The Real Uncle Che

Climate change is caused mainly by the introduction of green house gases (carbondioxde, methane, chlorofluorocarbon etc) into the atmosphere. The introduction of these gases into the atmosphere isn’t a problem but it becomes a problem only when these gases are in the atmosphere in concentrations that the atmosphere can not clean them (pollution).these gases find themselves in the atmosphere either artificially or naturally. Artificially they are deposited by anthropogenic activities i.e. by human activities such as industrialization, deforestation, and bush burning etc while naturally is by some processes such as; volcanic eruptions, natural bush fires, etc.

As is the case, there is no cause without an effect. The cause of climate change has led to some effects in the socio-economical and ecological processes such as in human health, sea levels, tourism, migration, distribution of species and many more aspects that will be discussed in the cause of writing.

The instrumental temperature records has shown trend in climate of increased global mean temperatures i.e global warming over the last hundred years or so. Other observed changes in the socio-economic and ecological processes are: arctic shrinkage, arctic methane release, release of terrestrial carbon from permafrost regions and arctic methane release in coastal sediments. Global average temperatures are predicted to increase over this century if human activities that increase the concentration of carbon in the atmosphere are not reduced. There is still increase uncertainty over how climate will change. Some of the physical impacts are irreversible at continental and global levels.

Human Health

Climate change currently contributes to the burden of disease and premature deaths. Economic development will affect how effective adaptation to climate change will be. According to the IPCC report, it is likely that:
 Climate change will bring some benefits, such as reduced cold deaths.
 The balance of positive and negative health impacts will vary from one location to another.
 Adverse health impacts will be greatest in low-income countries.
 The negative health impacts of climate change will outweigh the benefits, especially in developing countries. Some examples of negative health impacts include increased malnutrition, increased deaths, disease and injury due to heat waves, floods, storms, fires and droughts, and increased frequency of cardio-respiratory diseases.

According to a 2009 study by UCL academics, climate change and global warming pose the biggest threat to human health in the 21st century.
The most direct effect of climate change on humans might be the impacts of hotter temperatures themselves. Extreme high temperatures increase the number of people who die on a given day for many reasons: people with heart problems are vulnerable because one’s cardiovascular system must work harder to keep the body cool during hot weather, heat exhaustion, and some respiratory problems increase. Global warming could mean more cardiovascular diseases, doctors warn. Higher air temperature also increase the concentration of ozone at ground level. In the lower atmosphere, ozone is a harmful pollutant. It damages lung tissues and causes problems for people with asthma and other lung diseases.

Increase in Sea Levels

During the Holocene periods, sea levels raised and now the sea rises at a rate of 0.2cm /year according to measurements of sea level rise from 23 long tide gauge records in geologically stable environments. Due to increase in temperatures, the waters and oceans expands in volume and extra water gets into the oceans that has been trapped up in lands, glaciers and ice sheets. The major ice masses such as the Greenland and the Antarctic ice sheets may surfer irreversible decline. Most worldwide glaciers have been predicted a loss of 60% until 2050. The present estimated melting rate of Greenland is 236+-23cubic kilometers (57+-5.5cu mi)/year, mainly from Greenland. How, ever due to increase precipitation, the Antarctic ice sheet is expected to grow during the 21st century.

Under IPCC special report on emission scenario (SRES) AB, says by mid 2090s, global sea levels will reach 0.22 to 0.44m (8.7 to 17 in) above 1990 levels and it is currently rising at a rate of 4mm (0.16 in)/year. The sea level has risen at an average of 1.7 mm (0.06 in)/year since 1990. Since 1993, satellite altimetry from TOPEX/Poseidon indicates a rate of about 3mm (0.12 in)/year. The sea level has risen more than120 m (30ft) since the last glacial maximum about 20000years ago.

Sea level rise due to collapse of an ice sheet would be distributed none uniformly across the globe. The gravitational potential around the area where the mass collapse will be decreased, reducing the amount of local sea level or even causing local sea level fall. As a result, the moment of inertia of the earth will be changed, since as flow in the earth mantle requires 10-15 years to balance the mass deficit. The earth’s rotational pole remains fixed with respect to the sun but the rigid sphere of the earth rotate with respect to it; a situation described as polar wander. This affects the geoids (global potential field) and changes the location of the equatorial bulge of the earth. When this happens, instead of a global 5m sea level rise, Western Antarctica would be subjected to approximately 25cm of sea level fall, while the United States and some parts of Canada and the Indian Ocean would experience up to 6.5 m of sea rise.

