Global WarmingCauses and Consequences

of a current problem

I.T.S. “E. MATTEI”DECIMOMANNU

ITALYCOMENIUS - HELP2012-1-RO1-COM06-22185 5

GLOBAL WARMING

Deforestation

Garbage problem

Greenhouse effect

Greenhouse gases

Fossil fuels

Natural thermal evolution

Melting of glaciers

Temperatures raising

Ozone’s hole

Sea current upheavals

Extinctionof animals and plants

Eutrophication

Desertification

CAUSES OF GLOBAL WARMING

Fossil fuels

We use fossil fuels to warm our homes, to cook, to move conveyance, to make industrial plants work , and to produce electricity.

Some Fossil fuels:

•Coal

•Oil

•Natural Gases

DeforestationDeforestation consists in breaking of trees for

commercial reasons or to use the land for cultivation.

Since ancient times we cut trees for firewood for domestic heating , for using it as a building

material, to obtain new land for agriculture and urban expansion.

This phenomenon is particularly present in the tropical areas where it is carried out with the method of "slash and burn": at first you

cut down trees and then the remaining undergrowth is ignited. Once the fire has finished its work, the ash on the ground

fertilizes the soil.

Garbage problemThe industrial waste is especially dangerous for man and the

environment because many of these contain toxic and carcinogen chemicals .

The disposal of urban and industrial waste causes the

emission of gases that contribute to global warming.

Greenhouse effectThe greenhouse effect is a phenomenonwithout which life, as we know itnow, would not be possible. Thisprocess consists in a global warming dueto the action of so-called greenhousegases.

This process has always naturally happened and it makes the

temperature of the Earth about 33 ° C warmer than

that it would be without the presence of these gases. The

progress you will make in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the near future

will determine the level of global warming to whom thegenerations to come have to

face.

Greenhouse gases allow solar radiation to pass through the atmosphere and into space,

they hinder the passage of part of the infrared radiation from the Earth's surface and lower atmosphere (the heat reissued), effectively

acting like the glass of a greenhouse and they help to regulate and maintain the

temperature of the Earth to the current level.

Greenhouse gases Greenhouse gases are

atmospheric gases that absorb infrared

radiation and for this they cause the

greenhouse effect. The natural greenhouse

gases include water vapor,

carbon dioxide, methane, nitric oxide

and ozone. Certain human activities,

however, raise the level of all these gases

and other gases released into the air.

The water vapor is present in the

atmosphere due to evaporation from all water sources

and as a product of the different combustions.

Carbon dioxide is released into the

atmosphere when burned, especially from solid waste, fossil fuels, wood

and wood products.

Methane is emitted during the

production and transport of coal, natural gas and mineral oil. To

better define the contribution that each determined greenhouse gas supplies to the

phenomenon of global warming, the GWP (Global

Warming Potential)has been

conceived.

EFFECTS OF GLOBAL WARMING

Melting of glaciersOne consequence of climate change is the melting of the glaciers that, if it is not soon stopped by drastic measures coordinated

worldwide, will raise the level of the rivers and seas, creating a chain effect.

The melting of glaciers has

resulted in the rising of waters.

According to a new study, considering that the ice melts at a

moderate speed, by 2100 the water level will rise by tens of meters, killing millions and millions of

inhabitants of the metropolis that will never be what they are today,

admitted that they still will be there!

Val di Peio

The famous glacier of the Gran Sasso, the only glacier in Central Italy and the Apennines in general , is now reduced to a minimum; the glaciers of the Alps are agonizing and visibly decreasing.

Presena

Mandrone

Monte Rosa

Alto Adige

Ozone’s holeThe ozone forms a band of about

30 kilometers thick in the stratosphere to protect against the most dangerous ultraviolet rays that the sun sends to the

Earth's crust.In 1986, scientists discovered that over the Antarctic an abnormal thinning of the ozone layer occurred.The phenomenon is called "ozone hole".

The progressive enlargement of the ozone hole means that more harmful ultraviolet UV-B radiation reach the Earth's surface with negative effects on human health.

Ozone’s hole

Sea current upheavalsSea currents are very important:

In fact , they heat up or cool an area surrounding them, such as the Gulf

Stream, which warms the whole area surrounding the North Sea. Without them we would fall into a possible ice age that would affect especially the countries of

the North.

The global warming affects

the current state ofglaciers, which

would result in therise of the oceans

but also in a cooling of sea

currents.

The greenhouse effect alters the processes that occur in the oceans, with drastic consequences for the planet's biological and climatic situation.

Floods in Italy

Landslides

Extinction of animals and plantsIn Italy, more than three hundred species are considered by international experts on the verge of extinction or already extinct like, for example, the

monaco vulture, the white-headed duck, the duck-billed, a beautiful turquoise.

Many animals are at risk, including sharks, manta rays, common dolphins, monk seals, sea turtles, fin whales and

dozens of birds that live in our lakes and ponds, including ducks , bats, lizards,

newts and snakes.

Even the biodiversity of rivers is at risk. Dozens of species of fish are considered almost extinct, including the sturgeon,

the carp of Garda, the bleak of Apennines.

A lot of exclusive and almost unknown plants are at risk, too. Sicily and Sardinia are the richest regions of biodiversity and today they are called to fight this problem with special politics of safeguard.

EutrophicationIt’s an abnormal proliferation of

biomass (microalgae) plants. It is the biological process resulting in such enrichment and abnormal growth of algae with

often deleterious consequences forthe environment.

Eutrophication is oneof the main environmental problems

affecting the coastal waters of Emilia-Romagna. The extent and frequency with which these phenomena occur make the area south of the Po Delta

among the most critical in the Mediterranean.The problem emerged in all its drama in the public eye when in the mid-70s

the coastal waters of Emilia Romagna, due to eutrophication, were affected by the first extensive die-offs of benthic organisms (bottom

fish, mollusks, crustaceans, etc ...) with deleterious impacts on tourism and fishing.

Desertification is a phenomenon caused by the climate change. The causes that contribute most to the process of desertification are many and complex and include, in addition to the traditional activities of deforestation, overgrazing, poor irrigation practices,

and more generally unsustainable practices of land use , and some complex mechanisms related to international trade, too.Once again, the human pollution proves to be a major factor to

global warming and its impact on our planet includes desertification.

Desertification

According to estimates of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), a quarter of the earth's land is threatened by desertification. The existence of more than one billion people in more than 100 nations is, in turn, put at risk by desertification, since cultivation and grazing become less productive.

In Italy, in particular ,the regions of Sicily, Sardinia, Apulia and Calabria are affected by this phenomenon,.

.

Sardinia is among the five Italian regions at risk of desertification

Irgoli- Sardinia: erosion phenomena

Sardinia: soil salinization

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Sardegna agricoltura