Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University

Project Report
“ GLOBAL WARMING ”

M.COM Part -2 SEM-4

Center Head
Dr. Shobha Rokade (Principal) M.A., M.Phil.,Ph.D
Dr. Rajesh Chavan (Center Cordinator) M.A., M.Phil., Ph.D

Guide Researcher
Prof . Anant Annadate Ms- Ayush Dadarao
Jumale
M. com. Part-2 (Sem-4)

Study Center Code - 1205A

Study Center
CHHANGANLAL MULJIBAI KADHI ARTS COLLAGE , PAEATWADA
* Academic Year* 2023-2024
 Acknowledgement

I wish to thank all the people who have contributed towards the successful completion of the
book. I also thank my friends and colleagues who have helped to get necessary facts and
figures for this serious topic. Last but not the least I wish to thank Prof. Kaushik Das, my
guide, for his invaluable advice and guidance throughout the process of writing this book and
without his support, encouragement and patience, this book writing would have not been
possible. I thank him for the inspiration he gave to me and highly indebted to him for life.

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INDEX

Chapter 1-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------4
WHAT IS GLOBAL WARMING?------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------4

Mechanism of Global Warming:-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------5

Chapter 2------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------8
IS THE CLIMATE CHANGING?-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------8

Chapter 3----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------14

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE?-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------14

Chapter 4----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------18
WHAT WILL IT DO?------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------18
International Health Impacts------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------18
Effect Of Global Warming On Biological Diversity--------------------------------------------------------------19

Chapter 5----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------27
HOW DOES GLOBAL WARMING AFFECT INDIA?----------------------------------------------------------------27
How will global warming affect Indian Economy?--------------------------------------------------------------------29

Chapter 6----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------30
WHAT CAN WE DO?-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------30
Conservation:-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------30
Energy Effeciency:-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------32
Making a Difference as an Individual-------------------------------------------------------------------------------34
Go Green----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------36

Conclusion----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------37
Bibliography

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Chapter 1
What is global warming?

Global Warming is defined as gradual increase in the temperature of the planet

earth. Measurements indicate the increase in earth temperature by one degree
Fahrenheit over the past century. This increase in temperature is because of human
activities which lead to increase in CO2 level and other green house gases.
All the scientists believe that this rise in global temperature will further lead to
global warming, but uncertainties prevail about the time and severity of the climate
change. On the other hand, many are now convinced that human activities are majorly
responsible for long term warming of the earth by emitting green house gases.
Scientist believes that there is enough evidence to justify a sensible approach
towards minimizing potential consequences of global warming.
“The intergovernmental panel on climate change, a panel of 2000 scientist
convened by United Nations Environmental program and the World Meteorical
Organization determined that even if we take steps to reduce our Green House gases,
the planet could warm up to a rate faster than it has in the past 10,000 years.”

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Mechanism of Global Warming:

The Sun rays in the form of Infrared rays fall on earth’s surface, a part of which
is absorbed by the atmosphere and the major part is reflected back to the space. Due to
the presence of green house gases like Carbon dioxide and Methane this rays are
absorbed in the Stratosphere which are again reflected back to the earth’s surface. This
will lead to increase in temperature on the earth’s surface. This process goes on
repeatedly as the infrared rays are absorbed more and more ultimately leading to
increase in the temperature of the Planet in whole.

Green House Effect:

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 The Sun which is in its Red Giant Phase emits heat from its surface in the form
of radiation with temperature as high as 5800 K (Kelvin). The majority of the radiation
is in the visible wavelength region, 0.4-1.0 um, where the earth’s atmospheric gases
absorb only weakly. On the other hand, the low temperature earth emits radiation at
infrared wavelengths for which the atmosphere is highly absorbing. In simple terms,
the atmosphere lets shorter wavelength radiation in, but does not lead longer
wavelength radiation out. This behavior is similar to the panes of the glass; the effect is
called as green house effect.
In the strongly absorbing infrared region, different molecular species are
responsible for the opaqueness of the atmosphere at various wavelengths. Water
molecules are major absorbers over much of the region at which the earth radiates, 5-
30um. The 12.5-18um region is blocked by the carbon dioxide now present in the
atmosphere. The 8.5-12um interval is relatively transparent to much of the radiation,
to radiate back to the space. However, there is a strong absorption by ozone at 9.6um

