By:Heba Numan Harara

Submitted to:Dr: KhalilTubail

What is climate change?

A substantial change in the region average weather pattern including average temperature, precipitation & wind (Earth Reform, 2012).

•When due to natural processes, it is usually referred to as global climate variability.•Usually refers to changesforced by human activities that change the atmosphere.

• The earth has warmed by over 0.5C in the last 100 years.

• Models predict that by the year 2100, the world’s mean temperature will rise an additional 1.8 to 4.0°C, sea levels will rise 0.18 to 0.59 m, and weather variability will increase significantly.

The Earth is warming

Predicting the future – average temperature increases predicted by 2100

k2

NASA data for Jan-Apr 2010, 0.75oC above 1951-1980 base period

1996-2000

2003-2007

What causes Earth’s climate to change?

• Changes in the atmosphere• Natural processes

– Volcanoes – Tectonic plate movement– Changes in the sun

• Human activities – any activity that releases “greenhouse gases” into the atmosphere

• The earth’s atmosphere (the air that we breathe) contains a number of so called greenhouse gases.

• The ones most closely associated with global warming are carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4).

The greenhouse effect

Green house gasesGreenhouse gases absorb and• Carbon dioxide• Nitrous oxide

hold heat in the atmosphere.• Methane

IPCC Third Assessment Report - Climate Change 2001: The Scientific Basis –Technical Summary. Geneva, 2001.

Causes of the climate change• Deforestation and other

changes to the use of land.

Man-Made Activities

o Wood loggingo Building houseso Farming

Deforestation Account for 23% of man-made CO2 emissions.

( Arkives, 2013)

Climate Change

Climate Change

CAUSES• Burning of fossil fuel

for energy Coal is burn to produce

electricity from coal power plants,

gas to heat homes. oil to drive cars.

Contributing to production of greenhouse gases.

Climate Change

Climate Change

Causes ……..• Increase in population more people burning

fossil fuels for energy.

o In 2005, about 27 billion tones of CO2 released into the atmosphere (Arkives, 2013).

Climate Change

Climate Change

Causes……..• Other man-made chemical

reactions.

1.Fluorinated gases- Man-made gases use in

refrigerators, aerosols.

High global warming gases greatly depleting the ozone layer.

2. CO2, and CH4 from breakdown of waste in landfills.

(Earth Reforms, 2012)

Climate Change

Climate Change

1. Sea-level rise : a few cm to a few meters

•0.61 m or 61 cm :U.S. would lose 25899.8811square kilometers.• 0.9 m or 90 cm : Would inundate Miami• Affects erosion, loss of wetlands, freshwatersupplies•Half of the world’s population lives along coasts

The effects of climate change

Pakistan, August 2010

•If all the snow melted in the world's sea level would rise 65.8 meters !!? Do you know what that means ?? mean that Beirut and Alexandria, Tripoli and Tunis will be in the Mediterranean seabed, while the Cairo city will be at the coastal line!•Also mean that Baghdad and Kuwait, Doha, Bahrain and Dubai will become in the bottom of the Gulf.

2. Glaciers are melting away worldwide

Agassiz Glacier, Montana, in

1913…

Pasterze Glacier, Austria, in

1875…

…and in 2005

…and in 2004

Effects……..3. Poor Health & Deatho Polluted atmosphere-increased

respiratory illness.o CC causes over 800, 000 deaths

annually (WHO, 2012).o 150, 000 of these deaths from air

pollution.o Children more vulnerable to

poor ambient air quality.(WHO, Earth Reform, 2012)

Climate Change

Climate Change

Effects

4. Flooding and Draught

Change in precipitation pattern.

Parts of the world will be draught & others floods.

Affect crop field -food shortage , fresh water supply & housing.

(Earth Reform, 2012)

Climate Change

Climate Change

Effects ………5. Global Warming

Increase in planet average temperature due to greenhouse gases.

Extreme weather pattern shift in all regions of the world

(Earth Reform, 2012)

Climate Change

Climate Change

Effects ……..6. Extinction of many species

1.Due to Extreme weather conditions.

