global warming essay vision ias

Global Warming Definition, Causes, Effects, Impacts, Solutions

Global Warming is a long-term increase in average global temperature. Read about Global Warming Definition, Causes, Effects, Impact on Climate Change & Solutions for the UPSC exam.

Table of Contents

What is Global Warming?

Global Warming is a long-term increase in average global temperature. It is considered a natural phenomenon but anthropogenic activities on earth, particularly post Industrial Revolution , have led to an increase in the rate of this temperature increase. Reports from the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) show that human activities have raised the average global temperature by about 1 degree Celsius since 1850, with most of this warming occurring in the latter half of the 20th century. The fact that 5 of the hottest years ever recorded happened since 2015 shows us how much human activities are hurting the planet.

Global Warming Causes

Green House Gases also known as GHGs in the atmosphere trap the solar radiations that are reflected by the earth’s surface. Normally, most of the Earth’s radiation escapes into space. But human activities have increased greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere, causing the planet to heat up. Common GHGs include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and water vapor. Each gas has a different warming effect; for instance, methane is 25 times more powerful than carbon dioxide, and nitrous oxide is over 250 times stronger. The top  anthropogenic activities that are responsible for the release of GHGs are shown below.

Global Warming and Green House Effect

Both phenomena are related to each other. Green House Gases also known as GHGs in the atmosphere trap the solar radiations that are reflected by the earth’s surface. Under normal circumstances, most of these radiations escape into outer space. However, the release of GHGs by anthropogenic activities has increased their concentration in the atmosphere. This is the primary cause of Global Warming . 

Global Warming Effects

Increase in the average temperature of the earth.

According to IPCC reports, human-induced global warming is responsible for nearly 1 degree Celsius temperature rise vis a vis pre-industrial level. Data from NASA suggest that 2016 has been the hottest year on record.

Frequency of Extreme Weather Events is Increasing

Extreme weather events are happening more often around the world. For example, forest fires in California are now a yearly occurrence and are getting more frequent. We’ve also seen heat waves in Antarctica recently, and cyclones in the Bay of Bengal are becoming stronger. Similarly, the frequency of occurrence of El Niño and La Niña has reduced from once in 8–10 years to once in 3–4 years now. More frequent episodes of floods and drought are being recorded every year across the world.

Melting of Ice

According to IPCC, there is 10% less permafrost in North Hemisphere at present compared to the 1900s. Remote sensing data suggest Arctic ice is melting fast. Experts suggest that not only will the sea level rise with the melting of glaciers, but there is also a danger of new bacteria and viruses being released into the environment which has so far been trapped in ice sheets. This may lead to outbreaks of disease and pandemics which are beyond the control of human medical sciences.

Sea Level Rise and Acidification of Ocean

A report published by WMO, suggests that the rate of sea level rise has doubled for the period between 2013 and 2021 compared to the rate for the period between 1993 and 2002. Earth scientists warn that if this continues, many coastal areas where people live could be underwater in the coming years. Rising carbon dioxide levels are also causing oceans to absorb more CO2, leading to ocean acidification. This can be harmful to ocean life, especially coral reefs.

Adverse Impact on Terrestrial Ecosystems of the Earth

It has been recorded that many flora and fauna species are heading northwards in Northern Hemisphere, changes have been observed in the migratory movements of birds across the world. Animals are arriving early at their summer feeding and breeding grounds. Experts say rising temperatures in tropical and subtropical areas could cause new diseases, putting many plants and animals at risk of extinction.

Social and Economic Impact

A rising number of extreme weather events will have an adverse impact on agriculture and fisheries. Rising global temperatures will have a negative impact on the productivity of human beings, particularly in tropical and subtropical regions of the earth. The impact on life and livelihoods of indigenous people across the world will be even more pronounced. 

Global Warming Solutions

Global cooperation for reduction of emissions.

We need to take the goal of keeping the global temperature rise within 1.5 degrees Celsius seriously. Global efforts should recognize that all countries have different responsibilities. This means acknowledging past injustices faced by developing countries and giving them a fair chance to grow. Countries must work quickly to reach Net Zero Emissions as soon as possible.

Transition to Cleaner and Greener Forms of Energy

Coal-based power plants should be made more efficient, and the inefficient ones should be closed down. We should promote the use of renewable energy like solar power and explore hydrogen as a fuel. Also, we need to look into nuclear fusion for energy and make nuclear fission safer.

Changes in Agricultural Practices and Land Use

Agriculture based on the use of nitrogenous fertilizers must be replaced with organic farming techniques. We should capture methane gas from farms and animal waste to use as biogas at home. There should be large tree-planting efforts, and city governments need to make sure to include green spaces in their plans.

