ones include carbon dioxide (Co2), methane (CH4), water vapor (H2O), nitrous oxide(N2O) and halocarbons which include hydrofluorocarbons (HFC), hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFC) and chlorofluorocarbons (CFC).

Halocarbons

Halocarbons are very rare in the environment but are commonly used in industrial products such as aerosols, they can typically trap up to 10000 times more heat than carbon dioxide.

Methane

Methane is normally produced by the decay of vegetation in low oxygen environments such as wetlands and landfills, also from cows’ burps and manure. Methane can trap up to 25 times more heat than carbon dioxide

Nitrous oxide

Nitrous oxide is a by-product of fuel combustion in fossil fuels, most of the nitrous oxide comes from coal fired powerplants and can trap up to 100 times more heat than carbon dioxide

Sinks

Sinks is nature’s way of removing natural greenhouse gasses from the atmosphere. The main major sinks for greenhouse gasses, plants, the ocean and soil

Plants

Plants and some other organisms such as algae use sunlight to absorb the nutrients in carbon dioxide and water, this process is called photosynthesis and is where plants get their green pigment and how they generate oxygen as a by-product, 2s shown in figure 2.

The very underappreciated ocean

The ocean is a natural carbon sink that absorbs and stores the atmospheres greenhouse gasses. However, as a result of the ocean absorbing a ton of greenhouse gas it has become much hotter over the past century and has also increased in acidity which has led to a decrease in marine life.

Soil

Soil is much like the ocean in that it can absorb carbon dioxide but this this time the carbon helps the soil as it helps its fertility and releases nutrients for plant growth.

Chinas Geographical features

China is located in southeast Asia on the coast line of the Pacific Ocean. China is the world’s third largest country in size with an area of 9.6 million square kilometres and a coastline of 18000 kilometres. There are four regions in China, the north east, south, northwest and the Qinghai-Tibetan areas, as shown in figure 3. Because of the differences in landscape and climate, each region has a distinctive lifestyle

Red=Qinghai and Tibetan

Green=North east

Blue=North west

Yellow=south

Landscape

Most of China is plateaus (fairly level high ground) plains, basins and mountains. Chinas land is very rugged. Mountainous land cover roughly two thirds of China. The mountain in China can also trap haze and smog as it cannot pass the high mountain ranges.

Main causes of global warming in China

China’s coal usage has officially gotten out of hand. China currently consumes more coal than United States, EU and Japan combined, China is dependent on coal to power their country. Every 10 weeks a new powerplant is opened in China that can power San-Diego. China has refused to spend money on new technology simply because of the expenses, each power plant can last up to 75 years. China is also the world’s largest mercury emitter; every year China releases 22.5 million tons of sulphur dioxide into the atmosphere. If action is not taken China is expected to use 20% more coal power plants by 2025. In conclusion the reason why, China has a big problem with pollution is because of large economic and industrial growth. Below in this graphic organizer is some of the main causes of global warming.

Global warmings impact’s on China’s people

Global warming and its effects such as air pollution have many effects on Chinas people. Global warming has shown to increase natural disasters. A study by the IPCC’s third assessment report concludes that most extreme weather events including but not limited to heat waves, cyclones, droughts and strong rainfalls are increasing in Asia and in particular, China. This was also called an extreme climate phenomenon in the report. The Chinese meteorological Administration predicts that changing climate will cause increased dusts Troms in northern China, smaller amounts of rain fall in eastern and coastal areas and more intense snowstorms in central and southern China. The reason for most of this I the increase in sea surface temperature and the warmer temperatures also means that the sun will evaporate more water creating more hot air for the cyclones to use as fuel, increased evaporation also leads to drought and desertification. Rising sea levels also increases natural disasters and different places vulnerability to them because it allows cyclones to develop in higher location where usually people be safe, increasing people’s vulnerability to cyclones. 2004 had a vast range of different and increased amounts and power of natural disasters, this caused many people to lose their homes and loves and will continue to do so if the issue is not addressed.

