Q4. Global warming.

(OU) Nov./Dec.•19, Q2 I (OU) Dec.-17, 02

OR
What is global warming?
Answer : (OU) Dec.•16, 02

The term global warming refers to the increase in the

average surface temperature of our planet due to the effect of
greenhouse gases such as carbondioxide, water vapour,
nitrousoxide, chlorofluorocarbons, methane, fluorinated
gases etc.
Global warming has enormous adverse effects on
human life, plants and animals worldwide. Some of the
effects include rising sea levels, changes in the
precipitation patterns, increase in the frequency of severe
weather events, shrinkage of arctic ice due to melting,
retreating mountain glaciers, loss of species, scarcity of
fresh water, bleaching and damage to the coral reefs,
frequent occurrence ofdiseases, collapse ofthe functioning
ecosystems and drastic economic consequences.
Causes of Global Warming:
The causes of global warming can be broadly
categorized into two,
(a) Natural Causes: The natural causes of global
warming include release of methane gases from
Arctic Tundra and Wetlands.
(b) Anthropogenic or Man-made Causes:
This group includes burning of fossil fuels,
deforestation, population explosion, urbanization,
pollution of the environment, etc.
Nearly three-fourths of the sun's radiation falling
on the earth is absorbed by the earth's surface. The
remaining part of the heat energy reflects back to the
space as infrared radiation. Some of the solar radiation is
trapped near the earth's surface through the heat-trapping
properties of the Greenhouse Gases (GHGs). Since the
industrial revolution, anthropogenic activities have been
pouring in huge amounts of greenhouse gases into the
atmosphere, mostly carbondioxide through the burning of
Th
 fossil fuels. A recent report indicates that human activities
release nearly 28 billion tonnes ofcarbondioxide per year
into the atmosphere. And it has been estimated that by the
end of this century, the concentration of carbondioxide in
by about three times.
the atmosphere will increase