Term Paper (Climate Change) Essay Example for Free

Term Paper (Climate Change) Essay Acknowledgement It is a great opportunity for me to write about subject like â€Å"Climate Change†. At the time of preparing this term paper I am gone through different books and websites which helps me to get acquired with new topics. I can usually focusing on the topics which are important for us to understand about thus subject easily. I acknowledge my deepest gratitude to our dearest English teacher Sir Benedict Geropn who is always sincere and helpful in making us understand the different system in making a research paper. Introduction Climate Change is changing our economy, health and community in diverse ways. Scientists warn that if we do not aggressively curb climate change now, the result will likely be disastrous. There are many questions that is need to be answer. So that we, humans will make some moves in these problem. Carbon dioxide and other global warming pollutions are collecting in the atmosphere like a thickening blanket, trapping the sun’s heat and causing the planet to warm up. Climate change is a complex phenomenon, and it’s full-scale impacts are hard to predict far in advance. But each year scientists learn more about how climate change is affecting the planet and our communities, and most agree that carbon consequences are likely to occur if current trends continue. In addition to impacting our water resources, energy supply, transportation, agriculture and ecosystems, the United States global change research program concludes that climate change also poses unique challenges to human health such as: * Significant increases in the risk of illness and death related to extreme heat and heat waves are very likely. * Some diseases transmitted by food, water and insects are likely to increase. * Certain groups, including children, the elderly and the poor are most vulnerable to a range of climate related health effects. Climate Change affects our environment and natural resources, and impacts our way of life in many ways these are the examples: * Rising sea levels threaten coastal communities and ecosystems. * Changes in the patterns and amount of rainfall, as well as changes in the timing and amount of stream flow, can affect water supplies and water quality and the production of hydroelectricity changing ecosystems influence geographic ranges of many plants and animal species and the timing of their lifecycle events, such as migration and reproduction. We can prepare for some of the likely change impacts to reduce their effects on ecosystem and human well-being. Making such preparations is known as adaptation. Examples of adaptation include strengthening water conservation programs, upgrading storm water systems, developing early warning systems for extreme heat events and preparing for stronger storms through better emergency preparation and response strategies. We can each play an important role in stopping climate change. It is not too late to have a significant impact on future climate change and its effects on us. With appropriate actions by governments, communities, individuals and businesses, we can reduce the amount of greenhouse gas pollution we release and lower the risk of much greater warming and severe consequences. Many of the actions that we can take to address climate change will have other benefits, such as cleaner, healthier air. In addition, communities can take action to prepare for the changes we know are coming. I. Introduction The world’s climate is changing and the changes will have an enormous impact on our planet’s people, ecosystems, cities and energy use. Average global air temperatures are already 1.4 degrees higher than they were at the start of the 20th century and have risen about 1.1 degree F over just the last 30 years. What is the difference between weather and climate? Climate describe the average or typical conditions of temperature, relative humidity, cloudiness, precipitation, wind speed and direction and other meteorological factors that prevail globally or regionally for extended periods. Weather describes the hourly or daily conditions that people experience each day. Which is why it’s often said that â€Å"Climate is what you expect; weather is what you get.† People expect the weather to change, but have a harder time agreeing exactly how climate is changing. This is because climate change manifests itself differently in different places: because people tend to remember extreme events- such as very hot or cold days of hurricanes and droughts more than subtle changes in trends; and because there have been disagreements between scientists about the magnitude, causes and effects of climate change. What are the solutions for climate change? The first step is admitting that you have a problem. Some of these solutions are Energy conservation, Renewable energy and sequestration. In this research you will know how these things helps in solving climate change. II. What is Weather? Weather is what is going on in the sky and air. Different places can have different kinds of weather at the same time. In one place, there maybe a thunderstorm, in another place there may be snow. In yet another place the weather may ba sunny and warm. Temperature- how hot or cold it is always a part of weather. Rainy Weather when drops of water fall from clouds, the weather is rainy. Sometimes, lots of rain falls, which is collect heavy rain. Other times, only a little rain falls, which is called light rain. â€Å"Rainy†, â€Å"Light Rain† and â€Å"Heavy Rain† all describe the weather. Weather is violent storms, rains, sleet, rail, snow, temperature, wind and much more. It is basically whatever is happening in the air around us. Is the state of atmosphere, to the degree that it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or starry, clear or cloudy. Most weather phenomena occur in the troposphere, just below the stratosphere. Weather generally refers to day-to-day temperature and precipitation activity, whereas climate is the term for the average atmospheric conditions over longer periods of time. When used with our qualifications, â€Å"weather† is understood to be the weather of earth. Weather is driven by air pressure differences between one place and another these pressure and temperature differences can occur due to the sun angle at any particular spot, which varies by latitude from the tropics. The strong temperatures contrast between polar and tropical air gives rise to the jet stream. Weather systems in the mid-latitudes, such as extra tropical cyclones, are caused by instabilities of the jet stream flow. Because the Earth’s axis tilted relative to its orbital plane, sunlight is incident a different angles at different times of the year. Surface temperature differences in turn cause pressure differences higher altitudes are cooler than lower altitude due to differences in compression neating. Studying how the weather works on another planet has been helpful in understanding how weather works on earth. On Earth, common weather phenomena include wind, cloud, rain, snow, fog and dust storms. Less common events include natural disasters such as tornadoes, hurricanes, typhoons and ice storms. Almost all familiar weather phenomena occur in the troposphere. Weather does occur in the stratosphere and can affect weather lower down in the troposphere, but the exact mechanisms are pearly understood. Weather occurs primarily due to air pressure differences between one place to another these differences can occur due to the sun angle at any particular spot, which varies by latitude from the tropics. In other words, the farther from the tropics you lay, the lower the sun angle is, which causes those locations to be cooler due to the indirect sunlight. The strong temperature contrast between polar and tropical air gives rise to the jet stream. Weather Systems in the tropics, such as monsoons or organized thunderstorms systems, are caused by different processes. III. What is Climate? Is weather the same a climate? No, because weather is what happens in one place on a single day, or over a few days or weeks. When it rains or snows, people say, â€Å"The weather is wet.