To what extent is Climate Change caused by Human Activity?
To what extent is Climate Change caused by Human Activity? Palaeoclimatic records have allowed scientists to determine that the last 2 million years climate has fluctuated between periods of warmth and cold. Global average surface temperatures have fluctuated by as much as 5°C between the two climatic regimes. In the longer term i.e. the last 50 million years the Earth has become much colder. The size of the ice caps has repeatedly grown and shrunk every 100,000 years. (Figures UNFCCC 2001). At present we may be coming towards the end of the latest warmer interglacial period, although mankind's alteration of the atmosphere through greenhouse gas pollution makes predicting the long term future of our global climate difficult. Climate change refers to the average state of the climate, where climate is taken to mean 'the mean weather over an extended period of time in a specific location' (Earth Under Siege 1997) or its variability, this being the level of persistence over an extended period of time, typically decades or centuries. Climate change is caused by a number of factors, these include natural internal processes or external forcings, as well as the possibility of these changes resulting from human activities; 'Anthropogenic' changes in a specific location. (Government of India, Ministry of Environment & Forests) The very nature of the question implies that climate
Floodplains - Any watershed begins with small trickles of water.
Any watershed begins with small trickles of water. These small trickles gather and form larger streams, which gradually grow from brooks to creeks to rivers. As the volume of water increases in the stream channel, the stream channel has a greater cross-sectional area (there is an increase in stream size - width, depth, velocity, and flow volume). As the river reaches the flat land around the base of the hill, the river will begin to meander. This slows the progress of certain areas of the river and speeds up others, meaning that one side is often eroded while the other is deposited - forming a floodplain. A floodplain is a mostly flat area of land bordering a river that is subjected to periodic flooding. It is made up of silts and sands, which have been deposited over many years by the river. Whilst some deposition takes place within the river channel, the bulk of the sediment is deposited when the river floods. The reason for this is that as the river spreads over its floodplain, there is a sudden increase in both the wetted perimeter and the hydraulic radius. This results in an increase in friction, causing a decrease in velocity and the deposition of material previously held in suspension. The heaviest sediment will be deposited closest to the river, thus forming what is known as levees. A prominent slope known as the bluff line often marks the edge of the
Types of Pollution
Types of Pollution The 2 main types of pollution on discussion here are namely land pollution and air pollution Land Pollution Pollution occurs when people dispose of their waste on the land. The disposal of non-biodegradable and toxic waste in landfills may result in numerous problems. Firstly, when it rains, rain water may seep through the soil and waste, dissolving and carrying away with it, harmful substances that pollute the soil, groundwater and any nearby streams. Moreover, when the waste in the landfill decomposes under heat and pressure of the soil above, they would release poisonous fumes such as methane. Many buildings in America and Europe are sited on such land. Hence, an excavation of the ground may result inn the release of these fumes into the atmosphere, killing people, animals and plants nearby. Moreover, the land above the landfill is filled with pockets of gas and this makes the land very unstable. Subsidence may occur at any time and this makes the land dangerous to live on. examples of such land include: * Love Canal, New York, USA * Portsmouth, England Moreover, with a growing population on Earth, land is becoming scarcer and there may not be enough land to be used as landfills in the future. Air Pollution Introduction: Of all types of pollution, air pollution is one of the most insidious and one of the most difficult to do anything about. It
Natural Hazards - This report will look at the floods that occurred along the Yangtze River, and Dongting lake, China, August 2002. Floods are very common within China's provinces.
Natural Hazards Floods in china, august 2002. This report will look at the floods that occurred along the Yangtze River, and Dongting lake, China, August 2002. Floods are very common within China's provinces. This report will analyse the causes of this catastrophic flood that occurred earlier this year in China. "Water levels along 1,829 kilometers (1,136 miles) of the 2,819-kilometer lake (Dongting) have surpassed warning marks, the official Xinhua news agency reported" (http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/east/08/22/china.lake/) Frequent heavy rainfalls in early and mid June, one month earlier than usual, led to landslides and mountain floods and caused severe damage and property loss in large parts of China. Although there were no floods along the major rivers, there were flash floods, landslides and mudflows, which resulted in high casualties. This report will be a factual account of what hapend in these provinces. River and coastal flooding are the most frequently occurring natural disaster and are increasing in occurrence more rapidly than any other disaster. Urbanization and deforestation reduce the capability of the earth to hold excess water. As asphalt expands and open spaces disappear, it takes less rain to flood communities as water running over the pavement collects quickly and easily disrupts storm drain systems. Those areas that are most at risk include
Why is the 'triple bottom line' so important?
