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1 GLOBAL WARMING AND ITS EFFECTS ON MIGRATION IN SOUTH ASIA Name Course Date 2 Abstract The history of the earth has been faced with natural calamities. The earth has experienced episodes of warming and cooling time to time. Whenever the orbit of the earth shifts, and the sun's intensity has changed leading to the warming of the earth and the climate change at large. It is on this that the research is based (Butler et. al 2014). The research will have five major parts. The first part will be the introduction, and it will have a punch line on the topic. It will include primarily the awareness that the reader needs to connect with the subject of research. The second part will contain the goals and the objectives of the study therein. The second part will explain the general and the specific aims of this particular research on global warming. The different chapter arrangement will each be done separately as analysis of each is fixed. The study will also cover the theory and results of the research. It is here that the problem statement and findings will be unveiled and discussed in details. The particulars of this chapter will include the greenhouse effect among other causes and impact of the global warming in the selected area of study. The final part of the research paper will deal with conclusions. This section will give a recap of the findings and the deduction of the study as far as the project of research is concerned. Introduction Global warming starts when the sun’s rays enter the earth’s atmosphere and finds its way into the earth’s crust. The clouds and humidity in the atmosphere absorb only about 30% of this 3 light and energy while the greater percentage finds its way into the earth is surface and absorbed by both land and oceans on Earth . . The remaining little amount of the radiation is reflected back into space. The radiation that finds its ways into the earth’s surface heats up the surface of the earth and the atmosphere resulting to unbearable life on the earth. The earth gets warm and as it attempts to cool, the radiation tries to be radiated back into space as infrared heat. In the event of thermal radiation, the radiation is reabsorbed by the atmospheric water vapor, the environmental carbon dioxide, and other atmospheric gasses. These environmental gases are referred to as greenhouse gases because of their ability to trap heat. It is necessary that re-absorption take place to maintain the earth’s average temperature. The tragedy is when the re-absorption raises the temperature of the earth past the average temperature thereby increasing the levels of heat past the standard quantity. Findings Causes of global warming There are many causes of global warming. The causes can be hugely classified into natural causes and man-made causes. Natural causes Natural causes occur naturally without the influence of the activity of human. Therefore, the human has no power to regulate the natural causes of global warming. One main cause is the 4 release of methane gas from the arctic tundra. Methane is one of the gases referred to as greenhouse gases . A greenhouse gas can trap heat in the atmosphere of the earth. The earth is known to go through a cycle of climate change, which takes approximately 40,000years . Man-made Causes Man-made causes are the most dangerous because they are responsible for the great damage observed on earth today. There are several man-made causes. Among the biggest is pollution. Pollution is making the environment unclean owing to the activities of man on earth. Pollution comes in different aspects. The main causes of air pollution are the burning of fossil fuels. The fossils fuels are organic in content and therefore when burnt they emit the greenhouse gases majorly the carbon dioxide . During mining of coal and petroleum, methane escapes to the surface of the earth because the both contain organic substances and methane is no exception. One big issue of concern is how the methane escapes. Methane is found in the ground. During mining of the fossils, methane finds its way out and spread all over the atmosphere of the earth. The more the quantity of the methane gas goes up in the atmosphere the more danger it poses on earth . The population is another cause of global warming. When the earth experiences a population growth, it means that more food will be required to feed the swelling population. Consequently, transportation using vehicles and even train among other modes of transport will be needed to take food to the destinations of the earth where the population is. Because of burning fossils in the vehicles, methane is emitted into the atmosphere and more global warming is experienced because methane is indeed a greenhouse gas. More agriculture will be observed to 5 feed the swelling population(Butler et. al 2014).. One thing that is of concern is that to harvest more than manure and fertilizers will be us. If we use manure to grow crops, and manure is organic, then apparently methane will find its way out of the organic manure. Therefore, manure is one source of methane that must be known. It is important to note that during transportation as well, the gases exhaust from the cars cause air pollution and released gases. The gases can also trap heat and increase the rate of warming of the earth’s atmosphere. The fact that many people have more than one car each also contributes a great deal to the pollution effects in Asia. Carbon