Heat waves / Famine :

• Unprecedented rain / Flood
• Damage and loss of crop
• Increase in vector disease
• Health problems on the increase
•  Floods in Algerian Sahara desert-Africa-2006
• Heaviest rainfall in one day in Mumbai
• Cyclone
• Deaths and devastation of property
• Rare snow in United Arab Emirates – 2004

People call it climate change and it’s not good. So, lets explore what is it, why it is happening and how we can help it.

Floods in Mumbai :
One of the fiercest events in the recent history of our country. 26th July 2005, saw one of the worst down pours in the history of Mumbai. 37 inches of rainfall in just 24 hours. The entire city came to a complete standstill and it took over a 15 days for the city to get  back to its normal self. Over 1000 people lost their lives.

Increasing threat of Diseases :

• Diseases like Malaria, Dengue fever, Leptospirosis and Avian flu (Bird flu)
• Because warmer temperatures create good breeding/multiplying grounds for insects and microorganisms.

During 1987-1990, kala azar (black fever or visceral leishmaniasis) reached epidemic form in the Indian state of Bihaemperature rise  1°C to 3°C  over the  last 50 years Cause methane release from melting permafrost peat bogs.

Erosion of Coastal Areas & Shoreline :
India's coastline is about 7500 km long and is densely populated as well as low-lying. Tropical cyclones and storm surges are one of most critical factors affecting loss of human lives in India and Bangladesh. There is concern that global warming may affect tropical cyclone characteristics, including intensity, because sea-surface temperature (SST) plays an important role in determining whether tropical disturbances will form and intensify.

Most of India's coastal regions are fertile and under paddy cultivation, which is sensitive to inundation and salinization. Coastal infrastructure, tourist activities and onshore oil exploration are also at risk. Variations in climatic patterns are expected to result in an increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme events such as cyclones. These will greatly affect the population in coastal areas and may cause devastation in low-income rural areas as exemplified by the cyclone that hit Orissa in 1999, killing about 10 000 people. A one-metre rise in sea level is expected to inundate about 1700 kms of agricultural land in Orissa and West Bengal.

Melting of Glaciers :
Because of Global warming glaciers are melting faster. This will result in flooding of rivers now and after a few years the rivers they feed will carry lesser water. Satellite observations suggest that the area of the planet covered by snow has already declined by 10 per cent since the 1960s. The increase in carbon-dioxide levels, possibly caused by the rapid melting of glaciers at the end of a glacial interval. levels are predicted to rise by 9 to 88 centimeters by 2100, due to the oceans and the melting of polar ice-caps Temperature rise  1°C to 3°C  over the  last 50 years Cause methane release from melting permafrost peat bogs.

Rising Sea Levels and Vanishing Islands :
The effect of global warming can be felt on seasons too. There is shift in season cycle, as the summers are getting longer than the winters. This has affected the animals and made them to change their lifestyle accordingly, and those who failed to do so have perished or on the verge of extinction. As a matter of fact, because of global warming, the earth’s atmosphere is getting more unpredictable with heavy rains in the areas, which have scanty rainfall or drought in the areas, which received good annual rainfall. The months of rainfall has also getting affected.

Glacier disappearing at a rate of 200 metres per year. As the climate warms up, mountainous regions may experience lower levels of snowfall. Due to increase in the global temperature the polar ice caps are melting at the fastest rate ever. The arctic ice has melted drastically as seen in the slides. It is predicted that the northern ice cap or Antarctica will be totally gone by the end of 2008.

Impacts on some Life forms :  Coral Reef get affected
Coral reefs are an ecosystem that have the second biggest biodiversity in the world and have been described as the rainforests of the ocean. Coral reefs provide home to many aquatic animals like sea anemones, shrimps, octopuses, and fish. Coral reefs are colourful because inside each coral live tiny creatures algae. When the sea temperature rises by 1-3 degree Celsius, these algae die, and the coral becomes white. Large areas of coral reefs are already damaged due to temperature rise, and aquatic animals are losing their home. For years they have been threatened by man. Physical destruction from boats, fishing and pollution. Now their biggest threat may be from climate change. Roughly one-fifth of coral reefs worldwide are already considered damaged beyond repair, with another two-thirds under serious threat. 

Migration of Species :
Polar bears could be extinct in 100 years if climate change continues to melt the North Pole's ice. The North Pole's 'permanent' ice is melting by 10% each year and is likely to speed up as the white ice no longer reflects the sun's heat. Bears need the ice to feed. They can smell the seals under the ice and can break through it to catch them, or just wait for them to come up for air. Polar bears have always been able to survive the summers with little food, but now, with longer between the ice forming, they are suffering and getting a lot thinner. Emperor penguins live on ice in Antarctica. Over the last 50 years, the number of Emperor penguins has decreased This is because warming of the sea, is melting the ice and killing the krill (small shrimp-like animals) they eat. Migration of Sea horses from Africa to London is another example of impacts of global warming on aquatic fauna.

Increasing Forest Fires :
Drying of trees, along with the warm weather results in Forest fires. This results in the decrease of green cover and emission of CO2. Warming may have lead to the increased drought frequency that the West has experienced over the last 30 years As trees grow they take in CO2 from the air. Forest fires also pose serious health hazards by producing smoke and noxious gases, as the events in Indonesia after the forest fires on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo in 1977 have shown. The burning of vegetation gives off not only carbon dioxide but also a host of other, noxious gases (Green house gases) such as carbon monoxide, methane, hydrocarbons, nitric oxide and nitrous oxide, that lead to global warming and ozone layer depletion. Consequently, thousands of people suffered from serious respiratory problems due to these toxic gases. Burning forests and grasslands also add to already serious threat of global warming.