tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37839752904188517712024-02-20T12:31:14.970+08:00Information Technology CloudInternet computing Information technology (IT) Shared resources, Reviews, Tipsitechcloudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05727493834336223806noreply@blogger.comBlogger452125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3783975290418851771.post-65330466302542144822017-10-18T20:52:00.000+08:002017-10-18T20:52:02.644+08:00Nuclear Fusion• Nuclear fusion is the process by which multiple likecharged atomic nuclei join together to form a heavier nucleus. It is accompanied by the release or absorption of energy.<br />
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• Nuclear fusion occurs naturally in stars. Artificial fusion in human enterprises has also been achieved, although not yet completely controlled.<br />
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• Fusion, the reaction that produces the sun's energy, is thought to have enormous potential for future power generation because fusion plant operation produces no emissions, fuel sources are potentially abundant, and it produces relatively little (and short-lived) radioactive waste (as opposed to nuclear fission which is the nuclear power currently harnessed).<br />
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• High-power reactors such as the ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) are now under construction in France and other countries.<br />
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• Physicists estimate that exploitable fusion reactors might be operational within 50 years. The main issue remaining to be resolved concerns the storage and movement of the very hot plasma within the reactor and to make the reaction durable (for now the reaction can only be kept running for about 30 seconds due to the extreme heat generated).<br />
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• Nuclear fusion is a very promising, clean and sustainable technology which has the potential to power the entire planet by the end of the century.<br />
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• However, for now this technology is not operational. Until it is, other sustainable alternatives must be considered until it is improved.<br />
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<span style="color: #999999;">Source of Information : Climate Change: A Silent Threat by Sylvain Richer de Forges</span>itechcloudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05727493834336223806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3783975290418851771.post-54486450773816433752017-10-17T20:49:00.000+08:002017-10-17T20:49:04.392+08:00Hydroelectric Energy• Hydroelectricity is electricity generated by hydropower, the production of power through use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy<br />
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• Once a hydroelectric complex is constructed, the project produces no direct waste, and has a considerably different output level of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) than fossil fuel powered energy plants (significant amounts of GHG are release during the construction when forests are flooded and gas such as methane emitted during the decay of organic matter)<br />
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• Worldwide, hydroelectricity supplied an estimated 715,000 MWe in 2005. This was approximately 19% of the world's electricity (up from 16% in 2003), and accounted for over 63% of electricity from renewable sources.<br />
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• Hydroelectric plants however have significant impacts on biodiversity and are therefore considered my many environmentalists not to be eco-friendly.<br />
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<span style="color: #999999;">Source of Information : Climate Change: A Silent Threat by Sylvain Richer de Forges</span>itechcloudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05727493834336223806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3783975290418851771.post-66236924986504033392017-10-16T20:40:00.000+08:002017-10-16T20:40:02.574+08:00Wind Energy• Wind power is the conversion of wind energy into electricity, using wind turbines<br />
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• At the end of 2007, the worldwide capacity of wind-powered generators was 94.1 gigawatts. Although wind produces only about 1% of world-wide electricity use, it is growing rapidly, increasing more than fivefold globally between 2000 and 2007<br />
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• Large scale wind farms are typically connected to the local electric power transmission network, with smaller turbines being used to provide electricity to isolated locations<br />
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• Smaller turbines can be used to provide electricity to isolated locations www.photolibrary.<br />
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• Wind energy as a power source is a viable alternative to fossil fuels, as it is plentiful, renewable, widely distributed, clean, and produces lower greenhouse gas emissions<br />
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• New research is underway to capture altitude wind which is more constant and would provide a continuous unlimited supply of clean energy.<br />
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<span style="color: #999999;">Source of Information : Climate Change: A Silent Threat by Sylvain Richer de Forges</span>itechcloudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05727493834336223806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3783975290418851771.post-75340984434582991532017-10-15T20:33:00.000+08:002017-10-15T20:33:05.956+08:00Solar Energy : ThermalSolar thermal energy (STE) is a technology for harnessing solar energy for thermal energy (heat).<br />
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• Low temperature collectors are flat plates generally used to heat swimming pools.<br />
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• Medium-temperature collectors are also usually flat plates but are used for heating water for residential and commercial use.<br />
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• High temperature collectors concentrate sunlight using mirrors or lenses and are generally used for electric power production. This is different from solar photovoltaics, which convert solar energy directly into electricity. exposure)<br />