dioxide is one main cause of global warming because it is one primary content of the greenhouse gases. An increase in population becomes very dangerous and a major cause of the global warming because when we breathe out, we exhale carbon dioxide, and that means that a large population will result in a lot of the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Man has also resorted to cut down trees without climate considerations . Trees are a very important commodity when it comes to purification of the environment. However, the rate at which trees are cut has put the earth in a daring danger of the global warming. Trees use carbon dioxide for photosynthesis and consequently, give out oxygen. Oxygen is harmless and reduces the atmospheric content of the carbon dioxide. When trees are absent, then carbon dioxide is never absorbed from the environment and this means that, the global warming will be at its height. We actually are required to replace each tree e cut down by two trees. Consequences of global change The occupants of the earth have already felt the dire implications of the global warming. Trees and plants are flowering earlier not like it used to be previously. Glaciers are also melting 6 leading to the increase in the ocean water levels. It consequently leads to flooding. Ice on rivers and water bodies also disintegrate earlier than usual(Butler et. al 2014).. There have been experiences of intense heat waves; the levels of the sea waters have also raised at an alarming rate and sea ice have also disintegrated. The predictions by the scientists are that there will be a continued rise in the global temperature mainly owing to the greenhouse effects because of the human activities. There is a forecast of a rise of 2.5 degrees to 10 degrees in the next century . Going by the results released by IPCC, the climate change effects will alter according to the adaptation of every part of the environment. The yearly net cost as predicted by scientists will increase as the global temperature rises(Butler et. al 2014). The damage cost of the environment will be very costly . Taking a look at the effects of the global warming in a few countries as shown. In North America, the snow back decrease has been recorded to decrease in the western mountains. Rain-fed agriculture has increased thereby leading to an increase in yield by about five to ten percent. There has been increase length of time of the heat waves and the intensity of waves(Butler et. al 2014). In Latin America, there has been significant replacement of the tropical forest vegetation in Amazonia. There has also been extinction of some species leading to loss of biodiversity. The has also been changes in the water availability used by the human for agriculture and even domestic purposes. If this is not enough, there have been cases of losses of species and reduction of productivity and yield from the crop harvests 7 In Europe, the change is not any better, inland flash floods are experienced as the storms and the levels of sea have risen. Glaciers in the mountains have recorded retreat as snow cover during winter seasons reduce. In Africa, it is projected that by 2020, there will be increased inadequacy of water and the agricultural yields will reduce by 50%. The food situation in Africa will be completely compromised and access to food will be a nightmare(Butler et. al 2014).. In Asia, which is our region of study in this case, the availability of water will be compromised in Central Asia, East, and Southeast Asia by 2050 . The coastal areas of Asia however will experience massive flooding and increase in the death rate because of waterborne disease associated with flood. Finally, some regions will experience droughts if the residents are not careful(Butler et. al 2014). Global Warming Impacts To feel the urgency of global warming, we ought to understand how it affects us in the world. The sea levels are increasing as glaciers melts. The high temperature and severe rainstorm are becoming an everyday occurrences in the area(Butler et. al 2014).. To find practical solutions to these problems, scientists are evaluating the extent and effects of climate change across the globe. At this juncture, we are going to look into the connections between the climate data we have around us and the projected changes that are yet to be recorded(White et al, 2011),. Melting of polar ice caps and flooding When evaluating the effects of the global warming, it is widely experienced in the poles more than every other place. The ice that is all over is melting, mountain glacier notwithstanding. 8 The melting ice leads to an increase of sea level thereby causing unnecessary melting. When the melting takes place then the ability of the ice to reflect light goes down and this means that much heat will b absorbed as a result and the rate of global warming will escalate even further. There are cities that have shown signs of sinking due to the melting of the ice. Venice and Guyana have exhibited such characteristic. If we look at the report of 2001, the sea level has roughly climbs at a rate of 0.2 inches annually(Shah et al. 1994). Irregular Weather Patterns The rate of precipitation has gone up significant in the whole world. There are also widespread irregular weather patterns, which have diverse effects on human beings. There have been storms, which have damaged property worth millions . The rate of heat will increase evaporation and this will be the reason of