This document discusses several major current environmental issues: 1) Pollution, population growth, global warming, waste disposal, climate change, and other issues are negatively impacting the environment. 2) Increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from human activities is causing global warming. As the planet warms, glaciers and ice sheets are melting, sea levels are rising, and extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and severe. 3) Warming is also impacting ecosystems and biodiversity as species struggle to adapt to rapid climate change. Key environmental problems like pollution, overpopulation, and resource depletion exacerbate global warming if left unaddressed. Urgent action is needed to transition to renewable energy and more sustainable practices globally

2. Major Current Environmental
 Pollution
 Population
 Global warming
 Waste disposal
 Climate change
 Natural resource depletion
 Loss of biodiversity
 Deforestation
 Ocean acidification
 Ozone layer depletion
 Acid rain
 Urbanisation
 Public health issues
 Genetic engineering

3. Pollution

4. Pollution

5. Pollution
 The number of organisms living in a handful of soil outnumber
all humans on the planet.
 They ensure that the humus layer stores nutrients and water.
 Microorganisms are suffocated under this artificial surface, and
above it rainwater flows away rather than seeping into the soil.
 Monoculture plantations need large amounts of fertilizer and
pesticides to remain productive.
 Some types of pesticides also harm the natural soil biota,
reducing the soil's fertility.
 It takes 2,000 years for nature to produce a 10-centimeter (4-
inch) layer of fertile soil that holds water and nutrients, and
where plants can grow.

6. Population
 In 1000 AD, the world population was only 400 million. It first reached
1 billion in 1804 and 3 billion by 1960. It only took 40 years — by 2000
— for the population to double to 6 billion.
 About 1.8 billion people around the world are between the ages of 10
and 24, which is the largest population of young people ever.
 About 52% of the total world population is under 30 years old.
 Every second of every day, 4.2 people are born and 1.8 people die. It’s
expected that by 2050, nearly 70% of the world’s population will live in
cities.
 China and India top the global population list, with
1.4 billion and 1.33 billion inhabitants respectively.
 About 64 percent of the world's population were rural dwellers in 1970.
 In 2016, the proportion had dropped to 45 percent.

7. Global warming

8. Waste disposal

9. Climate change

10. Natural resource depletion

11. Loss of biodiversity
 According to the WWF, around 70 species go extinct every
day.
 According to the International Union for Conservation of
Nature - which publishes a "red list" of threatened and
endangered species - 41 percent of amphibian species and
26 percent of mammals are facing extinction.
 More than 22,000 species threatened with extinction
 About 2,000 trees have been cut down every minute during
the past 40 years
 During the past century, animals have been disappearing
about 100 times faster than they used to, scientists from
different American universities warned in a new study.

12. Deforestation
 In 2004, some 27,000 square kilometers went up in
flames – a global negative record.
 At the World Climate Summit in Warsaw, Brazil’s
environment minister admitted that by November this
year, some 5,843 square kilometers of forest had been
cut down. 2012 saw a loss of 4,571 square kilometers
 The illegally cleared areas in the Amazon region are
often used by cattle breeders as pasture land.

13. Deforestation

14. Urbanisation
Public health issues
Genetic engineering

15. Global warming

16. Global warming

17. Co2 Concentration in atmosphere
 Since 1750, it is estimated that about 2/3rds of anthropogenic
[human] CO2 emissions have come from fossil fuel burning
and about 1/3rd from land use change.
 About 45% of this CO2 has remained in the atmosphere, while
about 30% has been taken up by the oceans and the remainder
has been taken up by the terrestrial biosphere.
 About half of a CO2 pulse [emission] to the atmosphere is
removed over a time scale of 30 years; a further 30% is
removed within a few centuries; and the remaining 20% will
typically stay in the atmosphere for many thousands of years.”