† When it is warm outside people say â€Å"the weather is hot.† Climate on the other hand, is the type of weather a place has over 30 or more years. For example, people say â€Å"Death valley has a desert climate.† Climate is the weather that a place usually has year after year. Scientists study temperature and precipitation records over 30 or more years to determine an areas climate such record show, for example, that Death Valley in California has a desert climate. Climate encompasses that statistics of temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, precipitation, atmospheric particle count and other meteorological elemental measurements in a given region over long periods. Climate can be contrasted to weather, which is the present condition of these elements and their variations over shorter periods. The climate of a location is affected by its latitude, terrain and altitude, as well as nearby water bodies and their currents. Climate can be classified according ti the average and the typical ranges of different variables, most commonly temperature and precipitation. The most commonly used classification scheme was originally developed by Wladimir Koppen. A region’s climate is generated by the Climate System which has five components Atmosphere, Hydrosphere, Cryospher, Land Surface and Biosphere. A. Four Main factors that determine climate are: i. Altitude Altitude refers to the vertical distance between the lowest point and the highest point of an area. People generally compare a land’s altitude by measuring the distance from sea level to the highest point. The koppen climate classification uses altitude to divide the climate regions in to the categories for low, mid and high altitudes. Altitude or height is defined based on the context in which it is used- aviation, geometry, geographical survey, sports and more- As a general definition; attitude is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or â€Å"up† direction, between a reference datum and a point or object. The reference datum also often varies according to the context. Although the term altitude is commonly used to mean the height above the sea level of a location, in geography the term elevation is often preferred for this usage. Vertical distance measurements in the â€Å"down† direction are commonly referred to us depth. In aviation, the term altitude can have several meanings, and is always qualified by either explicitly adding a modifier or implicitly through the context of the communication. Parties exchanging information must be clear which definition is being used aviation altitude is measured using either Mean Sea Level (MSL) or Local Ground Level (LGL) as the reference datum. The earth’s atmosphere is divided into several altitude regions. The troposphere- surface to 8000 meters (5.0 mi) at the poles- 18000 meter (11 mi) at the equator, ending at the tropo-pause. The stratosphere- troposphere to 50 kilometers (31 mi) The Mesosphere-Stratosphere to 85 kilometers (53 mi). Thermosphere- Mesosphere to 675 kilometers (419 mi) and the exosphere which is from the thermosphere to 1000 kilometers (6200 mi). Relation between the temperature and altitude in Earth’s atmosphere. The Environmental Lapse Rate (ELR), is the rate of decrease of temperature with altitude in the stationary atmosphere of a given time and location. As an average, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) defines an International Standard Atmosphere (ISA) with a temperature lapse rate of 6.49 K (oC)/ 1000 m (3.56oF or 1.98 K(o()/1000 Ft) from sea levels to 11 kilometers (36 000 ft) Effects of high altitude in humans. Medicine recognizes that altitudes above 1 500 meters (4900 ft) start to affect human, and extreme altitude above 5 500- 6 000 meters (18 000- 20 000 ft0 cannot be permanently tolerated by humans by reducing the partial pressure of oxygen. The higher the altitude, the more likely are serious effects. The human body can adopt to high altitude by breathing faster, having a higher heart rate, and adjusting its blood chemistry. It can take two days or weeks to adapt to high altitude. ii. Latitude Latitude the distance of a region is from the equator, to the north or south. A region’s latitude determines how much solar energy it receives from the sun, which in turn factors in to the region’s over all temperature. In geography, latitude is a geographic coordinated that specifies the north-south position of a point on the Earth’s surface. Lines of constant latitude, or parallels, run equator to 90o at the poles. Latitude is used together with longitude to specify the precise location of features in the surface of the Earth. Since the actual physical surface at the Earth is too complex for mathematical analysis, two levels of abstraction are employed in the definition of these coordinates. In the first step the physical surface is modeled by the geoid, a surface which approximates the mean sea level over the oceans and its continuation under the land masses, the second step is to approximate the geoid by a mathematically simple reference surface. The simplest choice for the reference surface is a sphere, but the geoid is more accurately modeled by an ellipsoid. The definitions of altitude and longitude on such reference surfaces are detailed in the following sections. Lines if constant latitude and longitude together constitute gratitude on the reference surface. The latitude of a point on the actual surface is that of the corresponding point on the reference surface which passes through the point on the physical surface, latitude and longitude together with some specification of height constitute a geographic coordinate system as defined in the specification of the ISO 1911 standard. Since there are many different reference ellipsoids the altitude of a feature on the surface is not unique: this is stressed in the ISO standard which states that â€Å"Without the full specification of the coordinate reference system, coordinates are ambiguous, such as GPS, but in common wage, where high accuracy is not required, the reference ellipsoid is not usually stated. Measurement of latitude requires an understanding of the gravitational field of the Earth, either for setting up theodolities or for determining of GPS satellite orbits.