Earth’s temperature may rise by 2.7 degrees C if there is no reduction in GHG: Researcher
If generation of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) is not reduced urgently, the earth’s temperature may rise by 2.7 degrees C by the turn of current century, an eminent meteorologist and researcher has said.
As per available indications, GHG emission had increased by 47 per cent and carbon dioxide by 80 per cent between 1990 and 2020, Dr. Sarat Chandra Sahu, Director of the Centre for Environment and Climate (CEC) of the Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan Deemed to be University (SOA), said.
Quoting the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), Dr. Sahu said the Paris Agreement on climate change adopted in 2015 aimed to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees C, but the temperature is expected to go beyond that level, Dr. Sahu said while speaking at a two-day ‘International Workshop on Water, Waste Management and Climate Change’ organised by CEC in collaboration with Rivers of the World (ROW) of USA here recently.
Dr Sahu said carbon dioxide in the environment had increased by 149 per cent compared to the pre-industrial level which has major negative repercussions for humans and the well being of planet earth and future generations.
While carbon dioxide available in the environment was 400 parts per million (ppm) in 2015, it had increased to 413.2 ppm in 2020 and the level of methane and nitrous oxide had increased by a whopping 262 per cent and 123 per cent respectively against existing levels in 1750 when human activities started disrupting the earth’s natural equilibrium, Dr. Sahu said.
WMO had noted that the earth experienced comparable concentration of carbon dioxide about 3 to 5 million years ago when the temperature increased by 2 to 3 degrees C but there weren’t 7.8 billion people in the world then underlining how dangerous the current GHG concentration could prove to be for humanity, he said.
“Compared to latest findings by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the temperature may rise by 2.7 degrees C by end of the century if increase of GHG was not reduced quickly,” he said.
The workshop was also addressed by Mr. Subijoy Dutta of ROW, Dr. Bala Prasad of Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, Prof. Anup Kumar Samantaray, Pro-Vice Chancellor of SOA and Prof. Anil Kumar Kar of the Department of Civil Engineering of V.S.S. University of Engineering.
Dr. Sahu, who is former Director of Indian Meteorological Department at Bhubaneswar, was speaking on the subject ‘Role of Aerosols on Climate Change and Early Warning Systems’.
He said that the positive links between airborne particulate matter concentration and a wide range of adverse health effects had been a growing concern in recent years calling for improvement of air quality.
Aerosols, which are tiny particles, are produced by human activity, industrial effluent, volcanic eruptions, forest fires and natural phenomenon, he said.
“The air we breathe contains aerosols always, produced through natural and anthropogenic processes, which are toxic for the human body,” Dr. Sahu said adding aerosols played a significant role in climate change.
“Increase in air pollution by power plants, construction and other activity cause rise in aerosols which can affect cloud formation, cause formation of thick cloud leading to decrease in temperature,” he said.
