**Author details**

cyclones began to be archived accurately; by 1990, the frequency of Mindanao landfalls had doubled. Learning whether this is caused by anthropogenic global warming is complicated by deficiencies in the quantity and quality of the archived data and by the irregularities in the ENSO climatic rhythms. For Mindanao, the problem is especially difficult because most of its tropical cyclones do not arrive in the main typhoon season of July through October, and most are only tropical depressions, which most climatologists and meteorologists do not include

Philippine typhoons occur most frequently during La Niña episodes, and from July to October, in Mindanao, however, they arrive during the off season from November to June. Extreme El Niños and La Niñas are expected to succeed each other more frequently. This is an excellent example of how Earth systems, which are kept in balance by numerous interacting phenomena, oscillate vigorously when they are disturbed. Global warming is a continuing and accelerating disturbance that prevents returns to equilibria. Mindanao and the entire Philippine nation urgently need to prepare their populations for more frequent hazards,

A developing country like the Philippines has limited resources for hazard-mitigation measures. Philippine society is intensely focused on the family, and so the best and least expensive governmental approach is to provide every family with good, easily-accessible information,

Project NOAH's mandate tasks are to evaluate the nation's numerous natural hazards, to educate each community about the hazards that threaten it, and to advise them how to respond when a threat materializes. Our study of the Mayo debris flow motivated us to identify more than 1200 Philippine alluvial fans and to prepare the communities that its debris flows may affect. This work has already helped to save lives from major debris flows

This work was funded by the Philippine Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and the Volcano Tectonics laboratory of the National Institute of Geological Sciences at the University of the Philippines (U.P.). LiDAR data covering the New Bataan area were provided by the U.P. Training Center for Applied Geodesy and Photogrammetry. DOST's Advanced Science and Technology Institute and the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration provided rainfall data. We thank Congresswoman M. C. Zamora for logistical support and Thomas Pierson for the information about debris-

including floods, storm surges, landslides, debris flows, and forest fires.

so it can develop its own emergency plans.

as data for their models.

102 Climate Change and Global Warming

in 2015.

**Acknowledgements**

flow mechanics.

**Conflict of interest**

We have no conflict of interest to declare.

Kelvin S. Rodolfo<sup>1</sup> \*, A. Mahar F. Lagmay<sup>2</sup> , Rodrigo C. Eco3 , Tatum Miko L. Herrero<sup>4</sup> , Jerico E. Mendoza<sup>5</sup> , Likha G. Minimo<sup>6</sup> , Joy T. Santiago5 , Jenalyn Alconis-Ayco<sup>7</sup> , Eric C. Colmenares8 , Jasmine J. Sabado<sup>9</sup> and Ryanne Wayne Serrado<sup>10</sup>

\*Address all correspondence to: krodolfo@uic.edu

1 University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA

2 UP Resilience Institute, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines

3 National Institute of Geological Sciences, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines

4 GEOMAR—Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Germany

5 Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards Center, University of the Philippines, Quezon City, Philippines

6 Department of Geological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand

7 Development Network Consulting Services, University of the Philippines, Quezon City, Philippines

8 KNPN Technologies, Davao City, Philippines

9 Development Academy of the Philippines, Ortigas Center, Pasig, Philippines

10 Clariden Holdings, Inc., Mandaluyong City, Philippines

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**Chapter 7**

**Provisional chapter**

**Observed and Projected Reciprocate Effects of**

**Observed and Projected Reciprocate Effects of** 

**Ecosystems and Human Livelihoods**

**Ecosystems and Human Livelihoods**

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

Zenebe MekonnenAdditional information is available at the end of the chapter

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.79118

the impacts of climate change.

Zenebe Mekonnen

**Abstract**

**Agriculture and Climate Change: Implications on**

**Agriculture and Climate Change: Implications on** 

DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.79118

The objective of this chapter is to review, from several literatures, the contribution of agriculture to climate change and the reciprocal effects of climate change on agriculture and the general consequent implications on human livelihoods and ecosystems. Human activities have already had a discernible impact on the earth's climate leading to growing evidence of observable impacts of climate change on physical and biological systems. In no doubt, agriculture provides the world population of 7 billion with the food that we all eat every day. In addition, 1.4 billion people work in agriculture and more than 2.5 billion people sustain their livelihood on agriculture. But agriculture is one of the contributors of greenhouse gases to climate change and climate change affects agriculture in return. When the global mean temperature change increases beyond 3.5°C, most of the species will have very few suitable areas for their survival and will become extinct. Several hundred million people are seriously affected by climate change today, with several hundred thousand annual deaths. Human impacts of climate change include scarcity of freshwater resources, weather-related disasters, food insecurity due to agricultural loss, migration, and displacement due to loss of settlements. These recalled nations to limit their GHG emission, ensure sustainable ecosystem, food production, and economic development so as to calm down

**Keywords:** adaptation, ecosystems, greenhouse gases, livelihoods, mitigation

© 2016 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

© 2018 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use,

distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.


#### **Observed and Projected Reciprocate Effects of Agriculture and Climate Change: Implications on Ecosystems and Human Livelihoods Observed and Projected Reciprocate Effects of Agriculture and Climate Change: Implications on Ecosystems and Human Livelihoods**

DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.79118

Zenebe Mekonnen

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[Accessed: July 16, 2018]

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**58**(1):35-44

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter Zenebe MekonnenAdditional information is available at the end of the chapter

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.79118

#### **Abstract**

The objective of this chapter is to review, from several literatures, the contribution of agriculture to climate change and the reciprocal effects of climate change on agriculture and the general consequent implications on human livelihoods and ecosystems. Human activities have already had a discernible impact on the earth's climate leading to growing evidence of observable impacts of climate change on physical and biological systems. In no doubt, agriculture provides the world population of 7 billion with the food that we all eat every day. In addition, 1.4 billion people work in agriculture and more than 2.5 billion people sustain their livelihood on agriculture. But agriculture is one of the contributors of greenhouse gases to climate change and climate change affects agriculture in return. When the global mean temperature change increases beyond 3.5°C, most of the species will have very few suitable areas for their survival and will become extinct. Several hundred million people are seriously affected by climate change today, with several hundred thousand annual deaths. Human impacts of climate change include scarcity of freshwater resources, weather-related disasters, food insecurity due to agricultural loss, migration, and displacement due to loss of settlements. These recalled nations to limit their GHG emission, ensure sustainable ecosystem, food production, and economic development so as to calm down the impacts of climate change.

