global warming

This article is about the effects of global warming and climate change.[2] The effects, or impacts, of climate change may be physical, ecological, social or economic. Evidence of observed climate change includes the instrumental temperature record, rising sea levels, and decreased snow cover in the Northern Hemisphere.[3] According to IPCC (2007a:10), "[most] of the observed increase in global average temperatures since the mid-20th century is very likely due to the observed increase in [human greenhouse gas] concentrations". It is predicted that future climate changes will include further global warming (i.e., an upward trend in global mean temperature), sea level rise, and a probable increase in the frequency of some extreme weather events. Signatories of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change have agreed to implement policies designed to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases. Overview Global mean surface temperature difference from the average for 1880-2009 Mean surface temperature change for the period 1999 to 2008 relative to the average temperatures from 1940 to 1980 Over the last hundred years or so, the instrumental temperature record has shown a trend in climate of increased global mean temperature, i.e., global warming. Other observed changes include Arctic shrinkage, Arctic methane release, releases of terrestrial carbon from permafrost regions and Arctic methane release in coastal sediments, and sea level rise.[4][5] Global average temperature is predicted to increase over this century, with a probable increase in frequency of some extreme weather events, and changes in rainfall patterns. Moving from global to regional scales, there is increased uncertainty over how climate will change. The probability of warming having unforeseen consequences increases with the rate, magnitude, and duration of climate change.[6] Some of the physical impacts of climate change are irreversible at continental and global scales.[7] With medium confidence, IPCC (2007b:17) concluded that with a global average temperature increase of 1–4°C, (relative to 1990–2000) partial deglaciation of the Greenland ice sheet would occur over a period of centuries to millennia.[8] Including the possible contribution of partial deglaciation of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, sea level would rise by 4–6 m or more. The impacts of climate change across world population will not be distributed evenly (Smith et al., 2001:957).[9] Some regions and sectors are expected to experience benefits while others will experience costs. With greater levels of warming (greater than 2–3°C by 2100, relative to 1990 temperature levels), it is very likely that benefits will decline and costs increase (IPCC, 2007b:17). Low-latitude and less-developed areas are probably at the greatest risk from climate change (Schneider et al.., 2007:781).[10] With human systems, adaptation potential for climate change impacts is considerable, although the costs of adaptation are largely unknown and potentially large. In a literature assessment, Schneider et al.. (2007:792) concluded, with high confidence, that climate change would likely result in reduced diversity of ecosystems and the extinction of many species. Definition of climate change This article refers to reports produced by the IPCC. In their usage, "climate change" refers to a change in the state of the climate that can be identified by changes in the mean and/or variability of its properties, and that persists for extended periods, typically decades or longer (IPCC, 2007d:30).[11] The climate change referred to may be due to natural causes or the result of human activity. Physical impacts Main article: Physical impacts of climate change This section describes some physical impacts of climate change. For some of these physical impacts, their effect on social and economic systems are also described. Effects on weather Increasing temperature is likely to lead to increasing precipitation [12][13] but the effects on storms are less clear. Extratropical storms partly depend on the temperature gradient, which is predicted to weaken in the northern hemisphere as the polar region warms more than the rest of the hemisphere.[14] Extreme weather See also: Extreme weather, Tropical cyclone#Global warming, and List of Atlantic hurricane records IPCC (2007a:8) predicted that in the future, over most land areas, the frequency of warm spells or heat waves would very likely increase.