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• The principal behind high temperature collectors is to concentrate the heat in order to produce, which powers turbines and generates electricity.<br />
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• This process is quite efficient in countries which have large surface areas and appropriate weather conditions (sun exposure)<br />
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<span style="color: #999999;">Source of Information : Climate Change: A Silent Threat by Sylvain Richer de Forges</span>itechcloudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05727493834336223806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3783975290418851771.post-38408203606201477272017-10-14T23:12:00.000+08:002017-10-14T23:12:00.150+08:00Solar Energy: Photovoltaic• Currently average Sunpower's cells have a conversion ratio of 23.4 %. However, advances past this efficiency mark are being innovated and efficiencies of 42% have been achieved<br />
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• New technologies of photovoltaic cells are expected to hit the market soon: Fine layer cells and dye cells which will make solar cells much easier to integrate into buildings<br />
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• New research are under way to capture solar energy directly from space and to transfer it down to earth via micro waves<br />
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• Concentrating solar energy into new generation high temperature resistant solar cells is also under way and already experimented in Australia. Such technology has great potential.<br />
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• Solar photovoltaic energy is one of the most promising renewable energy sources which may well end up powering cities of the future<br />
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<span style="color: #999999;">Source of Information : Climate Change: A Silent Threat by Sylvain Richer de Forges</span>itechcloudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05727493834336223806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3783975290418851771.post-58236121071888719102017-10-13T23:08:00.000+08:002017-10-13T23:08:09.096+08:00Geothermal Energy• Geothermal energy is the process of using the heat from the Earth to produce steam and generate electricity in the process<br />
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• Geothermal resources range from shallow ground to hot water and rock several miles below the Earth's surface, and even further down to the extremely hot molten rock called magma. Wells over a mile deep can be drilled into underground reservoirs to tap steam and very hot water that can be brought to the surface for use in a variety of applications.<br />
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• At present, geothermal energy is only used in areas where it is easy to have access to the steam such as involcanic active places<br />
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• As of 2008, geothermal power supplies less than 1% of the world's energy<br />
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• However, new developments in drilling technologies will soon enable drilling deeper into the ground and access to such resources in almost any places around the world<br />
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• Geothermal has the potential to provide unlimited clean energy for generations to come<br />
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<span style="color: #999999;">Source of Information : Climate Change: A Silent Threat by Sylvain Richer de Forges</span>itechcloudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05727493834336223806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3783975290418851771.post-72407087496766909142017-10-12T22:20:00.000+08:002017-10-12T22:20:05.897+08:00International Agreements: The Kyoto Protocol• The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement linked to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. A key feature of the Kyoto Protocol is that it sets binding targets for 37 industrialized countries and the European community forreducing Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions<br />
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• These amount to an average of 5 %t against 1990 levels over the five-year period 2008-2012.<br />
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• Countries have a certain degree of flexibility in how they make and measure their emissions reductions<br />
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• They pursue emissions cuts in a wide range of economic sectors<br />
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• The Protocol advances the implementation of existing commitments by all countries<br />
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• The EU and its Member States ratified the Kyoto Protocol in late May 2002<br />
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•To date 175 countries in total have ratified the Kyoto protocol, the latest being Australia in 2007<br />
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• In 2008, the USA remains the last developed country that refuses to ratify the protocol<br />
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• The Protocol advances the implementation of existing commitments by all countries<br />
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• The EU and its Member States ratified the Kyoto Protocol in late May 2002<br />
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•To date 175 countries in total have ratified the Kyoto protocol, the latest being Australia in 2007<br />
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• In 2008, the USA remains the last developed country that refuses to ratify the protocol<br />
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Beyond Kyoto<br />
• The Kyoto protocol is now in its active phase (2008 to 2012) in which countries who have ratified the protocol are actively undertaking measures to significantly reduce their carbon emissions<br />
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• However, governments must start planning beyond Kyoto and put into place long term plans which will progressively allow a transition from a Carbon based economy to a sustainable one<br />
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• One must understand that the Kyoto targets are mostly symbolic in having nations all over the world come together for the cause of fighting climate change. Climate change is a global matter which requires global collaboration. However, much stronger measures than those outlined by the Kyoto protocol are required to be effective. This is why nations must now start to seriously think at longer perspective and stronger measures.<br />
