Climate change by Global warming

and its impact on Agriculture

National Seminar on

Held at
Government DegreeCollege, Pihani, Hardoi
By-
Dr. Dinesh C. Sharma
FIAES, JRF-NET(CSIR), M.Phil, Ph.D
Head/Associate Professor
Department of Zoology,
Km. Maywati Govt. Girls P.G. College
Badalpur (GB Nagar)
Climate change refers to changes beyond the average
atmospheric condition that are caused both by natural factors
such as
the orbit of earth’s revolution,
volcanic activities and
crustal movements and by
artificial factors such as the increase in the concentration of
greenhouse gases (Carbon Di-oxide, Methane, Nitrous Oxide
etc.) and aerosol.

Climate change by global warming, which refers to the average

increase in global temperature, has become a megatrend that
will lead to significant global changes in the future. Concerning
its impacts, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC) presented considerable scientific evidences in
its fourth report on climate change (2007) and they have
become clearly recognized worldwide.
 WHAT IS GLOBAL
WARMING?

• As a result of our consumer culture lifestyle, we are

polluting the earth and slowly changing its temperature. As
a result, weather patterns will be less predictable and water
level will rise significantly
• Climate change is an extended change in the Earth’s regular
pattern of atmospheric conditions and its fluctuations
• Global warming is caused by an enhanced greenhouse effect
mostly caused by anthropogenic activity
 Climate model projections summarized in the IPCC report indicate that
the global surface temperature will probably rise a further 1.1 to 6.4 °C
(2.0 to 11.5 °F) during the twenty-first century.

 However, warming is expected to continue beyond 2100 even if emissions

stop, because of the large heat capacity of the oceans and the long lifetime
carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

The available options are mitigation to reduce further emissions;

adaptation to reduce the damage caused by warming; and, more
speculatively, geoengineering to reverse global warming. Most national
government have signed and ratified the Kyoto protocol aimed at reducing
greenhouse gas emissions.
http://www.wmin.ac.uk/images/better%20car%20exhaust01.jpg http://www.msnbc.com/news/2027856.jpg

THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT IS ONE

OF THE CONTRIBUTING FACTOR OF
GLOBAL WARMING. DO YOU KNOW
WHAT THIS IS?
 WHAT IS THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT ?
• The greenhouse effect is caused by the trapping of heat
in the Earth’s atmosphere
• First the Sun’s high frequency rays of radiation enter into
the Earth’s atmosphere in the form of visible light
• Next the Earth absorbs these rays and radiates them
back into the atmosphere as infrared radiation, or heat
• Green house gases can absorb small amounts of infrared
radiation. GHGs (such as CH4, CO2, CFCs, N2O, nitrous
fluoride) make a cover in the atmosphere and This cover
trapped the infrared radiation and prevent not to escape
the Earth’s atmosphere
• As the Earth’s atmosphere traps more and more heat the
Earth’s atmosphere begins to increase the temperature of
the Earth itself
 WHAT CAUSES AN ENHANCED
GREENHOUSE EFFECT?
 The greenhouse effect is caused by human activities and some
environmental process (Volcano, Permafrost etc) produce the
GHGs; CH4, CO2, CFCs, N2O, nitrous fluoride
 CO2 Considered as a main GHGs is produced by burning of
fossil fuel in power plants, heating systems, factories,
transportation etc. Deforestation adds to the problem since most
forest remove CO2 from the atmosphere in order to produce food
through photosynthesis.
 CH4 is another GHGs which can trapped 20 times more heat
than CO2. CH4 is mostly produced by agricultural objects as rice
fields, livestock waste, wetlands and marshes
 N2O is produced by the exhaust of cars, human disposal of waste
and human use of nitrogen-based fertilizers
 CFCs are emitted when humans use their refrigerators and their
air conditioners
 Nitrogen fluoride is recently included in the list of GHGs and it
can trapp 4 times more heat than CO2
 Humans produce 30 billion tons of CO2 annually, 300-350 million
tons of CH4, and 7-13 million tons of N2O, a drastic increase from
even fifty years ago
 HOW DO WE KNOW GLOBAL WARMING IS
HAPPENING?
In this graph we can see the rising
levels of CO2 in the atmosphere as
measured in ppm in the atmosphere,
measurements having been taken on
the island of Mauna Loa, Hawaii

