Module 5

Global Climatic Change and Mitigation

Global climate change and greenhouse effect – Kyoto Protocol,

Carbon
Sequestration
Acid rain,
Ozone depletion – Montreal Protocol.
Green house Effect
 Green house Effect…
• The green house effect
– process through which heat is trapped near Earth's
surface by substances known as 'greenhouse gases’

• Greenhouse gases consist of

– Carbon dioxide (CO2)
– Methane
– Ozone
– Nitrous oxide
– Chlorofluorocarbons
– Water vapor
 Green house Effect…
• Earth is called the 'Goldilocks' planet –
– its conditions are good for life, not too hot or too cold

• CO2 plays a crucial role in maintaining the stability of

Earth's atmosphere
• If CO2 were removed,
– Greenhouse effect would collapse
– Earth's surface temperature would drop significantly

• Greenhouse gases maintains an average temperature of

15 °C
 Global Warming Causes
Increase in the release of greenhouse gases

1) CO2 is released through natural processes

– Volcanic eruptions
– Plant respiration
– Animals and humans breathing

• Burning fossil fuels –

– Release CO2 and other greenhouse gases
– Disrupts Earth's energy balance
Plant respiration
Photosynthesis
 Global Warming Causes…
2. Methane
– Methane is produced naturally through
decomposition
– Breaking down organic matter like food waste,
animal waste, and plant materials

▪ Human activity:
• Cattle farming
• Landfill waste dumps
• Rice farming
• Traditional production of oil and gases
 Global Warming Causes…
3) Nitrous oxide
• Large-scale use of commercial and organic fertilizers
• Fossil-fuel combustion
• Nitric-acid production
• Biomass burning - Biomass is renewable organic material that comes from
plants and animals

4. Water vapour
• Water vapour - most abundant greenhouse gas
• It increases as the earth's atmosphere warms
• Water vapour persists for only a few days
 Global Warming Causes…
5. Fluorinated gases
– Hydrofluorocarbons (HFC)
– Perfluorocarbons (PFC) Trap heat very
effectively
– Sulphur hexafluoride (SF6)

✓SF6, is used as insulator in high-voltage

electricity equipment
Green House Gases-Global warming
 Effect of Green House Gases
• Global warming and climate change

• Rise of sea level

• Worsening health effects

• Water cycle- disruption

• Changing forest and natural areas

• Challenges to agriculture and food supply

• Effect on oceanic climate

 Climate Change - Effects

Melting of polar ice

Deforestation

Drought
 Climate Change – Effects…
• Melting of polar ice
• More droughts and floods
• More terrible storms
• More hot days (summer)
• Diseases like Malaria and Dengue
• Impacts on ecosystem
– Reduced crop production potential
– Asia, Africa, South and Central Africa
 Controlling Measures
• Reducing the consumption of fossil fuels
• Afforestation – planting trees
• Use ecofriendly alternatives
• Use renewable energy sources
• CO2 pumped into underground

• Bioremediation – converts CO2 into value added

products
• Use of Sulphate aerosols
– Block sunlight and cool the atmosphere
Kyoto Protocol

The Kyoto mechanisms are:

1. Emissions trading – known as “the carbon market"
2. Clean development mechanism (CDM)
3. Joint implementation (JI)

Agreement made in 1997 came in to force in 2005

EMISSIONS CREEP: Greenhouse gas

emissions from most countries that
have pledged to reduce emissions of the
greenhouse gases (the global warming
pollution) are still rising.
Kyoto Protocol

➢ The Kyoto Protocol, enacted by the United Nations Framework Convention on

Climate Change (UNFCCC), in 1997, is an international agreement aimed at
reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by at least 5 percent below 1990
levels for a five-year period from 2008 to 2012.
➢ The treaty calls for industrialized nations such as US, EU (25Countries),
Japan etc, which produced at least 55 percent of the world's total carbon
dioxide emissions in 1990, to participate
➢ As of 2012, 37 countries have signed and ratified the treaty and 191 states
are participating
➢ Despite this, GHG emissions continue to climb steeply
➢ The Kyoto protocol didn't meet targeted emission reductions but increased
awareness and international cooperation toward resolving the global climate
crisis

