Climate Change, Global

Warming Ozone Layer

Depletion Nuclear accidents &
Holocaust
Climate Change:
Fitting the pieces together
 What is Climate Change?
•Climate is the average weather at a given point and
time of year, over a long period (typically 30 years).
•Climate change is the greatest threat facing our
planet today.
•A warming planet alters weather patterns, water
supplies, seasonal growth for plants and a sustainable
way of life for us and the world’s wildlife.
•Climate change has already started, but it’s not too
late to take action. There’s still time for us all to be part
of the solution.
 What Changes Climate?
•Changes in:
–Sun’s output
–Earth’s orbit
–Drifting continents
–Volcanic eruptions
–Greenhouse gases
 “Greenhouse
Increasing greenhouse effect”
gases trap more heat
Other evidence of Climate
Change
•Glacier retreat

1875 2004
Why should we care?
 What WE can do?
•Produce more fuel-efficient vehicles
•Reduce vehicle use
•Improve energy-efficiency in buildings
•Develop carbon capture and storage
processes
•Triple nuclear power
•Increase solar power
•Decrease deforestation/plant forests
•Improve soil carbon management
strategies
Ozone Layer
depletion
Ozone
Depletion
Significant concentrations of ozone (O ) exist in
3
the lower elevations of the stratosphere.

Ozone in the stratosphere

absorbs UV B radiation
from sunlight.

UV B radiation damages
DNA molecules and can
cause genetic defects
on the outer surfaces of
plants and animals,
including human skin
(skin cancer)
Ozone Layer
Depletion
•Ozone depletion is the seasonal loss
of a large swath of our stratospheric
ozone above Antartica, as well as the
general degradation of this protective
layer around the globe.

•With less ozone in the atmosphere,

more ultraviolet radiation strikes Earth,
causing more skin cancer, eye damage,
and possible harm to crops.
Ozone Depletion
Results
Each 1% loss of ozone leads to a 2%
increase in UV radiation striking the earth.

A 2% increase in UV radiation results in a 5%

to 7% increase in skin cancer, including a 1%
increase in deadly malignant melanoma
Satellite photo of south pole. Purple shade shows the extent of the
ozone hole.
Protecting the Ozone
Layer
Ban the use of
CFC’s
Have to replace with
something
Current replacements are greenhouse
gases and do not eliminate ozone
depletion, just slow it down
Air Quality
Standards
Emission
Standards
Limit amounts of pollutants that can be
emitted by pollution sources

Generally set by State Air Quality Offices

Global
Warming
 Global Warming

•Global warming is a Global

phenomenon.
•It refers to a gradual increase in the
temperature of the Earth due to
trapping of green house gases.
Green House gases

•Gases such as CO2, SO2, NO2,CH4, etc.

Are the green house gases.
•Most of these are the polluting gases
that are produced by the industries.
•These gases trap the heat from the
sunrays that are reflected from the sun.
 Why Global Warming
Occurs?
It is the effect of the process of trapping
of Heat due to CO2 which has been
going on since times unknown.
But due to rapid rise in population over
the last few decades, the CO2 emission
has increased whereas due to
deforestation, the rate of CO2 absorption
has gone down thus disturbing the
balance of Nature.
Why Global Warming
Occurs?
•Also due to Globalization, various
industries started to grow.
•This also led to the problems of
various types of pollutions including
air pollution.
•Most of the gases that pollute the
environment are Green house gases.
•This leads to Global warming.
What do climate scientists really
think?
 Effects of Global Warming
•It has been reported that the temperature of
Earth is increasing each day by few degrees.
•As a result of this, the snow in various
regions of Earth is rapidly melting.
•This may add more water to fresh water
reserves like lakes and rivers in the
beginning but when the “meltdown” is
completed, there would be no fresh water
reserves.
•Also it destroys the ecosystem in the Polar
region.
 Prevention Of Global
Warming
•The various ways to control Global
Warming are:-
1.Control of population. But, since it is not
possible to control population, the best
way to control Global warming is by
planting trees.
2.Use of ecofriendly and biodegradable
products.
3.Avoid using vehicles when not
necessary.
 ACID RAIN
* Involves deposition of aqueous acids, acidic gases and acidic salts
- Acid deposition has 2 parts: wet and dry
       

-   Wet deposition refers to acidic rain, fog & snow

-   Dry deposition refers to acidic gases and particles
-  Half of the acidity in the atmosphere falls back to earth
through dry deposition
 
* Acid rain is a regional air pollution problem
-   Canada, & North Western USA are worst affected
- Average pH of rainfall recorded in Toronto in Feb. 1979 is
3.5. In 1989 fog in Los Angles had a pH as low as 2.2. Most
acidic rain fall in US in Wheeling West Virginia is 1.4.
-  Precipitation of clean atmosphere may have 5.6 pH.
 What are the origins of ACID RAINS ?

Human activities are at the origin of important

quantities of polluting items that are thrown out in
the atmosphere which contibutes to acid rain .
Combustion of fossil fuels like Coal, Firewood
etc which produces air pollutants like sulphur
dioxide and nitrogen dioxide.
 Gases which are at the origin of acid rains
are :

Sulphur dioxyde Carbon dioxyde Nitrogen oxide

 Acid rains appear when :

Sulphur dioxyde Nitrogen oxide

Release sulphuric acid and nitric

acid !

They move up into the air and are released

as acid rains
NUCLEAR
ACCIDENT
Nuclear accidents and nuclear incid
ent
⦿A nuclear accident
or nuclear incident, depending
on the severity, is
known toinadvertent releases of
radioactive materials,
accidental or radioactivity
levels likely to
harm public health.
 Nuclear accidents and nuclear incid
ent
⦿Is described as a nuclear accident or incident according to its
severity and its impacton the population and the environment.
⦿Radiological accidents can happen at a nuclear plant
or outside, ie in a facility thatconducts
a nuclear activity (hospitals, research laboratories ...) or
due to the loss of a radioactive
source, or by spreading involuntary or voluntary radioactive
substances intothe environment.
⦿To measure the severity of an event, there is an international
scale: INES scale.
International Nuclear
Event Scale
 SAVE
EARTH…..
SAVE
LIFE……….
THANK
YOU………………….