diseases and parasites. Responses to climate change include adaptation to reduce
the vulnerability to climatic changes and mitigation to reduce this change. Climate
change can be controlled by either by adaptation to the ecosystem or mitigation (to
reduce the level of emission of gases) measures but both are necessary to get an
effective result.
Keywords Climate change Á Global warming Á Methane Á Ruminants
1 Global Warming
The evolution of the various living forms on this earth is supported due to the
vigour of the earth’s climate. It is observed that the temperature of our environment
has increased continuously which is impacting a change in the climatic variation
and its occurrence. It is observed that in the last one hundred years there has been
around 1 °C increase in Earth’s temperature and is expected to increase by 2–3 °C
in the coming century. This raise in temperature is due to trapping of the Sun’s heat
by Earth’s atmosphere and thus Earth is getting warmer. For now, this change is
small but if appropriate measures are not taken, it is expected to get quicker. The
impact of the climate change is eminent as the polar ice is melting and the sea level
is rising with increasing in this atmospheric temperature, which will lead to flooding
along coasts. The tide gauge observations in the last four decades across the coast of
India also indicate a rise in sea level at the rate of 1.06–1.25 mm/year. In India, the
meteorological records indicate rise in the mean annual surface air temperature by
0.4 °C with not much variations in absolute rainfall. However, the rates of change in
temperatures and precipitation have been found to vary across the region. The
intensity and frequency of heavy precipitation events have increased in the last
50 years. Further, some preliminary assessments point towards a warmer climate in
the future over India, with temperatures projected to rise by 2–4 °C by 2050s. No
change in total quantity of rainfall is expected, however, spatial pattern of the
rainfall is likely to change, with rise in number and intensity of extreme rainfall
events. Raise in temperature will lead to heat stroke and drought which may cause
destruction to forests and food crops like ecosystems. So global warming is not a
local rather a global issue. As the temperature all around the globe is rising, it is said
as global warming. This will affect plants and animal ecosystems. This global
warming is caused due to many factors. The changes in the climate of the atmosphere caused due to humans in the recent decades are a major concern for the
scientific fraternity, through, fossil fuel combustion, widespread deforestation and
burning of biomass. These anthropogenic activities have resulted in an increased
emission of radioactively active gases, e.g., carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), methane (CH 4 )
and nitrous oxide (N 2 O), popularly known as the ‘greenhouse gases’. Human
84
P.S. Swain et al.
the vulnerability to climatic changes and mitigation to reduce this change. Climate
change can be controlled by either by adaptation to the ecosystem or mitigation (to
reduce the level of emission of gases) measures but both are necessary to get an
effective result.
Keywords Climate change Á Global warming Á Methane Á Ruminants
1 Global Warming
The evolution of the various living forms on this earth is supported due to the
vigour of the earth’s climate. It is observed that the temperature of our environment
has increased continuously which is impacting a change in the climatic variation
and its occurrence. It is observed that in the last one hundred years there has been
around 1 °C increase in Earth’s temperature and is expected to increase by 2–3 °C
in the coming century. This raise in temperature is due to trapping of the Sun’s heat
by Earth’s atmosphere and thus Earth is getting warmer. For now, this change is
small but if appropriate measures are not taken, it is expected to get quicker. The
impact of the climate change is eminent as the polar ice is melting and the sea level
is rising with increasing in this atmospheric temperature, which will lead to flooding
along coasts. The tide gauge observations in the last four decades across the coast of
India also indicate a rise in sea level at the rate of 1.06–1.25 mm/year. In India, the
meteorological records indicate rise in the mean annual surface air temperature by
0.4 °C with not much variations in absolute rainfall. However, the rates of change in
temperatures and precipitation have been found to vary across the region. The
intensity and frequency of heavy precipitation events have increased in the last
50 years. Further, some preliminary assessments point towards a warmer climate in
the future over India, with temperatures projected to rise by 2–4 °C by 2050s. No
change in total quantity of rainfall is expected, however, spatial pattern of the
rainfall is likely to change, with rise in number and intensity of extreme rainfall
events. Raise in temperature will lead to heat stroke and drought which may cause
destruction to forests and food crops like ecosystems. So global warming is not a
local rather a global issue. As the temperature all around the globe is rising, it is said
as global warming. This will affect plants and animal ecosystems. This global
warming is caused due to many factors. The changes in the climate of the atmosphere caused due to humans in the recent decades are a major concern for the
scientific fraternity, through, fossil fuel combustion, widespread deforestation and
burning of biomass. These anthropogenic activities have resulted in an increased
emission of radioactively active gases, e.g., carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), methane (CH 4 )
and nitrous oxide (N 2 O), popularly known as the ‘greenhouse gases’. Human
84
P.S. Swain et al.