1. GLOBAL WARMING AND GREEN HOUSE GASES
SUBMITTED TO
Prof. Muhammad Ali
ASSIGNMENT 2ND
SUBMITTED BY
AAFIA ASLAM
REGISTRATION NO
B1F17BSCH0032
University of Central Punjab
2. ME THE NATURE
ISN’T I LOOKS CALMING AND
PROSPERING DESPITE HUMAN’S
POLLUTION
IF NATURE IS
CALM
THEN BEWARE
3. GLOBAL WARMING
Global warming is the phenomenon of rise in temperature of Earth’s atmosphere for 100 to 200
years due to human activities.
It is the warm-up of our Globe.
From the startup of the industrial revolution since mid of the 80s,
humans are revolutionizing the culture and living standards, while at
the same time, they are also impacting nature’s balance on Earth. Since
the first British industrial revolution has started and then in Europe,
Japan, America, and even most of the world, Earth is facing many
critical issues.
How Global Warming Occurs?
When carbon dioxide (CO2) and other air pollutants collect in the atmosphere, they lead to cause
the global warming by absorbing sunlight and solar radiation that have bounced off the earth’s
surface.
Normally this radiation would escape into space, but pollutants present, which can last for years
to centuries in the atmosphere, trap the heat and cause the planet to get hotter.
HEAT TRAPPING POLLUTANTS
These heat-trapping pollutants specifically include the following:
Carbon dioxide; CO2
Methane; CH4
Nitrous oxide; N2O
Water vapors
Synthetic fluorinated gases
Chlorofluorocarbons
Their levels are higher now than at any time in the last 800,000 years.
Impacts of Global Warming
Global warming is the global issue that impacts the whole World. So it is the responsibility of
all countries to manage and take measures in regard of this problem. Following are some serious
effects that nature have been facing since global warming has started:
o Ice is melting in both polar ice caps and mountain glaciers. Ice sheets such as Greenland and
Antarctica are melting. In June 2020, the temperature reached 38°C in eastern Siberia, the
hottest ever recorded within the Arctic Circle. The heatwave accelerated the melting of
sea ice in the East Siberian and Laptev seas and delayed the usual Arctic freeze by almost
two months. Arctic is heating twice as quickly as the rest of the world.
I am NATURE.
Please be symbiotic not
parasitic.
GREENHOUSE
GASES
Impact of
Greenhouse
gases is called
Greenhouse
Effect.
4. o The Arctic sea ice has been diminishing rapidly since detailed records began in the 1970s, in a
feedback cycle of warming and melting
o The past decade was the hottest on record as compared to previous ones. The year 2020
was more than 1.2°C hotter than the average year in the 19th Century. In Europe it was the
hottest year ever, while globally 2020 tied with 2016 as the warmest. Pakistan’s Climate
is also getting extreme in hotter and colder regions.
Everything is interconnected. If one part of the climate
system changes, the rest of the system will respond
– Julienne Stroeve
5. o High temperature anomalies have become greater and more frequent in recent years on land, air
and sea.
Across the northern hemisphere, permafrost, the ground that remains frozen year-round
for two or more years – is warming rapidly. When air temperatures reached 38°C in
Siberia in the summer of 2020, land temperatures in several parts of the Arctic Circle hit
a record 45°C, accelerating the thawing of permafrost in the region. Both continuous
permafrost (long, uninterrupted stretches of permafrost) and discontinuous (a more
fragmented kind) are in decline.
Permafrost contains a huge amount of greenhouse gases, including CO2 and methane, which are released
into the atmosphere as it thaws. Soils in the permafrost region, which spans around 23 million square
kilometres (8.9 million square miles) across Siberia, Greenland, Canada and the Arctic, hold twice
as much carbon as the atmosphere does – almost 1,600 billion tonnes. Much of that carbon is
stored in the form of methane, a potent greenhouse gas with a global warming impact 84 times
higher than CO2.
o As ground temperatures rise even fractionally, permafrost around the world begins to thaw and
release greenhouse gases
Since 1990 the world has lost 178 million hectares of forest (690,000 square miles) – an area the
size of Libya. Over the past three decades, the rate of deforestation has slowed but experts
say it isn't fast enough, given the vital role forests play in curbing global warming. In
2015-20 the annual deforestation rate was 10 million hectares (39,000 square miles, or
about the size of Iceland), compared to 12 million hectares (46,000 square miles) in the
previous five years.