**Keywords:** adaptation, ecosystems, greenhouse gases, livelihoods, mitigation

© 2016 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2018 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

### **1. Introduction**

Human activities have already had a discernible impact on the Earth's climate leading to growing evidence of observable impacts of climate change on physical and biological systems [1, 2]. Due to their limited adaptive capacities in technology and affluence as well as high natural resource-dependent livelihoods, it is the least developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to climate change impacts [3, 4]. At recent times, however, other countries in the mid- to high-latitudes have also experienced significantly higher rates of recent warming, and, in the northern hemisphere, such regions have also experienced an increase in heavy precipitation events [2, 5].

melting ice sheets, dieback of forests and drying up of streams; fourth, those physical changes has imposed human impacts including reduction in crop yield and enhancing hunger, human disease, income loss in agriculture, fisheries and tourism, scarcity of water both in quantity and quality, voluntary and involuntary displacement, risk of instability and armed conflicts"

Observed and Projected Reciprocate Effects of Agriculture and Climate Change: Implications…

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.79118

111

**1.** Is agriculture, particularly unsustainable one, the cause of climate change? If so, what

**3.** If agriculture and climate change have a reciprocal effect to each other, then what was their

**4.** If the global ecosystems are affected, then how the human wellbeing is affected altogether? **5.** If the human wellbeing is affected, then what measure and actions should the global com-

Agriculture is one of the contributors of greenhouse gases to climate change because agricultural activities are responsible for large-scale emissions of GHGs. Agriculture contributes to climate change by anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases and by the conversion of

The emission of GHGs from anthropogenic activities such as industrial process, land-use change and agriculture are the main drivers of climate change [2]. Agriculture's contribution

, 47% of CH4

[8] from the total agriculture, forestry and other land-use (AFOLU) emissions. Fertilizer

from manure management and biomass burning, and CO2

of agriculture included cropland management, grazing land management/pasture improvement, management of agricultural organic soils, restoration of degraded lands, livestock management, manure/biosolid management and bioenergy production. These practices can result in the emissions of GHGs which in turn impacting agricultural development by contributing

GHGs emission [18]. These are the most potent GHGs that are emitted from unsustainable agricultural practices. As compared to fossil fuels, the effect of land-use conversion on rising surface temperatures is an underestimated component of global warming [19]. Nonetheless, agriculture through tropical land use alone, mainly deforestation, contributed some 25% of

and 84% of N2

from enteric fermentation and rice production, N2

O of the global share of

O

emissions

O [8, 20]. The IPCC [15] definition

looks like its historical and projected contributions to climate change?

**2.** What are the return impacts of climate change on agriculture?

**2. Contribution of agriculture to greenhouse gases**

non-agricultural land such as forests to agricultural land [2].

use in agriculture is another main human-made source of N2

[2, 17].

This chapter is framed on the following points:

combined effects on global ecosystems?

munity would take to curb these problems?

**2.1. Historical contribution**

CO2

from soils, N2

to this was huge which took 14% of CO2

to climate change by the emissions of CH4

O and CH4

In no doubt, agriculture provides the world population of 7 billion with the food that we all eat every day. In addition, 1.4 billion people work in agriculture and more than 2.5 billion people sustain their livelihoods on agriculture [6–8]. Irrespective of all these, intensive agricultural practices have impacted global climate change. It is not only just the actual farming that made intensive agriculture so detrimental, but also land-use changes for its investment say, deforestation which releases CO2 as well as increases the surface albedo thereby enhance atmospheric warming [8]. For instance, continuing deforestation, mainly in tropical regions, is currently thought to be responsible for annual emissions of 1.1–1.7 billion tonnes of carbon per year [8].

Agricultural productions need to be increased to accommodate a growing population with reduced emissions of the greenhouse gases (GHGs): carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide [9]. On the other hand, it is becoming apparent that climate change was adversely affected and will continue to affect socio-economic sectors including water resources, agriculture, forestry, fisheries, human settlements, ecological systems and human health in many parts of the world. Developing countries are taking the lion's share of these adverse impacts of climate change and are the most vulnerable [5, 10] due to their low affluence and adaptive capacity to rebuild from climatic shocks. As described by Tol [11], one cannot have cheap energy, beef, mutton, dairy or rice without carbon dioxide emissions. However, employing sustainable practices of agriculture, like organic agriculture, have huge potential to help in the fight against climate change as they can sequester as much as 7000 pounds of carbon dioxide per acre per year [12, 13]. Rising temperatures and changing rainfall patterns had affected the kinds of crops that could have grown in a particular place, with effects unevenly distributed across the world [14]. Climate change was not only affected agriculture but also affected many aspects of human society and the natural world [2]. For instance, climate change had already transformed and will continue to transform ecosystems on an unexpected scale [2, 13–16].

"The linkage from causes to human impact of climate change [17] would surpass through four processes. First, increased emission of GHG has caused climate change; second, climate change has brought significant effects on rising sea surface temperature, sea level, ocean acidification, change in local rainfall and river run off patterns, high species extinction rate, loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services; third, the effects in return has brought about physical changes such as melting glacier, shore retreat, salinization, desertification, extreme events, melting ice sheets, dieback of forests and drying up of streams; fourth, those physical changes has imposed human impacts including reduction in crop yield and enhancing hunger, human disease, income loss in agriculture, fisheries and tourism, scarcity of water both in quantity and quality, voluntary and involuntary displacement, risk of instability and armed conflicts" [2, 17].

This chapter is framed on the following points:

**1. Introduction**

110 Climate Change and Global Warming

precipitation events [2, 5].

per year [8].

say, deforestation which releases CO2

Human activities have already had a discernible impact on the Earth's climate leading to growing evidence of observable impacts of climate change on physical and biological systems [1, 2]. Due to their limited adaptive capacities in technology and affluence as well as high natural resource-dependent livelihoods, it is the least developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to climate change impacts [3, 4]. At recent times, however, other countries in the mid- to high-latitudes have also experienced significantly higher rates of recent warming, and, in the northern hemisphere, such regions have also experienced an increase in heavy

In no doubt, agriculture provides the world population of 7 billion with the food that we all eat every day. In addition, 1.4 billion people work in agriculture and more than 2.5 billion people sustain their livelihoods on agriculture [6–8]. Irrespective of all these, intensive agricultural practices have impacted global climate change. It is not only just the actual farming that made intensive agriculture so detrimental, but also land-use changes for its investment—

atmospheric warming [8]. For instance, continuing deforestation, mainly in tropical regions, is currently thought to be responsible for annual emissions of 1.1–1.7 billion tonnes of carbon

Agricultural productions need to be increased to accommodate a growing population with reduced emissions of the greenhouse gases (GHGs): carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide [9]. On the other hand, it is becoming apparent that climate change was adversely affected and will continue to affect socio-economic sectors including water resources, agriculture, forestry, fisheries, human settlements, ecological systems and human health in many parts of the world. Developing countries are taking the lion's share of these adverse impacts of climate change and are the most vulnerable [5, 10] due to their low affluence and adaptive capacity to rebuild from climatic shocks. As described by Tol [11], one cannot have cheap energy, beef, mutton, dairy or rice without carbon dioxide emissions. However, employing sustainable practices of agriculture, like organic agriculture, have huge potential to help in the fight against climate change as they can sequester as much as 7000 pounds of carbon dioxide per acre per year [12, 13]. Rising temperatures and changing rainfall patterns had affected the kinds of crops that could have grown in a particular place, with effects unevenly distributed across the world [14]. Climate change was not only affected agriculture but also affected many aspects of human society and the natural world [2]. For instance, climate change had already transformed and will continue to transform ecosystems on an unexpected scale [2, 13–16].

"The linkage from causes to human impact of climate change [17] would surpass through four processes. First, increased emission of GHG has caused climate change; second, climate change has brought significant effects on rising sea surface temperature, sea level, ocean acidification, change in local rainfall and river run off patterns, high species extinction rate, loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services; third, the effects in return has brought about physical changes such as melting glacier, shore retreat, salinization, desertification, extreme events,

as well as increases the surface albedo thereby enhance


### **2. Contribution of agriculture to greenhouse gases**

#### **2.1. Historical contribution**

Agriculture is one of the contributors of greenhouse gases to climate change because agricultural activities are responsible for large-scale emissions of GHGs. Agriculture contributes to climate change by anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases and by the conversion of non-agricultural land such as forests to agricultural land [2].