[3] Other likely changes are listed below: * Increased areas will be affected by drought * There will be increased intense tropical cyclone activity * There will be increased incidences of extreme high sea level (excluding tsunamis) Local climate change Main article: Regional effects of global warming The first recorded South Atlantic hurricane, "Catarina", which hit Brazil in March 2004 Regional effects of global warming vary in nature. Some are the result of a generalised global change, such as rising temperature, resulting in local effects, such as melting ice. In other cases, a change may be related to a change in a particular ocean current or weather system. In such cases, the regional effect may be disproportionate and will not necessarily follow the global trend. There are three major ways in which global warming will make changes to regional climate: melting or forming ice, changing the hydrological cycle (of evaporation and precipitation) and changing currents in the oceans and air flows in the atmosphere. The coast can also be considered a region, and will suffer severe impacts from sea level rise. Biogeochemical cycles See also: climate change feedback Climate change may have an effect on the carbon cycle in an interactive "feedback" process . A feedback exists where an initial process triggers changes in a second process that in turn influences the initial process. A positive feedback intensifies the original process, and a negative feedback reduces it (IPCC, 2007d:78).[11] Models suggest that the interaction of the climate system and the carbon cycle is one where the feedback effect is positive (Schneider et al.., 2007:792).[10] Using the A2 SRES emissions scenario, Schneider et al.. (2007:789) found that this effect led to additional warming by 2100, relative to the 1990-2000 period, of 0.1 to 1.5 °C. This estimate was made with high confidence. The climate projections made in the IPCC Forth Assessment Report of 1.1 to 6.4 °C account for this feedback effect. On the other hand, with medium confidence, Schneider et al.. (2007) commented that additional releases of GHGs were possible from permafrost, peat lands, wetlands, and large stores of marine hydrates at high latitudes. Glacier retreat and disappearance Main article: Retreat of glaciers since 1850 A map of the change in thickness of mountain glaciers since 1970. Thinning in orange and red, thickening in blue. IPCC (2007a:5) found that, on average, mountain glaciers and snow cover had decreased in both the northern and southern hemispheres.[3] This widespread decrease in glaciers and ice caps has contributed to observed sea level rise. With very high or high confidence, IPCC (2007d:11) made a number of predictions relating to future changes in glaciers:[11] * Mountainous areas in Europe will face glacier retreat * In Latin America, changes in precipitation patterns and the disappearance of glaciers will significantly affect water availability for human consumption, agriculture, and energy production * In Polar regions, there will be reductions in glacier extent and the thickness of glaciers. Oceans The role of the oceans in global warming is a complex one. The oceans serve as a sink for carbon dioxide, taking up much that would otherwise remain in the atmosphere, but increased levels of CO2 have led to ocean acidification. Furthermore, as the temperature of the oceans increases, they become less able to absorb excess CO2. Global warming is projected to have a number of effects on the oceans. Ongoing effects include rising sea levels due to thermal expansion and melting of glaciers and ice sheets, and warming of the ocean surface, leading to increased temperature stratification. Other possible effects include large-scale changes in ocean circulation. Acidification Main article: Ocean acidification Dissolving CO2 in seawater increases the hydrogen ion (H+) concentration in the ocean, and thus decreases ocean pH. Caldeira and Wickett (2003) placed the rate and magnitude of modern ocean acidification changes in the context of probable historical changes during the last 300 million years.[15] Since the industrial revolution began, it is estimated that surface ocean pH has dropped by slightly more than 0.1 units (on the logarithmic scale of pH; approximately a 30% increase in H+), and it is estimated that it will drop by a further 0.3 to 0.5 units (more than doubling ocean H+ concentrations) by 2100 as the oceans absorb more anthropogenic CO2.[15] [16][17] Oxygen depletion The amount of oxygen dissolved in the oceans may decline, with adverse consequences for ocean life.[18][19] Sea level rise Main article: Current sea level rise IPCC (2007a:5) reported that since 1961, global average sea level had risen at an average rate of 1.8 [1.3 to 2.3] mm/yr.