One of the consequences of the rapid industrialization has been the entering of artificial wastes into the air and water which have posed dangers to human and wildlife. Since the dawning of industrial revolution man has been making use of such ways which though help him in making his work quick and easy but have been adversely affecting the earth's environment. For millions of years we have known a world whose resources seemed illimitable. However fast we cut down trees, nature unaided would replace them. However much sewage we dumped into the river, nature would purify it. Today we have reached the stage of realizing that rivers can be polluted past praying for, that seas can be over fished and the forests must be managed and fostered if they are not to vanish.

The fact is that we are just beginning to press up against the limits of the earth capacity. We begin to have to watch what we are doing to things like water, oxygen and fossil fuels. We needlessly intervene in nature's transactions. For instance, we cut down the forests which transpire water and oxygen, we build dams and pipelines which limit the movement of animals, we pave the earth and build water reservoirs altering the water cycle. So far, nature has brushed off these injuries as pinpricks. But now we are becoming so strong, that they are beginning to hurt.

The consequences of this rapid industrialization of man have been nothing short of devastating. Rivers are getting more and more polluted, Animals are becoming extinct, Fish are dying due to Water pollution and the earth's climate is also changing. This in turn, has resulted in Global Warming. Global Warming is defined as the rise in global temperature on the earth. Global warming is happening. But we can do something about it. The evidence that global warming is real is clear and compelling. Measurements taken from taken from all over the world have shown that the average global temperatures have been on a rise. Since only the 19th century the average surface temperature of the earth has increased by an alarming 1 degree Fahrenheit. Adding to that, 1998 was the warmest year ever recorded. The signs are not good. If the earth continues to warm at the pace the scientists predict then the temperature of the earth may rise by as much as 2-3°C by the year 2100. This rapid change in earth's climate would be harmful to ecosystems and human and wildlife. Warmer global temperatures are also expected to produce a more vigorous hydrological cycle, with the strong prospect of more severe droughts, floods in geographical areas prone to those types of events.

Has the Climate Already Changed?

Historical records show that the climate has changed in the last one hundred years. Among the trends established were the following:

• Global mean surface temperature has increased from 0.5 to 1.1°F (0.3 - 0.6°C) with night-time minimums increasing more than day-time maximums.
  
  

• The 10 warmest years since 1860 have all been since 1980.
  
  

• Sea level has risen between 3.9 and 10 in. (10 - 25 cm) because of thermal expansion of the oceans.
  
  

• The mean annual air temperatures of Antarctica have increased steadily since the 1950s.
  
  

• The persistent 1990 to mid-1995 warm phase of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation event was exceptional in the 120-year record of the phenomenon.
  

Some sources project an increase in precipitation intensity, that is, more frequent rain- and snowfall of extreme magnitudes. Additional future adverse impacts from projected global warming include the possibilities of coastal flooding; severe stress on forests, wetlands and other ecosystems as plant species ranges are altered on an accelerated time scale; dislocation of agriculture and commerce for similar reasons; and damage to human health from changes in the dissemination of serious infectious diseases.

About Heat-Trapping-Gas Emissions

Human activities produce emissions of several gases that scientists believe will contribute to global warming. The chart below lists emissions levels for these gases, along with the human-caused emission sources. The last column of the chart lists the "direct global warming potential" of each gas -- a measure the Intergovernmental Panel has devised to show "the possible warming effect on the surface-troposphere system arising from the emission of each gas relative to carbon dioxide." The chart shows, for example, that the Panel concludes that each ton of methane will have 11 times the global warming impact over a hundred-year period as a ton of carbon dioxide. Even though total emissions of chlorofluorocarbons are quite small compared with emissions of carbon dioxide, their impact is significant since their global warming potential is so large. Nevertheless, carbon dioxide emissions still account for about half the total global warming potential of emissions from human sources.