The emission of GHGs from anthropogenic activities such as industrial process, land-use change and agriculture are the main drivers of climate change [2]. Agriculture's contribution to this was huge which took 14% of CO2 , 47% of CH4 and 84% of N2 O of the global share of GHGs emission [18]. These are the most potent GHGs that are emitted from unsustainable agricultural practices. As compared to fossil fuels, the effect of land-use conversion on rising surface temperatures is an underestimated component of global warming [19]. Nonetheless, agriculture through tropical land use alone, mainly deforestation, contributed some 25% of CO2 [8] from the total agriculture, forestry and other land-use (AFOLU) emissions. Fertilizer use in agriculture is another main human-made source of N2 O [8, 20]. The IPCC [15] definition of agriculture included cropland management, grazing land management/pasture improvement, management of agricultural organic soils, restoration of degraded lands, livestock management, manure/biosolid management and bioenergy production. These practices can result in the emissions of GHGs which in turn impacting agricultural development by contributing to climate change by the emissions of CH4 from enteric fermentation and rice production, N2 O from soils, N2 O and CH4 from manure management and biomass burning, and CO2 emissions and removals in agricultural soils. The GHGs allow the penetration of incoming solar radiation but absorb the outgoing long-wave radiation from the Earth's surface and reradiate the absorbed radiation back to the surface of the Earth and by doing so they have caused global warming and climate change [2, 15].

Agricultural anthropogenic activities have increased and will continue to increase the concentration of GHGs in the atmosphere. As shown in **Table 1**, decadal average agriculture emissions grew, from 4.6 to 5.1 (4.8 ± 0.3) Gt CO<sup>2</sup> e year\_1 in the 1990s to 5.0–5.5 (5.1 ± 0.3) Gt CO2 e year\_1 in the 2000s, reaching 5.4 ± 0.3 Gt CO<sup>2</sup> e year\_1 in 2010 [20, 21].

### **2.2. Projected contribution**

Agriculture is the main contributor of non-CO2 GHGs such as CH<sup>4</sup> and N2 O which have a greater global warming potential than CO2 (**Figure 1**). The EPA [21] studies showed that non-CO2 emission from agriculture has increased from observed trend and continues to increase to their projections, that is, from observed emission of 5621.8 Mt. CO2 e in 1990 to projected emission of 6945 Mt. CO2 e in 2030 for the global estimate (**Table 2**). As the case in point for Ethiopia for example, the trend is an increase from 62.7 Mt. CO2 e to 133.9 Mt. CO2 e for the same period. Another report for Ethiopia's agricultural emission [22, 23] showed similar situation of increase from observed 127 Mt. CO2 e in 2010 to projected 275 Mt. CO2 in 2030.

As outlined by Hristov et al. [24], livestock emissions took the lion's share of global non-CO2 emissions through its land use and land-use change 2500 Mt. CO2 e, manure management 2200 Mt. CO2 e, animal production 1900 Mt. CO2 e, feed production (excluding carbon released from soil) 400 Mt. CO<sup>2</sup> e and processing and international transport 30 Mt. CO2 e. Over the period 2001–2011, annual global emissions from enteric fermentation have increased by 11%, from 1858 Mt. CO2 e to 2071 Mt. CO2 e. These are projected to increase by 19% and 32% in 2030 and 2050, respectively, reaching more than 2500 Mt. CO2 e in 2080. Over the same period, annual emissions from manure management have increased about 10%, from 329 Mt. CO2 e


to 362 Mt. CO2

reaching more than 452 Mt. CO2

**Year Agriculture's non-CO2**

from climate change [2, 15].

e and are projected to increase by 6% and 47% in 2030 and 2050, respectively,

 **emissions (MtCO2**

**e) Agriculture (%)**

e in 2080 [8].

**Table 2.** Projected global total non-CO2 emissions from all sources and from the agriculture sector [21].

2020 6484.8 13,121.9 49.4 2025 6709.5 14,269.4 47.0 2030 6945.0 15,433.8 45.0

 **emissions (MtCO2**

Note: for what the calculation includes see note under **Table 1**.

Several global studies suggested that at least until 2050 land-use change for crop production and livestock husbandry will be the dominant driver of terrestrial biodiversity loss in human-dominated regions [25–30]. Conversely, climate change is likely to dominate where human interventions are limited, such as in the tundra, boreal, cool conifer forests, deserts and savanna biomes. The effects of land-use change, particularly because of agriculture, on species through landscape fragmentation at the regional scale may further exacerbate impacts

**e) Total non-CO2**

**Figure 1.** Reciprocate effects of agriculture and climate change on each other and the consequent impacts on ecology and human wellbeing (the red arrows show a direct and/or indirect impact (cause) on the other by which the one with positive sign showing causes for climate change; the vertical yellow arrow with negative sign shows the negative return impact of climate change on agriculture and the curved yellow arrows show that those decline in ecosystems and human wellbeing also have their own impacts on the climate system either directly or indirectly-developed based on IPCC [2, 15].

Observed and Projected Reciprocate Effects of Agriculture and Climate Change: Implications…

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113

Note: the calculation includes all non-CO<sup>2</sup> sources from energy, industrial process, agriculture and waste with few exceptions of CH4 from hydroelectric reservoirs and abandoned coal mines, N2 O from industrial wastewater and F-GHG emissions from the manufacture of electrical equipment.

**Table 1.** Observed global total non-CO2 emissions from all sources and from the agriculture sector [21]. Observed and Projected Reciprocate Effects of Agriculture and Climate Change: Implications… http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.79118 113

and removals in agricultural soils. The GHGs allow the penetration of incoming solar radiation but absorb the outgoing long-wave radiation from the Earth's surface and reradiate the absorbed radiation back to the surface of the Earth and by doing so they have caused global

Agricultural anthropogenic activities have increased and will continue to increase the concentration of GHGs in the atmosphere. As shown in **Table 1**, decadal average agriculture

greater global warming potential than CO2 (**Figure 1**). The EPA [21] studies showed that non-

same period. Another report for Ethiopia's agricultural emission [22, 23] showed similar situ-

As outlined by Hristov et al. [24], livestock emissions took the lion's share of global non-CO2

period 2001–2011, annual global emissions from enteric fermentation have increased by 11%,

annual emissions from manure management have increased about 10%, from 329 Mt. CO2

**e) Total non-CO2**

e and processing and international transport 30 Mt. CO2

to their projections, that is, from observed emission of 5621.8 Mt. CO2

Ethiopia for example, the trend is an increase from 62.7 Mt. CO2

emissions through its land use and land-use change 2500 Mt. CO2

e, animal production 1900 Mt. CO2

e to 2071 Mt. CO2

and 2050, respectively, reaching more than 2500 Mt. CO2

 **emissions (MtCO2**

 5621.8 9771.2 57.5 5501.8 9668.7 56.9 5423.8 9896.5 54.8 5798.5 10,780.7 53.8 5998.8 11,387.3 52.7 6271.2 12,166.0 51.5

from hydroelectric reservoirs and abandoned coal mines, N2

emission from agriculture has increased from observed trend and continues to increase

e year\_1 in the 1990s to 5.0–5.5 (5.1 ± 0.3) Gt

and N2

e to 133.9 Mt. CO2

e in 2080. Over the same period,

O from industrial wastewater and F-GHG

e, feed production (excluding carbon released

O which have a

e for the

e. Over the

e

e in 1990 to projected

in 2030.

e, manure management

**e) Agriculture (%)**

e year\_1 in 2010 [20, 21].

GHGs such as CH<sup>4</sup>

e in 2030 for the global estimate (**Table 2**). As the case in point for

e in 2010 to projected 275 Mt. CO2

e. These are projected to increase by 19% and 32% in 2030

 **emissions (MtCO2**

sources from energy, industrial process, agriculture and waste with few

emissions from all sources and from the agriculture sector [21].

warming and climate change [2, 15].