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wavelength in 8.5-12um wavelength “window”. Increasing concentrations of carbon
dioxide and ozone thus reduces the transparency of the window leading to increase in
the temperature. In addition to this clouds and particulate matter (aerosols) also
contribute to this trapping.
Calculating the combined radiation trapping-effect of these substances is a bit
difficult task because addition of this trapping cannot be done linearly as this
absorption is sometimes overlapping in the same region. Roughly, carbon dioxide
accounts for 12% of the trapped radiation, clouds trap up to 14% of it. Moreover this
absorption will increase three to four times if other gases are removed from the
atmosphere. The complexities of the radiative processes are further underlined by
noting that the upper layers of the atmosphere leak relatively more radiation into space
than they trap, so that additional carbon dioxide leads to atmospheric cooling than
warming at layers above 20km.
Over, the last decade it has been found out that variety of species have strong
infrared absorption modes that lie in the window of transparency (Ramanathan, 1975;
Chamberlain et al., 1982). Trace species that are capable of affecting the radiative
balance include nitrous oxide, methane, chlorofluorocarbons as well as ozone. This
entire species are increasing because of agriculture and industrial activity, which in turn
increases blanketing capacity of the atmosphere.

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Chapter 2
IS THE CLIMATE CHANGING?

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The Long Term Temperature Record

Source: IPCC, 2001

The above figure gives us information about the increase in temperature over
the period of 1000 years and in particular over the past 140 years. If we compare the
above two graphs, then we can notice that the increase in temperature in last 140 years
is the fastest and this can be seen by the steep increase in the line from the period
between 1850 and 2000.
‘The past 100 years have been the warmest in the past 1000 years.’

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Melting sea ice

 It is observed that the volume of sea ice is declining and has become
23% smaller than the previous minimum and about 39% smaller than the
average ice.
 Ice has become 50% thinner than its initial density and is continuing to
become thinner and thinner at a very fast rate.
 If we consider the thickness of ice, then it is only 3 feet thick at most
locations.

In September 2007 an area the size of Florida (69,000 square miles) melted in 6
days.
(Source: NSIDC 2007)
Humpback Whales were spotted in Arctic Ocean for the first time in 2007. This
indicates the catastrophic effect in the Arctic region where initially fishes couldn’t

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survive or live in this region because of the sea ice, but as this ice is vanishing at the
tremendous pace, it has opened the doors for these whales to migrate in this region.
According to the report published by U.S Center for Atmospheric Research,
2006, the Arctic Ocean could become ice free in summer by 2040.

The above Poster gives idea about the glacier recession around the world. If we
compare the posters in black and the same one in color there is a drastic change in their
physical appearance. In some cases the entire glaciers have disappeared. This clearly
signifies the increase in global temperature and its impact at various places through out
the globe.

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Chapter 3
Who Is Responsible?
We, the People
Human factors
only

In the above figure we can see how the graph or the frequency is rising form 0-1
degrees over a time span of 150 years. If we compare the Model result and the
observations then we can easily interpret that the cause for this is because of Human
Factors only.

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Sources of Emissions

The above figure gives information about the global source of emissions. We
can see that the Emissions from the Industry and Power stations are the highest,
followed by burning of Transportation fuels and Agricultural byproducts and so on.
Considering the Emissions, carbon-dioxide accounts for 72%, methane for 18% and the
remaining 9% is from nitrous oxide.

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Chapter 4
WHAT WILL IT DO?

• Climatic changes will alter natural vegetation, wildlife habitats, crop

growing seasons, and distribution of pests and diseases. This phenomenon
is often referred to as ECOLOGICAL BACKLASH.
• Accelerated rise in sea levels, threatening half of the world's most critical
coastal wetlands.
• Global warming will expose millions of people to new health risks. About
30 new infectious diseases have emerged in the past 20 years.
• Global sea level has increased by 10 to 25 cm in the last 100 years and will
rise faster in the coming decades.
• Apart from this, world will face stronger tropical storms, floods, heat
waves, wildfires and landslides.

INTERNATIONAL HEALTH IMPACTS

 Increased epidemics of malaria in Africa; new cases in Turkey and elsewhere

 Increased cerebral-cardiovascular conditions in China

 Increased heat wave deaths in Europe (52,000 in 2003), typhoid fever, Vibrio
Vulnificus, Ostreopsis Ovata, Congo Crimea hemorrhagic fever

 Dengue Fever in SE Asia

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  WHO: 150,000 deaths and 5 million illnesses per year is attributed to
global warming; numbers expected to double by 2030 (Nature, 2005)