Why is the 'triple bottom line' so important? Growing community expectations of the corporate world to keep the environmental, social and economic dimensions of business in balance have led many organisations to adopt a triple bottom line approach. The Australian corporate world is slowly evolving towards sustainability. A whole raft of organisations including Amcor, BHP Billiton, Coles Myer, Ford Australia, Insurance Australia Group (IAG), Orica, Origin Energy, Sydney Water, Toyota and Westpac are pouring resources into producing annual sustainability reports, most along the lines of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). This is a common framework that provides a useful guideline for companies wanting to prepare a sustainability report. Other companies, like Billabong International, simply take social and environmental responsibility in the areas they operate in, seeing this as a normal part of business and not something they necessarily make a song and dance about. Billabong uses dramatic natural imagery to link its brand to the environment. In the common parlance of yesterday, the term 'sustainability' was linked with the financial viability of an enterprise, but today's world is much more demanding. Increasingly, consumers and shareholders alike want to know that the companies they buy their goods from and put their money into as shareholders are acting responsibly
Coastal and marine pollution in India. In India most contamination from land base sources industrial and domestic wastes and agriculture run-off. Other activities are also becoming more significant like shipping and related actions ship breaking,
COASTAL AND MARINE POLLUTION IN INDIA Word count: 3540 INTRODUCTION: The change in physical, chemical and biological characteristics of water and sediments is called coastal pollution. A coastal zone can be described variously. One possible definition is "the coastal zone represents that part of the land affected by its proximity to the sea, and that part of the ocean affected by its proximity to the land" (US commission of marine Science, Engineering and Resource). Other possible definition is "the coastal zone as extending from the coastal plains to the outer edge of the continental shelves, approximately matching the region that has been alternately flooded and exposed during the region that has been alternately flooded and exposed during the sea-level fluctuations of the late Quaternary period" (LOICZ). This second definition is of the coastal domain from 200 meters above to 200 meters below sea levels. It is known universally that coastal areas are among the most sensitive zones around the world with the innumerable fleet of oil tankers, fishing vessels, cargo ships and cruise ships that navigate through the ocean and fish in our fiscal zone, our coastal zone and marine world are continuously under the danger of pollution. It is not surprising therefore that the government would want to apply every attempt to try and prevent such disaster from occurrence. The
Discuss a range of geomorphological techniques we can use to determine the rate and magnitude of slope movement.
"Discuss a range of geomorphological techniques we can use to determine the rate and magnitude of slope movement." To discuss the question, we must first identify what slope movement is. Also known as "mass wasting (sometimes called mass movement) it encompasses a broad array of processes whereby earth material is transported down a slope by the force of gravity. It is related closely to weathering, which is the breakdown of minerals or rocks at or near Earth's surface through physical, chemical, or biological processes, and to erosion, the transport of material through a variety of agents, most of them flowing media, such as air or water" (Gale's science of Everyday Things). Slope movement therefore is movement of the land which has become unstable. Instability of the land can be caused by many environmental and human impacts such as weathering and structural changes to the landscape. The condition of slope movement is that of the gravitational force of the land exceeding the resisting force, thus leading to incipient failure within the slope. This therefore leads to movement. After the initial failure of the slope, movement occurs within the land which maybe significant or unnoticeable depending on the rate of the mass movement. Landslides for instance, are movements of a very high speed thus are very dramatic movements of land, which have immediate and delayed
Disposal of Toxic and Radioactive Materials with Special Focus on the Philippines
Disposal of Toxic and Radioactive Materials ________________ Abstract: Toxic and Radioactive waste materials has been brought to life by humans being a by-product of numerous undertaking efforts ever since the breakthrough discovery of radioactivity in 1896 by Antoine Henri Becquerel. Since World War II, toxic, as well as radioactive waste materials have been produced by army weaponry manufacturing and screening; exploration; electrical energy generation; healthcare analysis and therapy; biological and chemical research; along with other commercial uses. Because of the hazardus and fatal biological effects of radiation and toxins to humans, the governments of different countries have developed ways on managing these waste products in order to avoid contamination. The four types of toxic wastes (very-low level waste, low-level waste, intermediate level waste, and high-level waste) all have specific techniques for proper disposal - the methods increasing in level in proportion to the radiation degree or severity of effects. There are also secure solutions to the disposal of used fuel and those from nuclear power plants. These methods include burying them underground or placing them in a waste storage pond. This research will focus on the Philippine conditions regarding the issue on toxic wastes as well as provide an international overview on the process and procedures
Critically evaluate the role and effectiveness of Environmental Impact Assessment in ensuring environmentally sound and sustainable development in the UK
Critically evaluate the role and effectiveness of Environmental Impact Assessment in ensuring environmentally sound and sustainable development in the UK The World Conservation Strategy (WCS) demonstrated in 1980 that development can only be sustained by the integration of development and conservation policies to conserve the resources on which that development depends on (Gilpin, 2000). In 1987, The Brundtland Commission, in its report to the Governing Council of UNEP (Our Common Future), defined sustainable development as: ‘development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’ (WCED, 1987). In recent times, this definition only forms the basic framework for the concept of sustainable development (Buytaert et al., 2011).The malleability of the concept of sustainable development is a major reason why it has been embraced internationally (O’Riordan, 1993), but paradoxically, that same reason is its greatest challenge. The malleable nature of the concept gives rise to significant conceptual difficulties in operationalizing the concept and evaluating the contribution of decision-aiding tools to sustainable development (Cashmore, 2004). Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is simply defined as “a systematic process to identify, predict and evaluate the environmental effects of proposed
Is the international ban on the trade of ivory consistent with the principles of sustainable development?
Is the international ban on the trade of ivory consistent with the principles of sustainable development? The population of the African elephant declined considerably in the 20th century, with the species aggregate falling from 5 – 10 million to 1.3 million between the 1930s and 1980s (Barzdo, Caldwell and Martin, 1986). This lead to the upgrade of the elephant’s status from Appendix 2 (monitored trade) to Appendix 1 (trade only in special circumstances), as determined by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES, n.d); essentially illegalising the worldwide trade of ivory in 1989. This essay will assess if the ban on ivory trading is in concurrence with the ideals of sustainable development, focusing on four universally accepted core principles of equity, democracy, the precautionary principle and policy integration and planning (Carter, 2007). The definition of sustainable development used throughout is that established by the Brundtland Commission (1987), ‘development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.’ To begin the equitable effects of the ban must be taken into account, particularly as the majority of the negative distributional implications fall on lesser-developed countries. The pertinent forms of equity regarding sustainable development are