Accomplishments of KYOTO PROTOCOL

1. Awareness
2. Cooperation
3. Sharing of Technologies
4. Environmental protection
➢Article 6 of the Convention and Article 10e of the Kyoto Protocol call on governments to empower
and educate stakeholders on policies related to climate change (Awareness)

➢The Kyoto Protocol fosters international cooperation and provides mechanisms for countries to
meet their emission reduction targets in cost-effective ways

➢The Kyoto Protocol, under Article 10, requires participating parties to cooperate in the promotion,
development, transfer of and access to environmentally sound technologies, particularly to
developing countries

➢The protocol, under Article 11, recognizes the need for funding mechanisms to assist developing
countries in technology transfer. Various funding mechanisms are available, including the Special
Climate Change Fund (SCCF), the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF), the Green Climate
Fund (GCF) and the Adaptation Fund (AF)
➢Article 3 of the Kyoto Protocol allows developed countries to meet their targets by providing
carbon sinks or removals of carbon through various forest and land management practices that are
measured as changes in carbon stocks.
➢The Kyoto Protocol under Article 2 also addresses emissions from fuel used for international
aviation and maritime transport and encourages developed countries to pursue limited or reduced
emissions from these sources.
➢The UNFCCC recognizes the Kyoto Protocol as an important first step in helping to reduce global
GHG emissions and is working toward developing a new international agreement as the Kyoto
Protocol reaches the end of its commitment period in 2012
Table : Shares of Global Emissions by the Industrialized and Developing , and Top 20
Countries

Indicator Industrialized Developing Top 20

Countries Countries Nations
n = 38* n = 147

1990 GHG Emissions (excl. land 53.9% 46.1% 68.9%

use)
2000 GHG Emissions (excl. land 48.4% 51.6% 70.2%
use)
2000 GHG Emissions (with land 39.2% 60.8% 66.3%
use)
Cumulative Energy-Related CO2 73.8% 26.2% 83.0%
Emissions 1950-2000 (excl. land
use)

Cumulative Energy-Related CO2 52.6% 47.4% 75.4%

Emissions (with land use)

*Counting the European Union countries individually, excluding the EU as a collective member.
Carbon sequestration
Carbon sequestration describes long-term capturing/storage of carbon
dioxide (or) other forms of carbon to either mitigate (reduce) or defer global
warming and avoid dangerous climate changes
Which means:
➢"The process of removing carbon from the atmosphere and depositing it in a
reservoir." When carried out deliberately, this may also be referred to as carbon
dioxide removal, which is a form of geo-engineering
➢The process of carbon capture and storage, where carbon dioxide is removed
from flue gases, such as on power stations, before being stored in underground
reservoirs
➢Natural biogeochemical cycling of carbon between the atmosphere and
reservoirs, such as by chemical weathering of rocks.
West Antarctica may actually be warming faster than the Antarctic Peninsula
(above, the warmest areas shown in dark red), researchers said in January 2009

Global warming!!??
Ozone depletion problem – Montreal Protocol

➢The stratosphere's global blanket of ozone - about 12 miles (20 kilometers) above
Earth—blocks most of the sun's high-frequency ultraviolet (UV) rays from hitting Earth's
surface, largely preventing sunburn and skin cancer
➢In the 1980s scientists realized chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and other ozone-depleting
chemicals—then widely used in aerosol hairsprays and refrigerants, for example—were
degrading the ozone layer
➢The 1987 Montreal Protocol initiated a global phase-out of CFCs, replacing them with
alternatives that don't destroy ozone. However, CFCs can persist for decades in the
stratosphere—the Antarctic ozone hole is still there, though it's expected to grow smaller
in coming decades
➢Once in the upper atmosphere, CFCs break down into chlorine atoms, which, when
activated by sunlight, destroy ozone molecules, Cold temperatures speed up this process
through polar stratospheric clouds
➢The clouds provide "reservoirs" for inactivated byproducts of chlorine. On the surface of
the cloud, these byproducts react with each other and release "aggressive" chlorine atoms
that attack ozone molecules
 Ozone depletion problem – Montreal Protocol

➢The ozone layer helps to protect life on earth

from the sun’s ultraviolet rays, but human
activities have contributed to the accelerated
depletion of this protective shield