Agriculture

Climate change brings mixed effects on agriculture as some regions will rather benefit from the increasing moderate temperatures while some other regions will be negatively affected. Low latitude areas are those that are highly exposed the low crop yields while mid and high latitude areas could experience an increase yield for temperatures ranges of 1to 3oc.

According to IPCC report, above 30c degree of warming, there may be a decline in global agricultural production but the statement is made with a low to medium confidence. With increase temperatures, the prevalence of diseases and pests will increase in areas with low latitude which will affect crop yield. Also, the rate of evaporation may exceed the rate of water uptake thus leading to low quality of crops.

An arctic in the new scientist describe how rice crops might be strongly affected by rising temperatures. At a 2005 conference held in Royal society, the benefits of increased CO2 were said to be outweigh by the negative impacts of climate change.

In Iceland, the rising temperatures enable the widespread of barley, which 20 years ago, was untenable. In East and Southeast Asia, crop yield could increase up to 20% while in Central and Southeast Asia; crop yield could decrease to 30%

In Africa, climate change is expected to severely compromise agricultural production and access to food. Its geography makes it particularly vulnerable and more than 70% of the population depends on rain-fed agriculture for livelihood.

An official report from Tanzania says that areas that usually had two seasons of rainfall will have more and areas that use to have one will have less thus leading to conflicts between the Baggara Arab nomads searching for water to cater for their livestock.

Migration

Some Pacific Ocean Island nations, such as Tuvalu, are concerned about the possibility of an eventual evacuation, as flood defense may become economically unviable for them. Tuvalu already has an ad hoc agreement with New Zealand to allow phased relocation.

Melting Arctic ice may open Northwest passage in summer which will reduce the 5000 nautical miles (9000 km) distance between Europe and Asia and thus making shipping easier. This is particularly beneficial to supertankers which due to their large sizes could not pass through the Panama Canal and had to pass through the tip of South America.

The arctic ice cap retreated far enough for Northwest Passage to be navigable for the firs t time in recorded history in September 2007.

The combined effects of global warming may have particularly harsh effects on people and countries without the resources to mitigate those effects. This may slow economic development and poverty reduction, and make it harder to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

Species – Distribution and Extinction

Increase in temperatures is beginning to have a noticeable effect on birds, and butterflies have shifted their ranges by 200km in Europe and North America. Animals’ migration to areas with favorable conditions is slowed down by cities and roads. Spring butterflies now appear 6 days before recent times in Britain all due to change in climate. Some species even go extinct such as the Lumuroid Possum which was found only in the Mountain forest in Queensland has been named as the first mammal species to be extinct.

Many of the species at risk are Arctic and Antarctic fauna such as polar bears and Emperor Penguins. In the Arctic, the waters of Hudson Bay are ice-free for three weeks longer than they were thirty years ago, affecting polar bears, which prefer to hunt on sea ice. Species that rely on cold weather conditions such as gyrfalcons, and Snowy Owls that prey on lemmings that use the cold winter to their advantage may be hit hard. Marine invertebrates enjoy peak growth at the temperatures they have adapted to, regardless of how cold these may be, and cold-blooded animals found at greater latitudes and altitudes generally grow faster to compensate for the short growing season. Warmer-than-ideal conditions result in higher metabolism and consequent reductions in body size despite increased foraging, which in turn elevates the risk of predation. Indeed, even a slight increase in temperature during development impairs growth efficiency and survival rate in rainbow trout.

Water Crisis

Sea level rise is projected to increase salt-water intrusion into groundwater in some regions, affecting drinking water and agriculture in coastal zones. Increased evaporation will reduce the effectiveness of reservoirs. Increased extreme weather means more water falls on hardened ground unable to absorb it, leading to flash floods instead of a replenishment of soil moisture or groundwater levels. In some areas, shrinking glaciers threaten the water supply. The continued retreat of glaciers will have a number of different effects. In areas that are heavily dependent on water runoff from glaciers that melt during the warmer summer months, a continuation of the current retreat will eventually deplete the glacial ice and substantially reduce or eliminate runoff. A reduction in runoff will affect the ability to irrigate crops and will reduce summer stream flows necessary to keep dams and reservoirs replenished. This situation is particularly acute for irrigation in South America, where numerous artificial lakes are filled almost exclusively by glacial melt.(BBC) Central Asian countries have also been historically dependent on the seasonal glacier melt water for irrigation and drinking supplies. In Norway, the Alps, and the Pacific Northwest of North America, glacier runoff is important for hydropower. Higher temperatures will also increase the demand for water for the purposes of cooling and hydration.
The effects of climate change on the socio-economic and ecological processes in ecological regions of the world are limitless to discuss.

