The Adverse Effects of Global Warming

Some of the adverse effects of global warming have been noticed. Antarctica is getting hotter slowly. Venezuelan mountain boasted of 6 glaciers but today it has only two left. Saline water of the sea due to rise in the sea level has covered more land areas and rendered them unfit for cultivation. Deaths from heat waves would increase year-wise. The rapid growth of emerging economies like Pakistan and China could pose a serious long-term impact on global energy consumption and carbon emission. And if these two countries sit back and continue with the business-as-usual model, carbon emission will be more than double by 2050 causing serious threat to global warming. It is hoped that developed countries particularly the US and Japan will significantly reduce their share of global carbon emission by adopting clean technology, fuel efficient vehicles and developing renewable sources of energy. Currently, US’s share is 22.9 percent of the global share followed by China and Japan at 17.3 percent and 4.9 percent respectively. The US’s share will come down by 16.5 percent by 2025 and further down to 14.5 by the middle of the century. Japan’s share is expected to fall to 3.9 percent by 2025 and 2.7 by 2050

It is recommended that if countries adopt the ‘Green Growth Plus’ strategy they could control carbon emission and also achieve a healthy growth. The strategy comprises three strands—a broad range of energy efficiency measures, fuel mix changes and new carbon capture and storage technologies. But for the emerging economies it would be difficult to cut down on their emission levels in the next decade because of economic development process. One report suggests that emerging economies should shift from coal to natural gas in power plants which would reduce carbon emission by up to half. Moreover, fuel efficient vehicles and reduced vehicle use, energy efficient buildings and appliances, and efficient fossil fuel power plants would help reduce carbon emission to a great extent. This could stabilize the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration at a level that could reduce the risk of global warming. Scientists suggest bio-fuels like ethanol as a replacement for gasoline.