Global Warming: the Climate of Threat

In the present context of environmental awareness, ‘Global Warming’ is the buzzwords that reverberate in every corner of our planet. It is a highly debated issue among environmental scientists & academicians. Though we are not fully aware about global warming but knowing or unknowingly we all, more or less are contributing to ‘global warming & climate change’. Rise in the average temperature near the surface of the earth is scientifically termed as global warming. As per the IPCC (Inter Governmental Panel on Climate Change) report the measured average atmospheric temperature near the earth’s surface rose by 0.740 Celsius during the last 100 years (1906-2005).11 out of 12 hottest years on record occurred between 1995-2006. We are living in the midst of constantly changing climatic conditions, largely a result of human interference and if allowed to continue can cause irreparable damage to the flora, fauna & human life. Global warming will have strong effect on the variability of rainfall, drought type of situation and rise in the sea level. The overall change in the natural characteristics of the earth for global warming continuously for a long time period is known as ‘climate change’. So, the climate change is a result of global warming. Climate change is definite if the globe becomes warm & warm.
Global warming and climate change can have serious effect on agriculture. Production & productivity of most of the crops may decrease due to increase in temperature and decrease in water availability. Quality of crops may also be detoriated. Increasing temperature will increase fertilizer requirement for the same volume of production & result in higher GHG emissions. Impacts of climate change arise from global warming in forest ecosystem is also very high. According to the IPCC reports, even with a modest global warming, most forest ecosystem will be impacted through changes in forest species composition, biodiversity & plant productivity. Plant flowering, bird arrival, date of breeding in flowering all will be affected from climate change. Forest dependent communities will also be affected from such impacts of climate change in forests. More than 30 million people of India are directly involved in gathering & trading non-timber forest products such as fruits, seeds, flowers, leaves, honey, gum etc. Any impact on forest biodiversity will have adverse implications for the livelihoods for forest dependent communities like tribal. Again critically endangered species of forest could become extinct for such type of change in natural setup. Again, one of the most important & visible indicators of climate change is the recession of glaciers and snow covers in many parts of the world. The Himalayan Glaciers feed seven of Asia’s greatest rivers including Ganga & Brahmaputra. They ensure water supply to about one billion people. Continuous melting down of glaciers in Himalayan region is expected to have serious consequences on bio-diversity, agriculture production, livelihood system of people. On the other hand coastal belts are more prone to the devastating impacts of global warming. Global assessment shows that 1 meter sea level rise can lead to welfare loss of $ 1,259 million, in India equivalent to 0.36% of GNP. Sundarbans, the group of 102 islands is located along the Bay of Bengal. The sea level around the Sundarbans is rising due to global warming & the islands are under threat of getting submerged. 2 of 102 islands have already submerged.

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