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• Climate talks took place in Poznan in December 2008 to discuss such post-Kyoto issues<br />
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<span style="color: #999999;">Source of Information : Climate Change: A Silent Threat by Sylvain Richer de Forges</span>itechcloudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05727493834336223806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3783975290418851771.post-70511437108639373262017-10-11T21:51:00.000+08:002017-10-11T21:51:15.777+08:00Global Dimming• Since the Industrial Revolution, humans are adding tremendous amounts of particles into the atmosphere (e.g. traces left from jet planes, industrial dust, aerosols).<br />
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• These particles, which are not necessarily GHG in nature have a cooling effect by blanketing the lower atmosphere.<br />
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• The temperature that we are actually experiencing may therefore be cooled down due to the effect of this artificial temporary protective layer.<br />
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• Scientists are concerned that a suddent shift in the amount of dimming may result in a rapid increase in surface temperatures.<br />
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• Some argue that the dimming of the atmosphere is actually a good thing and therefore that we should not take actions to reduce the emissions of pollutants in the air. This is a missconception that would have severe consequences as it would make the climate unstable and even more subject to extremely rapid changes.<br />
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<span style="color: #999999;">Source of Information : Climate Change: A Silent Threat by Sylvain Richer de Forges</span>itechcloudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05727493834336223806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3783975290418851771.post-23136047420710388122017-10-10T21:49:00.000+08:002017-10-10T21:49:05.627+08:00Land Use And Climate Change• Before the industrial revolution, much of the earth’s surface was covered by forests<br />
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• However in order to feed a rapidly growing population and to satisfy demand for various industrial needs and housing, very significant land surface areas are completely modified by man<br />
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• Broadscale changes in land-use patterns, such as deforestation, can significantly alter the roughness and reflectivity of the surface to solar radiation, and hence the absorbed radiation, evaporation and evapotranspiration. In the process, changes in regional climate can occur8<br />
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• Large scale changes in land use also impact the global climate by enhancing the natural greenhouse effect, are diverse and very difficult to predict; for example by reducing the land's capacity to absorb carbon dioxide (e.g. through deforestation) and by increasing the carbon emission from the land (e.g. through increased biomass decay), both of which lead to greater concentrations of greenhouse gases<br />
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<span style="color: #999999;">Source of Information : Climate Change: A Silent Threat by Sylvain Richer de Forges</span>itechcloudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05727493834336223806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3783975290418851771.post-71276307077146374552017-10-09T21:47:00.000+08:002017-10-09T21:47:07.638+08:00Urbanisation And Climate Change•The Addition of GHG into the Atmosphere remains by far the main contributor of man made climate change.<br />
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• However humans are also affecting the climate by modifying the structure of the land through urbanization<br />
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• Construction materials (roads, buildings, etc…) absorb much more heat than the natural landmarks (grass, forests, land…) which in turn results in significant local temperature differences<br />
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• As our planet is becoming increasingly more and more populated and urbanized, it is not thoroughly understood what the impacts of many local changes could have on the overall climate system.<br />
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• This phenomenon is known as the ‘urban heat island effect‘ and is another demonstration of how humans actually have an impact on the climate<br />
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<span style="color: #999999;">Source of Information : Climate Change: A Silent Threat by Sylvain Richer de Forges</span>itechcloudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05727493834336223806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3783975290418851771.post-26029451502279082872017-10-08T21:45:00.000+08:002017-10-08T21:45:08.068+08:00Ozone And Climate ChangeThere are two distinct environmental problems associated with ozone: ozone depletion in the Starosphere (upper atmosphere) and pollution from Tropospheric ozone at ground level. Both will be affected to some extent by climate change:<br />
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Stratospheric Ozone:<br />
• While industrial products like chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are largely responsible for current ozone depletion, a recent NASA study found that by the 2030s climate change may surpass chlorofluorocarbons as the main driver of overall ozone loss.<br />
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• Ozone thinning can occur when increased emissions of methane get transformed into water in the stratosphere. At high altitudes, water vapor can be broken down into molecules that destroy ozone.<br />
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• Climate change from greenhouse gases can also affect ozone by heating the lower stratosphere where most of the ozone exists. When the lower stratosphere heats up, chemical reactions speed up, and ozone gets depleted.<br />
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Tropospheric Ozone:<br />