**2.2. Projected contribution**

112 Climate Change and Global Warming

emission of 6945 Mt. CO2

CO2

CO2

2200 Mt. CO2

from soil) 400 Mt. CO<sup>2</sup>

**Year Agriculture's non-CO2**

Note: the calculation includes all non-CO<sup>2</sup>

**Table 1.** Observed global total non-CO2

emissions from the manufacture of electrical equipment.

exceptions of CH4

from 1858 Mt. CO2

emissions grew, from 4.6 to 5.1 (4.8 ± 0.3) Gt CO<sup>2</sup>

Agriculture is the main contributor of non-CO2

ation of increase from observed 127 Mt. CO2

e year\_1 in the 2000s, reaching 5.4 ± 0.3 Gt CO<sup>2</sup>

**Figure 1.** Reciprocate effects of agriculture and climate change on each other and the consequent impacts on ecology and human wellbeing (the red arrows show a direct and/or indirect impact (cause) on the other by which the one with positive sign showing causes for climate change; the vertical yellow arrow with negative sign shows the negative return impact of climate change on agriculture and the curved yellow arrows show that those decline in ecosystems and human wellbeing also have their own impacts on the climate system either directly or indirectly-developed based on IPCC [2, 15].


**Table 2.** Projected global total non-CO2 emissions from all sources and from the agriculture sector [21].

to 362 Mt. CO2 e and are projected to increase by 6% and 47% in 2030 and 2050, respectively, reaching more than 452 Mt. CO2 e in 2080 [8].

Several global studies suggested that at least until 2050 land-use change for crop production and livestock husbandry will be the dominant driver of terrestrial biodiversity loss in human-dominated regions [25–30]. Conversely, climate change is likely to dominate where human interventions are limited, such as in the tundra, boreal, cool conifer forests, deserts and savanna biomes. The effects of land-use change, particularly because of agriculture, on species through landscape fragmentation at the regional scale may further exacerbate impacts from climate change [2, 15].

### **3. Impacts of climate change on agriculture**

Long-term fluctuations in weather patterns could have extreme impacts on agricultural production, slashing crop yields and forcing farmers to adopt new agricultural practices in response to altered conditions [31, 32]. As emphasized by Melillo et al. [33], some effects of climate change on agriculture include: loss of biodiversity in fragile environments/tropical forests, increased frequency of weather extremes (storms/floods/droughts), loss of fertile soil in coastal lands caused by rising sea levels, longer growing seasons in cool areas, more unpredictable farming conditions in tropical areas, and increase in incidence of pests and vectorborne diseases in livestock and dramatic changes in distribution and quantities of fish and sea foods. Climate is the primary determinant of agricultural productivity by which climate change is expected to influence crop and livestock production, hydrologic balances, input supplies and other components of agricultural systems [34, 35]. Climate change has posed a significant impact on crop production and livestock rearing. Studies showed that global wheat production is estimated to fall by 6% for each degree Celsius of further temperature increase and become more variable over space and time [36].

**Regions Impacts of climate change on agriculture**

numbers.

**Europe and Central** 

**Latin America and Caribbean**

Source: FAO [47].

**Asia**

**Asia and Pacific** • Freshwater availability in Central, South, East and Southeast Asia is likely to decrease.

decrease in other areas, especially in South Asia.

temperatures rise by more than 2.5°C.

Western Asia and the Middle East.

increases in livestock production.

• Rainfall may increase in east and west Africa.

soybean and wheat will increase.

**Table 3.** Selected possible regionalized impacts of climate change on agriculture.

subtropical regions is expected to decline.

tive effects.

season.

during this century.

• There will likely be a northward shift of agricultural zones.

• The combination of temperature increase and increasing CO2

Mediterranean area and southwest Balkans will suffer.

**Near East** • Maize yields in North Africa would suffer first with rising temperatures, followed by

• Temperature increases will lead to a substantial increase in demand for irrigation water for sustained productivity in arid, semiarid Asia and South and East Asia. • Land suitable for crop cultivation is expected to increase in East and Central Asia, but

Observed and Projected Reciprocate Effects of Agriculture and Climate Change: Implications…

• Crop yields could increase in East and Southeast Asia, while they could decrease in Central and South Asia even considering the fertilization effects of CO<sup>2</sup>

• Heat stress and limited pasture availability would limit the expansion of livestock

• Countries in midlatitudes will benefit at first but will begin to be affected negatively if

result in slightly positive agricultural development in southeastern Europe, while the

• Central Asia, dependent on irrigation and with high interannual variations in yields, can

• Cattle and small livestock could suffer from increasing heat stress and spread of diseases.

• Water availability would decrease in most of the region, although it may slightly increase

• Temperature increase may lead to increased pasture production in midlatitudes, with

• Warmer winters may benefit livestock, while greater summer heat stress can have nega-

• Drying is expected in the Mediterranean area and in much of southern Africa.

• Some areas, such as the Ethiopian highlands, could benefit from a longer growing

• Rangeland degradation and more frequent droughts may lead to reduced forage productivity and quality, particularly in the Sahel and southern Africa.

• As a result of increased thermal stress and drier soils, productivity in tropical and

• Rain fed agriculture in semiarid zones will face increasing risks of losing crops. • In temperate areas, pasture productivity may increase benefiting livestock production.

• In temperate zones, such as southeastern South America, yield of certain crops such as

• In arid zones, such as central and northern Chile and northeastern Brazil, the salinization

• Countries in the more temperate and polar regions are likely to benefit.

be affected by climate extremes and decrease in water availability.

in some areas, such as most of Sudan, Somalia and southern Egypt.

**Africa** • The number of extremely dry and wet years is expected to increase in sub-Saharan Africa

and desertification of agricultural land will possibly increase.

.

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.79118

115

concentration will

Agriculture is a victim of climate change (**Table 3**) because it is estimated that higher temperatures could reduce crop yield by 10–20% in sub-Saharan Africa by 2050. In return, agricultural development is one of the causes of climate change because it is responsible for 10–12% of human-generated GHGs emissions each year and much more (30%) if humans take into account the clearance of forests to make way for crops and livestock [37, 38]. Specific climate-related impacts also have national or regional level impacts on agriculture. Bearing in mind that one of the indictors of global climate change is an increase in global temperature and one of the first requirements for hurricanes (among other things such as pressure difference in the wind current) to be crated is warming of the ocean water more than 80°F, and it is possible to correlate that climate change aggravates hurricanes to happen frequently [39–41]. For example, Hurricane Mitch which hit Central American countries such as Honduras, Nicaragua, Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala and Panama has brought the most severe damage on the export and subsistence agricultural sectors with an estimated 70% of total damage or US\$1.7 billion. It has brought in 58% corn lost, 24% sorghum, 14% rice, 6% beans, 85% bananas, 60% sugarcane, 28% African Palm and 18% coffee [6, 19, 42, 43].

A study by IFPRI [44] showed climate change is supposed to have reduction in net crop revenue by (−28% to −79%), (−7% to −32%), (−12% to −17%), (−11% to −12%) and (−4% to −7%) in Central Africa, West Africa, southern Africa, East Africa and North Africa, respectively. In Ethiopia, the study by Deressa [45] showed that a unit increase in temperature during summer and winter would reduce net revenue per hectare by US\$177.62 and 464.71, respectively, whereas the marginal impact of increasing precipitation during spring would increase net revenue per hectare by US\$225.09. In another similar case for example, the 2008–2011 droughts in Kenya caused a total of USD 10.7 billion in damages and losses in agriculture sector and subsectors [46]. As Brown et al. [4] dictated, by being affecting agricultural production and productivity, climate change is very likely to affect global, regional and local food security by disrupting food availability, decreasing access to food and making food utilization more difficult.


