Coping with Climate Change


Natural hazards such as earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, droughts, and volcanic eruptions are found more and more in the news these days. Every year they are responsible for many deaths and serious injuries and they destroy livelihoods and damage economies. Scientists predict that climate change will affect the frequency and severity of some natural disasters like hurricanes, typhoons, and flooding.
Earthquakes do occur at the boundaries between tectonic plates because of plate motions. Understanding why plates change direction and speed is key to unlocking huge seismic events such as the famous Japan earthquake, which shifted the Earth’s axis by several inches, or February’s New Zealand quake. Scientists have for the first time shown a link between intensifying climate events and tectonic plate movement in findings that could provide a valuable insight into why huge tremors occur. Tectonic movements influence climate by creating new mountains and sea trenches and vice versa also. The closure or opening of new ocean basins or the build up of large mountain bands like the Andes or Tibet, those are geological processes that affect the pattern of climate.
Sea Level Still On The Rise
Global sea level rose by 1-2cm a decade on average during the 20th century. Sea level is predicted to rise 10-90cm this century. The main cause of sea level rise is thermal expansion of the oceans due to numerous floods, melting glaciers and ice sheets.
Cracked earth and river beds signal the onset of drought. In developing countries, crop failure and untold human suffering usually follows. Worldwide ten hottest years on record have all occurred since 1990. Computer models predict that some regions of Africa will become drier in the future. Improved seasonal weather forecasting can prepare communities for drought, helping to mitigate its effects.
Landslides kill and injure many people throughout the world every year. The main causes of landslides are very well understood, they include erosion, deforestation, and saturated soil. Some storms with heavy rainfall also cause landslides.
All above mentioned natural disasters are mainly due to change in balanced natural temperature. Currently, many different types of observations indicate that average temperatures at many locations around the world are increasing:
  • As of 2009, carbon dioxide levels are higher than they have ever been for over half of a million years.
  • Most glaciers around the world are rapidly retreating, from Africa to Alaska.
  • Sea ice cover has decreased substantially in the Arctic Ocean.
  • Migratory bird nesting and breeding patterns have shifted dramatically.
  • Lakes are freezing later in the winter and thawing earlier in the spring around the world.
  • Lakes are freezing later in the winter and thawing earlier in the spring around the world.
  • Weather stations have recorded significant increases in average annual temperatures at several locations around the world.
  • Hurricane intensity appears to be increasing in the Atlantic Ocean, possibly the result of the availability of additional heat energy.
  • Permafrost in the northern tundra regions is melting.

Coping with Climate Change

Human activities are greatly accelerating natural climate change. In this case, preventive medicine is the best kind of medicine; curbing the activities that are likely contributing the most to climate change, such as fossil fuel burning, may eventually decrease the rate and extent of climate change. Coping with climate change is something that human beings will have to learn to do, as we face increase disasters and changing climate systems around the world.
Implementing renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind, and high-efficiency automobiles (such as the Honda Civic and Toyota Prius) are important steps towards reducing fossil fuel emissions.
Building cities that emphasize walking, biking, and mass transportation can reduce fuel consumption and improve physical health.
These steps work to improve the quality of the air that we breathe and decrease our dependency on fossil fuels, which are non-renewable resources with dwindling supplies.
If the negative side effects of climate change are minimized, then all natural disasters should reduce over time.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

AquaPonics: latest environmental and climate friendly way of gardening

Image
Aquaponic is a combination of two words, Aqua – water and Ponics-Farm in a box. “Aquaponics an environmentally-friendly, natural food growing method to facilitate the cultivation of fish and plants together in a constructed, re-circulating ecosystem utilizing natural bacterial cycles to convert fish wastes to plant nutrients. “So it is also called as recirculation farming. Recirculation farms are a socially responsible farming method and business too; they support the use of renewable energy, recycle water and waste, and provide local food. Aquaponic systems are much more productive and use up to 90 percent less water than conventional gardens. Other advantages include no weeds, fewer pests, and no watering, fertilizing, bending, digging or heavy lifting etc. there are different types of aquaponic like Media Bed - (using a substance such as lave rocks or other medium other than soil for raising plants and bacteria) Raft - (using foam boards with cut outs to place planter pots floati...
Read more

Nipah Virus infection is zoonosis, chicken are also indirectly involve

Image
Now a days various messages on social media warns Pakistani nation to avoid chicken consumption, because its source of Nipah virus, In Pakistan production of poultry products is very high to fulfill the consumption requirements. For Layman it is confusing and  debatable either chicken is source of Nipah virus or not, mostly said no its fake news, chicken is safe its not the cause of spread, other said avoid the chicken consumption because, prevention is better than cure. Nipah virus (NiV) infection is a newly emerging zoonosis that causes severe disease in both humans and animals. "Zoonosis means a disease that can be transmitted to humans from animals". Nipah virus was first identified in Kampung Sungai Nipah, Malaysia in 1998. The pigs were the intermediate hosts during that outbreak. Around 1.1 million pigs had to be killed to control the outbreak. However, it is not necessary to have an intermediate host during Nipah Virus outbreak. The natural host of ...
Read more

Precautionary measurements in the event of an earthquake-by-Naseem Sheikh

Image
Here are some of the precautions that can be taken to minimize the potential loss of execution. With these measures and premature awareness, we can prevent earthquake damage. [caption id="attachment_media-133" align="aligncenter" width="289"] Photo by rawpixel.com on Pexels.com [/caption] Control your senses if you feel an earthquake. Instead of panicking, jumping from the top floor and screaming without panic, they can easily get out of the building so it is better to stay where they are. Cover your head with your hands with both hands, and sit down in a corner instead of the middle of the room. If there is a strong table or bed, seek shelter under it. If no heavy furniture is nearby, seek shelter under the door frame or under the stairs, as the doors sometimes jam with jerks. When in the kitchen or in the lab, close the valve as soon as the shock is mild, try to get out. If you're on the top floor, don't go down the stairs during the tremors...
Read more