References

1. Smith, B.; Schneider, H.; Oppenheimer, M.; Yohe, W.; Hare, W.; Mastrandrea, D.; Patwardhan, A.; Burton, I. et al. (Mar 2009). “Assessing dangerous climate change through an update of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) “reasons for concern”". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 106 (11): 4133–4137. doi:10.1073/pnas.0812355106. ISSN 0027-8424. PMID 19251662.
2. In this article, the phrases “global warming” and “climate change” are used interchangably.
3. “IMPACTS: On the Threshold of Abrupt Climate Changes”. IMPACTS: On the Threshold of Abrupt Climate Changes. U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Biological and Environmental Research. September 2008. http://newscenter.lbl.gov/feature-stories/2008/09/17/impacts-on-the-threshold-of-abrupt-climate-changes/. Retrieved 2008-10-14.

i) Aerosols: The use of aerosols which is a collection of airborne solid or liquid particles residing in the atmosphere for at least several hours. Aerosols may be of either natural or anthropogenic origin. Aerosols influence climate in two ways: directly through scattering and absorbing radiation, and indirectly through acting as condensation nuclei for cloud formation or modifying the optical properties and lifetime of clouds.

ii) Decision makers are provided with an overall understanding of remote mountain lakes so that appropriate policy and management measures are taken at both European and national scales to ensure the sustainability of these ecosystems into the future.

iii) Establishing a series of chemical and biological indicators that are used to monitor the status of ecosystems and provide guidance criteria for their management.

iv) Researches are carried out to evaluate the present problems of rapid climate change and come out with possible solutions

v) Some laws and policies are set on the emission of green house gasses. Defaulters are made to pay heavy fines

i) FOOD SUPPLY: due to increase in temperature, there is rapid evaporation. The soil becomes hard and dry and very difficult to till. This reduces rate of farming hence food supply is affected.

ii) WATER SCARCITY: As a result of rapid global climate change, competition intensifies and its value rises. Given the widespread poverty in river and aquifer basins in developing countries, conflicts arise regarding the allocation of water between different social groups, activities and sectors. Scarcity not only refers to ‘ shortages of supply’ but also reflects a social condition shaped by the institutions and power relations mediating spatial distribution, technical operation and temporal access to water. Culturally and conceptually, there are many different ways to see water as a resource, which also affect how people design new allocation models and tools. At the institutional level, water can be considered as a global commons, a resource amenable to private ownership or culturally connected to the land where it rises and is used, not merely as a means with which people make a living, but also give meaning to that person’s world. Policies and technologies for water mobilization and resource use face major dilemmas with population growth, demand uncertainties from transforming global markets, and alteration of the hydrological cycle and ecosystems.

Linkages of global water systems to the regional and local socio-economic context, in particular the vulnerability context of the livelihoods of the poor, need to be understood in order to identify new water management strategies that can deal appropriately with these dilemmas. Water scarcity can occur with diverse hydrological and social dynamics, in different freshwater sources, and the nature of problems and scope of monitoring and management systems need much further study. Global socio-economic forces play into shaping both regional and local scarcity and capabilities to negotiate new water allocation options.

iii) HEALTH AND DESEASES: Climate change is gradually affecting air and water quality causing direct or indirect long and short term problems in the health of humans such as blob poisoning (leukemia).

Dry areas raise dust; gases and ground ozone are causing lung disorder in humans leading to lung cancer.

Throughout the world, the prevalence of some diseases and other threats to human’s health depends largely on local climate. Loss of life can be as a result of extreme temperatures while climate related disturbances in ecological systems such as changes in the range of infectious parasites can impact the incidence of serious infectious diseases directly

High temperatures in combination with favorable rainfall are leading to health problems while in other places this is instead a reduction in infections. For example, in drier areas lack of water causes the extinction of mosquitoes since they need water for breeding.

In some locations, climate change will decrease transmission of diseases through reduction in rainfall or temperature that are too high for transmission.

iv) POLLUTION: Warm temperatures can increase water and air pollution which is in turn harmful to human health. The extent of climate change impact on human health vary by region, by relative vulnerability of population group, by the extent and duration of exposure to climate change itself and by society’s ability to adapt to or cope with the change.

Climate change may indirectly affect the concentration of particulate matter pollution in air by affecting natural or biogenic source of particulate matter such as wild life and dust from dry soils

A. aquatic ecosystem

i) Oceans: oceans and seas contain about 90% of the total water body found on earth. Because of climate change there is an increase in sea level which increases the flood impacts in all cases although significant impacts are not apparent until the 2080s when the additional people flooded are 7–10 million, 29–50 million, 2–3 million and 16–27 million people/year. There are also suggestions that flood impacts due to sea-level rise could become much more severe through the 22nd century

Climate change may have a tremendous impact on ocean ecosystems.

