What is Climate Change? What are the factors affecting it?
What is Climate?
- Climate refers to the typical characteristic pattern of weather elements at a particular place for a longer period. It can be described as the average measurement of temperatures, wind, humidity, snow and rain in a particular region over the course of years.
- Whereas, the Weather conditions at a place can change from hour to hour and day to day, for a shorter period of time.
- Climate change or Global Climatic Crisis is a serious matter that is being experienced in different parts of the world. It has increased the rate of mortalities through different aspects.
- The changes in the climate may be natural, but since 1800s human activities have been the main cause of Climate change, due to factors like burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas, which produce heat- trapping gases that are harmful for the environment.
- As a result, excess usage of these resources is the main reason we are going through major environmental issues which act as obstacles to the livelihood of mankind.
- Climate change threatens people with food and water scarcity, increased flooding, extreme heat, more diseases and economic loss. However, due to increased land temperatures, the deserts are expanding, while the heat waves and wildfires are becoming more common.
- The polar regions are also experiencing the devastating effects of global warming by melting of the glaciers at a large scale. The increased warming in the Arctic, has resulted in the melting of permafrost, glacial retreat and sea ice loss.
- Hence, these rapid environmental changes in the mountains, coral reefs and the Arctic regions has forced many species to relocate or become extinct.
Factors affecting Climate Change:
1) Latitude: It is the distance of north or south of the equator. It is measured in degrees from 0 to 90 degrees. Temperature changes with latitude. At the equator the Sun's rays are most direct. This is where the temperatures are highest leading to warm climatic conditions. Whereas, the regions located away from the equator ( towards the poles) are having comparatively cooler temperatures. But in fact, because the low angle of incidence in Sun's rays does not allow the temperatures to rise to higher values. Hence, a larger part of insolation received in the polar regions is expended in the melting of ground snow.
2) Altitude: The temperature decreases with increasing altitudes from the Earth's surface. Since, the direct source of Atmospheric heat lies at the Earth's surface, the higher we ascend in the atmosphere, lower the temperatures are. Therefore, the reason for changes in temperatures with elevation is the fact that the lower layers of air at or near the surface are denser and contains more water vapour, more water particles and more dust particles than the upper air.
3) Distribution of Land and Water: Land and Water surfaces are capable of absorbing different amounts of incoming solar radiations. Thus, surfaces such as land, water or ice, they heat up quickly and cool down at different levels. For example, land surface is heated more quickly and to a greater extent than the water surface when subjected to an equal amount of insolation and also cools down rapidly. Hence, because of the great contrast between land and water surfaces, their capacity for heating the atmosphere varies greatly. As a result, the variations in the air temperatures are much greater over land than over water.
4) Prevailing Winds: It is obvious that neither oceans nor ocean currents can exert maximum influence upon temperatures unless the direction of the prevailing winds is such as to carry the moderating effects of the oceans to the adjacent land. On the contrary, off- shore winds take the effects of warm or cold currents away from coastal regions. Prevailing winds also determine the amount of rainfall that different regions get. For example, in Southeastern Asia these winds result in the formation of monsoons and deserts. Whereas, the west coast of South and North America receives abundant rain during winters due to the effect of prevailing winds.
5) Mountain Barriers: Landform barriers, particularly high mountain ranges exert significant influence on the temperature of a place. Mountain ranges block the air movement from one place to another and thus, control the weather and climate of a locality. Mountains can have a significant effect on rainfall. When air reaches the mountains, it is forced to rise over this barrier. As the air moves towards windward side, it cools, and the volume decreases. As a result, humidity increases and orographic clouds and precipitation can develop. Increased temperatures in the mountainous region, decrease the amount of snow that falls, causing snow and ice to melt earlier and accelerates deglaciation - the process by which glaciers retreat.
Anthropogenic activities affecting climatic system:
Generating Power: Generating electricity and heat by burning fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas causes a large chunk of global emissions. Most of the electricity is still produced from fossil fuels; only about a quarter comes from wind, solar, and other renewable sources.
Manufacturing goods: Manufacturing and industry produce emissions, mostly from burning fossil fuels to produce energy for making things like cement, iron, steel, electronics, plastics, clothes, and other goods. Mining and other industrial processes also release toxic gases.
Cutting down forest: Cutting down forests to create farms or pastures, or for other reasons, causes emissions because when trees are cut, they release the carbon they have been storing. Since forests absorb carbon dioxide, destroying them also limits nature’s ability to keep emissions out of the atmosphere.
Use of Transportation: Most cars, trucks, ships, and planes run on fossil fuels. That makes transportation a major contributor of greenhouse gases, especially carbon-dioxide emissions. Road vehicles account for the largest part, but emissions from ships and planes continue to grow.
Food Production: Producing food requires energy to run farm equipment or fishing boats, usually with fossil fuels. Growing crops can also cause emissions, like when using fertilizers and manure. Cattle produce methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. And emissions also come from packaging and distributing food.
Powering buildings: Globally, residential and commercial buildings consume over half of all electricity. As they continue to draw on coal, oil, and natural gas for heating and cooling, they emit significant quantities of greenhouse gas emissions.