In this graph we can be seen

the rising temperatures of
earth over the past years
The pre-industrial and current concentrations of the main
greenhouse gases in the atmosphere:

Pre-industrial Current

• Carbon Dioxide (CO2) 280 ppm 387 ppm

• Methane (CH4) 700 ppb 1,745 ppb

• Nitrous Oxide (N2O) 270 ppb 314 ppb

Annual Emission From An Average Car (15000 Km)

Annual Emission From An Average Car (15000 Km)

Carbon Monoxides (CO) 248 Kg

Volatile Organic Compounds 33 Kg

Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) 17 Kg

Air Toxics 775g

 Transport is a major man- Industry is a leading source of
made cause of GHG emissions carbon dioxide emissions

• Over the past 100 years, the amount of carbon dioxide in

the atmosphere has increased by around 25%.
• Coal is the dirtiest of all fossil fuels.
•Animal agriculture is responsible for 35-40% of all methane
generated by human activity. As of 2007, animal agriculture
produced around 100 mln. tons of methane a year.
Amazon deforestation-
source of CO 2 emissions
 Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)- parts per trillion

The main cause of ozone layer depletion is CFCs, which are chemical
compounds that react to the sunlight. They release chlorine atoms that
can attract and destroy up to tens of thousands of ozone molecules in the
ozone layer.
 Methane, a potent
greenhouse gas, is
emitted in the oil and
gas sector, at coal
mines, landfills and
manure management
facilities. These
emissions represent an
effect on global
warming .
 WATER-AIR
AIR EXCHANGE CH4
AIR
CH4 CH4

AIR CH4

WATER EBULLITION

CO2

ANOXIC AIR
SEDIMENTS

CH4 Oxidation by CH4 production by

methanotrophic methanogenic
bacteria bacteria

Scheme of the gas exchange between

waterlogged sediments and the atmosphere
TEMPERATURES RISING

The world heated

up by about 0.6
degrees last
century, and the
1990s were the
warmest decade
on record, the
International
Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC)
says.
SEA LEVELS RISING Rising
temperatures are
thought to cause
sea levels to rise
as the oceans
expand and polar
ice melts. The
IPCC says sea
levels rose
between 10 and
20cm worldwide
during the 20th
Century. It
predicts a further
rise of between
9cm and 88cm by
2100.
 WHAT’S HAPPENING IN ANTARTICA?

“The impacts of
warming temperatures in
Antarctica are likely to
occur first in the
northern sections of the
continent, where summer
temperatures approach
the melting point of
water, 32 degrees F (0
degrees C).”
THE THINNING ARCTIC
According to the IPCC,
North Pole sea-ice has
thinned by 40% in
recent decades in
summer and autumn.
Global snow cover has
shrunk by 10% since
the 1960s and
mountain glaciers have
also retreated.
 1990 2001

Triftgletscher in Switzerland until recently filled the entire basin seen here. Thinning of
the tongue during the 1990s accelerated and as of 2001 a lake started to form in front of it.
Rapid break-up of the snout is now underway. Image: Glaciers Online/Jürg Alean
 Pedersen Glacier, ALASKA
U.S.A.
 http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/12/photogalleries/global_warming/

when Montana’s Glacier National Park. was created in 1910, it had 150
glaciers. Now it has 30 glaciers, significantly reduced in size.
Many of the world’s freshwater glaciers are shrinking, as warming
temperatures melt them away. Some have disappeared all together. The
glaciers on both Mount Everest and Mount Kilimanjaro are among those
glaciers noticeably decreasing as temperatures climb, causing lower-
lying towns considerable worry (National Geographic).
 THREAT TO “Scientists have reported an
unprecedented number of unaccompanied
BIODIVERSITY and possibly abandoned walrus calves in
the Arctic Ocean, where melting sea ice
may be forcing mothers to abandon their
pups as the mothers follow the rapidly
retreating ice edge north.
Nine lone walrus calves were reported
swimming in deep waters far from shore
by researchers aboard the U.S. Coast
Guard icebreaker Healy during a cruise in
the Canada Basin in the summer of 2004.
Unable to forage for themselves, the
calves were likely to drown or starve, the
scientists said.
Lone walrus calves far from shore have
http://www.biology-blog.com/images/blogs/walrus_en_23305.jpg
not been described before, the researchers
report in the April issue of Aquatic
Mammals. The sightings suggest that
increased polar warming may lead to
decreases in the walrus population.”
 http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/12/photogalleries/global_warming/photo2.html

