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Saturday, July 24, 2010




APES























Climate includes patterns of temperature, precipitation, humidity, wind and seasons.
"Climate change" affects more than just a change in the weather, it refers to seasonal changes over a long period of time. These climate patterns play a fundamental role in shaping natural ecosystems, and the human economies and cultures that depend on them.

Because so many systems are tied to climate, a change in climate can affect many related aspects of where and how people, plants and animals live, such as food production, availability and use of water, and health risks.And now when people talk about climate change they always talk about green house effect.

What is greenhouse effect?


There are two meanings of the term “greenhouse effect”. There is a “natural” greenhouse effect that keeps the Earth’s climate warm and habitable. There is also the “man-made” greenhouse effect, which is the enhancement of Earth’s natural greenhouse effect by the addition of greenhouse gases from the burning of fossil fuels. About 80-90% of the Earth’s natural greenhouse effect is due to water vapour, a strong greenhouse gas. The remainder is due to carbon dioxide, methane, and a few other minor gases.

In order to understand how the greenhouse effect operates, we need to first understand “infrared radiation”. Greenhouse gases trap some of the infrared radiation that escapes from the Earth, making the Earth warmer that it would otherwise be. You can think of greenhouse gases as sort of a “blanket” for infrared radiation, it keeps the lower layers of the atmosphere warmer, and the upper layers colder, than if the greenhouse gases were not there.

Natural greenhouse effect

Our atmosphere is relatively transparent to the wavelengths of sunlight, but not to the thermal radiation that is emitted from the Earth’s surface. This radiation
does pass through the primary gases in the atmosphere – nitrogen, oxygen and argon – but carbon dioxide, water vapour and some other so-called greenhouse gases absorb a large proportion of the thermal radiation.This means that when there is equilibrium between the incident radiation from the sun and the emitted radiation from the Earth
quite a lot of heat is stored in the atmosphere. One consequence of this is that the temperature on the Earth’s surface is higher than it would have been if the atmosphere had not contained greenhouse gases, in fact 33°C warmer.This is the natural greenhouse effect.

man made green house effect

Emissions of greenhouse gases mean that the natural greenhouse effect is reinforced. A larger quantity of heat is circulated (captured and re-radiated) in the lower regions of the atmosphere when the incident radiation and emitted radiation are in equilibrium, which means that the temperature on the Earth’s surface rises.


The harmful effects of presence of greenhouse gasses in atmosphere are global warming, climate change, ozone depletion, sea level rise, adverse effects on biodiversity etc.One way or another these adverse impacts are all directly or indirectly related to the presence of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. A number of human activities, processes and consumptions produce waste gasses or greenhouse gasses that are harmful to the environment. They include:

(a) Fuel combustion
(b) Energy industries
(c) Manufacturing industries and construction
(d) Vehicle Transport and automobiles
(e) Fugitive emissions from fuels
(f) Burning of solid fuels
(g) Use of oil and natural gas
(h) Mineral products
(i) Chemical industry
(j) Metal production
(k) Production of halocarbons and sulfur hexafluoride
(l) Consumption of halocarbons and sulfur hexafluoride
(m) Solvent and other product use
(n) Enteric fermentation
(o) Manure management
(p) Rice cultivation
(q) Agricultural soils
(r) Prescribed burning of savannas
(s) Field burning of agricultural residues
(t) Solid waste disposal on land
(u) Wastewater handling
(v) Waste incineration



What are the Effects?



The Earth has warmed an average of 1.1ºF (0.6 ºC) since
the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in 1880.
Although this may seem like a small increase in temperature, it
is a dramatic change relative to the last several hundred years
or more. It is widely thought that the increase in temperature is
largely caused by the human-induced increase of greenhouse
gas concentrations in the atmosphere.

· Land and ocean temperatures rise
· North and South Poles (Arctic and Antarctic) melt
· Glaciers melt
· Ocean currents change
· Weather patterns change
· Sea levels rise (due to oceans warming the water ‘swells’ and there’s more water as polar regions melt )


Composition of the atmosphere

78% nitrogen

20.6% oxygen

< 1% argon

0.4% water vapor

0.036% carbon dioxide

traces gases:
Ne, He, Kr, H, O3
Methane, Nitrous Oxide

green house gases

Carbon Dioxide (CO2)
Source: Fossil fuel burning, deforestation
Anthropogenic increase: 30%
Average atmospheric residence time: 500 years

Methane (CH4)
Source: Rice cultivation, cattle & sheep ranching, decay from landfills, mining
Anthropogenic increase: 145%
Average atmospheric residence time: 7-10 years

Nitrous oxide (N2O)
Source: Industry and agriculture (fertilizers)
Anthropogenic increase: 15%
Average atmospheric residence time: 140-190 years



Greenhouse gases absorb infrared radiation and prevent it from escaping to space.
Carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide are very good at capturing energy at wavelengths that other compounds miss.