Source: FAO [47].

**3. Impacts of climate change on agriculture**

114 Climate Change and Global Warming

increase and become more variable over space and time [36].

18% coffee [6, 19, 42, 43].

tion more difficult.

Long-term fluctuations in weather patterns could have extreme impacts on agricultural production, slashing crop yields and forcing farmers to adopt new agricultural practices in response to altered conditions [31, 32]. As emphasized by Melillo et al. [33], some effects of climate change on agriculture include: loss of biodiversity in fragile environments/tropical forests, increased frequency of weather extremes (storms/floods/droughts), loss of fertile soil in coastal lands caused by rising sea levels, longer growing seasons in cool areas, more unpredictable farming conditions in tropical areas, and increase in incidence of pests and vectorborne diseases in livestock and dramatic changes in distribution and quantities of fish and sea foods. Climate is the primary determinant of agricultural productivity by which climate change is expected to influence crop and livestock production, hydrologic balances, input supplies and other components of agricultural systems [34, 35]. Climate change has posed a significant impact on crop production and livestock rearing. Studies showed that global wheat production is estimated to fall by 6% for each degree Celsius of further temperature

Agriculture is a victim of climate change (**Table 3**) because it is estimated that higher temperatures could reduce crop yield by 10–20% in sub-Saharan Africa by 2050. In return, agricultural development is one of the causes of climate change because it is responsible for 10–12% of human-generated GHGs emissions each year and much more (30%) if humans take into account the clearance of forests to make way for crops and livestock [37, 38]. Specific climate-related impacts also have national or regional level impacts on agriculture. Bearing in mind that one of the indictors of global climate change is an increase in global temperature and one of the first requirements for hurricanes (among other things such as pressure difference in the wind current) to be crated is warming of the ocean water more than 80°F, and it is possible to correlate that climate change aggravates hurricanes to happen frequently [39–41]. For example, Hurricane Mitch which hit Central American countries such as Honduras, Nicaragua, Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala and Panama has brought the most severe damage on the export and subsistence agricultural sectors with an estimated 70% of total damage or US\$1.7 billion. It has brought in 58% corn lost, 24% sorghum, 14% rice, 6% beans, 85% bananas, 60% sugarcane, 28% African Palm and

A study by IFPRI [44] showed climate change is supposed to have reduction in net crop revenue by (−28% to −79%), (−7% to −32%), (−12% to −17%), (−11% to −12%) and (−4% to −7%) in Central Africa, West Africa, southern Africa, East Africa and North Africa, respectively. In Ethiopia, the study by Deressa [45] showed that a unit increase in temperature during summer and winter would reduce net revenue per hectare by US\$177.62 and 464.71, respectively, whereas the marginal impact of increasing precipitation during spring would increase net revenue per hectare by US\$225.09. In another similar case for example, the 2008–2011 droughts in Kenya caused a total of USD 10.7 billion in damages and losses in agriculture sector and subsectors [46]. As Brown et al. [4] dictated, by being affecting agricultural production and productivity, climate change is very likely to affect global, regional and local food security by disrupting food availability, decreasing access to food and making food utiliza-

**Table 3.** Selected possible regionalized impacts of climate change on agriculture.

### **4. Impacts of climate change and agriculture on ecosystems**

As already indicated in Section 2 of this chapter, agriculture is one of the contributors of greenhouse gases to climate change so does has a contribution to any impact of climate change on global ecosystem. It also affects global ecology through its land-use changes particularly in tropical forest ecosystem change by deforestation for agriculture [28]. Several studies [31, 48–53] showed that the impacts of climate change on global ecosystems are apparent, and future change is likely to be dramatic. By the mid of the twenty-first century, scientific evidence indicated the likelihood of global temperature rising between 3 and 4°C above the


preindustrial level [2]. As described in **Table 4**, the projected impact will lead to serious consequences for humans and ecosystems due to dangerous sea level rise, unprecedented heat

**Figure 2.** Schematic representation of change in bioclimatic envelope of a species with respect to climate change

Observed and Projected Reciprocate Effects of Agriculture and Climate Change: Implications…

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.79118

117

If global mean temperature (GMT) change is more than 3°C, very few ecosystems can adapt while most of regional and global ecosystems will be at risk [54]. Climate change could have a profound impact on biodiversity directly through changes in temperature and precipitation and indirectly in the ways it might affect land use and nutrient cycles, ocean acidification and the prospects for invasion of alien species into new habitats [9]. Climate change leads narrow bioclimatic envelope (**Figure 2**)—the range of climatic conditions within which a species can survive and grow [55]. In other words, when the global mean temperature change increases beyond 3.5°C, most of the species have very few suitable area for their survival and will

Climate change is happening on a global scale, but the ecological impacts are often local and vary from place to place [2, 15]. These impacts can include expansion of species into new areas, intermingling of formerly nonoverlapping species and even species extinctions. Two important types of ecological impacts of climate change have been observed. First, shifts in species' ranges (the locations in which they can survive and reproduce) and second, shifts in phenology (the timing of biological activities that take place seasonally). Other ecological impacts of climate change include changes in growth rates, in the relative abundance of species, in processes like water and nutrient cycling, and in the risk of disturbance from fire and invasive species. If a level of global warming occurs in the range from 3.6 to 5.4°F—somewhere in the low-to-mid projected range—it is estimated that about 20–30% of studied species could risk extinction in the next hundred years. Given that there are approximately 1.7 million identified species on the globe, this ratio would suggest that some 3–6 hundred thousand

waves, severe drought and major floods in many parts of the world [15].

become extinct [54].

developed based on Malcolm and Pitelka [56].

species could be committed to extinction [13].

Source: IPCC [2, 15].

**Table 4.** Projected impacts of climate change on global ecosystems as reported in the literature for different levels of global mean annual temperature rise, ∆T (°C), relative to preindustrial (PI) climate.

Observed and Projected Reciprocate Effects of Agriculture and Climate Change: Implications… http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.79118 117

**4. Impacts of climate change and agriculture on ecosystems**

1.6 Bioclimatic envelopes eventually exceeded leading to: • transformation of 10% of global ecosystems;

116 Climate Change and Global Warming

• ecosystems variously lose 2–47% areal extent.

• eventual transformation of 16% of global ecosystems;

• ecosystems variously lose 5–66% of their areal extent.

3.3 Reduced growth in warm-water aragonitic corals by 20–60% and 5% decrease in global phytoplankton productivity

• eventual transformation of 22% of global ecosystems;

• ecosystems variously lose 7–74% areal extent.

2.7 Bioclimatic envelopes exceeded leading to:

Baltic and Mediterranean

3.7 Bioclimatic envelopes exceeded leading to:

biome specificity")

Source: IPCC [2, 15].

