Global Warming

Slideshow Transcript

1. Slide 1: GLOBAL WARMING
2. Slide 2: Glo bal Warm ing • an average increase in the temperature of the atmosphere near the Earth’s surface and in the troposphere1, which can contribute to changes in global climate patterns
3. Slide 3: Cause s • Burning of fossil fuels (Coal/Crude oil) – Power plants generate electricity – Transportation-----fuels for transports (E.g. LPG, kerosene, fuel oil) – Industrial processes (E.g. manufacture of cement, steel, aluminium)
4. Slide 4: Cause s • Other greenhouse gases emission – Agriculture – Forestry – Other land uses – Waste management
5. Slide 5: Example : Using natural gas to cook CH4 + 2O2  CO2 + 2H2O e, other xid bon dio ar esides c as methane, B n ses such arbons, nitroge ga ofluoroc chlor o zone als house o ides and the green ox to tribute con effect.
6. Slide 6: Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere ↓ Some infrared radiation is trapped ↓ Greenhouse effect Serious greenhouse effect Glo bal Warm ing
7. Slide 7: How serious the problem is?...
8. Slide 8: Increase in greenhouse gases • Concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is highly increasing by human activities → Leads to the increasing seriousness of global warming
9. Slide 10: Glo bal surface te m pe rature s – increased about 0.6°C/century since the late19th century – increased to 2°C/century over the past 25 years
10. Slide 11: Incre ase in Glo bal te m pe rature s
11. Slide 12: Te m pe rature diffe re nce be tw e e n diffe re nt parts o f atm o sphe re • troposphere temperatures (the lowest 8 kilometers of the Earth's atmosphere) collected since 1979 also indicate warming • Cooling effect in higher parts of the atmosphere: stratospheric temperatures have been decreasing
12. Slide 15: NO T glo bally unifo rm w arm ing • Warming parts: – North America – Eurasia • Cooling parts: – parts of the southeastern U.S.
13. Slide 17: Incre asing te m pe rature e xtre m e s • Regions that have temperatures (1-3°C) warmer than the average: – United States – Most of the Europe • Regions that have temperatures (1-3°C) cooler than the average: – Australia
14. Slide 18: Re gio nal Te m pe rature s
15. Slide 19: Se a le ve l rising • rising at an average rate of 1 - 2 mm/year over the past 100 years
16. Slide 20: Environmental and Human Effects
17. Slide 22: Dire ct Te m pe rature Effe cts Increase in average temperature More extreme heat waves during the summer; Less extreme cold spells during the winter Harmful to those with heart problems, asthma, the elderly, the very young and the homeless
18. Slide 23: Extre m e Eve nts • Extreme Events: • Heat waves; Cold waves; Storms; Floods and Droughts Global warming An increase in the frequency of extreme events More event-related deaths, injuries, infectious diseases, and stress-related disorders
19. Slide 24: Clim ate -se nsitive dise ase s • Increase the risk of some infectious diseases – [particularly that appear in warm areas; are spread by mosquitoes and other insects] – E.g. Malaria, dengue fever, yellow fever, encephalitis • Algal blooms occur more frequently as temperatures warm (particularly in areas with polluted waters) Diseases (e.g. cholera) accompanying algal blooms become more frequent
20. Slide 25: Air Q uality An increase in the concentration of ground-level ozone Damage lung tissue Harmful for those with asthma and other chronic lung diseases
21. Slide 26: Fo o d supply Rising temperatures and variable precipitation Decrease the production of staple foods in many of the poorest regions Increasing risks of malnutrition
22. Slide 27: Po pulatio n displace m e nt Rising sea levels Increase the risk of coastal flooding (Necessitate population displacement) • More than half of the world's population now lives within 60km of the sea. • Most vulnerable regions: Nile delta in Egypt, the Ganges- Brahmaputra delta in Bangladesh, many small islands, such as the Maldives, the Marshall Islands and Tuvalu.
23. Slide 28: UV Expo sure (Australia) • Skin Cancer – an abnormal growth of skin tissues. • Premature aging – make the skin thick, wrinkled, and leathery • Cataracts – No longer have transparent lenses in their eyes
24. Slide 29: UV Expo sure (Australia) • Other Eye Damages – Skin cancer around the eyes – Degeneration of the yellow spot • Suppression of Immunity – Overexposure to UV radiation  suppress proper functioning of the body's immune system and natural defenses of skin – UV-B radiation weakens the immune system  increases the chance of infection and disease
25. Slide 30: Me asure s o n co ntro lling the pro ble m • Government * set some laws to limit the amount of pollutants produced by factories * develop the skills of using renewable fuels, e.g. solar energy, wind energy
26. Slide 31: Me asure s o n co ntro lling the pro ble m * encourage the factories to replace fossil fuels by renewable fuels, which would not cause environmental pollution * carry out energy saving scheme → reduce the pollution produced by burning fossil fuels * build more plants → reduce the pollutants e.g. CO2
27. Slide 32: Me asure s o n co ntro lling the pro ble m • Citizens * reduce the use of plastic bags → as burning plastic emit CH4 * recycle the resources, e.g. plastic * reduce the use of sprays → as CFCs would be emitted out
28. Slide 33: Me asure s o n co ntro lling the pro ble m * reduce the use of air-conditioner, which will emit CFCs * use public transportation instead of private cars → reduce the pollutants emitted by cars
29. Slide 34: Sources • http://www.who.int/globalchange/climate/en/ • http://resources.emb.gov.hk/envir-ed/text/globalissu • http://epa.gov/climatechange/effects/index.html • http://www.tchps.edu.hk/greenweb/greenMaindGMs • http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/globalwarming
30. Slide 35: THE END