• According to a recent scientific study by the Royal Society, hundreds more people could die because of increasing levels of ozone at street level. They found that ground levels of ozone, the pollutant created when sunlight hits a mixture of gases in the air (Nitrous and Sulfur oxides), has risen by six per cent per decade since the 1980s.<br />
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• Furthermore, tropospheric ozone is known to damage plants, reducing plant primary productivity and crop yields5 which will have negative impacts on agricultural systems.<br />
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<span style="color: #999999;">Source of Information : Climate Change: A Silent Threat by Sylvain Richer de Forges</span>itechcloudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05727493834336223806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3783975290418851771.post-44077303448701361302017-10-07T21:43:00.000+08:002017-10-07T21:43:04.829+08:00Slowing Down Of The Global Conveyer Belt And The Thermohaline System• Most of the weather and climate on the planet is governed by oceanic currents rather than atmospheric circulation<br />
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• The thermohaline oceanic circulation is a broad network of oceanic currents which transfers heat around the planet from the poles to the tropics<br />
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• The thermohaline circulation is initiated in the Arctic, where particular conditions produce large amounts of very salty water<br />
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• The salty water, much denser then the surrounding water, sinks right to the ocean floor, working as a pump mechanism and initiating the global oceanic conveyor belt<br />
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• However, Scientists are becoming more and more concerned that due to global warming, the sea water in the Arctic peninsula is becoming less and less salty due to the melting of land and sea ice.<br />
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• If the water becomes too fresh, this sinking trend may slow down to the point of stopping. If this would happen it would result in large scale and unprecedented, rapid perturbations of the earth’s climate system<br />
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<span style="color: #666666;">Source of Information : Climate Change: A Silent Threat by Sylvain Richer de Forges</span>itechcloudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05727493834336223806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3783975290418851771.post-236422165568362392017-10-06T20:25:00.000+08:002017-10-06T20:25:24.202+08:00Uncertainty On Sea Level Rise/ Ice Dynamics• The predictions regarding sea level rise over the next century remain uncertain to some extent and are likely to be underestimated.<br />
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• In its 2007 Fourth Assessment report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change used new satellite data to conclude that shrinkage of ice sheets may contribute more to sea level rise than it had thought as recently as 2001. The panel concluded that it could not "provide a best estimate or an upper bound for sea level rise" over the next century due to their lack of knowledge about Earth's ice<br />
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• There are 5-6 meters worth of sea level in the Greenland ice sheet, and 6-7 meters in the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (some recent studies suggest that the East Antarctic is also melting at alarming rates). Hundreds of millions of people live within that range of sea level increase, so our inability to predict what sea level rise is likely over the next century has substantial human and economic ramifications.<br />
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• Some recent scientific studies published in the journal Nature, however, show that even East Antarctica has been warming by 0.17°C per decade over the past 50 years which is concerning. Antarctica holds enough ice to raise global sea level by 57 m !<br />
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<span style="color: #999999;">Source of Information : Climate Change: A Silent Threat by Sylvain Richer de Forges</span>itechcloudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05727493834336223806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3783975290418851771.post-32680817321712445332017-10-05T20:23:00.003+08:002017-10-05T20:23:46.441+08:00Uncertainty On The Melting Of The Permafrost And Ice• Some recent studies suggest that large amounts of methane hydrates stored in the permafrost will be released in the atmosphere as it melts, which will accelerate the rate of global warming.<br />
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• The melting of the permafrost will also add a significant amount of water to the oceans, which will contribute to global sea level rise.<br />
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• As the permafrost melts, soils become waterlogged and unstable. Entire towns built on these type of soils are at risk. There are also major structures worth billions of dollars installed on the permafrost, such as pipelines and electrical lines.<br />
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• Recent studies link increased pollution levels with ice melt. Soot or black carbon darkens the ice and makes it soak up more heat, accelerating melting rates compared to reflective snow and ice. Methane comes from sources including oil and gas and agriculture while ozone is formed from industrial pollutants<br />
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<span style="color: #666666;">Source of Information : Climate Change: A Silent Threat by Sylvain Richer de Forges</span>itechcloudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05727493834336223806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3783975290418851771.post-41182090066749153782017-09-20T17:33:00.000+08:002017-09-20T17:33:04.627+08:00The benefits of private cloud storagePrivate cloud storage can offer many of the benefits of the public cloud on-premise, writes Mark Lomas. Public cloud storage services have been a useful resource for small businesses. Services like Microsoft OneDrive for Business and Citrix ShareFile provide reliable, functional resources for large and small businesses alike.<br />
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Public, off-site services aren’t the only option for companies wan ting flexible storage services, though. For various reasons, including flexibility, security, and regulatory compliance, companies may often decide to create their own private cloud storage infrastructures. These can offer many of the same characteristics as public cloud storage, while still residing on the company’s own premises.<br />
