Global warming is defined as the increase of the average temperature on Earth. As the Earth is getting hotter, disasters like hurricanes, droughts and floods are getting more frequent. Deforestation increases the severity of global warming. The oceans are no longer able to store carbon as they have in the past. Burning fossil fuels such as natural gas, coal, oil and gasoline raises the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and carbon dioxide is a major contributor to the greenhouse effect and global warming.
No one knows how much warming is "out of harm's way", but we do know this that climate change and global warming in India and other parts of the world is gravely harming people and ecosystems. The reality of this can be seen in melting glaciers, disintegrating polar ice, changing monsoon patterns, intensifying sea levels, altering ecosystems and lethal heat waves. From the farmers in Kashmir to the ones in Bihar and also those living in fading islands in the Sunderbans are already struggling with the impacts of this climate change.
Some of the effects that are prevalent at the moment and are likely to continue if actions are not taken are rise in sea level due to melting glaciers and the thermal expansion of the oceans as global temperature increases. There is also massive release of greenhouse gases from melting permafrost and dying forests. Along with that, a high risk of more extreme weather events. The global incidence of drought has already doubled over the past 30 years. The existing risks of species extinction and biodiversity loss will increase more and more with each passing day. At all scales of climate change, developing countries will suffer the most. But this is just the beginning. We need to become proactive to avoid catastrophic climate change and find ideas for go green to save the planet.