Effect of global warming on Biological Diversity

If the planet warms as projected, natural ecosystem will change by large

changes in temperature, moisture patterns, evaporation rates, and other physical and
chemical changes.
It is possible to predict the responses of plants and animals by changes in temperature
and moisture patterns. For example, it can be said, if we know that race of dwarf birch,
Betula nana, can grow only in the temperature not exceeding 22 degrees, then we can
predict that this species will disappear from the areas where global warming leads to
temperature more than 22 degrees.
Ecologists can also observe the results of many small climate experiments
performed by nature every year. One can observe what happens to birch trees if
unusually warm weather occurs during a particular year, infact some trees fail to set
seeds. Some trees die if there are continuous warm years in a row. Scientist have
looked in past to see how the ranges of plants and animals varied in response to past
climate change. A palynologist can count the types of plant pollen found at different
depths in the soil, each depth corresponding to the time in which a particular layer of
soil was laid down. If birch pollen is found at a depth corresponding to 10000 years
ago, birch trees must have lived during that time. Similar inference can be drawn form
the fossils of the animals which lived long time back in some specific temperature,
which at present have become extinct in the same area because of the change in the
atmospheric temperature.

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 From such observations, it can be inferred that plants and animals are very
sensitive to climate. Their ranges move when the climate patterns change-species die
out in the areas when they were once found and settle in new areas where the climate
becomes more suitable. We also know from the fossil record that some species have
completely vanished because they were unable to find suitable habitat.

Chapter 5
How does Global Warming affect India?
Defects in India’s food security are very prominent even without the uncertain
impact of climate change. With more than 60% of agricultural crop dependent on
rainfall, even very small change in pattern, intensity and timing of rainfall will lead to a
great change in the yield of the crop. Green peace is trying to raise awareness among
50 million people living in the coastal cities regarding the risk of rising sea level.
Adaption plans are eye-catching by their absence, the chairman of Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change, Rajendra K Pachauri, himself an Indian, has expressed the
view that India is completely unprepared for the impact of climate change which he
considers could lead to social unrest. There was a great criticism on management of
monsoon floods in 2008 which displayed 3 million people in Bihar alone.
Apart from rainfall patterns, water resources are threatened by melting of
Himalayan glaciers which is the main source of water for 3 main rivers of the country.
About 400 million people, one or the other way are dependent on Ganges. Predictions
that glaciers would disappear seriously weakens the ambitious $200 billion River-
linking project which aims to connect the apparently healthy rivers in the north to those
in the south.

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 We keep on hearing about the rising temperatures due to global warming in
countries like UK and USA, but the country like India is one of the most vulnerable
countries when it comes to the effect of global warming. India has a long coastline and
rising sea levels caused by global warming will cause an ecological disaster. This is as
per 1989 United Nations Environmental Program Study. As the article explains: “In
India, the signs already back up a forecast that as the mercury rise over the Indian
Subcontinent, home to one sixth of humanity, will be one of the worst-affected
regions.”

Bengal will suffer:

The Himalayan glaciers have started to melt and the average rate of melting is
34 meters per year as compared to the 1971 levels of 19 meters. The melting glaciers
will cause temperatures and sea levels to rise and there will be a cascading effect on the
crops and the monsoons. The worse part is the whole island will vanish, infact two
have already gone under- the island of Sunder bans which India shares with
Bangladesh. Temperature in this group of island has already increased by 1 degree
centigrade.

Rising sea-levels will be a disaster

Some climatologists feel that rising sea-levels will increase by just 4-35 inches
from 1990 levels in another 100 years, while some feel that the range would be some
where between 20-55 inches. That’s a lot and would affect human dwellings in a big
way.
In the year far back as 1993 a study to evaluate the impact of rising sea levels
on India was carried out by JNU (Jawaharlal Nehru University). They calculated what
would happen if the sea level rises by 1 meter and concluded that as many as 7 million
people would be displaced and 5764 sq km of land and 4200 km of land would be lost.

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Orissa will also suffer
Orissa is one another state will is hardly hit by global warming. Whole villages
in the coastal region are disappearing.
In September 2002, scientists at the National Centre for Agricultural Economics
and Policy Research conducted a people’s perception survey on climate induced natural
disasters in the Kendrapara district of Orissa. The research showed that the frequency
and intensity of droughts have increased and so have the incidents of flooding. Also,
the intensity of cyclone has increased and people believed that the sea-water had
become warmer.
Eastern Coast is more vulnerable than the western coast because the Bay of Bengal
is landlocked from three sides and there is a huge delta of the rivers like Brahmaputra
and Ganga. These rivers carry the water from the melting Himalayan glaciers.

HOW WILL GLOBAL WARMING AFFECT INDIAN ECONOMY?