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These bring the confidence of having storage on-site, while retaining some of the characteristics of cloud-based services.<br />
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Private cloud storage provides a layer of abstraction from the inner mechanics of the storage system. Users can simply save and go without worrying about where their information is held. This layer of abstraction is crucial for a key component of the cloud storage story: multi-tenanting.<br />
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Many users can access a private cloudbased storage system as though it were their own, because it keeps users from seeing each other’s data. This is all made possible by something that you won’t find in a traditional Storage Area Network: the orchestration layer. This software layer controls the storage dynamically, and provides another key feature of any private cloud storage deployment: elasticity.<br />
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Dynamic provision<br />
The dynamic provision and reallocation of resources is one of the basic tenets of cloud computing, and the same applies to cloud storage. These systems are able to adjust the amount of storage that they allocate to specific users and groups, based on what’s needed. They can reallocate storage that suddenly becomes free, meaning that everyone gets the storage they need.<br />
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This automated storage management makes the most efficient use of the underlying physical resource. It avoids leaving drives largely empty simply because they are ‘owned’ by a business department that isn’t using their full capacity.<br />
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Storage provisioning is an important part of that story. Historically, a business department may have had to go through an arduous and time-consuming process when it wanted more storage. With private cloud storage, departments can get access to the storage that they need from a virtual pool, often simply via a web interface, and often without draining the IT department’s administrative resources. Doesn’t that leave IT administrators with a potential problem? After all, if every department can simply slice off the storage that they need without thinking about economising, then it could lead to resource hogging and cost over-runs, even with private cloud storage.<br />
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Not necessarily. One of the promises of cloud computing in general is solid, detailed reporting. In a well-deployed private storage system, IT administrators can source storage usage metrics for individual users or departments. This kind of reporting enables them to treat business departments like internal customers, and potentially cap heavy resource users by setting limits.<br />
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With these kinds of flexible services available, private cloud storage may make perfect sense for companies who value efficiency and who want that little bit of extra control over their storage infrastructures.itechcloudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05727493834336223806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3783975290418851771.post-20150780259090485262017-09-19T17:16:00.000+08:002017-09-19T17:16:09.764+08:00End of the line for Windows Server 2003: problem or opportunity?Microsoft intends to end support for Windows Server 2003 this July, so how should the many companies still using the platform handle the situation?<br />
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No support means Microsoft will no longer send patches to fix vulnerabilities and leave machines still using the operating system open to attackers. According to industry analyst Forrester, however, eight million servers across organisations are still using Windows Server 2003 - while Dell estimates the figure could be up to 12 million.<br />
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Further research by Spiceworks has found that 68% of companies in the EMEA region are running at least one instance of Windows Server 2003. The IT service management organisation has drawn these<br />
figures from its community of over 6 million IT pros worldwide. It found usage is still widespread across many sectors – 74% of manufacturers and 73% of government bodies, to name just a couple.<br />
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Mark Lomas, technical consultant at Icomm Technologies, says the readiness of companies to cope with the end of support is mixed: “While some organisations upgraded last year, some companies were aiming to upgrade and missed their deadline, while others made other moves to protect themselves.”<br />
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Apart from the cost of upgrading, another challenge is supporting the applications that are currently running on Server 2003. Windows 2003 is a 32-bit OS, which means that any applications that need to be migrated must be checked to see if they can run in the 64-bit environment of newer versions of Windows Server.<br />
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Lomas likens the end of support for Server 2003 to the end of support for Windows XP in some ways, but potentially more damaging. He says: “With Server 2003 the threat is more serious, as a threat to a server potentially has more impact on different areas of the business.”<br />
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The opportunity<br />
Some organisations are seeing the necessity of an upgrade as good news, however, as it is providing an opportunity to modernise their overall architecture. That is the view from major IT suppliers like Dell and Intel.<br />
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Indeed, as the industry saw when support for the Windows XP desktop OS came to an end, there was a sales kick generated across the PC industry. Michael Tweddle, Dell’s executive director of Windows management, says: “We see it as a driver leading to broader projects, as there is a lot of Microsoft technology that organisations want to move to, but they need to clean up their underlying<br />
infrastructure to properly do that.”<br />
