Environtmental and Global Health

Posts Tagged ‘Climate Change’

To forecast climate change, we need to make a projection of how the concentration of greenhouse gases will change in the future. A series of emission scenarios developed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC, reflecting the different ways in which the world can be developed and their implications for humanity, economic growth, energy use and technology . There is new and stronger evidence that most of the warming observed over the past 50 years, is associated with human activities that lead to changes in the chemical composition of the atmosphere due to increased emissions of greenhouse gases and aerosols; however, the human influence will continue to change atmospheric chemistry by producing XXI century the average temperature and sea level will increase in the future.
An emission scenario is an acceptable and consistent, built to explain the potential consequences of the influence of human activities on climate. Although an increase in the observations give a better idea of global warming and other changes in the climate system, such as the decrease in the coverage of the glaciers, rising sea level, regional variations in precipitation patterns and changes in extremes weather and climate, these recent changes at the regional level, particularly the increase in temperature, have already affected many physical and biological systems. Brings social and economic growth effects related to regional climate variations, suggesting an increase in vulnerability to climate change.

According to the IPCC scenarios include 4 families: A1, A2, B1 and B2. In particular, the storyline and A1 scenario family describes a future world of very rapid economic growth, a population that peaks in mid-century and declines thereafter, and rapid introduction of new and more efficient technologies. Its most important features are convergence among regions, capacity building and increased cultural and social interactions, with a substantial reduction in regional differences in income per ca-pita. The A1 scenario family are differentiated by their technological emphasis: intensive use of fossil fuels (A1FI), use of energy from sources other than fossil fuels (A1T), or a balance across all sources (A1B), meaning by balanced situation in which not relying too heavily on one energy source, assuming that all sources of energy supply and all end-use technologies similar improvement.

Water pollution caused by human activities is an important environmental phenomenon, starts from the first attempts of industrialization, to become a widespread problem, since the industrial revolution began in the early nineteenth century.
Industrial production processes initiated at this time require the use of large volumes of water for the processing of raw materials, being the effluent of such production processes, discharges into the natural channels of water (rivers, lakes) with contaminated waste.
Since then, this situation is repeated in all countries that have developed industrialization, and even though the technology has somehow managed to reduce the volume and type of pollutants discharged into the natural channels of water, this has not occurred or the form or the amount necessary for the problem of water pollution is solved. Read the rest of this entry »

#Natural eutrophication.

Eutrophication is a process that is slowly occurring naturally in all lakes in the world, because all nutrients are received.
#Eutrophication of human origin.

Human discharges accelerate the process to make, often in a serious pollution problem. The main sources of eutrophication are:

*urban discharges, which are detergents and organic waste
*Livestock and agricultural discharges, contributing fertilizers, organic wastes and other wastes rich in phosphates and nitrates.

The degree of eutrophication Read the rest of this entry »

A river, lake or reservoir eutrophication suffer when their waters are richer in nutrients. It might seem at first glance it’s good that the waters are well packed with nutrients, because that could live easier living. But the situation is not so simple. The problem is that if there is excess nutrients plants grow in abundance and other agencies. Later, when they die, rot and fill the water smells and give it a foul, drastically reducing its quality.

The putrefaction process consumes large amounts of dissolved oxygen and water are no longer suitable for most living things. The end result is an ecosystem all but destroyed.

Eutrophic and oligotrophic water Read the rest of this entry »

Spain to bear between 3 and 6 degrees maximum temperature with respect to the reference values for 1961-1990 in 60 years, in particular for the period 2071-2100, according to the State Meteorological Agency (AEMET). For minimum temperature, however, the increase is between 2 º C and 5 º C. Balearic Islands, especially in peak values, as a result of the dampening effect of the oceans, you will experience temperatures below those of other autonomous communities.

The report has been submitted by the Secretary of State for Climate Change, Teresa Ribera, and AEMET president, Ricardo Garcia Herrera. This is the second phase of renovation of regionalized scenarios using new data from global models that form the basis of the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) adopted in Valencia in 2007. Read the rest of this entry »

The abundance of phytoplankton or plant plankton, the first element of the food chain in the oceans, decreased markedly over the last century, as confirmed by a comprehensive study by Dalhousie University in Halifax (Canada).

The study, published by the journal Nature, finds that the reduction was approximately 1% per year since 1900, albeit with a higher trend since 1950, likely as a result of climate change and higher surface temperatures of ocean waters, say the authors.

Threat to the marine food chain

The phytoplankton, consisting of microscopic organisms that live suspended in water, is the staple food of zooplankton both as large mammals (cetaceans), numerous seabirds and the most fish. “They are the fuel of the marine ecosystem. Their fall affects the entire food chain and humans, “write Daniel Boyce, Marlon Lewis and Boris Worm, the three principal authors of the research. Read the rest of this entry »

Mengke Touming The glacier, one of the most beautiful in China and located in the northwestern province of Gansu, is melting the effect of climate change, reported the China Daily. ”

The Touming Mengke is the largest valley glacier in the Qilian Mountains in Sunan, but due to warming caused by greenhouse gases is suffering a reduction of six meters a year.

In the last five decades Touming Mengke, 10.1 km long and covers an area of 21.9 square kilometers, has been reduced by 300 meters.

Its maximum altitude is 5483 meters above sea level and the lowest is 4260 meters and is located in the valley Laohu, on the northern slope of the mountain Daxue, in the district of Subei. Read the rest of this entry »

So what makes an ordinary rain becomes acid rain? This happens when the acidity of rain falls in reaction to common air pollutants, primarily sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides. So when the rain water comes into contact with human pollution of the atmosphere, forms sulfuric and nitric acids. So the rain becomes more acidic yet, with a pH below 3.

What causes it? Human pollutants such as noxious fumes long run factories and power plants as clean energy from coal, gas or petroleum products. Vehicles also emit harmful gases which contribute their grain to the general pollution.
History of Acid Rain Read the rest of this entry »

Aquatic and terrestrial animals, trees and plants and even human infrastructure suffer the damaging effects of acid rain. It’s the fault of human beings, which emits nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide from factories, power plants, cars, etc.

Da effects of acid rain can become devastating, since the acidification of rivers, lakes and seas hamper aquatic life, to wear and death of plant life in forests.

To make matters worse, when acid rain falls to the ground, dragging the acidified water with natural fertilizers of the land, thus giving a total poverty, ending stressing the plants, since they remove their minerals and essential ions , thus producing more carnage.

statue degraded by acid rain But not only affects living things, but corrodes buildings and human infrastructure. For example statues and monuments made of marble or limestone, dissolve with each acid rain. Read the rest of this entry »

Increasing temperatures will lead to increased rainfall, but the effect is less clear on the storm. Extra-tropical storms partly depend on the temperature setting, which would weaken in the northern hemisphere as the polar regions warmer than the rest of the hemisphere, this would lead to low rates of melting ice and increased the cycle all over the world.

Read the rest of this entry »