A brief study about Green house effect and Global Warming

Parul Mangal

AP, Civil Engg. , MMU Sadopur, parul.ishu.90@gmail.com

Abstract:

The present paper discuss about the green house effect, green house gases and their global

warming potential. India has extreme climatic conditions with a temperature range of -15˚ to

52˚. In Himalayan regions there are glaciers of snow across the year whereas the indo

Gangetic plains experience a hot weather in most of the months in the year. The places like

Cherrapunji (North-East) has as much as rains of 1100 mm and arid regions like Rajasthan

with minimum rainfall throughout the year. The impact of global warming like melting of ice,

agricultural effect, health and rise in sea level along with their control measures have been

suggested.

1. Introduction:

India, the second most populous country of the world with a population over 1.2 billion, is a

large country in South Asia. India lies to the north of the equator between 6° 44' and 35° 30'

north latitude and 68° 7' and 97° 25' east longitude. It shares a coast line of 7517 km with the

Indian Ocean, the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. It has land boundaries with Pakistan,

China, Nepal, Bhutan, Burma and Bangladesh.

Being such a huge country, India exhibits a wide diversity of temperatures; from the freezing

cold winters in the Himalayas to the scorching heat of the Thar Desert. The above two

regions play a very significant role in controlling the weather of India, making it warmer than

to be expected with its latitude. The Himalayas participate in this warming by preventing the

cold winds from blowing in, and the Thar desert attracts the summer monsoon winds, which

are responsible for making the majority of the monsoon season of India. However, the

majority of the regions can be considered climatically tropical.

1.1 Some of the major types of Climate zones found in India are as follows:

1. The Cold Weather Season (December-February)

2. The Hot Weather Season (March-May)

3. The Rainy Season (June-September)

4. The Season of Retreating South-west Monsoon (October-November)

Fig. 1 Map showing Climatic Zone of India

2. Green house effect

A greenhouse gas is a gas in an atmosphere that absorbs and emits radiation within the

thermal infrared range. This process is the fundamental cause of the effect. The primary

greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere are carbon dioxide, Chlorofluorocarbons,

methane, nitrous oxide. In order, the most abundant greenhouse gases in Earth’s atmosphere

are:

i. Carbon dioxide

ii. Chlorofluorocarbons

iii. Methane

iv. Nitrous oxide

The greenhouse gases present in the troposphere and resulting in an increase in the

temperature of air and the earth are discussed here:

(i). Carbon dioxide: It contributes about 55% to global warming from greenhouse gases

produced by human activity. The main sources are fossil fuel burning (67%) and

deforestation, other forms of land clearing and burning (33%). CO2 concentration in the

atmosphere was 355 ppm in 1990 that is increasing at a rate of 1.5 ppm every year.

(ii). Chloroflurocarbon: It is responsible for 24% of the human contribution to greenhouse

gases. They also deplete ozone in the stratosphere. The main sources of CFCs include leaking

air conditioners and refrigerators etc. Atmospheric concentration of CFC is 0.00225 ppm that

is increasing at a rate of 0.5% annually.

(iii). Methane: It accounts for 18% of the increased greenhouse gases. Methane is produced

when bacteria break down dead organic matter in moist places that lack oxygen such as

swamps, natural wetlands, paddy fields, landfills and digestive tracts of cattle, sheep and

termites. Atmospheric concentration of methane is 1.675 ppm and it is increasing at a rate of

1% annually.

(iv). Nitrous oxide: It is responsible for 6% of the human input of greenhouse gases. It is

released from nylon products, from burning of biomass and nitrogen rich fuels (especially

coal) and from the breakdown of nitrogen fertilizers in soil, livestock wastes and nitrate

contaminated groundwater. The atmospheric concentration of N20 is 0.3 ppm and is

increasing at a rate of 0.2% annually.

3. Mechanism of Global Warming:

i. The incoming radiation from the Sun is mostly in the form of visible light largely in the

range 0.2 – 4.1m, corresponding to the Sun’s radiative temperature of 6,000 K.

ii. About 50% of the Sun’s energy is absorbed at the earth’s surface and the rest is reflected

or absorbed by the atmosphere. The reflection of light back into space does not much affect
the basic mechanism.

iii. The absorbed energy warms the surface. Simple presentations of the greenhouse effect,

such as the idealized greenhouse model, show this heat being lost as thermal radiation.