Improving Transportation System

The rise of electric vehicles is great, but we need better batteries for them. City planners should focus on improving public transportation and design cities to encourage more walking and cycling.

Behavioural Changes

All the above discussions will have no meaning if we as individuals are not sensitive enough. We need to make reducing, reusing and recycling a mantra of our living. It should be our civic duty to save water, and wildlife and raise awareness among others. 

Solar Geoengineering

Solar geoengineering, a proposed climate intervention method focus to counteract global warming by reflecting a portion of the sun’s rays back into space. One method involves injecting sulfur dioxide into the upper atmosphere to create reflective particles that can scatter sunlight and cool the Earth. However, solar geoengineering is controversial because it may disrupt weather patterns and create geopolitical risks. Research in this field is ongoing, but it remains a theoretical concept with limited practical implementation.

Can Solar Geoengineering Halt Global Warming?

Solar geoengineering is also called solar radiation management (SRM) is being studied as a way to reduce global warming by reflecting sunlight away from Earth. This could involve injecting substances like sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere to create reflective aerosols. However, its effectiveness and potential side effects raise concerns, and it is still mostly theoretical with little practical use so far.

Global Warming Conclusion

It’s often said that “charity begins at home,” and this idea applies to climate action too. Each person can start by ensuring their home and nearby areas are eco-friendly. When individuals do this it helps make local, national, and global policies more effective.

Global Warming UPSC

Each year, we read about rising global temperatures. Also, catching the headlines is the news related to disasters caused by events like cyclones, forest fires, floods and drought. All these phenomena can be attributed to one single cause which is global warming. 

Global Warming is a long-term increase in average global temperature. It is considered a natural phenomenon, but anthropogenic activities on earth, particularly post-Industrial Revolution, have led to an increase in the rate of this temperature increase.

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Why is global warming a problem?

Global Warming at present rate can lead to disastrous impacts like rising sea level, out break of new diseases, extreme weather events among others.

What are 3 causes of global warming?

Human induced green house gas emission due to activities like agriculture, industrial emissions, transportation are the top 3 causes of global warming.

What are 5 effects of global warming?

Rising sea level, out break of new diseases, extreme weather events, changes in biodiversity and melting of glaciers are top 5 effects of global warming.

Why global warming is important?

Global warming at its natural rate is important to keep up the temperature of earth within the range that makes it habitable. This makes global warming important.

Can we control global warming?

Number of mitigation measures like shifting to cleaning forms of energy and transportation can be taken to control global warming.

Who help with global warming?

Global Warming is a collective challenge for entire humanity. Citizens, civil societies, governments and businesses must act in unison to address it.

I, Sakshi Gupta, am a content writer to empower students aiming for UPSC, PSC, and other competitive exams. My objective is to provide clear, concise, and informative content that caters to your exam preparation needs. I strive to make my content not only informative but also engaging, keeping you motivated throughout your journey!

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Global Warming: Impact on the Global Climate

Last updated on August 15, 2024 by ClearIAS Team

The gradual rise in earth’s temperature known as global warming is typically brought on by the greenhouse effect, which is brought on by elevated amounts of carbon dioxide, CFCs, and other pollutants. It has an immense impact on the global climate as well. Read here to know more about it.

Global warming is the long-term heating of the Earth’s surface observed since the pre-industrial period (between 1850 and 1900) due to human activities.

The leading cause was primarily fossil fuel burning, which increases heat-trapping greenhouse gas levels in Earth’s atmosphere.

This term is not interchangeable with the term “ climate change .”

Human activities are thought to have contributed to an increase in Earth’s average global temperature of about 1 degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) since the pre-industrial era.

This temperature increase is currently happening at a rate of more than 0.2 degrees Celsius (0.36 degrees Fahrenheit) per decade.

Human activity since the 1950s has contributed to the current warming trend, which has been accelerating at an unheard-of rate for millennia.

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( Weather vs Climate:

• Weather refers to atmospheric conditions that occur locally over short periods, from minutes to hours or days. Familiar examples include rain, snow, clouds, winds, floods, or thunderstorms.
• Climate, on the other hand, refers to the long-term (usually at least 30 years) regional or even a global average of temperature, humidity, and rainfall patterns over seasons, years, or decades.)

Table of Contents

Global warming vs Climate change

Although these expressions are occasionally used interchangeably, they are not the same.