2.Chemical fishing etc.

o polar birds, turtle, dolphins etc.(IPSOR, 2013)

& birds

Climate Change

Climate Change

Effects……..7.Risk of Human Extinction.

Natural food supply shortage

Polluted rivers, lakes &oceans with toxic materials.

Shortage of water supply. Polluted air –High risk of

airborne diseases(Earth Reform, 2012)

Climate Change

Climate Change

ObservedChanges and Effects

Overall effect Water• Increased water shortages from lower rainfall and

higher evaporation• Increased storm water flooding from greater

rainfall variability• Insufficient rain to recharge aquifers.Agriculture• More frequent droughts and increased

desertification.• Increased crop water requirements• Decline in grazing ranges and stocks & Higher

food prices.

Overall effect

• Ecosystems–Coral systems cannot handle higher temperatures well.

–Wildfires will increase. Coastal management.• Saline intrusion into the Coastal Aquifer.• Land use impacts from sea-level rise and

coastal erosion.• Soil degradation.• Loss of biodiversity

Overall effect Energy• Increased energy demands to cope with more temperature

extremes• Rising fuel demands to cope with water shortages.

Public health• Increase in public health aliments related to the lack of water such

as diarrhoea, cholera and dehydration.• Spatial and temporal alteration of disease vectors, including

malaria, and tick-borne diseases.

• Changes in climatic conditions can harm the delicate ecosystems in which species live.

• The speed at which change is happening means that many plants and animals may not be able to react quickly enough to survive.

Species endangered by climate change

Climate change threatens the necessities of life that we take for granted – access to food and water and political stability:• By 2080 half the world’s population could face a shortage of water because of

climate change.

• By 2050 200 million people could be permanently displaced by floods, rising sea levels and draughts.

• Food and water shortages could lead to migration and instability on a scale not seen before.

The human cost of climate change

• The government can drive efforts to switch to renewable energy and reduce carbon emissions in energy generation:– Solar power– Wind power– Nuclear power– Bio-energy– Carbon capture and storage (for example burying carbon

dioxide emissions underground).

What can governments do?Cutting emissions from energy generation

Cutting deforestation

Most deforestation occurs in developing regions:Brazil / South AmericaIndonesia / AsiaAfrica

These countries need financial support to replace loss of earnings from logging.

Putting a price on carbon

The true ‘environmental’ cost of carbon needs to be reflected in the cost of fuel, electricity and food.

Taxes and regulation will ensure that the polluter pays.

Emissions trading Kyoto's clean development mechanism caps emissions by rich

countries, forcing them to buy permits from poor countries to emit greenhouse gases.

The funds raised are then invested in projects that reduce emissions in the developing countries.

The emissions trading program of the European Union is the hub of the global market; the value of EU carbon emissions trading reached $50billion in 2007.

•Climate is one of the key parameters in the earth’s environment.

•The study of the impacts of climate change on groundwater is a major factor that affects the developing strategic plans.

•The Gaza strip coastal aquifer area as one of the semi-arid areas is affected by climate changes and that absolutely affects all kinds of water resources including groundwater resource.

Impacts of Climate Change on Groundwater of the Gaza Coastal Aquifer

Projected temperature in 2020,2050,2080 in Gaza Strip

Projected precipitation in 2020,2050,2080 in Gaza Strip

Baseline period raster Sea-Level Rise map (cm)

Projected Sea Level Rise in 2020,2050,2080 in Gaza Strip

1.097 cm was the mean sea level rise for baseline period for the Gaza strip location area.

Baseline1972-2002

2020 2050 2080

Annual meantemperature(oC)

19.8 20.66 22.48 25.08

Annual meanprecipitation(mm/year)

318.5 294.68 243.7 170.819

mean sea levelrise (cm)

1.097 9.04 28.84 59.85

Table : projected temperature, precipitation and sea level rise in Gaza Strip (Gharbia.S,2013)

Recommendation

Climate change must be taken as one of major factors in the strategic planning process.

Improving the existing wastewater treatment plant efficiency in order to be one of the new agricultural water resources by reusing the treated wastewater.

PWA must go ahead in implementation of seawater desalination strategic plan as one of the main steps in solution scenario.

The system slowly dies .If we don’t do anything…We Will Be Losers!