[3] Between 1993 and 2003, the rate increased above the previous period to 3.1 [2.4 to 3.8] mm/yr. IPCC (2007a) were uncertain whether the increase in rate from 1993 to 2003 was due to natural variations in sea level over the time period, or whether it reflected an increase in the underlying long-term trend. IPCC (2007a:13, 14) projected sea level rise to the end of the 21st century using the SRES emission scenarios. Across the six SRES marker scenarios, sea level was projected to rise by 18 to 59 cm (7.1 to 23.2 inches). This projection was for the time period 2090-2099, with the increase in level relative to average sea levels over the 1980-1999 period. Due to a lack of scientific understanding, this sea level rise estimate does not include all of the possible contributions of ice sheets (see the section on abrupt or irreversible changes). Temperature rise From 1961 to 2003, the global ocean temperature has risen by 0.10 °C from the surface to a depth of 700 m. There is variability both year-to-year and over longer time scales, with global ocean heat content observations showing high rates of warming for 1991 to 2003, but some cooling from 2003 to 2007.[20] The temperature of the Antarctic Southern Ocean rose by 0.17 °C (0.31 °F) between the 1950s and the 1980s, nearly twice the rate for the world's oceans as a whole [21]. As well as having effects on ecosystems (e.g. by melting sea ice, affecting algae that grow on its underside), warming reduces the ocean's ability to absorb CO2.[citation needed] Social systems Main article: Climate change, industry and society Food supply Main article: Climate change and agriculture See also: Food security, Food vs fuel, and 2007–2008 world food price crisis Climate change will impact agriculture and food production around the world due to: the effects of elevated CO2 in the atmosphere, higher temperatures, altered precipitation and transpiration regimes, increased frequency of extreme events, and modified weed, pest, and pathogen pressure (Easterling et al.., 2007:282).[22] In general, low-latitude areas are at most risk of having decreased crop yields (Schneider et al.., 2007:790).[10] With low to medium confidence, Schneider et al.. (2007:787) concluded that for about a 1 to 3°C global mean temperature increase (by 2100, relative to the 1990-2000 average level) there would be productivity decreases for some cereals in low latitudes, and productivity increases in high latitudes. With medium confidence, global production potential was predicted to: * increase up to around 3°C, * very likely decrease above about 3 to 4°C. Most of the studies on global agriculture assessed by Schneider et al.. (2007:790) had not incorporated a number of critical factors, including changes in extreme events, or the spread of pests and diseases. Studies had also not considered the development of specific practices or technologies to aid adaptation. Health Human beings are exposed to climate change through changing weather patterns (temperature, precipitation, sea-level rise and more frequent extreme events) and indirectly through changes in water, air and food quality and changes in ecosystems, agriculture, industry and settlements and the economy (Confalonieri et al.., 2007:393).[23] According to a literature assessment by Confalonieri et al.. (2007:393), the effects of climate change to date have been small, but are projected to progressively increase in all countries and regions. With high confidence, Confalonieri et al.. (2007:393) concluded that climate change had altered the seasonal distribution of some allergenic pollen species. With medium confidence, they concluded that climate change had: * altered the distribution of some infectious disease vectors * increased heatwave-related deaths With high confidence, IPCC (2007d:48) projected that:[11] * the health status of millions of people would 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 high concentrations of ground-level ozone in urban areas related to climate change; and altered spatial distribution of some infectious diseases. * climate change would bring some benefits in temperate areas, such as fewer deaths from cold exposure, and some mixed effects such as changes in range and transmission potential of malaria in Africa. Overall, IPCC (2007d:48) expected that benefits would be outweighed by negative health effects of rising temperatures, especially in developing countries. With very high confidence, Confalonieri et al. (2007:393) concluded that economic development was an important component of possible adaptation to climate change. Economic growth on its own, however, was not judged to be sufficient to insulate the world's population from disease and injury due to climate change. The manner in which economic growth occurs was judged to be important, along with how the benefits of growth are distributed in society. Examples of other important factors in determining the health of populations were listed as: education, health care, and public-health infrastructure.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Male organs for sale