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Companies upgrading have the option of migrating to either Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2012, however, most are expected to jump straight to the latest version. Windows Server 2012 is also offering organisations better links to cloud services, like Microsoft Azure and the Office 365 productivity suite.<br />
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Overall, when compared to Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2012 has improved storage, networking, virtualisation, access and security features. One way or another though, organisations will have to make a decision soon as to what is to be done with Windows Server 2003.itechcloudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05727493834336223806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3783975290418851771.post-43237162261864187772017-09-18T16:05:00.002+08:002017-09-18T16:05:49.856+08:00Visual Studio OnlineOne of the things we’re working on with Visual Studio Online, formerly known as Team Foundation Service, is to make it work really well with continuous integration and delivery. Here are some key features of Visual Studio Online:<br />
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• It supports both Git (distributed) and TFVC (centralized) source control.<br />
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• It offers an elastic build service, which means it dynamically creates build servers when they’re needed and takes them down when they’re done. You can automatically kick off a build when someone checks in source code changes, and you don’t have to allocate and pay for your own build servers that lie idle most of the time. The build service is free as long as you don’t exceed a certain number of builds. If you expect to do a high volume of builds, you can pay a little extra for reserved build servers.<br />
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• It supports continuous delivery to Azure.<br />
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• It supports automated load testing. Load testing is critical to a cloud app but is often neglected until it's too late. Load testing simulates heavy use of an app by thousands of users, enabling you to find bottlenecks and improve throughput—before you release the app to production.<br />
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• It supports team room collaboration, which facilitates real-time communication and collaboration for small agile teams.<br />
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• It supports agile project management.<br />
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For more information about the continuous integration and delivery features of Visual Studio Online, see Visual Studio Lab Management and Visual Studio Release Management. An application monitoring feature, Application Insights for Visual Studio Online, is in preview (available to try but not released for production use yet).<br />
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If you’re looking for a turn-key project management, team collaboration, and source control solution, check out Visual Studio Online. The service is free for up to five users, and you can sign up for it at http://www.visualstudio.com.<br />
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<span style="color: #cccccc;">Source of Information : Building Cloud Apps With Microsoft Azure</span>itechcloudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05727493834336223806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3783975290418851771.post-59736059736161788742017-09-17T17:32:00.002+08:002017-09-17T17:39:52.889+08:00What can you build with Azure Cosmos DB?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5UGI762C3GLL24bMspcO5oBaQ11SXWhU-pRHFq2eS0lu8gnWSf4yGzTSYDdPoHwlK5IoeCszz3FvM28dShlicXZ8XJt3Rf-5ldpDGG4U-9Q7pSp5zRDWijyNNn68PDQWBmNkqrnDD4lw/s1600/global-dist.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="1000" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5UGI762C3GLL24bMspcO5oBaQ11SXWhU-pRHFq2eS0lu8gnWSf4yGzTSYDdPoHwlK5IoeCszz3FvM28dShlicXZ8XJt3Rf-5ldpDGG4U-9Q7pSp5zRDWijyNNn68PDQWBmNkqrnDD4lw/s400/global-dist.png" width="400" /></a><br />
<b>Globally distributed mission-critical applications </b>- Guarantee access to users around the world with the high-availability and low-latency capabilities built into Microsoft’s global datacenters.<br />
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<b>IoT </b>- Instantly, elastically scale to accommodate diverse and unpredictable IoT workloads without sacrificing ingestion or query performance.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6Pd7UNX35PRcovnf4tvBQlGH2UMpP1bbNEW6Ujeb-tVT4WoUNtBkfGaT42VVchF7TPo7FtsUZRn9K8HrMPx-ewsF1eTp7edLVnQ5LywpPGIg3QgpERdNZbc1f4u0ZhvLCinINXYf1gok/s1600/iot.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="624" data-original-width="1000" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6Pd7UNX35PRcovnf4tvBQlGH2UMpP1bbNEW6Ujeb-tVT4WoUNtBkfGaT42VVchF7TPo7FtsUZRn9K8HrMPx-ewsF1eTp7edLVnQ5LywpPGIg3QgpERdNZbc1f4u0ZhvLCinINXYf1gok/s400/iot.png" width="400" /></a><br />
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<b>Personalization </b>- Generate personalized recommendations for customers in real time, using low-latency and tunable consistency settings for immediate insights.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnM7bfHP8QPsuoaEbv_d7nBy3f4AQt7qT7C2L0YHOU50RMnNboFfXudiWl2PZOrWYMPyZeYRkJlvlb55_vJmWssmACT5rYkpPCtt3tPw4N2N-2YgZgLDvza0iXnZUtWMQUT6S5IT_kNvg/s1600/retail.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="594" data-original-width="1000" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnM7bfHP8QPsuoaEbv_d7nBy3f4AQt7qT7C2L0YHOU50RMnNboFfXudiWl2PZOrWYMPyZeYRkJlvlb55_vJmWssmACT5rYkpPCtt3tPw4N2N-2YgZgLDvza0iXnZUtWMQUT6S5IT_kNvg/s400/retail.png" width="400" /></a><br />
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<b>Retail and e-commerce</b> - Support in-depth queries over diverse product catalogs, traffic spikes, and rapidly changing inventory.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfpUY1DZt2JgJok0_ePb5B2ztrvzISDiNarFJ4-nS7QpzAT0I9t-iVb9EafPBVHbv98sSfFl5eVRNc776udsxZa7omv0YKdutktDN3ImwQaT2Nw7f_3DCCNQTP88RQUSn4TR_oZ34BIL8/s1600/gaming.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="549" data-original-width="1000" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfpUY1DZt2JgJok0_ePb5B2ztrvzISDiNarFJ4-nS7QpzAT0I9t-iVb9EafPBVHbv98sSfFl5eVRNc776udsxZa7omv0YKdutktDN3ImwQaT2Nw7f_3DCCNQTP88RQUSn4TR_oZ34BIL8/s400/gaming.png" width="400" /></a><br />