• Changes in global weather patterns and growing seasons are referred to as climate change. It also refers to the rise in sea level brought on by melting ice sheets and glaciers and the expansion of warmer oceans.
• Climate change brought on by global warming poses a severe threat to life on earth in the form of catastrophic weather events and extensive flooding .

Climate change is a long-term change in the average weather patterns that have come to define Earth’s local, regional and global climates. These changes have a broad range of observed effects that are synonymous with the term.

Human activities, especially the burning of fossil fuels, which raises the concentrations of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in Earth’s atmosphere and thus increases the planet’s average surface temperature, are to blame for the climate changes that have been observed since the middle of the 20th century.

In addition to internal variability (such as cyclical ocean patterns like El Nino, La Nina , and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation ) and external forcings (such as volcanic activity , changes in the Sun’s energy output, and variations in Earth’s orbit), natural processes that have been outweighed by human activities can also contribute to climate change.

Key indicators of climate change are:

• global land and ocean temperature increases
• rising sea levels
• ice loss at Earth’s poles and in mountain glaciers
• frequency and severity changes in extreme weather such as hurricanes, heatwaves , wildfires, droughts, floods, and precipitation
• cloud and vegetation cover changes

The gradual increase in the planet’s surface temperature is known as global warming.

Although this warming trend has been around for a while, the burning of fossil fuels has greatly accelerated its pace over the past century. The amount of fossil fuels burned has increased along with the size of the human population.

Burning fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas results in the “greenhouse effect,” which affects the atmosphere of Earth.

• The greenhouse effect is when the Sun’s rays penetrate the atmosphere, but when that heat is reflected off the surface cannot escape back into space.
• Gases produced by the burning of fossil fuels prevent the heat from leaving the atmosphere.
• These greenhouse gasses are carbon dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons, water vapor, methane, and nitrous oxide.
• The excess heat in the atmosphere has caused the average global temperature to rise over time, otherwise known as global warming.

Global warming is one of the causes of climate change.

Also read: State of Global Climate Report 2023

Impact of global warming on global climate

Scientists agree that the earth’s rising temperatures are fueling longer and hotter heat waves, more frequent droughts, heavier rainfall, and more powerful hurricanes.

The impacts of global warming are being felt everywhere.

• Extreme heat waves have caused tens of thousands of deaths around the world in recent years.
• Antarctica has lost nearly four trillion metric  tons of ice since the 1990s.
• It is causing the permafrost to thaw in the Arctic region.

The rate of loss could speed up if we keep burning fossil fuels at our current pace, some experts say, causing sea levels to rise several meters in the next 50 to 150 years and wreaking havoc on coastal communities worldwide.

The earth’s ocean temperatures are getting warmer, so tropical storms can pick up more energy.

In other words, global warming can turn a category 3 storm into a more dangerous category 4 storm.

• Scientists have found that the frequency of North Atlantic hurricanes has increased since the early 1980s, as has the number of storms that reach categories 4 and 5.

The impact of global warming is also seen in but not limited to:

• The risk of wildfires will continue to rise as a result of melting glaciers, early snowmelt, and severe droughts.
• Increased coastal flooding will be caused by rising sea levels throughout the coastal regions.
• Cities, farms, and forests will see more bothersome pests, heat waves, torrential downpours, and flooding. Agriculture and fisheries may be harmed or destroyed by all of these.
• Many plant and animal species may go extinct if environments like coral reefs and alpine meadows are damaged.
• Because pollen-producing ragweed is growing more quickly, there is more air pollution, and more people are exposed to these conditions, allergies, asthma attacks, and infectious disease outbreaks will become more frequent.

Even though everyone is impacted by climate change, not everyone is equally impacted. Typically, those who are indigenous, persons of color, or economically marginalized are severely harmed. Even though these same groups have made the least effort to contribute to climate change, they are more exposed to its severe effects due to inequities embedded into our housing, healthcare, and labor systems. This is known as environmental racism .

Also read: Planetary Boundaries

Global warming contributions by countries

In recent years, China has taken the lead in global-warming pollution, producing about 26 percent of all CO 2 emissions.

The United States comes in second. Despite making up just 4 percent of the world’s population, the nation produces about 13 percent of all global CO 2 emissions which is nearly as much as the European Union and India (third and fourth place) combined.

And America is still number one, by far, in cumulative emissions over the past 150 years. As a top contributor to global warming, the United States must help propel the world to a cleaner, safer, and more equitable future.