18. Co2 Concentration in atmosphere

19. Co2 Concentration in atmosphere
 280 ppm (Pre-indiustrial): The pre-industrial concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere in the 1750-1850
timeframe was about 280 ppm (parts per million).
 400 ppm (Today): Between the start of the industrial revolution and May 2018, human activity
increased the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere to 408 ppm. These elevated carbon dioxide
concentrations have already increased the average global temperature above pre-industrial levels by
0.85°C. As a result, we are experiencing severe weather events with wild extremes in temperature and
precipitation. Climate scientists describe these anomalies as early signs of climate destabilization.
Even if we stopped increasing CO2 levels now, the temperature would still rise other 0.8°C above the
0.85°C that we’ve already warmed, because of the cumulative effects described by the IPCC, above.
 450 ppm (High risk): “The OECD Environmental Outlook to 2050: Key Findings on Climate Change”
summarizes predictions by climate scientists’ models: we have a 50% chance of stabilizing the average
global temperature at a 2°C increase over the pre-industrial period if we keep concentrations of
CO2 under 450 ppm. A November 2013 report by PwC, Busting the carbon Budget, says that at our
current rate of fossil fuel usage in the global economy, we will exceed that limit by 2034.
 350 ppm (Safe): Many leading climate scientists do not have that appetite for risk. A December 2013
report by James Hansen, Johan Rockström, and 15 other scientists, “Assessing ‘Dangerous Climate
Change’: Required Reduction of Carbon Emissions to Protect Young People, Future Generations and
Nature,” declares that 2°C of global warming would have disastrous consequences and could cause
major dislocations for civilization. “Cumulative emissions of ~1000 gigatonnes of carbon (GtC),
sometimes associated with 2°C global warming, would spur “slow” feedbacks and eventual warming of
3–4°C with disastrous consequences. … Rapid emissions reduction is required to restore Earth’s
energy balance and avoid ocean heat uptake that would practically guarantee irreversible effects.
Continuation of high fossil fuel emissions, given current knowledge of the consequences, would be an
act of extraordinary witting intergenerational injustice.

20. Impact of global warming
 Water vapour & temperature rise
 Melting of glaciers
 Water vapur high cloud
 Solubility of carbon di oxide
 Bacteria carbon di oxide
 Permafrost - methane
 Rise in sea level
 Increase in frequency of heat waves and droughts
 Cyclones and torrential rain
 Impact on biosphere
 Water vapour – low cloud
 Plant – carbon di oxide

21. Water Vapour & temperature rise
 The amount of water vapor in the atmosphere exists in direct relation to the
temperature. If you increase the temperature, more water evaporates and becomes
vapor, and vice versa. So when something else causes a temperature increase (such
as extra CO2 from fossil fuels), more water evaporates. Then, since water vapor is a
greenhouse gas, this additional water vapor causes the temperature to go up even
further—a positive feedback.
 If Earth warms 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit, the associated increase in water vapor will
trap an extra 2 Watts of energy per square meter
 Studies show that water vapor feedback roughly doubles the amount of warming
caused by CO2. So if there is a 1°C change caused by CO2, the water vapor will
cause the temperature to go up another 1°C.
 According to NASA, water vapor accounts for about 50+% of the absorption.
Carbon dioxide accounts for 20%. Clouds also account for roughly 25%.
 If, for instance, CO2 concentrations are doubled, then the absorption would increase
by 4 W/m2, but once the water vapor and clouds react, the absorption increases by
almost 20 W/m2

22. Melting of glaciers and Rise in sea
level

23. Melting of glaciers and Rise in sea
level

24. Melting of glaciers and Rise in sea
level

25. Melting of glaciers and Rise in sea
level

26. Water vapur high and low cloud
 The GISS global climate model to predict changes in different types
of clouds, and the sensitivity of the climate, to a doubling of carbon
dioxide concentration.
 They found that low-level clouds in the model behaved much the
same as anticipated from satellite and surface data. At midlatitudes,
clouds became a bit thinner and less reflective in the simulated
warmer climate.
 They became less reflective in the tropics as well, but for a different
reason: clouds in the warmer climate lost more of their water due to
greater rainfall. But other types of clouds did not behave in the same
way.
 For example, the big "anvil" clouds that accompany thunderstorms at
high altitudes became more extensive and brighter in the warmer
climate, instead.

27. Water vapour high and low cloud
 Low, warm clouds emit more thermal energy than high, cold clouds.
 This image illustrates that low clouds emit about the same amount of thermal energy as
Earth’s surface does.
 This is most clearly seen over the Pacific Ocean.
 The water is nearly white, while the low marine clouds are pale gray, only slightly cooler.
 This means that a world without low clouds loses about the same amount of energy to
space as a world with low clouds.
 High clouds are much colder than low clouds and the surface.
 They radiate less energy to space than low clouds do.
 The high clouds in this image are radiating significantly less thermal energy than
anything else in the image. Because high clouds absorb energy so efficiently, they have
the potential to raise global temperatures.
 In a world with high clouds, much of the energy that would otherwise escape to space is
captured in the atmosphere.
 High clouds make the world a warmer place. If more high clouds were to form, more heat
energy radiating from the surface and lower atmosphere toward space would be trapped
in the atmosphere, and Earth’s average surface temperature would climb.