6. An estimated 45% of all carbon on land is stored in trees and forest soil. "Soils globally
contain more carbon than all plants and atmosphere put together," says Waring. When forests
are cut down or burned, the soil is disturbed and carbon dioxide is released.
o World deforestation rates are slowing slowly overall, but in some of the world's most pristine forests
it is still rapid
Rising sea levels will lead to even more coastal flooding on the Eastern Seaboard,
especially in Florida, and in other areas such as the Gulf of Mexico.
Disruption of habitats such as coral reefs and alpine meadows could drive many plant
and animal species to extinction.
Allergies, asthma, and infectious disease outbreaks will become more common due to
increased growth of pollen-producing ragweed, higher levels of air pollution, and the
spread of conditions favorable to pathogens and mosquitoes.
Major Green House Gases
Carbon dioxide CO2
Major factors that acts to cause the global warming include the
CO2 gas which is one of the major factor of heat trapping in
atmosphere. It creates a blanket around the atmosphere which do
not allow the heat to move out to space. Composition of CO2 in the
atmosphere is the 0.0375%. While due to human activities and
industrial growth, net annual increase in the CO2 is 0.77ppm.
Deforestation and burning of fossil fuels are major causes for the increase of carbon dioxide in
7. atmosphere.
o The amount of CO2 in the atmosphere reached record levels in 2020, hitting 417
parts per million in May 2020.
o CO2 emissions have risen rapidly since the 1970s
Methane; CH4
Methane is the natural gas component utilized for the household
purposes. In atmosphere, concentration of methane is increasing
about 2% every year. Methane absorbs 20 to 25 times
more heat than CO2. It also influences the concentration of hydroxyl
radical and ozone in atmosphere.
Number of ways causes to increase the methane in the atmosphere
include following:
Action of anaerobic bacteria on vegetation
Decomposition of organic matter
Incomplete combustion of natural gas and petroleum
Nitrous oxide; N2O
N2O is produced mainly in the atmosphere due to the burning of nylon products and bio-
fuels. Its concentration in the atmosphere is 0.3ppm.
8. It is increasing about 0.2% annually. It absorbs about 250 times more heat than CO2 and also
depletes the ozone in the stratosphere.
Chlorofluorocarbons; CFCs
Its concentration is increasing about 5% every year and absorbs
20,000 times more heat than CO2.
It is also the cause of ozone layer depletion in the stratosphere. Main
sources of CFCs in air are:
Air Conditioners
Refrigerators
Evaporation of Industrial Effluents
Production of plastic foams
Aerosols
Impacts of Greenhouse Gases
Greenhouse gases are causing a set of changes to the Earth's climate, or long-term weather
patterns, that varies from place to place. Glaciers are melting, sea levels are rising, cloud forests
are dying, and wildlife is scrambling to keep pace. Greenhouse gases are eventually causing the
global warming.
9. References
(Credit: European Commission JRC EDGAR/Crippa et al. 2020/BBC)
https://www.nrdc.org/stories/global-warming-101
https://www.britannica.com/event/Industrial-Revolution
https://www.livescience.com/37057-global-warming-effects.html
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/global-warming-overview
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.universityofcalifornia.
edu%2Flongform%2Fwhere-do-greenhouse-gas-emissions-
come&psig=AOvVaw3a1xxE4F3OP9VWYpKl6Y9t&ust=1619938582965000&source
=images&cd=vfe&ved=2ahUKEwiIoNHP86fwAhUNrhoKHRCPBgkQr4kDegUIARC5
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