Effects of Global Warming

There are two major effects of global warming which are:

1) Increase of temperature on the earth by about 3° to 5° C (34° to 41° Fahrenheit) by the year 2100.
2) Rise of sea levels by at least 25 meters (82 feet) by the year 2100.

Increasing global temperatures are causing a broad range of changes. Sea levels are rising due to thermal expansion of the ocean, in addition to melting of land ice. Amounts and patterns of rainfall are changing. The total annual power of hurricanes has already increased markedly since 1975 because their average intensity and average duration have increased (in addition, there has been a high correlation of hurricane power with tropical sea-surface temperature).

Changes in temperature and precipitation patterns increase the frequency, duration, and intensity of other extreme weather events, such as floods, droughts, heat waves, and tornadoes. Other effects of global warming include higher or lower agricultural yields, further glacial retreat, reduced summer stream flows, species extinctions. As a further effect of global warming, diseases like malaria are returning into areas where they have been extinguished earlier.


http://timeforchange.org/cause-and-effect-for-global-warming


One effect not popularly mentioned is that as the weather gets unpredictable in response to rapid global warming, parasitism against caterpillars will decrease, biologists warn in a new study. This will free the caterpillars to devour agricultural fields and strip leafy forests bare.

"That's really of great concern, especially to agricultural systems where we rely on several of these parasites. They keep outbreaks from occurring," said Lee Dyer, a biologist at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana.


More on the topic you can go to:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/11/1116_051116_caterpillar.html

What is the uae doing about global warming?

After reading some articles on the UAE about global warming I can just say that I am honored that I am a UAE citizen. The UAE is very aware of the current situation. With global warming there are many problems but I'll just mention one and how the UAE are attending to it.

In an article I read it said that marine environmentalists say coral reefs in the Arabian Gulf are threatened by pollution, effluents (brine) from desalination facilities, slow degeneration of Gulf waters and global warming.

The coral bleaching episode, which decimated over 90 per cent of coral reefs in the near-shore areas of the UAE is blamed on global warming

Dolphin Energy Ltd, the World Wide Fund for Nature and Erwda are set to collaborate on a project to map the status and condition of coral reefs in the UAE and Qatar.

'Electrodeposition', also called Biorock, a technique developed in lab experiments over the last 30 years by Harvard expert Dr Tom Goreau with Prof Hilbertz, proves rapid coral reef restoration is possible using low-voltage electricity.The technique involves use of metal structures attached to the negative pole of a direct current source.The positively charged pole is attached to an anode. Both are then submerged in seawater.

With this technique the limestone forms at a rate of one inch per month with high mechanical strength, similar to natural coral growth, but accelerated by electricity.

With this we can see that the UAE are prepared for the challenging future coming ahead.

http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/04/09/11/131567.html