Radiative energy losses become increasingly important higher in the atmosphere largely

because of the decreasing concentration of water vapour, an important greenhouse gas. It is

more realistic to think of the greenhouse effect as applying to a “surface” in the mid-

troposphere, which is effectively coupled to the surface by a lapse rate.

4 Effects of Global Warming:

4.1 Global Temperature Increase: It is estimated that the earth’s mean temperature will rise

between 1.5 to 5.5°C by 2050 if input of greenhouse gases continues to rise at the present

rate.

4.2 Rise in Sea Level: With the increase in global temperature sea water will expand.

Heating will melt the polar ice sheets and glaciers resulting in further rise in sea level.

Current models indicate that an increase in the average atmospheric temperature of 3°C

would raise the average global sea level by 0.2-1.5 meters over the next 50-100 years.

4.3 Effects on Human Health: The global warming will lead to changes in the rainfall

pattern in many areas, thereby affecting the distribution of vector-borne diseases like malaria,

filariasis, elephantiasis etc. Areas which are presently free from diseases like malaria;

schistosomiasis etc. may become the breeding grounds for the vectors of such diseases.

4.4 Effects on Agriculture: There are different views regarding the effect of global warming

on agriculture. It may show positive or negative effects on various types of crops in different

regions of the world. Tropical and subtropical regions will be more affected since the average

temperature in these regions is already on the higher side.

Even a rise of 2°C may be quite harmful to crops. Soil moisture will decrease and

evapotranspiration will increase, which may drastically affect wheat and maize production.

Increase in temperature and humidity will increase pest growth like the growth of vectors for

various diseases.

5. Control Measure of Global Warming:

There are numerous ways to stop global warming:

5.1 Plant More Trees and Stop Contributing to Deforestation: This is by far the easiest

measure to save our planet from the hazards of global warming. Global warming can be

attributed to the large scale concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

5.2 Switch to Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs: Every household which uses incandescent

bulbs contributes to global warming on a large scale. Replacing incandescent bulbs with

energy saving Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs (CFLs) can help in reducing carbon dioxide

generation and help you to save 60 per cent of energy.

5.3 Reuse and Recycle Products: Reusing and recycling various products which we use in

our day to day life can also help you in doing your bit to stop global warming. For instance,

recycling paper will make sure that the large scale felling of trees to produce paper is

stopped, and these trees will in turn absorb the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and reduce

global warming.

5.4 Unplug Appliances: Unplugging appliances to save energy is yet another effective way

to address the problems of global warming. Simply unplugging all the electronic devices

which are not in use can help in saving 20 per cent energy.

5.5 Avoid Keeping Electrical Appliances on Standby: Similarly, keeping electronic

appliances on standby also contributes to loss of energy and global warming, and therefore is

best avoided. One may feel that keeping a single computer on standby won’t make a big

difference, but when millions of people think in this manner it does make a drastic difference.
5.6 Promote the Use of Organic Products: Promoting the use of organic foods is also one

of the effective ways to prevent global warming. Estimates suggest that we can get rid of 580

billion lbs of carbon dioxide if we resort to organic farming for food production.

5.7 Use Vehicles Efficiently: One of the leading causes of pollution, vehicles dump a great

amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. If you can’t resist vehicle, you can opt to

efficient driving tips, such as turning the engine off at red lights and driving at moderate

speeds, and contribute in curbing global warming.

5.8 Resort to Alternative Sources of Energy: One of the most talked about global warming

solution is to switch to alternative energy sources such as solar power and wind power. Doing

away with fossil fuels alone will help in reducing the huge amount of carbon dioxide in the

atmosphere every day.

“If we sacrifice the unnecessary luxuries in our life, we can contribute in saving the

tremendous amount of energy which goes in their production.”

6. Conclusion

The main objective of this study was to analyze the green house effect, green house gases and

their global warming potential. It was analyzed that various greenhouse gases increases the

global temperature and also affects the human health and agriculture. Global warming is

believed to be the result of a strengthening of the greenhouse effect mostly due to

anthropogenic activities increases in atmospheric greenhouse gases. It can be concluded that

recycling of paper will make avoid the large scale felling of trees to produce paper is stopped, and

these trees will in turn absorb the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and reduce global warming.

References

1. Wikipedia- the free encyclopaedia.

2. http://www.thefreedictionary.com
3. Global warming and its impacts on the climate of India by Theodore C. Sorensen.
4. Global warming: mechanism, effects and control of Global warming by Puja Mondal.