Paris Climate Accord in 2016 was intended to limit the glasshouse gas emission which was accepted by most of the countries. Neither the media nor the environmentalists open up about the beneficial effects of climate change at least in certain countries and in our way of living. In this blog, I shall examine climate change in relation to this planet’s 4.54 billion years of existence. Except now, living organisms on earth never adjusted its life to the changes in the natural process of evolution.
“Climate change” and “global warming” are often used interchangeably but have distinct meanings. Climate change is defined as a long-term change in the average weather patterns that have come to define earth's local, regional and global climates. The history of the scientific discovery of climate change began in the early 19th century when ice ages and other natural changes in paleoclimate were first suspected and the natural greenhouse effect was first identified.
Global warming is the unusually rapid increase in earth's average surface temperature over the past century primarily due to the greenhouse gases released by people burning fossil fuels. Heat-trapping gases like carbon dioxide (CO2) absorb infrared radiation and prevent it from dissipating into space, giving rise to what we know as the greenhouse effect.
In addition to CO2, methane (CH4), nitrous oxide(N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and perfluorocarbons (PFCs), water vapour are also important agents of global warming. Some of them are actually much more potent than CO2 and they stick around for hundreds to thousands of years longer. Global warming causes, sea level to rise by the expansion of warmer seas (at 4c volume 1000ml, but in 50c it needs 1015 ml space) and by melting ice sheets and glaciers. Excessive CO2 dissolving in sea water turns it into lower ph (normally sea water is alkaline), which is deleterious to coral reef, flora and fauna.
The term Global warming is seldom used nowadays, as in the past few years, although CO2 level was increasing, global average temperature was not increasing, in fact reduced in 2017. Now those environmental enthusiasts only use the term ‘climate change’. They attribute any environmental catastrophe to climate change.They proclaim climate change, poses a serious threat to life on earth in the forms of widespread flooding and extreme weather. They blame general public for driving car too much,taking long-haul foreign holidays, buying products with excessive packaging, using more hot water, eating more red meat, not repairing household appliances instead of buying new, buying jeans which require more water to manufacture and not planting more trees.
Saying so, I always despised waste and unnecessary expenses, as my mother passionately taught me ‘waste not want not’. As written in the previous blog, I am an advocate for electric cars, as they are clean and without noise. I welcome new regulations on air quality to reduce the traffic pollution and its detrimental effect on respiratory and cardiovascular system.
Protagonists of Climate Change always talk in a negative way on any technological advancement of civilisation. Friends of the earth and Greenpeace are against new road development or other innovations on technology. Now, let me ask the environmentalist, is it the first time in the history of earth, floods, tornados, disappearing of islands and submerging of cities have happened? If we examine the history of earth we find that global warming happens in cycles. Earth has experienced cold periods called “ice ages and warm periods called “interglacials” on roughly 100,000-year cycles for at least the last 1 million years. The last of these cycles ended around 20,000 years ago. Therefore, the planet earth is no stranger to hot weather followed by cooler weather.
We learn in physics that energy cannot be created or destroyed. This is applicable to sun in solar system also which releases heat and light to planets and other celestial objects. Once energy is depleted, sun will be a dead star, like the fate of many other stars. Eventually, the total energy earth receives from sun will be decreasing steadily, and gradually earth will become a colder planet. The scientists are not talking about this fact based on geophysics, because it can take millions of years to get into declining phase of sun.
Climate change campaigners and enthusiasts do not ask people affected by climate change to move away from the flooding plains or areas prone to get takeover by the sea. If we look back in history, we find that human inhabitations settled more in coastal cities like New Orleans. Also it is more in those places or countries where the annual average temperature is around 15 degrees celsius. Historically people migrated from very cold or very hot regions to moderate climate regions. In Atacama desert,in Chile and Peru, the temperature is very high and no record of rain for years, resulting in no sign of life in the soil,similar to planet Mars. This means that life chases optimum condition for survival, so should be human race.
Let me cite some benefits as a result of climate change. It has been reported that ice is melting in an area of the size of Germany and France in Siberia. Siberian climate shows an annual average temperature of about −5 °C and an average for January of −25 °C and an average for July of +17 °C. In the Arctic the temperature plunges to – 40 degree Celsius in the winter and in summer it is zero degree celsius. A rise in temperature of 2 degree centigrade, will set in Arctic ice melting. This will help Siberian region, ready for extracting further, their abundant natural gas and mineral resources (for electric car battery, mobile phone,drones). Getting ice free land, Siberian farmers can start cultivating wheat and go for fishing. The customary shipping route from Shanghai to Rotterdam via Suez Canal can change its route into a much shorter Northern Sea route. People then will migrate from south of Russia to the north for better living.There will be fewer winter death, lower energy costs, better meat and agricultural yields, and overall reduction in cost of living. Climate change and its warming effect can change countries like Russia, Canada, Mongolia, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Iceland and North Korea to the league of prosperous countries.
In an average year, volcanoes release between about 180 and 440 million tonnes of CO2. Volcanic eruptions and tsunamis were more frequent thousands of years ago. Geophysicists established that volcanoes can impact climate change. During major explosive eruptions huge amounts of volcanic gas, aerosol droplets, and ash are injected into the stratosphere (50 km above the surface of earth). CO2 exists in the Earth's atmosphere at a concentration of approximately 0.04 percent and water vapour makes 4% in the atmosphere. Both are involved in the making of glasshouse effect, leading to hike in temperature.
I have argued and spoke on radio chat about the prudence of masterly inactivity on the evolution of earth. Our forefathers inherited the terrain and natural resources from their parents, and they strived hard to maintain them without sacrificing their way of living. From time to time they invented new methods or discovered new places to migrate whenever the nature was hostile to them.This generation should also do the same, instead of shutting down civilization. Let me cite an example of Carbon capturing to reduce CO2 production. Now the technology is in vogue in US, whereby snatching of CO2 is done, before it escapes the plant. Then it is stuffed away, in a process known as carbon capture and storage (CCS). This could decouple the burning of fossil fuels from its resulting climate-changing emissions.
In my view Climate change has been happening since the inception of earth. Is CO2, the only driving force for climate change? How foolish to ascertain climate change is the result of 3% increase in CO2 due to human activity? Yes governments can promote recycling, legislate to electric cars ,depend less on imported fuel and planting more trees. We find political manoeuvrings geared to exploit climate change saga for personal wealth creation. Science speaks the truth, as opposed to consensus of opinion. I am hopeful that our genius scientists will immensely contribute to rectify the bad effects of climate.
Dr.C.J.George
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