An increase in the concentration of greenhouse gases leads to an increase in the the
magnitude of the greenhouse effect.This is Called enhanced greenhouse effect. This is
what we should be afraid of.Because this causes global warming!!!!!
Posted by Pansilu pitigalaarachchi,APES committee,AIESEC in Colombo south at 10:39 PM
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Environmental sustainability - An introduction

hellow
Living in the present????How to have a better life.The environmental concerns on our planet have expanded dramatically in recent decades and are now among the most serious challenges affecting people’s well- being around the globe. All nations are affected, but often the poorest countries and the least privileged populations bear the greatest burden. They are hit hardest by environmental destruction and climate change and have the fewest resources available to adapt to changing situations.
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What exactly is the meaning of SUSTAINABILITY ?

• • Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. ...
  • • Creating a life-sustaining Earth, a future in which prosperity and opportunity increase while life flourishes and pressures on the oceans, Earth and atmosphere diminish.
  • • Improving the quality of human life while living within the carrying capacity of supporting eco-systems.
  • • The "long-term, cultural, economic and environmental health and vitality" with emphasis on long-term, "together with the importance of linking our social, financial, and environmental well-being.
  • • Using, developing and protecting resources at a rate and in a manner that enables people to meet their current needs and also provides that future generations can meet their own needs.
  • • The using of products of nature in a way that will not permanently destroy them for future use.
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It is time for us to pay attention towards..

  • • human life.
  • • the capabilities that the natural environment has to maintain the living conditions for people and other species (eg. clean water and air, a suitable climate).
  • • the aspects of the environment that produce renewable resources such as water, timber, fish, solar energy.
  • • the functioning of society, despite non-renewable resource depletion.
  • • the quality of life for all people, the livability and beauty of the environment.
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Threats to these aspects of the environment mean that there is a risk that these things For example, the large-scale extraction of non-renewable resources (such as minerals, coal and oil) or damage done to the natural environment can create threats of serious decline in quality or destruction or extinction. Traditionally, when environmental problems arise environmental managers work out how to reduce the damage or wastage. But it is not always easy to work out exactly when and where threats will have their effects and often the impacts are hard to reverse. So increasingly environmental managers adopt strategies aimed to prevent damage being done in the first place. A full sustainability program needs to include actions to prevent threats and impacts from arising, actions to protect the environment from threats and damage, and restoration to reverse damage already done.
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Sustainability issues arise wherever there is a risk of difficult or irreversible loss of the things or qualities of the environment that people value. And whenever there are such risks there is a degree of urgency to take action. Environmental sustainability programs include actions to reduce the use of physical resources, the adoption of a ‘recycle everything/buy recycled’ approach, the use of renewable rather than depletable resources, the redesign of production processes and products to eliminate the production of toxic materials, and the protection and restoration of natural habitats and environments valued for their livability or beauty. These sustainability programs need to operate on an adequate scale and need tocontinue operating reliably for as long as the threats continue.
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Some of the issues that pose major environmental sustainability problems include:

  • • destruction of the living environments (habitats) of native species
  • • discharge of polluting chemicals and other materials into the environment
  • • emission of greenhouses gases into the atmosphere than can cause climate change
  • • depletion of low cost oil and other fossil fuels
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Some environmental issues are largely of local significance while others have regional or even global relevance. At the personal or household level, there are a host of actions that people can take to contribute to environmental sustainability at home, when travelling or accessing services or goods, at work, or when acting as a community member or citizen or as an investor of personal funds. Some useful examples are include living close to work where possible and walking,using a bike or using public transport. These are good options to save energy and reduce greenhouse gases. If these options are not possible then using an ultra efficient hybrid petrol/electric vehicle can cut greenhouse gases and petrol consumption by about 50% and cut other toxic pollutants by about 90%. Buying products made of recycled materials will generally save materials and energy, cut greenhouse gases and toxic pollution, and reduce impacts on living things in the wild. Installing a water tank and low flow shower can save water.
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Using food in season or from local sources and organically grown can cut impacts from chemicals, save energy and reduce greenhouse gases.Involvement in or donations to community environmental groups can help with practical projects like revegetation or by building support for effective government policies. And investing savings in ethical investments can help accelerate the creation of an environmentally sustainable economy.
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