The world is increasingly warming. This is largely due to the emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from human activities including industrial processes, fossil fuel combustion and changes in land use, such as deforestation. These are the findings contained in the latest report of the UN-backed intergovernmental panel on Climate Change which was released in February 2007. The Indian environmentalist Dr. R.K.P., the director General of Energy and resources Institute is the Chairman of the panel.
The report warns that continuations of historical trends of green house gas emissions will result in additional warning over the 21 century, with current projections of a global increase of 2.5 F to 10.4 F by 2100. The greenhouse effect has been part of the earth working since its earliest days. Gases like carbon dioxide and methane allow sunlight to reach the earth, but prevent some of the resulting heat from radiating back out into space.
Without the greenhouse effect the planet would never have warmed enough to allow life to form.But as ever larger amounts of carbon dioxide have been released along with the development of industrial economies, the atmosphere has grown warmer at an accelerating rate. Since 1970, temperatures have gone up at nearly 3 times the average for the 20 th century. The global climate is likely to rise between 3.5 and 8 degrees Fahrenheit if the carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere reaches twice the level of 1750. By 2100, sea levels are likely to rise between 7 to 23 inches resulting in gradual inundation of coastal areas and increasing beach erosion and flooding from coastal storms, changes in precipitation patterns, increased risk of droughts and floods, threats to bio-diversity and a number of potential challenge for public health.