Effect of global warming on Chinas environment

Chinas is one of earths most biodiverse countries, home to 17000 species of plants and different animals. Including 66 vertebrates, geneses and ancient fauna and flora. The fauna in Chinas environment however is being quickly destroyed due to not only the rapid industrialization and urbanization of animal habitats but also the pollution that these industries are creating causing a shift in natural climate. Chinas red list estimates that up to 30% of all organisms are endangered. The intergovernmental panel on climate change estimated that if the global temperatures continue to rise to over 1.5 degrees 30% of all global species could face extinction, mostly in Asia, and the global al temperature has already risen over 1 degree. Rain fall patterns in Chinas habitats for different animals has significantly decreased which not only threatens the animal’s food source but also its drinking supply. A large majority of endangered animals are endangered because of the sporadic and uneven distribution of water in China, this is a result of climate change. These animals’ habitats are also deteriorating at a significant rate causing an even faster decrease of fauna and flora.

Chinas government and politics method to reduce the effects of global warming

In the past China has sacrificed their environment for the economic growth of the country however in recent year China has become more serious about climate change. In 1978 China launched its “green wall project”. This was and still is an ecological engineering project to plant millions of trees along the 4506.163km of northern China increasing the world trees by 10%, The project will end in 2050 where an estimated 2050-60 billion trees will have been planted. However, this project has had to face a problem. People are planting large quantities of trees to try to stop desertification and decrease carbon emissions, but the later nobody takes care of the trees and they just die due to harsh conditions, furthermore these high masses of trees can exceed the land carrying capacity leading trees to their eventual death. Also because of the trees sucking all the moisture and nutrience out of the soil is even causing desertification in some regions. China has also implemented a population policy which is helping slow global warming by decreasing energy usage. China introduced the population policy in the 1970s and since then the population and birth rated have slowly decreased. Birth rate went down 1.8 percent in 1978 causing up to 400 million fewer births and 1.83 billion tons of carbon decreased.

Other effects of global warming

Another lesser known but very important effect of global warming is desertification. Desertification is when the sun sucks the moisture out of land causing erosion and dry land scape, uncovered land is especially venerable to desertification because nothing is stopping the sun from hitting the surface of the ground. An example of mass desertification is in the Australian outback. Deforestation and overuse of water are some of the most common causes of desertification, in China most desertification is due to wind erosion, water and soil loss and poor water management. Desertification affects mainly the Chinese citizens who are living in the Gobi Desert, it creates harder living conditions because of the decreasing soil nutrience allowing few to no crops to grow, the sandstorms also increase making it harder to keep raise and live of livestock in the desert.

Recommendations

25% of all global carbon emissions come from the meat industry, not only from the factories that hold the animals but also the animals themselves produce methane (cows especially). China consumes 28% of the world meat so a good idea is too start campaign for less meat or even implement meat free days just like China implemented drive free days. China should also increase the amount of nature in cities and try to reduce as much deforestation as possible, however this could be challenging as Chinas population is growing at a large rate and needs more room for the new citizens. Chinas government should try to support more recycling and reducing waste per capita campaigns. Household renewable energy also play a large factor for carbon emissions per capita.

Conclusion

In conclusion China has a lot of work to do to overcome this ever-growing issue and change must happen quicker that is currently, China plays a massive role in defining the state of the global climate because of their huge population and large energy consumption. However, they are headed in the right direction largely investing in renewable energy and alternatives methods to fix the climate disaster.

Climate change is a growing problem that affects thousands of lives through the form of high temperatures which further results in record heat waves, droughts, rising sea levels, greater intensity of storms, wildfires, and floods. Although Climate change is not the direct cause of hurricanes, the destruction caused by hurricane harvey was intensified by high atmospheric carbon dioxide levels which lead to it to drop significantly more rain. Consequently, 70 lives were lost when it hit the Houston Texas in the United states of America, and damage had accumulated to around $150 billion to $180 billion. An estimation of 4.2 billion people have influenced by weather-related disasters in the last two decades, with more yet suffer if climate change continues.

Carbon intensive technologies and greenhouse gas emitting activities must be reduced in order to prevent worsening of the carbon budget, where the amount of carbon being produced is matched with the number of absorbents, such as plants and algae, to prevent further carbon absorption by the ocean and atmosphere. This requires a cut back on the burning of fossil fuels and in an increase in low technological solutions.