Global warming appears to be negatively affecting Adélie

penguins living on the Antarctic Peninsula, because melting ice
is decreasing the availability of food, causing the birds to swim
longer distances to find sustenance. In more southerly regions,
ice is melting faster, giving the penguins earlier access to food
in the spring, which in turn increases their reproduction rate
(National Geographic).
 http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20060306/gallery/beringsea_zoom.jpg

Some polar bears are drowning in the Bering Sea as ice floes move
beyond their swimming abilities to get to (Discovery News).
 http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/12/photogalleries/global_warming/images/primary/polar-bear.jpg

A polar bear walks across rocky ground near Wager Bay, Canada. Perhaps the
Arctic’s most charismatic megafauna, polar bears face serious threats from
global warming. The bears depend on sea ice as a platform from which they
can hunt seals, their main prey. As more sea ice melts and polar bears are left
with rocky ground like that shown in the picture, hunting for food becomes
increasingly difficult for these large mammals.
Like many other species, including the great white shark, polar bears appear to
be moving northward as temperatures warm. Whether these species can outrun
the warming temperatures is unclear, as some scientists say that global
warming will lead to the extinction of millions of species, including polar
bears, and many birds and amphibians, in the next 50 years (National
Geographic).
 BLEACHING
• Main cause of coral reef death is bleaching. There has been an
increased amount of “bleached” reefs due to increase in water
temperature.

• It has been discovered that just an increase of one degree Celsius

will cause the zooxanthellae to leave.

• The zooxanthellae are microscopic plants that color their tissues and
provide them with food from photosynthesis.

• When these tiny plants leave due to stressed reefs, the reefs turn
white or “bleached” and can then die. The Great Barrier Reef offers
some of the most vivid examples of “bleached” reefs. This world
renowned reef is one of the main attractions in Australia but is suffering
from climate change.
 DRASTIC CHANGES IN HEALTH OF
CORAL REEFS
•
The picture below offers a clear A. B.
distinction between a healthy coral
versus one suffering from
bleaching. Certain places in the
world where the coral reefs are
suffering are the African coastal
zones such as Senegal, The
Gambia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria,
Cameroon, Gabon, Angola which
have low lying coast zones already
(susceptible to flooding). Flooding
and other natural disasters could
increase if coral reefs are then
destroyed (help from coastal
erosion). Places like Egypt are also
losing land for agriculture due to
sea-level rising. Specifically, the
Great Barrier Reef which I
mentioned already, is suffering
from bleaching, and has been a
main attraction in Australia. Figure . A. Coral showing normally
However, people need to be
careful because if we do nothing, it pigmented regions and bleached regions to
could be completely destroyed. the upper side more sunlit side of
colony. B. Coral in shallows showing
similar pattern. Photographer: O. Hoegh-
Guldberg.
 CORAL REER AND
PHYTOPLANKTON

news.nationalgeographic.com/.../global_warming/

A partly bleached coral reef is blindingly white next to healthy

coral. Rising ocean temperatures, one of the many effects of
global warming, are threatening coral reefs around the world. In
response to the warming temperatures, a process known as
bleaching occurs. Although bleaching doesn’t kill coral reefs,
they become more vulnerable to diseases.
Warming oceans may also be decreasing the level of
phytoplankton, a natural absorber of carbon dioxide (National
Geographic).
 EFFECT OF GLOBAL WARMING ON CORAL REEFS

(Destroyed coral reefs in

Bleached corals on southern Great
Java, Indonesia)
Barrier Reef in January 2002

•Coral reefs are in a crisis and are dying at an alarming rate

worldwide specially in south of England.

•The effects of global warming are depleting many of the

world’s resources, including the greatest expression of ocean
life and the most bio diverse ecosystem on Earth—coral reefs.
 Effects of Global Warming Australia

•Southern Great Barrier Reef could be dead within two decades

because of the effects of global warming.
 FLOODING, HURRICANES, AND
UNPREDICTABLE WEATHER
The melting of the Arctic has a global impact—water
levels will rise and the record number of hurricanes and
unusual weather patterns we have been experiencing the
past decade will continue to rise.