India may be a long way from melting polar Ice caps, but its economy will be
among the worst affected on account of climate change. According to a report by
Lehman Brothers, India’s GDP will decrease by 5% for every 2 degrees rise in
temperature.
In an interview will Economic Times, John Llewellyn, global economist from Lehman
Brothers, said, global warming is likely to make affect India in many ways.
Agricultural productivity will be affected as monsoons will be short with intense burst.
Water supply will also be affected because of lesser snowfall in Himalayas which
provides water for about 40% of the world’s population.
The effect on GDP will be non-linear. Initially, with every 2 degree rise in
temperature would result in a 3% dip in global GDP. The next 2 degrees would do
even more damage to the economy. However, for India the effect will be much more
harmful. For every 2 degrees rise in temperature the effect on GDP is 5% and for the

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next 6 degrees it would be 15-16%. According to Mr. Llewellyn, there is both a direct
and indirect effect due to climate changes and this differs from sector to sector and
from country to country.
Incidentally the largest developers of clean development mechanism projects
(CDM) are in China, while India hosts the largest no of these projects. According to
Mr. Llewellyn these projects represents revenue transfers for countries like India. India
will continue to reap the benefit for the next 5-10 years. At present, the carbon emitters
in Europe pay up 20 Euros a tonne for their emissions. As per the Kyoto Protocol on
global warming, countries will have to pay for high carbon emissions and can also trade
with deficient countries. While, the developed world, led by USA and Europe are
among the high polluters, India, China, along with most developing countries are
among the deficient countries who can earn revenues from trading this emissions.

Chapter 6

WHAT CAN WE DO?

It is We, The People who should do something to reduce such emissions.

How can we reduce such emissions?
 There are few technological solutions, if any, as such there is no way to reduce
carbon fast enough because if we grow trees or plant crops it takes too long time
to grow and also requires ample amount of water.

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  Building nuclear power plants may be helpful, but it takes quit a lot of time to
build such plants. But nevertheless, we should not stop doing such things just
because it takes a lot of time to give results.
 Only realistic solution can be dramatic, like rapid life style changes.
One should lower the power usage; reduce the usage of fossils fuels for
transportation (say Good Bye to SUV’s and large personal cars).

CONSERVATION:
Examples-
(1) Unplug Appliances

“ABOUT 43 BILLION KWH OF POWER IS LOST PER YEAR IN U.S

ALONE.”

(2) Pump up Tyres. . .

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“ABOUT 4 MILLION GALLON OF GAS IS WASTED DAILY IN U.S.”

(3) Lower Thermostat A/c

Lower temperature by 2 degree Celsius or 6 degrees 8 hours/day.

ENERGY EFFECIENCY:
(1)Compact Fluorescent lamps

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THEY ARE FIVE TO SIX TIMES MORE EFFICIENT THAN NORMAL
LAMPS

(2) Hybrid Cars

Hybrid Cars saves money on fuel and also one gets Tax Credit.

GETTING TO ZERO

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Renewable Energy: One should use renewable sources of energy and people to use
renewable sources of energy. Different types of renewable sources of energy are
 Wind Energy: Power can be generated with the help of wind energy by
building Wind Mill based power stations. Government gives huge subsidy on
building wind based power stations at places where the wind energy can be
efficiently utilized of exploited.
 Solar Energy: Solar energy can be used in the form of solar water heaters and
solar cookers and many more other innovative ways.
 In Steam hydro power: Hydro Electric Power stations can be built on rivers
where water flows through out the year and where water falls from high
altitude.
 Geothermal Energy: This form of energy is the least exploited type of energy
that is used for generation of energy or power.
 Biofuels: Biofuels like Ethanol is blended along with petrol and is used
nowadays. It is widely used in Brazil and other countries like India has started
using it.

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Making a Difference as an Individual

 Walk, bike, ride public transit

 Reduce your shower length
 Buy locally produced food
 Unplug appliances not in use
 Turn off lights when leaving a room
 Use recycled paper
 Reuse or recycle as much as you can
 Do not leave appliances on standby
 Cover your pots while cooking
 Reuse your shopping bag
 Plant a tree

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 DO EVERYTHING, DO SOMETHING, DO ANYTHING

The above chart gives idea about how directly or indirectly we can reduce emissions
and save energy.

25
Go Green

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Conclusion:

The entire topic can be concluded from the above picture, it gives the idea about
the seriousness of Global Warming.
I strongly believe, it is high time, we should look forward to the issue of Global
warming, work together and take measures for controlling it, for the betterment of
present and future generations, and Mankind.

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GO GREEN

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BIBLIOGRAPHY:
 Book on “Challenges of Global warming” from The Natural Resource
Defense Council of America, edited by Dean Edwin Abrahamson
 http://uk.oneworld.net/imagecatalogue/imageview/1667/?RefererURL=/
guides/climatechange/impact
 http://globalis.gvu.unu.edu/indicator.cfm?IndicatorID=199
 http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/
Global_warming_may_melt_Indian_economy/articleshow/
2388238.cms##

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