An alternative to burning fossil fuels which releases no carbon emissions is nuclear power. On the 20th December 1951, Arco, Idaho, Experimental breeder reactor 1 produced the first electrical power from nuclear power. The process involves a uranium-235 atom splitting which releases thermal energy which causes a turbine to spin and generate electricity. Since 1951, there have been three major disasters. In March 1979,The three mile island nuclear disaster occurred. The reactor was damaged although there were no adverse health and environmental consequences. In April 1986, The No.4 nuclear reactor in the Chernobyl nuclear power plant experienced two explosions due to operator error. This resulted in two deaths caused by fire and steam explosion, and 28 deaths from radiation poisoning. Alongside this, there were significant health and environmental consequences. Even today, Chernobyl remains non- habitable for humans with a prediction of another 20,000 years until it becomes safe for humans to live in. Finally, the last major nuclear disaster is the FUkushima Daiichi accident in Japan in 2011. Following a major earthquake, tsunamis had caused the cores of three Fukishima reactors to melt. This lead to the evacuation of 100,000 people in order to prevent deaths and sickness associated with radiation. Fortunately, there were no health consequences.

With declining risks of accidents, nuclear power may be the most reliable alternative to the traditional generation of electricity. According to the canadian fusion power developing company, General fusion, “there is enough fusion fuel to power the planet for hundreds of millions of years”. In the UK however, Wind Farms and solar panels produced more electricity than the 8 nuclear power stations for the first time in the fourth quarter of 2017, suggesting that wind farms and solar panels also have the potential to be suitable substitutes for fossil fuel, alongside nuclear. With such promising alternatives of generating electricity with little or no carbon emissions, to combat climate change requires# a shift from our global reliancy on fossil fuels.

23% of C02 emission derives from transport. On average,a cars emit 5443kg (6 tons) of carbon dioxide every year. Electric cars on the other hand release 0 carbon emission directly, however powering them with electricity which can be generated from fossil fuels still contributes to carbon levels, due to electricity produced from fossil fuels and manufacturing of the battery. manufacturing emissions can be as much as 68% higher. However electric cars generate half the emissions of the average gasoline car which includes the manufacturing pollution, according to a study done by the Union of Concerned Scientists. Yet they produce some carbon emission, which is what we aim to mitigate. To reduce as much emission, we need to tackle electricity generation. Running electric vehicles and manufacturing the electric vehicle, specifically, the battery require electricity. Thus the emission ultimately depends on how electricity is generated. In countries with coal-intensive electricity generation, have similar lifetime emissions to the most efficient conventional vehicles whereas countries that decarbonise electricity generation, driving emissions will fall for existing EVs as electricity as fuel and manufacturing emissions will fall for new EVs as electricity is also required. Battery prices are falling, resulting in larger batteries to enhance driving ranges. Battery production emissions is thus reliant on the source of electricity. Renewable sources of energy will significantly reduce battery emissions,

Climate change isn’t just bad for the planet’s health, it’s bad for people’s too. Since many people don’t believe that there is no such thing as global warming, they don’t know the effects of what could happen to them and what is really going on. Recently there has been a lot of things going on in the planet that overshadows the effects of global warming. Therefore, in summary, global warming, together with resultant changes in food and water supplies, can indirectly cause increases in a range of adverse health outcomes, including malnutrition, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, skin cancer, and other diseases.

Crop declines could lead to undernutrition, hunger, and higher food prices. More CO2 in the air could make staple crops less nutritious. Crops have been declining due to the drought in many areas and that makes it so that it is not very likely for people to get fresh crops and be able to produce the crops everyone enjoys and loves. Without crops people wouldn’t be able to create the food that they use on a daily basis. Higher food prices could also have an effect on how people are with their health if they can’t afford the crops then they won’t buy them causing numerous health problems. When there is more CO2 in the air it causes plants to not be a nutritious and being able to be nervous for the body. For example, changing rain patterns and prolonged heat can create drought, which can cause forest fires, putting residents and firefighters in danger. There could also be an increase of the chemicals that are involved in the crops since the conditions are not the best.

