Mankind has been facing natural catastrophes like floods, earthquakes, storms, cyclones, tsunamis, etc. The devastating effects of a man-made Catastrophe, i.e., global warming, have already become evident.

Global warming is a gradual increase in the temperature of the earth’s surface and atmosphere all around the world. It’s caused due to the increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases produced by human activities such as deforestation and burning of fossil fuels. An increase in global temperature will cause sea levels to rise and will change the amount and pattern of precipitation. Other likely effects of the warming include extreme weather events including heatwaves, droughts and heavy rainfall, species extinction due to shifting temperatures and changes in agricultural yields.

Questions and Answers

Q. 1.Why has the Earth’s average surface temperature increased?
Ans: One of the major reasons cited for the increase in the earth’s average surface temperature is the increase in concentrations of greenhouse gases produced by human activities such as deforestation and burning of fossil fuels. The increase in the carbon footprint by the developed and the developing countries is one of the major causes of global warming.

Q. 2.Why is the Himalayan region called the ‘Water Tower of Asia’?
Ans: The Himalayan region is called the Water Tower of Asia because it has a glacial coverage of 33000 Square kilometres and it provides around 8.6 million cubic meters of water per annum.

Q. 3. What are the main sources of water in the Kashmir valley?

Ans. Flood plain lakes, high altitude Himalayan lakes, perennial rivers of Indus system, wetlands of different dimensions, ponds, snow-fed streams, springs, reservoirs are the main source of water in the Kashmir Valley.

Q. 4. Why is water the most precious natural resource?

Ans. Water is the most precious natural resource because it saves our lives in many ways, such as, we drink it. After all, we cannot live without it, it helps in the economy, development, livelihood and mainly it keeps us clean from dust and dirt. It is used to generate electricity, in other words, it brights up our dark rooms. It is used for agriculture so that we can get two-time meals. It is really a precious natural resource.

Q.5 How has Kashmir been influenced by global warming?
Ans Due to global warming, glaciers in Kashmir are receding at an alarming rate. We have lost 18 per cent of the Kolhai glacier, and about 16 per cent of the glaciers in Suru basin. Besides this, Kashmir is witnessing a reduction in snowfall, the occurrence of high-velocity windstorms and drastic changes in precipitation and seasonal changes.

Q. 6. How is global warming the largest threat to humanity?
Ans Global warming is catastrophic because it’s going to render earth barren. It’s going to bring droughts, heatwaves and heavy downpour which will have disastrous consequences on the agricultural yields and consequently lead to species extinction. According to Noam Chomsky, after nuclear bomb environmental degradation is the second largest threat faced by man.

Q. 7. What do you think is the cause of decrease in snowfall in Kashmir?

Ans. As we know that global warming changes the precipitation in the air, this leads to change in weather and climate to extreme weather. So we think that global warming is the cause of a decrease in snowfall in Kashmir.

Q. 8. What has been the impact of global warming on J & K so far?

Ans. Global warming has an adverse impact on J & K, because the demarcation between seasons that was well defined a decade ago, has vanished. It is now difficult to distinguish between autumn and winter. Its impact can be seen on the glaciers that are continuously melting. High-velocity storms are another factor of global warming in Jammu & Kashmir.

Q. 9. What role do the scientists play in J & K to deal with the problem of global warming?
Ans. In Jammu and Kashmir, The Energy and Resource Institute (TERI) has selected the Kolhai Glacier as one of the index glaciers for long term monitoring. The scientific studies conducted on the glacier will last for five years

For Summary & Answers of All Questions Click SUMMARY AND QUESTIONS


0 Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *