Earth Day

                            Over very long periods, plate tectonic processes cause continents to move to different positions on the Earth. For example, Britain was near to the equator during the Carboniferous period, around 300 million years ago, and the climate was warmer than it is today. The movement of the plates also causes volcanoes and mountains to form and these too can contribute to a change in climate.  Large mountain chains can influence the circulation of air around the globe, and consequently influence the climate. For example, warm air may be deflected to cooler regions by mountains.                                Volcanoes affect the climate through the gases and particles  thrown into the atmosphere during eruptions. The effect of the volcanic gases  and dust may warm or cool the Earth’s surface, depending on...

                       The direct consequences of man-​made climate change include: rising maximum temperatures rising minimum temperatures  rising sea levels  higher ocean temperatures  an increase in heavy precipitation (heavy rain and hail) shrinking glaciers thawing permafrost The indirect consequences of climate change, which directly affect us humans and our environment, include:  an increase in hunger and water crises, especially in developing countries health risks through rising air temperatures and heatwaves  economic implications of dealing with secondary damage related to climate change  increasing spread of pests and pathogens loss of biodiversity due to limited adaptability and adaptability speed of flora and fauna   ocean acidification due to increased HCO3 concentrations in the water as a consequence of increased CO₂ concentrations the need for adaptation in all areas (e.g. agr...

                       Main causes: Runoff from Agricultural Operations.  Runoff and Nonpoint Source  Pollution .  Industrial Activities.  Leakage from Underground Storage and Piping.  Leaking Sewers.  Vehicle Emissions.  Landfill Leakage.  Hazardous Waste. Solutions: Wastewater treatment. Wastewater treatment consists of removing pollutants from wastewater through a physical, chemical or biological process.  Green agriculture.  Stormwater management.  Air pollution prevention.  Plastic waste reduction.  Water conservation.

                       Today's CO2 levels are at a comparable 414ppm and levels are rising. Dr Thomas Chalk, who co-authored the study, said: "Focusing on a past interval when the incoming insolation from the Sun was the same as today gives us a way to study how Earth responds to CO2 forcing."Currently, our CO2 levels are rising at about 2.5 ppm per year, meaning that by 2025 we will have exceeded anything seen in the last 3.3 million years." The Southampton researchers analysed tiny fossils from the Caribbean Sea to reconstruct Earth's ancient atmosphere. Dr Elwyn de la Vega, who led the study, said: “Knowledge of CO2 during the geological past is of great interest because it tells us how the climate system, ice sheets and sea-level previously responded to the elevated CO2 levels. "We studied this particular interval in unprecedented detail because it provides great contextual information for our current climate state”.Accordi...

                                 2020 is set to be the warmest year on record, according to data from different sources, including NASA. This is even more remarkable despite it not being an El Niño extreme weather event year. The first nine months of the year saw record concentrations of major greenhouse gases like CO2, methane, and nitrous oxide. Arctic sea ice extent was also at record low levels for much of the summer. While this year will be memorable for many reasons, it is now more likely than not that 2020 will also be the warmest year for the Earth’s surface since reliable records began in the mid-1800s.  This is all the more remarkable because it will lack any major  El Niño event  – a factor that has contributed to most prior record warm years.  However, with three months remaining, there is still some uncertainty. There is a chance that a growing La Niña in the tropical Pa...

                           Mayor oil spills: The Amoco Cadiz Oil Spill (1978)  The Castillo de Bellver Oil Spill (1983)   The Incidents at the Nowruz Oil Field (1983)   The Kolva River Spill (1994)   The Mingbulak (or Fergana Valley) Oil Spill (1992)  The Atlantic Empress Oil Spill (1979)  The Ixtoc 1 Oil Spill (1979)  BP's Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill (2010) Environmental consequences: Oil destroys the insulating ability of fur-bearing mammals, such as sea otters, and the water repellency of a bird's feathers, thus exposing these creatures to the harsh elements. Without the ability to repel water and insulate from the cold water, birds and mammals will die from hypothermia. Juvenile sea turtles can also become trapped in oil and mistake it for food. Dolphins and whales can inhale oil, which can affect lungs, immune function and reproduction. Ma...

                         Since the mid-1980s, Arctic surface air temperatures have warmed at least twice as fast as the global average. This has potentially large implications not only for Arctic ecosystems, but also for the global climate through various feedbacks such as thawing permafrost releasing methane into the atmosphere. The 2020 Arctic sea-ice extent minimum after the summer melt was 3.74 million km2, marking only the second time on record that it shrank to less than 4 million km2.  Record low sea-ice extents were observed in the months of July and October. Record high temperatures north of the Arctic Circle in Siberia triggered an acceleration of sea-ice melt in the East Siberian and Laptev Seas, which saw a prolonged marine heatwave. The sea-ice retreat during the summer 2020 in the Laptev Sea was the earliest observed in the satellite era. The Greenland ice sheet continued to lose mass...