More heat can mean longer allergy seasons and more respiratory disease. More rain increases mold, fungi, and indoor air pollutants.As well as the drought causing there to not be any crops it is also causing there to be a lot more dust and pollen in the air which is causing many people to have a prolonged allergy season and makes it harder for them to be able to breath. Three key ingredients-sunlight, warm air, and pollution from power plants and cars burning coal and gasoline—combine to produce ground-level ozone (smog), which humans experience as poor air quality. Warmer temperatures and high concentrations of carbon dioxide in the air stimulate some plants to grow faster, mature earlier, or produce more potent allergens. If there is an abundance of rain it increases the chance for mold to grow from flooding and not being able to dry out you are just constantly sitting in water. “Malnutrition and undernutrition were highlighted as a concern for a number of developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, which discussed the impacts of climate change on food security, particularly in relation to floods and drought”(unfccc).

Many people don’t realize that skin cancer and global warming are closely related and more prevalent in today’s society. If high temperatures, especially when combined with high relative humidity, persist for several days, and when nighttime temperatures do not drop, extreme heat can be dangerous. Many people stay out in the hot sun for many hours unprotected from the harsh rays of the sun. It has been proposed that behavior associated with climate change may be the largest determinant of sun exposure, with a result on skin cancer. The sun is responsible for the development and continued existence of life on earth. Skin cancer is the most common human cancer. Each 1% loss of total ozone leads to a 3-5% increase in skin cancer cases which is caused from extreme exposure to sun and heat. Many people argue that skin cancer isn’t caused from global warming but from people not being smart enough to put on sunscreen or realize when to get out of the sun.

Mosquito-borne dengue fever has increased 30-fold in the past 50 years. “Three-quarters of those exposed so far live in the Asia-Pacific region”(National Geographic). Since many places are dry and some are very wet mosquito borne illness are more common mosquitos are always looking for very wet areas so when there is flooding you expect there to be a lot of mosquitos around. A main concern in both developed and developing countries was the increased geographical spread of diarrhoeal diseases. “Insects previously stopped by cold winters are already moving to higher latitudes (toward the poles)”(bioline). Warmer oceans and other surface waters may also mean severe cholera outbreaks and harmful bacteria in certain types of seafood. Heat stress can make working conditions unbearable and increase the risk of cardiovascular, respiratory and renal diseases.. Heat could make common viruses develop strains to which people have no resistance and increases in the ranges of disease vectors. Most infectious diseases are transmitted by insects and vectors that are accustomed to certain climate conditions.

Many people believe that global warming has no effect on them and some that it isn’t even real. No matter what is really going on you should always be aware of what is really going on on the planet.That global warming is a burning issue of our times is not in doubt as the consequences, whether environmental or medical, are enormous. The solution goes beyond mere scientific discussions and involves health education and awareness in one and all in order to make timely amends to stop the devastation that accompanies this radical phenomenon.

Global warming is highly controversial issue in this global world where each country facing environment problems and some harmful disease and illness regarding this. Saving the environment is become top most priority in the world where No country disagrees with the fact that the world is shrink into the climatic disaster. The solution is not simple, but we must step forward for addressing this issue together. However I believe that individual or government can not solve this problem alone as a individual we have to rolled up our sleeves and shake our hand with government because this problems is mitigate by the joint efforts.

To commence with, the impacts of climate change is undeniable and hazardous toward social life as well as economic threat to the planet. Global temperature changes, rising in sea level, and unpredictable weather is the diverse effect of climate change. In addition, the world has been facing the disaster which they never dealt with before. So, it is the right time to take a proper step to deal with that issue because if we will not then we don’t have anything in our hand to present for future generation. Global warming is the main cause of climate change where emission of carbon dioxide is augmenting now a days due to fissile fuels and industrialization. Atmospheric CO2 concentrations have increased by more than 40% since pre-industrial times, from approximately 280 parts per million by volume (ppmv) in the 18th century to over 400 ppmv in 2015. The monthly average concentration at Mauna Loa now exceeds 400 ppmv for the first time in human history. The current CO2 level is higher than it has been in at least 800,000 years (Scripps Institution of Oceanographic San Diego).[ Green house effect is the prominent factored in climate change. The harmful gases trap heat from the sun and due to that heat, the temperature rises, and due to the strong greenhouse effect ice and glaciers were melted and that may lead some areas of region warmer due to this impact and water level of that area may increased and it may lead to flood, draughts or other worst weather condition. However, I find from some research that Sea level are, rising since the 1800’s (Christensen et al.2007, Church and White,2011), More recent projections (Fischer et al.,2018) indicate that even these alternative predictions may prove conservative. Due to this effect some countries facing myriad problems, for instance, beyond storm surges,” U.S. flooding frequency from non-storm high tides has doubled in just 30 years, causing human deaths and many billions of dollars in damage, with risks to infrastructure and coastal properties high and soaring” (Nicholson-Cole and O’Riordan.2009: Mailman 2018).it states that due to climate change the tide height was not only inclined but doubled in just 30 years and that leads destruction of infrastructure and government spent huge amount for rehabilitant. The best and dangerous example of global warming is the typhoon recently occurred in japan due to volcanic eruption and other factors which leads thousand of deaths and damage of infrastructure and land sliding.as we all know that the japan is the well an best prepared country among all in world to handle such kind of climatic condition even though the damage is very severe. The japan government put crore of rupees to rehabilitate the infrastructure and to solve this disaster so we can say that it is multibillion-dollar disaster in the history of japan.