increase in the rain. Because of this effect, animals can never adapt to rains and snow hence the only option will be to migrate to other safer places. If this does not take place then the animals will die and plants will automatically die because they are, immobile .The ecosystem will face very adverse challenges(Dharampal, Gita, Monika , Rachel and Jahnavi et al. 2016). Another dangerous experience will be Hurricanes and storms. The water from oceans will warm up and evaporate leading to heating up of the air around and this will result to hurricanes. An increase in temperature means that more water will evaporate and that hurricanes will be experienced in even more stronger intensity .There are very devastating effects of hurricanes that are worth noting. First, hurricanes destroy massively properties; leads to displacement of settled people also destroy general structure that is meant to help humans in their day-to-day activities. 9 An example of a famous hurricane that ever took place was the Katrina hurricane.\ and its diverse effects are still felt today all over the world. Changes in Food Production The human population in the world is to blame for the food problems that have been experienced in the past. It is predicted that the future of the world and food will be a big problem. In fact, food issue is one huge problem. Due to increase in temperature, plants will not cope and many plants will die. Most plants are used by humans for consumption. In fact, they are used either as food or for medicinal value (Miller & Debra 364). If the plants die then it means that man will not only suffer from hunger but also from shortage or absolute lack of medicine. In biology, green plants make their own food in the presence of sunlight. The process is known as photosynthesis. Human who are heterotrophic, directly depend on the plants for food. When the temperature is very high, the process may not take place because photosynthesis is enzyme controlled. The enzymes involved will be denatured by the height temperature hence the process will fail to complete. The result will be lack of food for the plant itself also for the human. Pests that depend on the plant for food will also migrate because they will be lacking food. It is obvious that when the pests get to a new area they will spoil and damage vegetation of such new areas. . Plants create food for themselves through a process called photosynthesis. The enzymes that are needed for photosynthesis die when exposed to high temperatures. Pests may also 10 migrate to new areas and destroy the crops there . Pests may migrate from tropical countries to temperate countries. Droughts and Desertification Droughts are occurring in more and more places in the world due to higher temperatures. Droughts mean there is no water for plants to grow . Agriculture would be severely affected. When there are no plants, humans have nothing to eat. There are also no plants to feed animals and so humans cannot eat animals either. The high temperatures can also cause heat strokes and other illnesses to humans. It is therefore clear that drought will be common on earth. Ethiopia for instance will experience a decrease in amount of rainfall by about 10%. In fact as at now, Ethiopia is experiencing serious droughts. Changing Ecosystems Animals have migrating to new areas and strived to adapt to the areas. Foxes have moved to cooler areas in order to have a good climate change. Migration evidently destroys the balance of the ecosystem . When a specific species migrates then it is obvious that the niche and the role of that trophic level are deleted from the ecosystem. The rest of the trophic levels will have to abruptly change their ways and are likely to die. It means that the ecosystem is completely destroyed. The impact of this change to the environment would affect every other aspect of life. Human beings will also be affected especially when it comes to food and medicine. 11 As a result, the species that are symbiotic will possibly be incompatible. For instance, plants will bloom earlier before the insects are ready for pollination and this will automatically change the ecosystem because the symbiotic roles of the insects and the plants will have changed and will no longer get along in the ecosystem. For this reason, some species will have to shift to other places where they can take up their niche. This will lead to competition with the species that take up the same roles in the new places they migrate to. Competition will therefore mean that these who are ill adapted will naturally be selected against. If they die then it means that the species will go extinct in the face of the earth(Shah et al. 1994) . Human Health The rising temperatures will affect the human health and lead to outbreak of diseases like skin cancer. The human body will be exposed to extreme temperatures, which will contain varied rays from the sun, and these rays have different effects. In 2003, it is in memory than heat waves struck Europe and many people died as a result. Then when temperatures keep rising then more human population will experience deaths of similar kind . Diseases like malaria are also likely to spread because conditions will be favorable for the breeding of mosquito. If parasites migrate from tropic al to temperate regions then the tropical illnesses will find their way to the temperate regions. Asthma will also spread world over because the causative allergens of such respiratory diseases will