Climatic variables like precipitation, irradiance and wind are major drivers of ecological processes, through their effects on water temperature, hydrodynamics, water-column stratification and nutrient availability. Sea water is becoming more acidic due to the speedy and heavy dissolution of carbon dioxide. This is very dangerous to the metabolic systems of marine organisms and gradual diminishing of coral reefs.

Glaciers and permafrost’s have been melting over the past century and decades. Mountains with glacier and green lands ice have reduced. Artic ice and permafrost is melting faster too. This can be proven by the increase in sea level of about 30cm. the number of hurricanes has increased since 1970 in the Atlantic Ocean. This may be true for tropical cyclones in other parts of the world. Carbon dioxide dissolutions in the oceans have caused sea water to become more acidic. This has caused impact on coral reefs and marine life

ii) Ponds and streams: Biodiversity is more threatened in freshwaters than in any other type of ecosystem due to climate change. Also, freshwater of good quality is an increasingly scarce resource. Importantly, these problems seem tightly linked.

As global warming occurs, there is an increase in algae population. There is an increase cooling in the atmosphere due to increase absorption of carbon dioxide by these algae.

iii) Underground water: this is the most important source of drinking water on earth but due to increase temperature, this water source is rapidly vanishing.

iv) Wetlands: Coastal wetlands will be lost due to sea-level rise in all world futures with 5–20% losses by the 2080s in the A1FI world. However, these losses are relatively small compared to the potential for direct and indirect human destruction. Many wetlands are submerging because of an increase in climate change. This has led to the destruction of some wetland species

B. Terrestrial ecosystem

i) Forest: these are large bodies of land that contain about 70% of trees. Increase in global climate change due to green house gasses has led to the disappearance of much forest. Also, increase in temperature is advantageous because these trees absorb carbon dioxide which increases their photosynthetic rate.

ii) Deserts: increase climate change in the deserts ecosystem has led to drastic disappearance of most desert species. Also, there is less or no rain fall per year in the deserts ecosystem. The temperature there is almost unbearable for human habitation.

iii) The atmosphere: there are unpredictable changes in the atmosphere due to climate change. Less tolerant species are disappearing from the ecosystems because of this unpredictable atmosphere.

There is accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. These gases are generated from the burning of fossil fuels, running of heavy machines and volcanic eruptions. These gases cause the increase in temperature of the earth. It has been estimated that the earth’s temperature has gone about 4.5 degrees Celsius and may probably increase in this century by 1.4 degrees Celsius.

INTRODUCTION

According to computer models, more global warming is in our future. If we continue to emit more greenhouse gases climate change will become a very serious issue to eradication of human race. During the 21st century it was found out by scientists that the earth’s temperature will raise between 1.8 to 4.0 degrees Celsius. To remedy this situation the following proposals may be very important

There are many ecosystems in the world and they have broadly been divided into aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Examples of aquatic ecosystems include marine, fresh water and wetland ecosystems. Examples of terrestrial ecosystems include forest, deserts, grass land and the atmosphere. Human activity affects ecosystem functions through the disruption of pattern and rate of matter as well as energy flow through ecosystems. Extraction, transport and transformation of resources driven by societal and economic pressures change our landscape. These processes influence biodiversity, redefine the ecological state of ecosystems and impact both on society and the economy. As the evidence for human induced climate change becomes clearer, so too does the realization that its effects will have impacts on socio-economic systems and terrestrial ecosystems. Some regions are more vulnerable than others, both to expected physical changes and to the consequences they will have for ways of life. Mountains are recognized as particularly sensitive physical environments with populations whose histories and current social positions often strain their capacity to accommodate intense and rapid changes to their resource base.
This systemic problem also must be placed into the larger context of the multiple stressors that are and will be acting on North American resources. Many stressors (environmental, social, and economic) influence natural and human systems and pose significant challenges for decision makers and policymakers. The challenge of coping with the cumulative risks of climate change adds to the complexity. What must be kept in mind is that changing climate is not the only-nor necessarily the most important-factor that will influence these systems and that it cannot be isolated from the combination of other factors determining their future welfare.
Climate change and its consequences present one of the most important threats to biodiversity and the functions of ecosystems. The stress on biodiversity is far beyond the levels imposed by the natural global climatic changes occurring in the recent evolutionary past. It includes temperature increases, shifts of climate zones, melting of snow and ice, sea level rise, droughts, floods, and other extreme weather events. Natural systems are vulnerable to such changes due to their limited adaptive capacity

2) DEFINITIONS

Ecosystem: dynamic complex formed by the community of plants, animals and micro-organisms and by their non-living environment and their interactions, which together form a functional unit.