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<b>Gaming </b>- Elastically scale your database to accommodate unpredictable bursts of traffic and deliver low-latency multi-player experiences on a global scale.itechcloudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05727493834336223806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3783975290418851771.post-11815848454890762112017-04-07T00:13:00.000+08:002017-04-07T00:13:07.152+08:00Increase Of Extreme Weather Events• It is likely that tropical storms (cyclones) will become more frequent and more intense as a result of increased sea surface temperatures and moisture in the air<br />
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• Sea level rise will have devastating effects during storms due to surges<br />
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• Based on a range of models, it is likely that future tropical cyclones (typhoons and hurricanes) will become more intense, with larger peak wind speeds and more heavy precipitation associated with ongoing increases of tropical sea-surface temperatures.<br />
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• There is less confidence in projections of a global decrease in numbers of tropical cyclones. The apparent increase in the proportion of very intense storms since 1970 in some regions is much larger than simulated by current models for that period.<br />
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• Extra-tropical storm tracks are projected to move poleward, with consequent changes in wind, precipitation and temperature patterns, continuing the broad pattern of observed trends over the last halfcentury.<br />
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• Some recent studies suggest that erratic weather events have serious impacts on wildlife and will further contribute to a decline of biodiversity.<br />
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<span style="color: #999999;">Source of Information : Climate Change: A Silent Threat by Sylvain Richer de Forges</span>itechcloudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05727493834336223806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3783975290418851771.post-22064574743008920482017-04-06T00:11:00.000+08:002017-04-06T00:11:23.772+08:00Impacts Of Climate Change On Human Health• The health status of millions of people is projected to be affected through, for example, increases in malnutrition; increased deaths, diseases and injury due to extreme weather events; increased burden of diarrhoeal diseases; increased frequency of cardio-respiratory diseases due to higher concentrations of ground-level ozone in urban areas related to climate change<br />
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• Increase in global temperatures will significantly increase the occurrence and severity of smog events in urban areas<br />
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• This will significantly reduce air quality<br />
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• Babies and the elderly will be most affected by a decrease in air quality<br />
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• Change in climatic and weather patterns will affect the distribution of infectious diseases<br />
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• Many viruses have restricted areas of occurrence due to natural physical barriers which are governed by temperature gradients<br />
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• Diseases such as Malaria and Dengue will move north as temperature rises<br />
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• The number of occurrence of infectious diseases will significantly increase.<br />
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• A rise in the case of people infected by such diseases has already begun to occur in some areas which were not of concern a few decades ago<br />
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• As indicated on the graph, the number of case of reported Dengue is sharply increasing worldwide. Many scientist believe this is a direct consequence of rising temperatures.<br />
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<span style="color: #999999;">Source of Information : Climate Change: A Silent Threat by Sylvain Richer de Forges</span>itechcloudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05727493834336223806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3783975290418851771.post-44503666417263097552017-04-05T00:09:00.000+08:002017-04-05T00:09:12.495+08:00Impacts Of Climate Change On Societies• More than 80% of the worlds population will live on the coast lines and in urban areas by 2050<br />
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• Sea level rise/floods and droughts will displace millions of people creating environmental refugees and is likely to trigger world instabilities leading to conflicts for resources<br />
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• Many agricultural lands will be flooded and even greater surfaces are likely to become contaminated by salt making them unusable for agriculture<br />
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• Some small island states with low elevations (< 2m) will entirely disappear (ex: The Maldives)<br />
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• Some low lying countries such as Bangladesh and the Nederland's will loose very significant landmass<br />
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• In addition to loosing significant land mass, many of the most threatened places are also in areas vulnerable to tropical storms. The storm surges during such events will have even more devastating effects.<br />
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• Some cities like Venice and New Orleans are already experiencing serious troubles due to sea level rise and are responding by spending billions on preventive measures (but what will happen to cities and countries which cannot afford such measures?)<br />
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<span style="color: #999999;">Source of Information : Climate Change: A Silent Threat by Sylvain Richer de Forges</span>itechcloudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05727493834336223806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3783975290418851771.post-64880183378620399132017-04-04T00:08:00.000+08:002017-04-04T00:08:03.582+08:00Impacts Of Climate Change On Water Resources• Another major concern of climate change will be increasing pressures on fresh water supplies<br />
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• Climate change will significantly affect the distribution of rain around the globe<br />