Secondly, the first and foremost destruction is deforestation caused by the human. Due to industrialisation people convert a land into concrete forest. We all know that trees are the main source that maintain oxygen in atmosphere and by cutting down the trees we can not only harm the environment but also it will damage our ecosystem because our eco system is like concrete wall. To cite an example if a concrete block damage in the wall the whole wall would be destroys that’s how our ecosystem works if any inhabitants disappear, we have faced some serious consequences regarding this. However, emission on fossil fuels are also a major problem. Humans use coals and fuels those are the one which produce highest amount of carbon dioxide. According to a (Union of Concerned Scienst 2016) study depicts that due higher percentage of harmful gas like carbon dioxide hydrogen methane and so on the every year getting warmer and warmer after 1977 and they notified 2016 as the warmest year in history but if we will control the emission and growing more numbers of tress then tress inhale co2 and exhale oxygen that will cut out emission of coal and carbon and 15 out of 13 years will be not warmer then the previous one. We want to live lavish life style so we always preferred our own car rather then public transport, and this may lead more usage of fules and pollution in the atmosphere. However, after revolution of industries the power plants and machines produced huge amount of gases as well as chemicals depleted in river and ocean that can not only affect marine lives but also humans too. The air pollution is not the only cause water and land is also as important as mush as air pollution. however, plastic waste is also the secondary pollution where plastic is non biodegradable thing so according to research 4.4-12.7 million metric plastic tons are depleted in oceans annually as numbers are very shocking, we have put some restriction on usage of plastics. We all know the debatable disaster of amazon rainforest (Brazil) which suddenly caught fire in forest and according to some experts and research the main cause of fire is poor farming practices where they use technique of slash and burn where fire is use for newly felled forest that have been cleared to make pastures.as the amazon rain forest is covered 5.7 billion squared kilometers area and also it is known as earths lungs. However, the fire is so heavy that they not only destroyed the eco system of brazil but also produce climatic alarming pollution.

My conviction tends me to deem that, the solution are not easy but if government and individual take a initiative to curb this problem then we will definitely mitigate this issue from the world not completely but on some extent.as some one well said that “individually one can achieve it, collectively several can accomplish.”. Government must make some strict rule and regulation of air pollution and industries where as they only allow some amount of gases to deploy outside and if they exceed this amount, they must pay very heavy penalty for that as well as as individual its our responsibility to save our environment because our life is in our hands. On the invert site, we should stop using plastics and private transportation. We must use conventional energy resources as well as solar energy. We should more focus on how we can use solar energy as much as we can because by using solar energy we can produced the electricity and the electricity is the one which produced by burning of coal and fuels which are the main sources of pollution so by using electric energy we can decreased the usage of coal and government should also reward people who use solar panel in their home so in that way people can easily use solar Panel in their homes for producing electricity. While some people perceive that we have to arrange some seminars and lectures on climate change so people can easily know where we are and what is the position of todays world because once people are educated enough then they will surely put their efforts to improve environment. Here I would like to mention one of the strongest personality I ever know and this is non another my professor Mr. Ram gareja who is working for saving the environment as he delivered the lec and organise the seminars for people on every weekend so people can aware about the importance of environment and why we have to protect them as well as at the end of each seminar he plant a tree and also insist the other students to do the same.