ABSTRACT

GLOBAL WARMING

Introduction: through the atmosphere in only a few days, a

brief period compared to the residence time of
Global warming refers to an increase in the CO2,which persists for many decades and
Earth’s average surface air temperature since creates some warming even after as long as three
the Earth has gone through cycles of temperature hundred years. Dust and aerosol chemicals in the
change many times in its 4.5 billion years. air cause some cooling (negative forcing); they
However, as used today, global warming usually are also very short lived.
means a fast, unnatural increase that is enough
to cause the expected climate conditions to Earth’s temperature is also subject to natural
change rapidly and often cataclysmically. forcing cycles from solar radiation and the
movement of the planet around the sun.
Currently, we are in a period between major
iceages. The last great glaciation, when
temperatures were about 10°to 12°F (6°to7°C)
cooler than today, began fading away about
18,000 yearsago. The initial transition out of the
ice age was unstable,with many rapid
temperature shifts. As temperatures warmed,
climate was affected.
Our planet is warmed by
radiant energy from the sun that reaches the
surface through the atmosphere. As the surface
warms, heat energy reflects back toward space;
meanwhile, gases in the atmosphere absorb
some of this energy and reradiate it near the
surface. This is often called the greenhouse
effect. In the greenhouse effect around Earth, the
atmosphere can be visualized as a blanket that is
made thicker by the action of a small amount of
water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, ozone,
nitrous oxide, other gases, and sootThe scientific
term for this action is, in fact, “forcing.”

On an average day, this effect is caused by water

vapor and clouds (75 percent) and carbon
dioxide (20 percent). Relatively small additions
of carbon dioxide and methane force more heat, Climate is what one expects in a certain place;
and that heat allows the air to hold more water weather is what occurs day by day. One result of
vapor, Although water vapor is naturally global temperature increase or decrease is
prevalent in the atmosphere, it does not trap as climate change, referring to a shift in not only
much heat per molecule as carbon dioxide and average local temperature but also rain- and
methane. Also, water vapor molecules cycle snowfall, cloudiness and storms, the seasons,
and river flow, with associated impacts on the about 15 percent. Some chemicals invented by
biosphere, the portion of the Earth and its humans, like chlorofluorocarbons, are also
atmosphere that supports life. greenhouse gases. Between then and 1945,
world temperature rose but then leveled off and
Cause of global warming: even decreased a little through the 1960s.
Beginning in the 60s, laws mandated the
During most of the more recent past (say, 10-
reduction of aerosol pollution. The sun’s
11,000 years), the concentration of greenhouse
luminosity varied a little through these years, but
gases remained relatively stable, and so did the
this appears to have had only minor influence.
Earth’s temperature and climate. This was the
time when humans developed civilizations and
learned how to build cities, grow food, and
invent machines. It is possible that early farming
and forest clearing had a warming effect on the.
These were possibly not global in extent, and
there is scientific disagreement over their causes
The recent increase
which seem to have included periods of solar
in atmospheric CO2 is 200 times as great as any
radiation increase and decrease and volcanic
previous change known and the current level is
eruptions..
385 parts per million, the highest seen in
800,000 years of deep glacier ice core records. It
shows no signs of decreasing. Since the 1970s
atmospheric heat has been rapidly increasing.
Whereas the average temperature of the planet
rose about 1°F (0.6°C) between the mid-
nineteenth century and the end of the twentieth,
in the past twenty-five years alone the
temperature has risen just over 0.8°F (0.5°C).
The total heating from the late nineteenth
century to 2005 is 1.4°F (0.8°C). The ocean has
actually absorbed most of the added CO2 and
heat -- becoming warmer and very slightly more
acidic.. This rise has been shown to be the result
not of natural changes but of human activities
During the ( "antropogenic"), primarily the burning of fossil
Industrial Revolution, people began to use coal fuels but also farming and forest clearing.
and, later, petroleum, to heat cities and run Extensive urbanization, air pollution, forrest
machines. Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, a fires and increased pumping of water have
by-product of burning both coal and oil, began caused regional change as well.
to increase. Since then, levels of carbon dioxide
have risen by almost 35 percent, methane
concentrations (coming from ricefields, cattle,
landfills, and leaks of natural gas) have more
than doubled, and nitrous oxide concentrations
(another by-product of oil) have gone up by
Effects of global warming:

Dress warmly when it’s cold instead

of turnin up the heat.

Plant a tree.
these increases have a giant effect on weather,
climate zones, plants and animals, sea life,
glaciers and river flow. In response, our planet
has been changing with warming winds and Recycle.
rising seas. The 10 warmest years on record
have all occurred since 1997, according to
meteorologists. 2005 and 1998 were the
warmest. At the poles and in mountains, ice is Turn off your computer or the TV
melting and glaciers are receding. Arctic sea ice when you’re not using it.
reach the smallest summer extent ever recorded
in the past few years. Even in Antarctica, where
winter sea ice has been larger in extent recently,
it melts back much more than before in the Turn off the lights when you leave a
summers, affecting the food supply of whales room. Use compact fluorescent bulbs
and penguins. The planet has heavier downpours
now but also deeper droughts. Down into the Conclusion;
temperate zone, change is rearranging the
boundaries of life. The plants and animals with Global warming is due to the increase in the
whom we share the planet are adapting and percentage of co2 ,methane, water vapour in the
atmosphere due to which the temperature of the
moving -- some even going extinct -- because
earth surface started to increase. Both natural
they have no choice. and human activities are responsible for it. it can
be reduced to certain extent by changing our life
We six billion humans are being affected, too. style
Coastal towns are suffering from rising sea
level, storms are getting more intense and Stop the noxious emission think about the
35,000 people died in European heat waves in future- save the earth…
2003.
Presented by
Steps to be taken:
M.sruthi

G.srikala
Dress lightly when it’s hot instead of
turning up the air conditioning. Or use a fan. Sridevi women’s engg coll