Increase of temperature on the earth by about 3° to 5° C (34° to 41° Fahrenheit) by the year 2100. Sea levels are rising due to thermal expansion of the ocean, in addition to melting of land ice. There will be a rise of sea levels by at least 25 meters (82 feet) by the year 2100.
Changes in temperature and precipitation patterns have also global effects on extreme weather events: They increase the frequency, duration, and intensity of 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 further effects of global warming, Glacier retreat of Muir glacier: Comparison photos of Muir and Riggs Glaciers in Glacier Bay diseases like malaria are National Park and Preserve, Alaska. Muir glacier, parts of which were greater than 65 meters returning into areas where thick in 1941, has retreated out of the image in 2004 (towards the upper left) as an effect of they have been global warming. The distance to the visible Riggs glacier in 2004 is ~3 km. During this time, the
Since the ozone layer absorbs UVB ultraviolet light from the Sun, ozone layer depletion is expected to increase surface UVB levels, which could lead to damage, including increases in skin cancer. This was the reason for the Montreal Protocol. Although decreases in stratospheric ozone are well-tied to CFCs and there are good theoretical reasons to believe that decreases in ozone will lead to increases in surface UVB, there is no direct observational evidence linking ozone depletion to higher incidence of skin cancer in human beings. This is partly due to the fact that UVA, which has also been implicated in some forms of skin
UVB (the higher energy UV radiation absorbed by ozone) is generally accepted to be a contributory factor to skin cancer. In addition, increased surface UV leads to increased tropospheric ozone, which is a health risk to humans. The increased surface UV also represents an increase in the vitamin D synthetic capacity of the sunlight. The cancer preventive effects of vitamin D represent a possible beneficial effect of ozone depletion. In terms of health costs, the possible benefits of increased UV irradiance may outweigh the burden. An increase of UV radiation would be expected to affect crops. A number of economically important species of plants, such as rice, depend on cyanobacteria residing on their roots for the retention of nitrogen. Cyanobacteria are sensitive to UV light and they would be affected by its increase.
A well-known effect of nuclear warfare is fallout. Fallout is the residual radiation hazard from a nuclear explosion. This radioactive dust, consisting of hot particles, is a kind of radioactive contamination. It can lead to contamination of the food chain. Fallout can also refer to the dust or debris that results from the nuclear explosion. The effects of radioactive fallout on humans and nature are catastrophic.
Radioactivity penetrates the environment in many ways. The two most important components of radiation from fallout are gamma rays, which are electromagnetic radiation of the highest intensity, and beta particles, which are electrons fired at high speed from decaying nuclei. Gamma rays subject organisms to penetrating whole-body doses and are responsible for most of the ill effects of radiation from fallout. Beta particles, which are less penetrating than gamma rays, act at short range, doing harm when they collect on the skin or on the surfaces of plants.
Electronic waste or "e-waste" is a waste type consisting of any broken or unwanted electrical or electronic device. E-waste encompasses ever growing range of obsolete electronic devices such as computers, servers, main frames, monitors, TVs & display devices, cellular phones & pagers, calculators, audio and video devices, printers, scanners, copiers and fax machines etc . . .
If treated properly, electronic waste is a valuable source for secondary raw materials. However, if not treated properly, it is a major source of toxins and carcinogens. Electronic waste represents 2 percent of America's trash in landfills, but it equals 70 percent of overall toxic waste. Uncontrolled burning, disassembly, and disposal are causing environmental and health problems. Toxic substances in electronic waste may include lead, mercury, cadmium. Carcinogenic substances in electronic waste may include polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). A typical computer monitor may contain more than 6% lead by weight, much of which is in the lead glass of the CRT. Capacitors, transformers, PVC insulated wires, PVC coated
First there was the "Big Ocean Theory", which basically meant that the ocean was so big that humans could dump any amount of waste into it without environmental consequence. Of course, that theory has proven to be false as ocean ecosystems today suffer from dying coral reefs and fish populations poisoned with mercury and other pollutants. Next came the "Big Atmosphere Theory", which assumed that we could belch out billions of tons of air pollution and carbon dioxide from our smoke stacks and tail pipes without environmental repercussions. We all know how that idea has impacted the planet: air pollution, acid rain, ozone depletion and global warming. Now we have a "Big Space Theory", namely, that space is so big that the waste we create in it will cause no harm. That’s right folks, fifty years after Sputnik launched the space age, humans have turned space into yet another junk yard, with millions of pieces of man-made debris orbiting the Earth. The space debris problem is becoming
In the most general sense, the term space pollution includes both the natural micrometeoroid and man-made orbital debris components of the space environment; however, as "pollution" is generally considered to indicate a despoiling of the natural environment, space pollution here refers to only man-made orbital debris. Orbital debris poses a threat to both manned and unmanned spacecraft as well as the earth's inhabitants. Today, space is littered with non-functional satellites and booster rockets. These pieces of space wreckage continue to orbit the Earth on paths that cannot be controlled from the ground. Collisions are increasingly common and pose a danger to active satellites. At a