Germany New Orleans

 SPRUCE TREES

As temperatures rise, the number of insects will increase. In Alaska

spruce trees are devastated by wood-eating beetles
 SOCIAL EFFECTS

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/12/photogalleries/global_warming/photo3.html

An Inuit from Baffin Island in Nunavut, Canada.

Because temperatures in the Arctic are rising at faster rates than in more moderate climates,
Inuits and other people living in the Arctic are disproportionately experiencing the effects of
global warming, many of which threaten the very lifestyles of these people.
Caribou, a staple of the Inuit’s diet, are falling through the thinning ice. Hunting, whaling, and
fishing are becoming more difficult as species’ migration patterns change. Coastal erosion has
increased as melting sea ice is unable to provide the protective barrier it did in the past. Also,
usually ice-filled rivers and frozen soil are melting, flooding low-lying areas .
 Global warming and
Human Health
 Global warming will affect human health in a number of different
ways
 The changing environment support the spread of infectious diseases
 Agriculture will be affected which results in to lake of balance diet
and results in to health problems.
 Extreme weather patterns will be affected
 The amount of smog near the ground will be affected
 The supply of freshwater available to humans will be affected
 THE INFECTIOUS DISEASES
• Many infectious diseases transmitted by different
types of organisms i.e. vector, among them are ticks,
flies and mosquitoes are most common vectors of
various type of diseases.
• Warmer climate support the breeding of such vectors
of infectious disease.
• As climate change begins to affect our planet to a
greater extent the vectors will be able to reach higher
altitudes and will have a longer season of breeding,
increasing the likelihood of a human being in contact
with the disease
• Also, as the climate warms the amount of algae and
fish that produce toxins poisonous to humans will
increase
 The infectious diseases

 Malaria can affect 45% of the world’s population

today but if global warming continues at the rate
that it is progressing, that number could change
to be 60% of the world’s population
 The infectious diseases
 Malaria is a parasitic disease transmitted by
mosquitoes which on reaching the bloodstream causes
blood cells to rupture, causing a fever, chills and anemia in
the victim and potentially resulting in death within hours
 Viral encephalitis is spread by mosquito and
tick, results into an inflammation of the brain that can
result in a brain hemorrhaging as well
 Leishmaniasis is carried by the sand fly which can
infect the human body, namely the lymph nodes, the
spleen and the bone marrow and which causes the body to
become susceptible to disease as it attacks the immune
system and can result in death due to complications that
arise
 Lyme disease-is carried by ticks and is a disease
commonly found in North America, a disease which can
result in complications involving the heart and even the
nervous system
 Yellow fever, Dengue are also transmitted by
mosquito
 Trypanosomiasis is transmitted by Tse-tse fly
• Cholera is a parasitic disease
which can cause death from
dehydration as it causes excessive
diarrhea
• Dengue fever is transmitted by
mosquitoes and causes fevers, joint
and muscle pain, and headaches.
• Schistomalaisisis a parasitic
disease in which the parasite
burrows into the body and then
infects the organ literally of its
choice.
• Cryptosporidiosis is a disease
that, like Cholera causes excessive
dehydration especially in small
children as a result of diarrhea.
 HUMAN HEALTH AND
EXTREME WEATHER
PATTERNS