As already indicated in Section 2 of this chapter, agriculture is one of the contributors of greenhouse gases to climate change so does has a contribution to any impact of climate change on global ecosystem. It also affects global ecology through its land-use changes particularly in tropical forest ecosystem change by deforestation for agriculture [28]. Several studies [31, 48–53] showed that the impacts of climate change on global ecosystems are apparent, and future change is likely to be dramatic. By the mid of the twenty-first century, scientific evidence indicated the likelihood of global temperature rising between 3 and 4°C above the

**ΔT Impacts on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems References**

[54]

[54]

[60–62]

[63, 64]

[65]

[54]

• loss of 47% wooded tundra, 23% cool conifer forest, 21% scrubland, 15% grassland/steppe,

2.4 63 of 165 rivers studied lose more than 10% of their fish species [57] 2.5 Sink service of terrestrial biosphere saturates and begins turning into a net carbon source [58, 59]

• loss of 58% wooded tundra, 31% cool conifer forest, 25% scrubland, 20% grassland/steppe,

3.0 66 of 165 rivers studied lose more than 10% of their fish species [57] 3.1 Extinction of remaining coral reef ecosystems (overgrown by algae) [60]

3.4 6–22% loss of coastal wetlands, large loss of migratory bird habitat particularly in the USA,

3.5 Predicted extinction of 15–40% endemic species in global biodiversity hotspots (case "narrow

27% savanna, 38% tundra and 26% temperate deciduous forest; and

global mean annual temperature rise, ∆T (°C), relative to preindustrial (PI) climate.

• loss of 68% wooded tundra, 44% cool conifer forest, 34% scrubland, 28% grassland/steppe,

**Table 4.** Projected impacts of climate change on global ecosystems as reported in the literature for different levels of

14% savanna, 13% tundra and 12% temperate deciduous forest; and

21% tundra, 21% temperate deciduous forest and 19% savanna; and

**Figure 2.** Schematic representation of change in bioclimatic envelope of a species with respect to climate change developed based on Malcolm and Pitelka [56].

preindustrial level [2]. As described in **Table 4**, the projected impact will lead to serious consequences for humans and ecosystems due to dangerous sea level rise, unprecedented heat waves, severe drought and major floods in many parts of the world [15].

If global mean temperature (GMT) change is more than 3°C, very few ecosystems can adapt while most of regional and global ecosystems will be at risk [54]. Climate change could have a profound impact on biodiversity directly through changes in temperature and precipitation and indirectly in the ways it might affect land use and nutrient cycles, ocean acidification and the prospects for invasion of alien species into new habitats [9]. Climate change leads narrow bioclimatic envelope (**Figure 2**)—the range of climatic conditions within which a species can survive and grow [55]. In other words, when the global mean temperature change increases beyond 3.5°C, most of the species have very few suitable area for their survival and will become extinct [54].

Climate change is happening on a global scale, but the ecological impacts are often local and vary from place to place [2, 15]. These impacts can include expansion of species into new areas, intermingling of formerly nonoverlapping species and even species extinctions. Two important types of ecological impacts of climate change have been observed. First, shifts in species' ranges (the locations in which they can survive and reproduce) and second, shifts in phenology (the timing of biological activities that take place seasonally). Other ecological impacts of climate change include changes in growth rates, in the relative abundance of species, in processes like water and nutrient cycling, and in the risk of disturbance from fire and invasive species. If a level of global warming occurs in the range from 3.6 to 5.4°F—somewhere in the low-to-mid projected range—it is estimated that about 20–30% of studied species could risk extinction in the next hundred years. Given that there are approximately 1.7 million identified species on the globe, this ratio would suggest that some 3–6 hundred thousand species could be committed to extinction [13].

### **5. Impacts of climate change on human livelihoods**

Several hundred million people are seriously affected by climate change today, with several hundred thousand annual deaths [26, 46, 66]. Some human impacts of climate change [15] includes: hundreds of millions of people exposed to increased water stress; complex, localized negative impacts on small holders, subsistence farmers and fishers; millions more people could experience coastal flooding each year; increasing burden from malnutrition, diarrheal, cardio-respiratory and infectious diseases; and increased morbidity and mortality from heat waves, floods and droughts. The World Health Organization's [67] global burden of disease study showed that long-term consequences of climate change affected over 325 million people in 2004. By the year 2030, the lives of 660 million people are expected to be seriously affected (increase of 103%) either by natural disasters caused by climate change or through gradual environmental degradation (**Figure 3**). In addition to what has been described in **Table 5**, human impacts of climate change include scarcity of freshwater resources, weather-related disasters, food insecurity due to agricultural loss, migration and displacement due to loss of settlements which can be exemplified by the following extreme events.


**6. Recommendations for action**

(CRD)-[67].

**Year Climate changerelated disaster**

as to calm down the impacts of climate change;

1998 Hurricane Mitch Honduras, Nicaragua, Belize, Costa Rica, El

**Table 5.** Few examples of the impacts of climate change on human livelihoods [17, 66].

Salvador, Guatemala, Panama

ture to climate change and vice versa;

• Basing the IPCC reports as the fundamental principle, "countries should act now, act together and act differently - do better actions beyond the 'paper' - on the stabilization of greenhouse gases concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system within a time frame sufficient to allow ecosystems to adapt naturally to climate change," to ensure that food production is not threatened and to enable economic development to proceed in a sustainable manner so

2005 Hurricane Wilma Mexico, USA, Bahamas, Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica 63 \$ 29.4 Billion

**Figure 3.** The impact of climate change due to gradual environmental degradation (GED) and climate-related disasters

 Cyclone Sidr Bangladesh 3400 \$1.6 Billion Cyclone Nargis Myanmar 150,000 \$4.0 Billion Hurricane Katrina USA 1800 \$100 Billion Cyclone Aila Bangladesh 190 \$170 Million Typhoon Haiyan Philippines 7986 \$10 Billion Drought Ethiopia 100,000 \$76 Million Cyclone Yasi Australia 1 \$3.6 Billion

**Country People** 

Observed and Projected Reciprocate Effects of Agriculture and Climate Change: Implications…

**killed**

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.79118

11,000 \$ 5 Billion

**Economic loss**

119

• Countries shall promote sustainable forms of agriculture in light of climate change in order to promote sustainable agricultural development which sustainably increases productivity and resilience, reduces/removes greenhouse gases emissions and enhances achievement of national food security and development goals in order to minimize the effects of agricul-


**Figure 3.** The impact of climate change due to gradual environmental degradation (GED) and climate-related disasters (CRD)-[67].


**Table 5.** Few examples of the impacts of climate change on human livelihoods [17, 66].

### **6. Recommendations for action**

**5. Impacts of climate change on human livelihoods**

settlements which can be exemplified by the following extreme events.

agricultural sector [68].

118 Climate Change and Global Warming

by climate-related risks [69].

GDP by 2030 [70].

in the region [69].

the period 2070–2099 [71].

Several hundred million people are seriously affected by climate change today, with several hundred thousand annual deaths [26, 46, 66]. Some human impacts of climate change [15] includes: hundreds of millions of people exposed to increased water stress; complex, localized negative impacts on small holders, subsistence farmers and fishers; millions more people could experience coastal flooding each year; increasing burden from malnutrition, diarrheal, cardio-respiratory and infectious diseases; and increased morbidity and mortality from heat waves, floods and droughts. The World Health Organization's [67] global burden of disease study showed that long-term consequences of climate change affected over 325 million people in 2004. By the year 2030, the lives of 660 million people are expected to be seriously affected (increase of 103%) either by natural disasters caused by climate change or through gradual environmental degradation (**Figure 3**). In addition to what has been described in **Table 5**, human impacts of climate change include scarcity of freshwater resources, weather-related disasters, food insecurity due to agricultural loss, migration and displacement due to loss of

• Flooding in Pakistan severely affected crops and livestock, where the crops were either partially or completely submerged and the livestock suffered from a lack of fodder availability. A total country wide loss of US\$1840 million was expected to have occurred in the