Global climate data

• Global temperatures rose about 1.8°F (1°C) from 1901 to 2020.
• Sea level rise has accelerated from 1.7 mm/year throughout most of the twentieth century to 3.2 mm/year since 1993.
• Glaciers are shrinking: the average thickness of 30 well-studied glaciers has decreased by more than 60 feet since 1980.
• The area covered by sea ice in the Arctic at the end of summer has shrunk by about 40% since 1979.
• The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has risen by 25% since 1958, and by about 40% since the Industrial Revolution.
• Snow is melting earlier compared to long-term averages.

Way forward

Levels of the two most important anthropogenic greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide, and methane, continued their unrelenting rise in 2020 despite the economic slowdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic response.

Moving away from fossil fuels is the first step in preventing climate change. Renewable energy sources including solar , wind , biomass , and geothermal need to be highlighted.

Producing clean energy is crucial, but it’s as necessary to use more cost-effective technologies to reduce our energy and water usage, such as LED lightbulbs and cutting-edge shower systems.

Promoting carpooling, public transportation, and electric and hydrogen mobility are all effective ways to cut CO2 emissions and combat global warming.

Both the construction of new low-energy buildings and the renovation of existing structures are required to reduce the CO2 emissions from buildings, which are brought on by heating, cooling, hot water, and lighting.

It should also be a primary goal to promote more efficient use of natural resources, halt widespread deforestation, and improve the sustainability and productivity of agriculture .

Developing responsible consumption habits is essential, whether it’s for food (especially meat), apparel, cosmetics, or cleaning supplies. Last but not least, recycling is a crucial component of waste management.

Previous year question

Q. Discuss global warming and mention its effects on global climate. Explain the control measures to bring down the level of greenhouse gases that cause global warming, in the light of the Kyoto Protocol , 1997. (Answer in 250 words) 15 marks (GS Paper 3, 2022)

• Climate Resilient Health Systems;
• Impact of climate change on Indian monsoon;
• Climate Change Impact on Earth’s Rotation

-Article written by Swathi Satish

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• Biology Article
• Essay on Global Warming

Essay On Global Warming

Essay on global warming is an important topic for students to understand. The essay brings to light the plight of the environment and the repercussion of anthropogenic activities. Continue reading to discover tips and tricks for writing an engaging and interesting essay on global warming.

Essay On Global Warming in 300 Words

Global warming is a phenomenon where the earth’s average temperature rises due to increased amounts of greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and ozone trap the incoming radiation from the sun. This effect creates a natural “blanket”, which prevents the heat from escaping back into the atmosphere. This effect is called the greenhouse effect.

Contrary to popular belief, greenhouse gases are not inherently bad. In fact, the greenhouse effect is quite important for life on earth. Without this effect, the sun’s radiation would be reflected back into the atmosphere, freezing the surface and making life impossible. However, when greenhouse gases in excess amounts get trapped, serious repercussions begin to appear. The polar ice caps begin to melt, leading to a rise in sea levels. Furthermore, the greenhouse effect is accelerated when polar ice caps and sea ice melts. This is due to the fact the ice reflects 50% to 70% of the sun’s rays back into space, but without ice, the solar radiation gets absorbed. Seawater reflects only 6% of the sun’s radiation back into space. What’s more frightening is the fact that the poles contain large amounts of carbon dioxide trapped within the ice. If this ice melts, it will significantly contribute to global warming. 

A related scenario when this phenomenon goes out of control is the runaway-greenhouse effect. This scenario is essentially similar to an apocalypse, but it is all too real. Though this has never happened in the earth’s entire history, it is speculated to have occurred on Venus. Millions of years ago, Venus was thought to have an atmosphere similar to that of the earth. But due to the runaway greenhouse effect, surface temperatures around the planet began rising. 

If this occurs on the earth, the runaway greenhouse effect will lead to many unpleasant scenarios – temperatures will rise hot enough for oceans to evaporate. Once the oceans evaporate, the rocks will start to sublimate under heat. In order to prevent such a scenario, proper measures have to be taken to stop climate change.

More to Read: Learn How Greenhouse Effect works

Tips To Writing the Perfect Essay

Consider adopting the following strategies when writing an essay. These are proven methods of securing more marks in an exam or assignment.

• Begin the essay with an introductory paragraph detailing the history or origin of the given topic.
• Try to reduce the use of jargons. Use sparingly if the topic requires it.
• Ensure that the content is presented in bulleted points wherever appropriate.
• Insert and highlight factual data, such as dates, names and places.
• Remember to break up the content into smaller paragraphs. 100-120 words per paragraph should suffice.
• Always conclude the essay with a closing paragraph.

Explore more essays on biology or other related fields at BYJU’S.

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Sample essay on global warming

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