 A study done in relation to the city of New York shows that the
number of people who die heat related deaths annually there would
increase to around 1,700 people annually also by only 2050
 Also, there a potential trend for more hurricanes when the
temperature of the seas increase because hurricanes are fueled by
warm ocean waters
 Although the actual number of hurricanes may not increase as a
result of global warming, it is their intensity that is thought to
increase, or their potential energy
 As a result of an potential increase in the intensity and thus
possibly the amount of damage many hurricanes could be capable
of doing, insurance agencies who are paying for increased amounts
of damage due to hurricanes could even go bankrupt as a result
 HUMAN HEALTH AND
AGRICULTURE
• A good part of the world and its countries rely on agriculture as their
main source of income and of food
• In a first scenario precipitation is expected to increase due to global
warming, meaning that many crops will receive too much water and
will be drowned as fields flood due to a projected rise of 40
centimeters in sea level
• In a second scenario the amount of evaporation is expected to increase
due to global warming, meaning that even more crops will die due to a
lack of water
• For many countries this change could mean death, in fact that projected
number of starving people worldwide is expected to be 40-300 million
people in addition to the 600 million already projected to be starving in
2060
 HUMAN HEALTH AND
WATER SUPPLY
• Due to global warming the amount of annual
precipitation and the amount of ice converted to
freshwater from the polar ice caps is projected to
increase
• A rise in sea level is projected for 2100 of as much as
40 centimeters
• This rise in sea level could not only destroy human
dwellings and human places of agricultural production
but could also destroy many sea-side aquifers which
would deplete the general water supply for humankind
• Due to global warming, the amount of smog that is created
by nitrous oxide, or ozone that is near the ground, will
increase
• An increase in the amount of smog near the ground level
could potentially result in fatally warm summer days for
those humans sensitive to such gases
• As gases such as smog enter human lungs, they can
increase the potential of lung infection which can lead to
death
 Global Warming Indian
Scenario
A vast subcontinent of over 15000 species of plants,
•Around 500 varieties of mammals,
•2000 species of birds,
•30,000 types of insects and a wide variety of fish, amphibians and
reptiles!
• Climate is unpredictable and unstable.
• Floods, droughts, cyclones and other natural disasters are common
and they have killed or displaced millions of people.
• This precarious situation is being worsened by global warming.
Some views
 INDIAN CLIMATE
• In 2004, a heat wave swept over India, and the toll rose to over 32,000 deaths.
• The increase could have serious consequences on crop growth and weather

patterns,
• Given that India's temperature has risen by only 0.4 to 0.6 °C over the past
century.
• A 10 per cent increase in monsoon rainfall is predicted over the next century .

Dead Land Global warming

may reduce rice crop yields
 NATURE BEING DECEPTIVE?
•An alarming and clearly visible sign of global
warming is that mango trees are suddenly
flowering in mid winter –It is time people sit up
and realize that global warming is affecting us
personally.
DISMAL PICTURE OF MOTHER EARTH
SHOCKING TRUTHS ABOUT THE MELTING
GLACIERS OF THE HIMALAYAS.
 PREDICTIONS FOR
THE FUTURE
• The Hadley Center for Research on Climate Control has
made a number of predictions about the future of climate
change and its results by the 21st century, such as the
following;
• The surface temperature globally will have risen at an
average of 3.2° at a minimum of .3 worldwide The mean
daily precipitation will have increased by .2 millimeters
globally
• The mean soil moisture will have decreased by a mean of 2
millimeters of moisture globally
• The sea level will have increased by a mean of .42 meters
globally
• The volume and area of artic sea ice will have dramatically
decreased
 How can we
control
global warming?
•By using alternate forms of energy that are not using up fossil fuels,
•Decrease the use of those products that create greenhouse gases
•Increase use of wind energy and solar energy
•To take greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere such as CO2, the main
greenhouse gas, through techniques such as carbon sequestration
(There are four main ideas for carbon sequestration; to store carbon
dioxide in the ground, to store carbon dioxide in the ocean floor, to
increase the abilities of certain plants and animals to take in carbon
dioxide from the atmosphere, and to look at the genome sequences of
certain plants and animals who produce methane, hydrogen, or help to
store CO2)
•Controlled use of electricity
•Increase Plantation
•Control overexploitation of natural resources.
•Setting the limits for the Industries for CO2 emission.
 REFERENCES
http://www.greenfacts.org/studies/
http://medlineplus.gov/
www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/1848/global.html
http://cdiac2.esd.ornl.gov/index.html
http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/full/163/6/729
http://www.umich.edu/~gs265/society/greenhous
e.
http://proquest.umi.com
http://www.llnl.gov/str/Johnson.html
http://www.ipcc.ch/pub/un/syreng/spm.pdf
http://www.classroomencounters.org
ACKNOWLEDGEME
NT
My Parent

&
Dr. N. B. Khan
Director (Higher Education),
Allahabad
&

Dr. S. K.Chauhan,
Principal,
Govt. Degree College, Pihani, Hardoi