Shocker: Police arrest two over body parts sale

Updated 17 hr(s) 22 min(s) ago

By CYRUS OMBATI

A sick man dies at his hospital bed in Kenyatta National Teaching and Referral Hospital on Friday and the body is wheeled to the mortuary. His grieving family and relatives, stunned and numbed by the loss, plan for the interment of his remains. It is a tedious and expensive exercise, and in line with Kenyan tradition, the final rites are a communal affair involving the church, his employer, colleagues or business associates, and the extended family.

But unknown to his family and to the country, once in the morgue, something else, so shocking to the living and desecrating to the dead, is about to take place. According to the police who have been trying to keep chase, the sad tale goes there is a ready market across the border for male genitalia.

Mr Josephat Ngugi, owner of Lorna Funeral Services, speaks to journalists a
All the underpaid mortuary attendant needs to do is severe off the organ in the privacy of the morgue where few hardly venture, conceal it in a bag or paper wrapping, and then walk to the pre-arranged meeting point where the ‘transaction’ takes place. For the particular mortuary attendant who walked right into the police snare, with the organ he had just sliced off and wrapped in a green polythene bag, he claims it was his first time to be approached to make the delivery.

Waiting for him outside an Automated Teller Machine, was the ‘buyer’, who being a driver of funeral home may have little inhibition over dead bodies having ferried many to their final resting place. To meet his part of the bargain in the weird cash-on-delivery deal, he is carrying the agreed Sh50,000 for one organ.

Arrested

After the arrest of the 36-year-old mortuary attendant, the police walk up to the mortuary and after the morbid process of examining bodies for tampering and harvesting of organs, they stumble on the body of the man who died on Friday.

Staring at them is the evidence of that which was taken away from him in death. May be it is an abomination to the ordinary Kenyan, but not so to the ‘dealers’. Worse still, the police do not think this was an isolated case. They are just treating it as the tip of the iceberg, which sadly puts Kenya on the list of states where trade in human organs could be going on undetected.

But how did the police keep track of what could easily be Kenya’s trade in the most weird and secret ‘merchandise’? In the usual police parlance, their charges report they were acting on tip off. They struck as the driver was set to receive his ‘parcel’, the severed manhood and the testicles. The 2pm bust by the police landed the driver of Lona Funeral Services and the KNH’s morgue attendant in the cells.

The weird barter trade was taking place right inside KNH. The incident confronted the police with what they now say is a new dimension of crime, so much unlike what they are used. Even the gloved and hardened scene-of-crime police who pick bodies at blood-soaked accident and crime scenes appeared taken aback.

But like the trained officers they are, they methodically took the evidence and photographed every of their step, in readiness for the day before the judge or magistrate before whom they will have to recount every of their step on Monday.

　

Locked up

The two were locked up at Kilimani Police Station after interrogation. The mortuary employee, the police reported, confessed the driver had informed him the organs would be transported to Tanzania where demand was ‘high’. Incidentally, this is the country where albinos are under State protection because of past ritual killings targeting them.

Kilimani deputy police boss Johana Chebii said the incident was an indication of what has been going on. "From what we have gathered, this seems to be an incident that has been going on and involving mortuary attendants and some people out there," said Chebii.

The public, who caught wind of the new and peculiar ‘heist’ by the police, kept watch as they arrived at the station with the suspects. At the morgue it did not take the police long to identify the body with the missing organ — and to confirm the progress they radioed their seniors to say they were on course. Because many Kenyans, except those who must do so because such religious and cultural rituals as bathing, hardly look at dead bodies beyond the face, it is likely the man’s family may have missed the defilement of the body of their departed. It is also likely this was neither the first nor the last.

Chebii said the police were investigating to establish if there were more people involved in the syndicate. He also asked bereaved families to always confirm if the bodies of their loved ones were complete whenever they picked them at mortuaries. "It is important that they check if the body is complete. It is shocking what has just been discovered," said Chebii.

But the owners of Lona Funeral Service Josephat Ngugi and Margeret Waithera said the driver in question had stolen the firm’s vehicle and misused it. They told The Standard and KTN at I&M Bank Towers in Nairobi the driver with two mechanics had been given the van to go and repair.

towed by police

They added he later tricked the mechanics and vanished. "We tried to call him but he had switched off his phone until the time we were informed the van was being towed by police," said Ngugi.

He said he was shocked to learn his driver of five years had been arrested with body parts. Ngugi, however, said his driver was of a questionable behaviour. "He had no permission to go and do the business that they were found doing. It is a shameful act," said Ngugi who has been running funeral services for two decades. He said it was the first time he was finding himself in such a problem.

At the station, an officer revealed another case where a bereaved family declined to take their body after realising the male organ was missing. The officer said the body remained at the mortuary, whose name he did not disclose, until the organ was found. "The owners of the body confirmed it was the real one before they picked it up to for burial," said the officer. He did not explain how this was done.
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