Climate change: climate change refers to a statistically significant variation in either the mean state of the climate or its variability, persisting for an extended period (typically decades or longer). Climate change may be due to natural internal processes or external forces, or to persistent anthropogenic changes in the composition of the atmosphere or in land use.

(Climate) Impacts: consequences of climate change on natural and human systems. Depending on the consideration of adaptation, one can distinguish between potential impacts and residual impacts. Potential impacts: All impacts that may occur given a projected change in climate, without considering adaptation. Residual impacts: The impacts of climate change that would occur after adaptation

Socio-economic processes: these are processes of the ecosystems that affect humans directly such as food shortages, poverty, water shortages.

Ecological processes: these are processes that directly affect the ecosystem.

Our lives are driven, initially, by nothing but our aspirations. Talking of aspirations, one can think of synonyms like goals, aims, objectives, desires, wants, targets, ambitions, hopes etc.

After an aspiration, we need an inspiration. Inspirations can be anything or anyone. We need something or someone that can create a believe in our inner selves that our dreams can, and will be, converted to reality and most often “when” is not a question because it matters more how far we go (achievements) than how fast we go (speed).

An aspiration is a hope, but before it, comes faith. We must have faith first bin God, then in ourselves. We have this very strong believe that whatever positive we have decided to embark on is God’s plan for us. If we lack that faith, then we must calm down and turn to God, in prayers, for answers that provide guidance. If our faith permits us to believe that we are following God’s steps, we must have faith in ourselves that we can follow Hid guidance for as long as possible. We must believe in ourselves that we can understand and “bear” his leadership.

Thirdly, as much as we love the almighty, our neighbours and ourselves, we must love our aspirations. There is no harm in that if they are positive. Without love, any other efforts we have made are futile. We can be inspired to embark on someone, have faith in both the divine and ourselves and are very determined to be led by Him and to see ourselves through BUT if we do not love our aspirations, then what are we in for?

Faith influences love, hope influences love and even love for other related and unrelated things influences our love for something but the greatest architect of all is Wisdom. Here, I don’t mean human knowledge but wisdom from the most high. The type of wisdom he gives children. Children follow without asking questions. They believe without proof. They accept without seeing possibilities or gains. That is the type of wisdom we always should seek for from God.

I have been hearing God’s voice for a very long time, telling to leave whatever I have studied and take a new career in Sound Engineering, Cinematography, Creative Writing, Web Development or Networking. At times, I am tempted to ask myself “at this age, what am I waiting for”. I do believe God’s time is the best. I do believe God’s ways are not man’s ways. I do believe my aspirations are promises from God and God never fails in his promises. And finally, I do believe with God, it doesn’t matter how long it takes, but it certainly will come to pass.

God has given me everything I want and I claim possession over all of them. I just need to patiently wait for him to personally deliver them to me at his own appointed time.

I have created a new blog named Uncle Che’s Passions where I express myself in relation to these dreams and give a progress report… Continue

A young man was apprehended after struggling to rob a girl in Molyko yesterday. It was exactly 11:00 am when this young man broke into the room of this girl and tried to rob her. In attempt to save herself and her property, the young girl screamed for help. Unfortunately for the girl, the bandit hit her with a gun on her head. The scream raised by the girl caught the attention of two other girls who then rushed to the scene to save her. The two girls then caught the thief and held him tight while screaming for help.

Eye witness accounts have it that they came in and saw the girls holding the man and the gun lying on the floor. When asked about the gun, the thief denied responsibility for it and claimed it was thrown on him by someone. He was then dragged to the university junction by an angry mob. After stripping him naked, the angry mob gave him the beating of his life. His attempt to escape was rendered futile by a swift gentleman who sprang out of the crowd, caught him and brought him back. The mob decided to squeeze life out of him but thanks to the timely intervention of the gendarmes who came and took him away. He is presently at the station for further interrogation. It should be noted that the girl was still in a trauma and could hardly speak after the incident.

This blog is hosted by Pen 2 Net and sponsored by the CIWABA Foundation. You can register for a free blog, create some posts and pages and also change the design of your blog.

You are free to interact with other members, blog to your heart’s desire, join groups and participate in forums as long as you don’t violate the terms of service.

If you are new to blogging, You may want to checkout the Pen 2 Net 101 blog. If you don’t want to run a blog all on your own, you may join the Community Blog and post as an author.

Don’t forget to read the very exciting posts on the main blog.