1. Effects of climate change-global warming
1.1. melting of ice and rising sea levels
1.1.1. In the arctic region, ice caps cover most of Greenland and large ice bergs float in the Arctic ocean. Many scientists say these ice and snow-covered areas as warning signs of global warming. Satellite images have shown that glaciers are retreating and amount of ice caps has decreased in polar regions
1.1.1.1. regions with wetter climates experience high relative humidity as higher global temperatures have increased evaporation rates. this increases rainfall which causes floods.
1.2. extreme weather conditions
1.2.1. severe storms
1.2.1.1. Warmer ocean temperatures cause more intense tropical storms to form. hurricanes resulted
1.2.2. heat waves and droughts
1.2.2.1. In many places that experience hot and dry droughts when temperatures increase. Lakes and rivers dry up quickly, this prevents clouds from forming and hence little or no rain. Heat waves are unusually long extended periods of hot weather, which can cause death and forest fires.
1.3. Impact on plants and animals
1.3.1. Increasing temperatures cause changes in flowering patterns of plants and breeding patterns of animals. diseases like malaria and dengue fever can thus spreqad more easily and there would be a rapid growth of mosquitoes. hen habitats are affected, animals are forced to migrate
2. Causes of climate change
2.1. Enhanced greenhouse effect
2.1.1. Industrial activities, large scale deforestation and agricultural activities
2.1.2. Possibilities have been made to reduce levels of greenhouse gases in atmosphere, effects are not immediately observable. many of the gases are able to remain in the atmosphere for a long time even after activities have stopped.
2.1.3. There is an increase in human activities, more greenhouse gases are released and trapped in the atmosphere. the enhanced greenhouse effect give rise to global warming.
3. Solutions
3.1. International solutiona
3.1.1. Kyoto Protocol, which is the first international meeting to address the increase in the amount of greenhouse gases held in 1997 in Kyoto Japan. this meeting requires developed countires to reduce their emissions of green house gases by 5.2% by 2012.
3.2. National efforts
3.2.1. Using alternative sources of energy.
3.2.1.1. Germany using hybrid cars on the road.
3.2.2. governments can pass laws to help reduce the impact of climate change.
3.2.2.1. In Singapore, the NEA made it compulsory since 1978 for all vehicles to pass a smoke emission test to ensure thatthe gases emitted are within acceptable limits.
3.3. Individual efforts
3.3.1. We can reduce vehicle emissions by taking public transport or choosing to walk or cycle to our destinations. car pooling can also help to reduce the number of cars on the roads.
3.3.2. We also could avoid buying products that contain CFCs. this will help reduce the demand of such products and encourage industries to adopt more environmentally friendly methods of manufacturing goods.