Wednesday, April 29, 2009

The change of weather

The change of weather

With an introduction By: Magdy Abd Al-Shafy

Its only in recent years that the problem of pollution so brazenly began to challenge life in all of its forms, chemicals are widely used with the result that new disease have appeared . All forms of life are in danger because of the unwise use of chemicals that contaminated the air and the sea and the land. The worst of all is the global warming that has affected the weather all over the world and this ,in its turn, has affected all forms of life and many disasters are lurking and lying in ambush. For the sake of brevity we mention some effects of the use of chemicals on human life as well as the animal life.

Pesticides, widely used pollutants , not only has affected the weather but also the human health.

In terms of general human health effects, pesticides can ...

affect and damage the nervous system;

cause liver damage;

damage DNA and cause a variety of cancers;

cause reproductive and endocrine damage;

cause other acutely toxic or chronic effects.

The effects of Mercury on human health

central nervous system effects like Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, and Alzheimer's disease;

heart disease;

  • and, in severe cases, causing death or irreversibly damaging areas of the brain.

The effect of

PCBs, Dioxins, and Other POPs

PCBs, dioxins, DDT, and a number of other persist ant organic pollutants don't readily break down in the environment and tend to collect in the fatty tissues of animals. All of these chemicals are toxic for the animals that harbor them. In cases where humans might eat, say, a PCB-contaminated frames salmon

, their systems must deal with the chemical insult.

Here are a few specific examples of the effects of POPs-related water pollution:

  • PCB contamination in Puget Sound exceeds the level known to suppress immune function in the harbor seal. PCBs are also thought to be a factor in the decline of Puget Sound killer whales, whose numbers declined by 14% between 1995 and 2003.

  • Elevated levels of PCBs and DDT may be contributing to the deaths of California southern sea otters.

  • The breeding success of Baltic seals declined sharply in the 1960s and 1970s. Scientists suspect that PCBs were the main culprit.

  • Deformed fish and other aquatic life have been found near Swedish pulp mills that use chlorine as a bleaching agent—a practice that results in discharges of dioxins and other highly toxic substances.

  • The following diagram shows to what extent chemicals may affect human health.

Global warming is imparting extra heat to our oceans, which have absorbed about 20 times as much heat as the atmosphere over the past half-century. The ocean is a complex system, and scientists don't know yet what all of the effects of this type of "water pollution" will be, but here are some likely ones:

  • Sea levels will rise (because of thermal expansion and melting ice), increasing coastal flooding and inundation.

  • There will be more intense hurricanes as they gather additional strength from warmer surface waters.

  • Temperature-sensitive species like corals will see tougher times. The Pew Oceans Commission notes that an increase in the mean sea-surface temperature of only 2 degrees F could cause the global destruction of coral reef ecosystems.

  • Increasing sea-surface temperatures are associated with the northward spread of a oyster pathogen in the eastern US. Similar cases are highly likely

A scientific study says that changes in the weather may have led to disappearance of many creatures by the year 2050. After a long keen study in six places in the world , it is reported that one fourth of the living creatures that live on the earth will be extinct. They also say that applying the strict procedures of restricting and reducing the rate of the gases that cause global worming may save many species of animals. The united Nations affirms that not only is animal life in danger but also human life also is too. This study was aided with data taken from the British Commission for the study of the weather change.

In another report, titled “ The expected danger of the disappearance of animals and the change in weather, scientists published a study that was applied on places where various living beings live; this area approaches(20%) of the total area of the earth. Electronic advanced technology were used in the study on mammals , plants, birds, reptiles, frogs and butterflies. This study was concerned with animals and birds’ reaction to any change in the temperature of the weather. Scientists have set three probabilities of the consequences of weather changes; these are consequences resulting from weak changes in the weather change, consequences resulting from moderate change in the temperature of the weather and the consequences resulting from the utmost degree in the change of the temperature of the weather.

The search team affirms that between (15%-37%) of the animals in the area that search was done on are liable to extinction because of the weather change in the few coming years, if we generalize these data on the world, says the leader of the team, a lot of species will be extinct as their habitation will no longer suit them ,in addition , many species won’t be able to emigrate into other suitable habitation.