• Flooding and drought combined in Mozambique adversely affected the livelihood of the rural farmers. In the year 2007 alone, Mozambique experienced a total economic loss and damage of \$71,000 from severe flooding. Crop cultivation, livestock rearing and fishing were the most prominent sources of income for rural livelihood and are the most affected

• The main sources of livelihood in the flood prone regions of Kenya are crop cultivation, livestock rearing and other non-agricultural activities such as fishing, small-scale trade and manual labor. Flooding and drought in these low-lying areas had increased severely and caused approximate monetary loss of about US\$0.5 billion per year which is equivalent to 2% of the country's GDP. This cost is expected to rise and eventually claim 3% of Kenya's

• In severely drought prone regions of Gambia, the varying level of rainfall, shorter duration of the rainy season along with rising temperatures had resulted in severe calamity for its community that was mostly reliant on agriculture for their livelihoods. The residual damages from climate change in Gambia ranged between US\$123 million and US\$130 million per year in the near term and estimated to range from US\$955 million to US\$1.0 billion for

• Ninety percent of Burkina Faso's population is engaged in agriculture and livestock sectors which are very sensitive to climate variability. The range of average crop production loss due to drought was reported to be between US\$577 and US\$636 per household, whereas the range of average livestock loss was found to be between US\$1922 and 8759 per herder


• Climate change abatement requires environmental conservation and global partnership that related to two of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs): ensure environmental sustainability and develop a global partnership for development which are reconciled with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS);

Jiang H, Maletta H, Mata T, Murray A, Ngugi M, Ojima D, O'Neill B, Tebaldi C. Climate Change, Global Food Security, and the U.S. Food System. 2015. DOI: 10.7930/J0862DC7

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## **Author details**

Zenebe Mekonnen

Address all correspondence to: zenebemg2014@gmail.com

Wondo Genet College of Forestry and Natural Resources, Hawassa University, Shashemene, Ethiopia

### **References**


Jiang H, Maletta H, Mata T, Murray A, Ngugi M, Ojima D, O'Neill B, Tebaldi C. Climate Change, Global Food Security, and the U.S. Food System. 2015. DOI: 10.7930/J0862DC7

• Climate change abatement requires environmental conservation and global partnership that related to two of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs): ensure environmental sustainability and develop a global partnership for development which are reconciled with

• To meet developmental success by overcoming the challenges of climate change to agriculture, it requires a comprehensive approach of technical, institutional and financial innovations, so that both adaptation and mitigation strategies are consistent with efforts to safeguard food security, maintain ecosystem services, provide carbon sequestration and

• Productive and ecologically sustainable agriculture with strongly reduced greenhouse gases emissions is fundamental so as to reduce trade-offs among agricultural development

• Reports and studies of observational evidence from all continents and most oceans showed that many natural systems are being affected by regional climate changes, particularly temperature increases. To curb these climate change impacts, there is a need of human solutions for human causes: the world should invest in minimizing the amount of climate

Wondo Genet College of Forestry and Natural Resources, Hawassa University, Shashemene,

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**Chapter 8**

**Provisional chapter**

**Energy Mining, Earth's Thermal Insulation Damaged**

**Energy Mining, Earth's Thermal Insulation Damaged** 

Fossil energy is the product of a series of complex chemical reactions inside the earth under high temperature and pressure. Where there is fossil energy, there must be a huge heat reservoir. The vast majority of coal, oil and gas are found in sedimentary basins with abundant geothermal resources. There is no "sea of oil" or "sea of gas" in the Earth's crust. Oil, natural gas, shale gas, etc. exist underground in rock pores, cracks, caves, faults, sand grains where like a huge "capillary network". Some cracks and faults reach deep into the entire crust. Oil, natural gas and shale gas seal off these pores, cracks, faults and sand layers, effectively preventing excessive leakage of heat from the ground. The enormous pressure of oil, gas and shale gas in the Earth's crust counteracts the thermal pressure in the Earth's interior, reaching a dynamic equilibrium. Once the oil, gas and shale gas is out of the ground, due to the loss of heat insulation and heat insulation material, the heat will eventually reach the surface from the Earth's interior, causing the Earth's crust "fever". A large number of water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, etc. Greenhouse gas from the crust into the atmosphere and ocean, destroyed the energy balance of the atmosphere. This article aims to find out the real causes of climate change. By collecting materials from published academic documents, it is clarified that the man-made damage to the Earth's crust heat insulation seal is the truth of climate change. Therefore, the following conclusions are drawn: the thermal insulation of the Earth's crust is damaged by mining fossil energy (coal, oil, natural gas, shale gas, oil shale, gas hydrate, etc.), too much heat from the Earth's interior is pouring into the Earth's surface, causing the Earth's crust temperature and sea temperature to rise, trigger climate change and ecological disasters. Large amounts of water vapor have entered space, resulting rainfall and snow in some areas to exceed historical limits several times. Global soil and oceans degradation year by year.

**Keywords:** fossil energy extraction, terrestrial heat flow, Earth's crust, underlying

© 2016 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

© 2018 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use,

distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.80537

**and Trigger Climate Change**

**and Trigger Climate Change**

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.80537

Yao Mu and Xinzhi Mu

Yao Mu and Xinzhi Mu

**Abstract**

surface, climate change

#### **Energy Mining, Earth's Thermal Insulation Damaged and Trigger Climate Change Energy Mining, Earth's Thermal Insulation Damaged and Trigger Climate Change**

DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.80537

Yao Mu and Xinzhi Mu Yao Mu and Xinzhi Mu

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.80537

#### **Abstract**

Fossil energy is the product of a series of complex chemical reactions inside the earth under high temperature and pressure. Where there is fossil energy, there must be a huge heat reservoir. The vast majority of coal, oil and gas are found in sedimentary basins with abundant geothermal resources. There is no "sea of oil" or "sea of gas" in the Earth's crust. Oil, natural gas, shale gas, etc. exist underground in rock pores, cracks, caves, faults, sand grains where like a huge "capillary network". Some cracks and faults reach deep into the entire crust. Oil, natural gas and shale gas seal off these pores, cracks, faults and sand layers, effectively preventing excessive leakage of heat from the ground. The enormous pressure of oil, gas and shale gas in the Earth's crust counteracts the thermal pressure in the Earth's interior, reaching a dynamic equilibrium. Once the oil, gas and shale gas is out of the ground, due to the loss of heat insulation and heat insulation material, the heat will eventually reach the surface from the Earth's interior, causing the Earth's crust "fever". A large number of water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, etc. Greenhouse gas from the crust into the atmosphere and ocean, destroyed the energy balance of the atmosphere. This article aims to find out the real causes of climate change. By collecting materials from published academic documents, it is clarified that the man-made damage to the Earth's crust heat insulation seal is the truth of climate change. Therefore, the following conclusions are drawn: the thermal insulation of the Earth's crust is damaged by mining fossil energy (coal, oil, natural gas, shale gas, oil shale, gas hydrate, etc.), too much heat from the Earth's interior is pouring into the Earth's surface, causing the Earth's crust temperature and sea temperature to rise, trigger climate change and ecological disasters. Large amounts of water vapor have entered space, resulting rainfall and snow in some areas to exceed historical limits several times. Global soil and oceans degradation year by year.

**Keywords:** fossil energy extraction, terrestrial heat flow, Earth's crust, underlying surface, climate change

© 2016 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2018 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

### **1. Real culprit in climate change today**

At present, the ecological and geological disasters, climate change, extreme meteorological disasters, etc., and fossil energy, mining, crustal heat insulation layer destruction, the terrestrial heat flow increased, leading to the Earth's crust and ocean temperature caused climate change tend to be ignored.

