Global Warming

The mankind is concerned by the problem of global warming -as the estimations of the consequences of an increase in temperatures showed that it will affect practically on all spheres of the vital activity of man, the president of the World meteorological organization (WMO), the Russian Federal Service on Hydrometeorology and Environmental Control) Alexander Bedritskiy has declared .

He leaded the Russian delegation on the Indonesian capital Bogor to a preparatory informal meeting of ministers of 34 leading countries of the world concerning changes of a climate.

“Naturally, for the different countries it will proceed differently, - the interlocutor of agency tells. - for example, to the island states in an equatorial zone threatens the raising of a sea level as a result of the gradual thawing glaciers in the consequence of an increase in the temperature “.

Some of these states lay on a sea level, and its raising even on some tens centimeters can already flood them, he has noted. Meanwhile, by last estimations of experts, it is expected, that by the end of 21st century the average global temperature can grow on size from one up to almost five degrees.

“So, the level of ocean can rise from ten to 60 centimeters, speaks Bedritskiy. - However, (former vice-president of the USA) Gore in the book frightens, that the level of ocean will rise seven meters because glaciers of Greenland and Antarctica will thaw… ”

This is actually possible - only not now but through thousands years , the Russian expert considers. The icy panel of Antarctica has thickness approximately four kilometers, and between the continent and this ice cover there is the enormous sea of fresh water, which age is, according to the estimations of scientists, millions years, he emphasized. It, however, does not mean that the threat of changes of a climate is a myth. “Global warming is the fact which is confirmed by instrument observations of the weather” , -the interlocutor of agency speaks.

The consequences of global warming are sufficiently serious already now, he considers. “Let us take the processes of desertification: in middle latitudes they begin to go more intensively, since sediments are redistributed, says [Bedritskiy]. - In some regions their quantity decreases, in others - it increases “.

The European scientists found one additional reason for global warming - smoking of cigarettes. They explained that the organism of smoker separates, on the average, twice more carbon dioxide in comparison with the non-smoking person. In its turn, the concentration of this gas in the atmosphere of planet is one of the reasons for the appearance of the so-called greenhouse effect.

Thus , conclude researchers, smokers not only poison their organism and organism of those surrounding, but also makes their “contribution” to the environmental pollution accompanied by the industry and the transport.

Approach of the next glacial age can be held at least on half-million years by burning energy sources excavated by human. To this optimistic conclusion led a recent study of the group of British scientists from the University of Southampton.

The researchers attempted to understand, on the basis of mathematical simulation, how the constantly increasing level of carbon dioxide can influence on the chemical processes in the World Ocean. As is known, World Ocean partially absorbs CO2 from the atmosphere, which increases its acidity. This, in turn, contributes to the dissolution of calcium carbonate into rocks, formed by sea organisms, and it’s more increasing the carbon contents in the oceans. As a result, the ability of ocean to absorb carbon dioxide is reduced.

The mathematical model of the described processes, which was consecutively developed by oceanologists from the University of Southampton, allowed them to draw the conclusion that the carbon-dioxide content in the atmosphere will not return to “preindustrial” level, when men will end to burn hydrocarbons. Moreover, if we use to the end all known fossilized minerals, then there is not any value with what speed we burn them. To burn them at the current level or even more moderately, the result will be the same - the offensive of glacial period will become not possible in the nearest 500 thousand years.

Glacial periods appear every 100 thousand years, as a result of the periodic changes in the rotation of orbit of the Earth. Changes in that how the sunlight falls on the surface of planet, contribute to the formation of extensive snowy caps, involving the climate of planet in prolonged glacial period. But a main role in such climatic changes not plays only variations in the intensity of sunlight, but the level of atmospheric CO2 is not less important.

For today the mankind has burnt, in the form of mineral fuel, nearby 300 Gt of carbon (1 Gt = 1 000 000 000 tons). The work of scientists allows predicting that if we bring this number to 1000 Gt then the next glacial age will not come. And the combustion of all reserves of hydrocarbon fuel will compel a planet to miss successively five periods of permafrost and a cold.