The consequences of the weather change are really gruesome; the least change in weather would bring forth the loss of (18%) of living creatures till 2050, moderate change in weather temperature would bring about (24%) of animal loss. In case of the utmost change in weather temperature, the loss of animals will be (35%).

In this study, One of the scientists who studied weather change says matters will go on as if we can’t do any thing to avert that debacle, we should do anything to keep the least scenario of that disaster.

Another study says if a million of creatures are extinct, milliard of people, especially those who live in developing countries, will face famines because they depend on nature for food and medicine and many other things

Marine damage

Scientists affirm that the quantity of carbon dioxide that oceans absorb has decreased to (50%), with help of

technologically equipped ships that measured the ratios of carbon dioxide, we have got 90 samples that all affirm this fact.

A ten-year keen study on the north of the Atlantic ocean shows that between the middle of the 90s to 2005 , the rate decreased to (50%), scientists say the rise of the earth temperature will go on if the quantity of the absorbed gases that causes global warming goes on.

Researches published in the National Geographic say the results they have reached were stunning as there were some reasons that assure that it is enough ,oceans are absorbed with gases emissions, scientists still affirm the fact that the less oceans absorb gases, the more the global warming rises.

BBC head of environmentalist says that researchers are at loss concerning the etiology standing behind this change; some attribute it to changes in the weather while others attribute to other changes, yet they all say these researches worry them so much as in the course of time the oceans will be saturated with our gases emissions, thus these oceans will be unable to absorb any more and the left gases will surely rise the temperature of the weather, half of the quantity of Carbon dioxide will turn into coal residue.

Another study from Proudman lab for oceanology says that the international level of see level remained stable on the span of the last 2000 years; the change was only 2 CM during this long period yet by the turn of the present century ,we expect that sea level may rise to (0.8-1.5 meter), this fast change in the rate of the sea level is connected with the rate of ice melting in the two polars.

This rise in the sea level will badly affect the lower regions of countries .

Saymon Holgete says that there are tenable proofs that there are some changes in the level of water in sea in the last few thousand years that preceded the last three hundred years, there are some archeological proofs deduced from the study of fish rearing basins that the Roman built, these shows so little rise in water during the last two thousand years, if this ratio is compared with the rise in water during the last three hundred years , it would be awful rate, the rate of water has reached (3CM) a year, concerned scientists even expect that this rise may increase in the future.

Fauna and flora at danger

A new scientific study says that the change in the weather has led to changes in the life of animal and plants , the rise in temperature by one degree may lead to the extinction of some animals, moreover this rise affects the development of some animals in their mother’s wombs.

The Holy Quran, though condemns the unwise human being interference in nature, it has prophesied the change in weather and the corollaries that will be ensued both on the land and the sea and even determined who is responsible, God says in Quran what means “ Evil has appeared on land and sea because of what the hands of men have earned.”

(2) The holy Quran is the first book that has warned against tampering with the conditions of the earth after God had made it fine-tuned and tailored it to fit the human life, God says in this regard what means” Do no mischief on the earth, after it hath been set in order” (Al-Araf:56)

The Holy Quran is the first book that warn against extravagance, God says what means"But waste not by excess, for Allah loveth not the wasters."

The holy Quran says that people will go beyond every limit in earning wealth; rich countries that based its ideology on secularism are the ones that tampered with nature to earn huge wealth and they polluted the nature, The Holy Quran says in this regard what means”yet, even after that, many of them continued to commit excesses in the land.” ( Al-Ma’eda:31)

The Holy Quran has warned against those who do mischief in the earth for the purpose of the excessive extravagance and luxuriousness and the milliards spent on what displeases God, in the following verse God has correlated between doing mischief in the earth and tampering with nature, including the fauna and flora…this holy verse implies the extinction of some animals because of the human tampering with nature.

The following verse really expresses the dilema and condemns it so much, God says in the Holy Quran what means"

And when he turns back, he runs along in the land that he may cause mischief in it and destroy the tilth and the stock, and Allah does not love mischief-making.