➢Substances that contribute to

ozone depletion usually have high First North Pole Ozone Hole
Forming -
concentrations of chlorine or
bromine atoms and include
chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs,
halons, methyl bromide, carbon
tetrachloride and methyl
chloroform
 ACID RAIN
• Oxides of sulfur and nitrogen originating from industrial operations and fossil fuel
combustion are the major sources of acid forming gases.
• Acid forming gases are oxidised over several days by which time then travel several
thousand kilometers. In the atmosphere these gases are ultimately converted into sulfuric
and nitric acids.
• Hydrogen chloride emission forms hydrochloric acid. These acids cause acidic rain.
• Acidic deposition is the total of wet acidic deposition (acid rain) and dry deposition.
• Rain water is turned acidic when its pH falls below 5.6 .In fact clean or natural rain water has
a pH of 5.6 at 20°C because of formation of carbonic acid due to dissolution of CO2 in water.
• Generally sulfuric acid forms a major fraction of acid rain, followed by nitric acid and a very
small fraction of other acids. However, in urban areas calcium (Ca2+), Magnesium (Mg2+)
and ammonium (NH4+) ions help to neutralize the rain drops shifting the overall H+ towards
basic scale.
• The overall pH of any raindrop is due to the net effect of carbonic acid, sulfuric acid, nitric
acid and other acidic constituents or any neutralizers such as ammonia.
In the absence of rain, dry deposition of acid may occur. Acid forming gases like oxides of
sulphur and nitrogen and acid aerosols get deposited on the surface of water bodies,
vegetation, soil and other materials.

Effects of acid rain

• It causes deterioration of buildings especially made of marble e.g. monuments like Taj
Mahal. Crystals of calcium and magnesium sulphate are formed as a result of corrosion
caused by acid rain.
• It damages stone statues. Priceless stone statues in Greece and Italy have been partially
dissolved by acid rain.
• It damages metals and car finishes.
• Aquatic life especially fish are badly affected by lake acidification.
• Aquatic animals suffer from toxicity of metals such as aluminium, mercury, manganese, zinc
and lead which leach from the surrounding rocks due to acid rain.
• It results in reproductive failure, and killing of fish.
• Many lakes of Sweden, Norway, Canada have become fishless due to acid rain.
• It damages foliage and weakens trees.
• It makes trees more susceptible to stresses like cold temperature, drought, etc. Many insects
and fungi are more tolerant to acidic conditions and hence they can attack the susceptible
trees and cause diseases.

Control of Acid Rain

• Emission of SO2 and NO2 from industries and power plants should be reduced by using
pollution control equipments.
• Liming of lakes and soils should be done to correct the adverse effects of acid rain.
• A coating of protective layer of inert polymer should be given in the interior of water
pipes for drinking water.
ROLE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN ENVIRONMENT AND HUMAN HEALTH
• Development of internet facilities, worldwide web, geographical information system (GIS)
and information through satellites has generated a wealth of up-to-date information on
various aspects of environment and health.
Database
• The Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India has taken up the task of
compiling a database on various biotic communities. The comprehensive database includes
wildlife database, conservation database, forest cover database etc. Database is also
available for diseases like HIV/AIDS, Malaria, Fluorosis
• National Management Information System (NMIS) of the Department of Science and
Technology has compiled a database on Research and Development Projects along with
information about research scientists and personnel involved.
• Environmental Information System (ENVIS): The ENVIS centers work for generating a
network of database in areas like pollution control, clean technologies, remote sensing,
coastal ecology, biodiversity, western ghats and eastern ghats, environmental management,
media related to environment, renewable energy, desertification, mangroves, wildlife,
Himalayan ecology, mining
Remote Sensing and Geographical Information System (GIS)

• Satellite imageries provide us actual information about various physical and biological
resources and also to some extent about their state of degradation in a digital form through
remote sensing
• water logging, desertification, deforestation, urban sprawl, river and canal network, mineral
and energy reserves can be monitored
• Different thematic maps containing digital information on a number of aspects like water
resources, industrial growth, human settlements, road network, soil type, forest land, crop
land or grassland etc. are superimposed in a layered form in computer using softwares. Such
information is very useful for future land-use
planning.

The drying up of Aral Sea in Central Asia and the

subsequent desertification
Urban Sprawl
The World Wide Web with resource material on every aspect, class-room activities, digital files
of photos, power-point lecture presentations, animations, web-exercises and quiz has proved
to be extremely useful both for the students and the teachers of environmental studies