be at large (Bulliet, Richard ,Pamela , Daniel , Steven ,Lyman and David et al. 2014 ). Changes are likely to take place if the rate of emission of the carbon dioxide and methane take place. One thing is that these gases are very toxic and this means that they are likely to poison the human beings . When the poison gets into an ecosystem and along the food chain then 12 we are likely to experience a change in the ecosystem. Heavy metals and radiations will also affect the ecosystem that will be self-pollution(Faris et al. 2009). The poisons run down the food chain f4om one trophic level to another, this becomes highly toxic, and finally the ecosystem is destroyed. In the overall, there are plentiful ecological impacts as a result of increase in temperature, climate change, and global warming. The impacts could be avoided if the human population could take good care of the environment. . Causes of Climate Change Global warming cause’s climate change when the incoming energy can never be sustained. The factors that cause climate change can also be divided into natural and human factors When we look at natural causes of climate change, we can cite continental drift, volcanoes, earths tilt among others. Continental drift is simply the separation of the earth surface into different landmasses known as continents. Apart from the normal global warming effect, the drift caused the changes in the climate change throughout the continents. Volcanoes, which also cause global warming lead to the climate, change, the green house effect notwithstanding. When volcanic eruptions take place, green house gases are emitted and this increases the amount of heat held on the atmosphere and as a result, global warming sets in and climate change is the dire consequence(Faris et al. 2009). 13 . Effects of global warming in rural development Everyone goes through environmental problems to an extent, for instance, pastoralists have been affected by the depleted vegetation due to global warming. Rural communities therefore are also affected by this menace. The vulnerability of the people around the affected areas has even increased due to impending effects. Global warming has changed the agricultural patterns of the communities thereby leading to food insecurities and food scarcity(Shah et al. 1994). . The result of this is that people in the rural areas have become so vulnerable that they languish in abject poverty. All the forests and vegetation have faced damage from the looming heat crisis leading to death of the pastoralist community across the world, Asia notwithstanding. In Asia, such problems have resulted to people migrating to look for a better environment where they can settle. Most Asians are observed to be seeking refuge in the United States and other continents(White et al, 2011),. Responding effectively to global warming Climate change is a big threat to sustainable development and food and water security in the world. The impacts of global warming have undermined human effort to make positive changes on the surface of the earth. Ironically, human is the main cause of the global warming 14 that is now threatening to poss. a danger to human. The development goals of the countries in Asia and the international community(Faris et al. 2009) . . Migration effects of Asian Globalization is the interaction and integration in governments and people of different nations with an aim to trade internationally and attaining of technological expertise. There are factors like culture, which receive a big blow from the climate change. There is a misinterpretation of looking at culture as having only been influence by global warming. To an extent, (Faris et al. 2009) it is true, environmental degradation has affected the culture of the Asian people. Many researchers have found out that the nomadic communities in Asia have been affected. The effects have made sure the nomadic communities are always on their toes looking for pasture and water. Many people have been forced to embrace the nomadic pattern of life to counter the adverse effects of global warming . Migration is one human solution to the effects of global warming because if they do not migrate and change environment then they will face death and get extinct. Culture is an important aspect of human life and should be preserved. The global warming problem therefore affects culture too. It is evident that there are many people from Asia migrating due to the rise in temperature and atmospheric heat content to other continents that they feel are safer. In the event of migrating, they tend to loose their culture owing to the intermingling with people of different culture where they go. Some people are forced to change their religion in order to suit the environment and because of vulnerability, they comply to get along (Shah et al. 1994) . 