28. Solubility of carbon di oxide

29. Bacteria carbon di oxide
 Scientists from the University of Exeter and the University of
Toulouse found that warming of 2-3°C caused a 34% loss of
microorganism diversity in the guts of common lizards
 The researchers raised one type of insect – the southern green
stinkbug – in an incubator kept 2.5 degrees Celsius warmer
than the temperature outside. That is the average scientists
expect the world to warm by 2100.
 They found this produced a significant reduction in the “good
bacteria” in their guts, with which they have a beneficial
symbiotic relationship.
 Coral breaching, in which symbiotic photosynthetic algae of
corals are killed by high temperature and coral reefs are
severely damaged, is regarded as a serious environmental issue

30. Permafrost - methane

31. Increase in frequency of heat waves
and droughts
 For instance, a thorough statistical analysis of the Russian
heat wave suggests that there was an approximate 80%
probability that the 2010 July Russian heat record would
not have occurred without climate warming, or
alternatively the probability increased by a factor of five.
 Globally, extremely warm nights that used to come once in
20 years now occur every 10 years.
 And extremely hot summers, those more than three
standard deviations above the historic average, are now
observed in about 10% of the global land area, compared to
0.1-0.2% for the period 1951-1980.

32. Increase in frequency of heat waves
and droughts

33. Cyclones and torrential rain
 Recent research has shown that we are experiencing
more storms with higher wind speeds, and these
storms will be more destructive, last longer and make
landfall more frequently than in the past. Because this
phenomenon is strongly associated with sea surface
temperatures, it is reasonable to suggest a strong
probability that the increase in storm intensity and
climate change are linked.

34. Impact on biosphere
 As we burn fossil fuels and increase the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere, the
biological pump in the ocean is taking on more carbon dioxide, which is causing
acidification of the oceans, part of the hydrosphere.
 As more carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere from from the humansphere,
the oceans become more acidic and make it difficult for shelled animals in the
biosphere to create their calcium carbonate shells.
 As ice sheets in the hydrosphere melt, polar bear reproduction in the Arctic
decreases.
 The atmosphere also effects the biosphere because the more sulfur we emit into
the atmosphere through the burning of sulfur rich coal from the Appalachians,
the more acid rain precipitates.
 The acid rain increases the acidity in streams and kills fish and has a
devastating effect on coniferous trees, such as the case in the Great Smokey
Mountains.
 As the atmosphere temperature rises in northern latitudes, Spruce Pine Beetles
are migrating north and killing massive amounts of coniferous trees

35. Impact on biosphere
 When organic plant matter dies and decomposes, such as
in a peat bog, methane and CO2 are released into the
atmosphere, increasing the amount of greenhouse gasses.
 The biosphere also releases more methane into the
atmosphere through the digestive system of cattle
containing methane releasing bacteria. This flux in
methane in the atmosphere increases the amount of
greenhouse gasses and leads to global warming.
 The biosphere impacts the atmosphere because the
biological pump stores vast amounts of carbon dioxide in
the oceans, decreasing atmospheric CO2 levels.

36. Impact on biosphere

37. Plant – carbon di oxide
 CO2 enhanced plants will need extra water both to maintain their larger
growth as well as to compensate for greater moisture evaporation as
the heat increases.
 On the other hand, as predicted by climate research, we are experiencing more
intense storms with increased rainfall rates throughout much of the world.
One would think that this should be good for agriculture. Unfortunately when
rain falls in short, intense bursts it does not have time to soak into the ground.
Instead, it quickly floods into creeks, then rivers, and finally out into the
ocean, often carrying away large amounts of soil and fertilizer.
 2. Unlike Nature, our way of agriculture does not self-fertilize by recycling all
dead plants, animals and their waste. Instead we have to constantly add
artificial fertilizers produced by energy-intensive processes mostly fed by
hydrocarbons, particularly from natural gas which will eventually be depleted.
Increasing the need for such fertilizer competes for supplies of natural gas and
oil, creating competition between other needs and the manufacture of
fertilizer. This ultimately drives up the price of food.
 3.

38. Plant – carbon di oxide
 Too high a concentration
of CO2 causes a reduction of photosynthesis in certain of plants. There is
also evidence from the past of major damage to a wide variety of plants species
from a sudden rise in CO2
 Higher concentrations of CO2also reduce the nutritional quality of some
staples, such as wheat.
 4. As is confirmed by long-term experiments, plants with exhorbitant supplies
of CO2 run up against limited availability of other nutrients.
 These long term projects show that while some plants exhibit a brief and
promising burst of growth upon initial exposure to C02, effects such as
the "nitrogen plateau" soon truncate this benefit
 5. Plants raised with enhanced CO2 supplies and strictly isolated from insects
behave differently than if the same approach is tried in an otherwise natural
setting. For example, when the growth of soybeans is boosted out in the open
this creates changes in plant chemistry that makes these specimens more
vulnerable to insects, as the illustration below shows.

39. Plant – carbon di oxide