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• While some areas will drastically start running out of water others will experience frequent flooding due to stronger monsoons and heavy rainfalls (both of these events lead to a diminution of available water)<br />
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• Groundwater storage is already running out in many parts of the world. Many of these supplies are also contaminated and unusable<br />
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• Some areas will become much dryer, raising concerns about the availability of fresh water for millions of people (e.g. Central Africa)<br />
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• Many lakes will dry out as a result of increased temperatures and evaporation<br />
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<span style="color: #999999;">Source of Information : Climate Change: A Silent Threat by Sylvain Richer de Forges</span>itechcloudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05727493834336223806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3783975290418851771.post-40068184576371874622017-04-03T00:06:00.000+08:002017-04-03T00:06:02.308+08:00Impacts Of Climate Change On The Oceans• The oceans are a great sink of atmospheric Carbon Dioxide CO2 by absorbing a large amount of it<br />
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• However, the increased concentration of dissolved carbon Dioxide in the oceans makes them become more and more acidic. About a third of man-made carbon dioxide emissions has dissolved into the oceans. As carbon dioxide dissolves in seawater, it forms carbonic acid, which lowers the ocean's alkalinity and pH level, making it more acidic<br />
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• Even a slight acidification of oceans will have an impact on biodiversity and will put lots of species at risk<br />
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• Chicago University researchers recently found that acidity levels increased at more than 10 times the rate predicted by computer models designed to study the link between atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and ocean acidity<br />
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• Acidification is also likely to impair the movement and function of high oxygen demand fauna (e.g. squid, fish)<br />
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• Acidification of the oceans will have a great impact on the ability of organisms to produce calcium carbonate necessary for their survival<br />
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• A large proportion of our food supplies comes from the oceans. Ocean acidification has the potential to substantially destabilize all marine ecosystems which will add onto already extreme pressures put on those ecosystems from over fishing, overexploitation of resources and pollution<br />
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<span style="color: #999999;">Source of Information : Climate Change: A Silent Threat by Sylvain Richer de Forges</span>itechcloudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05727493834336223806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3783975290418851771.post-579380539483403552017-04-02T00:04:00.000+08:002017-04-02T00:04:01.049+08:00Marine Ecosystems• Marine environments will be greatly affected by climate change<br />
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• As the atmospheric temperature rise ocean surfaces temperatures will also rise<br />
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• A slight rise in ocean temperature coupled with acidification from CO2 uptake will cause entire coastal ecosystems to change and possibly collapse<br />
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• Large migration of species will occur<br />
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• Many species unable to migrate to warmer areas fast enough will become extinct<br />
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• In 2008 massive blooming of jellyfish where recorded across the world. In some parts the blooming was found tobe due to warmer surface temperatures as a result of global warming.<br />
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• Such events will become more frequent and will have serious consequences on marine ecosystems such as a decline in fish populations<br />
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<span style="color: #999999;">Source of Information : Climate Change: A Silent Threat by Sylvain Richer de Forges</span>itechcloudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05727493834336223806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3783975290418851771.post-78333846627960125502017-04-01T00:02:00.000+08:002017-04-01T00:02:04.768+08:00Impacts Of Climate Change On Ecosystems• The resilience of many ecosystems is likely to be exceeded this century by an unprecedented combination of climate change, associated disturbances (e.g. flooding, drought, wildfire, insects, ocean acidification) and other global change drivers (e.g. landuse change, pollution, fragmentation of natural systems, overexploitation of resources)<br />
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• Over the course of this century, net carbon uptake by terrestrial ecosystems is likely to peak before mid-century and then weaken or even reverse, thus amplifying climate change<br />
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• For increases in global average temperature exceeding 1.5 to 2.5°C and in concomitant atmospheric CO2 concentrations, there are projected to be major changes in ecosystem structure and function, species’ ecological interactions and shifts in species’ geographical ranges, with predominantly negative consequences for biodiversity and ecosystem goods and services, e.g. water and food supply<br />
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• Many species have a very restricted repartition range (referred to as micro endemism) around micro habitats such as a single mountain or a lake. The disruption of these habitats as a consequence of climate change willalso mean the disappearance of their biodiversity<br />
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• Climate change will result in significant loss of habitats<br />
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<span style="color: #999999;">Source of Information : Climate Change: A Silent Threat by Sylvain Richer de Forges</span>itechcloudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05727493834336223806noreply@blogger.com0