15 Global warming and economy Global warming can affect the economy positively or negatively. In Asia, we shall look at the negative effects of global warming on economy (Faris et al. 2009). People think the extent to which global warming has gone is irreparable and any attempts to do salvage the earth is impossible . However, it is more costly to watch than to put effort to counter the effects. The effects of global warming could bring an economic disruption similar to the one witness during the world wars(White et al, 2011),. The effects in Asia the climate change have affected access to food and water. Health access and the general environment have been affected hence greatly. The effects have in turn led to economic down fall because if the population cannot access health care then it is not a productive community . When Asians cannot access good food production then their economy is dwindling because economy relies largely on agriculture and food production. In 2001, it was seen that the GDP of the country was at risk. It is for this reason that many Asians opted to migrate to salvage their dwindling economy also seeks medical care. They went to Europe and the United States where they felt they were safe (Davies, Mark, Christophe Béné, Alexander , Thomas, Andrew, and Cristina et al. 2013) . The demand for fundamental elements that are required to sustain life will keep growing as the population of Asia also grows . It is of course expected that population keeps growing because Asia consists of a highly productive population. If population increases in future then the prediction is that there will be land shortage. Food will be a problem as much as water(Hossain, Moazzem, Tapan Sarker, and Malcolm et al. 2013 ). Apparently, there are major effects on the environment of Asia. As anticipated, more effects on environment are likely to be observed. The researchers who study economy have proven that the effects of the expected severe storms in the content will be so severe that more 16 people will be expected to migrate . It will even grow worse as the population also grows. Hurricanes are expected to severely affect the economy of the continent. One other problem that has been observed in Asia is desertification. It is a situation where there is water shortage in Asia and brings about general shortage of food supply. Food prices have increased before due to this problem. The crops around such places have matured quicker than before but with little yields (Shah et al. 1994). It therefore forced people who could not adapt to the environment to migrate to other places with favorable climate. This affects the economy of Asia because the task force is running away. As known also, it is clear than if the water levels raised Asia, there was a severe damage of structures and loss of land. The efforts to try reclaim the lost land under the sea was so costly and they had to loss the fight against the reclamation of the submerged land, Consequently, there was mass wastage of funds, sewer systems found its way into the land. The land that to have been used for agriculture could no longer is productive. The infrastructure on the land was destroyed thus giving Asia a fresh start on such vital aspects of economy in their country. The roads were spoilt and due to all these problems(White et al, 2011),, they were forced to move to a better place where they could adapt to the environment and move on working on their economy. The general solution to the economy of the areas stricken by the adverse effects of the global warming is the salvage of the planet earth . Taking care of the planet is one healthy thing that the occupants of the planet can do to make the planet a better place to be. We should make the earth safer and less costly to life (An, Zhisheng, Youbin, Hong, Peizhen, Xiaodong, Yanjun and Zhangdong, et al. 2014). Life on planet will be adversely affected if we do not embrace new 17 ethics and practices of handling our activities on earth. We should shun activities that will allow more global warming to make the earth a better place. We should work on reducing the effects of the global warming rather than merely thinking that there is little we can do. We are the agents of change on the planet earth and unless we act, no one will. Many things can affect the way the earth progresses in 20 to 100 years to come. Conclusion Everybody should take action, make the earth better place for our children, and try to avoid calamities that could happen as a result of the global warming menace. In as much as the earth seems to have been damaged and the damage is irreversible, we can work together for the human race to ensure that not more global warming takes place. It is evident that we are part of the destiny of the earth and the decisions we make today will affect the future of the earth. It is, therefore, important to note that Asia has suffered the effect of climate change when there is a lot they could do to help the situation. We need to learn from Asia that migration may be a shortterm solution to the global warming problem. What is important is the action we take after the problem has occurred IT is (White et al, 2011); therefore, important to try to reach a solution though not permanent those, which will carefully help, reduce the completely human activities that put the planet in the danger zone. 18 19 Bibliography An, Zhisheng, Youbin Sun, Hong Chang, Peizhen Zhang, Xiaodong Liu, Yanjun Cai, Zhangdong Jin, et al. 2014. "Late Cenozoic Climate Change in Monsoon-Arid Asia and Global Changes". Butler, C. D. 2014. Climate Change and Global Health. Wallingford: CABI Bulliet, Richard W., Pamela Kyle Crossley, Daniel R. Headrick, Steven W. Hirsch, Lyman L. Johnson, and David Northrup. 2014. The earth and its peoples: a global history. Volume II, Volume II. Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning. Davies, Mark, Christophe Béné, Alexander Arnall, Thomas Tanner, Andrew Newsham, and Cristina Coirolo. 2013. 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Climate change and migration: security and borders in a warming world. Oxford: Oxford University Press.