Although the oil/gas extracted rock pores are filled with water, the thermal insulation layer is destroyed, and the geothermal energy travels up in all directions. Moreover, the thermal insulation effect of oil and gas is far greater than that of water. Pandora's box once opened,

Energy Mining, Earth's Thermal Insulation Damaged and Trigger Climate Change

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.80537

129

It is generally accepted in the meteorological community that climate change that occurs for longer than 3 months is not caused by factors within the atmosphere but outside of the

Tang et al. [1, 2] suggested that "The fundamental cause of climate change is the solid part of the earth," and atmospheric change is a responsive (or adaptive) state. The authors propose a "geocentric theory of climate change". Ground temperature is a measurement of the physical quantity of surface thermal energy. The change of ground temperature is more conservative than the change of temperature, which is caused by hysteresis. The change of ground temperature as part of the ground surface system, can cause the change of many physical quantities in the atmosphere and ocean, this shows that the solid circulation in various thermal processes are involved in the process of climate change [3]. Ground temperature and sea temperature a direct representation of surface heat. The heat source of the Earth's temperature ocean temperature are solar radiation and heat diffusion within the crust. According to the influence of heat source on the crust, the crust surface can be divided into variable temperature zone, stable temperature zone and increasing temperature zone. The variable temperate zone is the area of the earth that is thinner under the action of solar radiation. As the solar radiation energy cycle changes, changes in day and night temperatures can be observed in this region, as well as periodic changes over the course of a century or more each year. The annual temperature variation decreases with depth in accordance with a certain rule. Most of the world's plains, hilly areas of variable temperature zone thickness most of 15–20 m [4]. Solar radiation affects only the Earth's surface temperature, while heat diffusion in the Earth's crust affects both the deep surface temperature and the ocean temperature. Years of satellite observations have shown that changes in the sun's constant, about one in a thousand, are not enough to cause changes in the Earth's climate. How much warming is caused by the dou-

**2. Root cause of climate change is Earth's solid part**

will never be closed again.

bling of greenhouse gases (CO2

"geothermal anomalies".

this indicates the 1.5–4.5°C/2 × CO2

, CH4 , N2

rough estimation, the preliminary result is: doubled greenhouse gases cause warming ≤1°C,

at home and abroad, at least without the support of ancient historical data. High temperature flow from the mantle is not only an important condition for the evolution of organic matter, but also a major factor in climate change [6]. The Earth's interior is constantly losing heat to the Earth's surface, in some places (such as near the crater or certain fault zones) in some cases (after an earthquake, for example) large values can be reached, it is called a "ground temperature sudden rise" or "geothermic anomaly" [7]. According to the monthly earth temperature data of Chinese stations from 1954 to 1985, a total of 70 stations were counted in the process of "ground temperature sudden rise", 53 "ground temperature sudden rise" were caused by

O, etc.)? Tang [5] has used ancient historical data for

simulation results obtained by various numerical models

atmosphere.

Although the cause of climate change opinions vary, I have been committed to the research of climate change, finally come to conclusion is industrial mining fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas, oil shale, natural gas hydrate, etc.), destroyed the Earth's crust inside insulation, excessive heat from the interior of the earth to the surface, this is the main cause of climate change. Atmospheric events are becoming more extreme as CO2 , CH4 and other gases stored in the Earth's crust are released into the atmosphere due to heat in the Earth's crust and an increase in the temperature of its underground surface. The Earth's crust and underlying surfaces are being heated in irregular ways! It is for this reason, not only the ecological environment rapidly deteriorating, and because of excessive heat into the atmosphere and ocean, increasingly frequent extreme weather events occur, constantly refresh historical extremum. Fossil energy is the product of a series of complex chemical reactions under the long-term high temperature and pressure in the earth. Therefore, where there is fossil energy, there are a large number of thermal resources. But does not exist in the crust "oil sea" or "gas sea", rock pores, fissures, karst cave, fault and thick sandstone exist in oil and natural gas fossil, formed a huge "capillary network". Although the fossil energy constitute only a small part of the Earth's surface, exploiting the maximum depth of only 5000 m, but the fossil energy and gas seam sealed effectively to rock pore, fracture and karst cave, fault and coal, prevent the excessive leakage of terrestrial heat flow. The enormous pressure of oil, gas and shale gas in the Earth's crust counteracts the heat pressure in the Earth's interior and achieves a dynamic equilibrium. Once the oil, gas and shale gas have been mined, the Earth's interior heat flow because of lost the thermal insulation layer, eventually to travel to the surface, causing the Earth's crust "fever", cause the ecological and geological disasters. A large amount of extremely dispersed heat forces gases from the Earth's crust, such as water vapor, CO2 and CH4 , into the atmosphere and ocean, damaging the energy balance of the atmosphere and causing climate change and meteorological disasters. With the increase of ocean temperature, air humidity increases, the recorded the strongest typhoon, hurricanes and tropical cyclones, and recorded the strongest local rainfall, snow, drought, heat and cold. These are expected to become more frequent as the weather becomes more extreme and violent. Even if humans stop emitting greenhouse gases, global change will still continue for a long time because of this reason. The ground is a big tree, the underground the capillary roots has a football field yet. The same is true even though fossil fuels account for 1% of the total Earth's surface area, but exist in rock pores, cracks, karst caves, faults and grits through the crust, forming a huge "capillary network" far more than 1%.

The arctic is sparsely populated, artificial GHGs emissions are almost non-existent, the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere is very low. But the region is rich in oil and gas, and the massive mining of the surrounding countries (Russia, Alaska, Norway, Canada, Denmark, etc.) has accelerated the melting of arctic sea ice, which is a living example.

Although the oil/gas extracted rock pores are filled with water, the thermal insulation layer is destroyed, and the geothermal energy travels up in all directions. Moreover, the thermal insulation effect of oil and gas is far greater than that of water. Pandora's box once opened, will never be closed again.

### **2. Root cause of climate change is Earth's solid part**

**1. Real culprit in climate change today**

Atmospheric events are becoming more extreme as CO2

change tend to be ignored.

128 Climate Change and Global Warming

CH4

"capillary network" far more than 1%.

centration of CO2

At present, the ecological and geological disasters, climate change, extreme meteorological disasters, etc., and fossil energy, mining, crustal heat insulation layer destruction, the terrestrial heat flow increased, leading to the Earth's crust and ocean temperature caused climate

Although the cause of climate change opinions vary, I have been committed to the research of climate change, finally come to conclusion is industrial mining fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas, oil shale, natural gas hydrate, etc.), destroyed the Earth's crust inside insulation, excessive heat from the interior of the earth to the surface, this is the main cause of climate change.

Earth's crust are released into the atmosphere due to heat in the Earth's crust and an increase in the temperature of its underground surface. The Earth's crust and underlying surfaces are being heated in irregular ways! It is for this reason, not only the ecological environment rapidly deteriorating, and because of excessive heat into the atmosphere and ocean, increasingly frequent extreme weather events occur, constantly refresh historical extremum. Fossil energy is the product of a series of complex chemical reactions under the long-term high temperature and pressure in the earth. Therefore, where there is fossil energy, there are a large number of thermal resources. But does not exist in the crust "oil sea" or "gas sea", rock pores, fissures, karst cave, fault and thick sandstone exist in oil and natural gas fossil, formed a huge "capillary network". Although the fossil energy constitute only a small part of the Earth's surface, exploiting the maximum depth of only 5000 m, but the fossil energy and gas seam sealed effectively to rock pore, fracture and karst cave, fault and coal, prevent the excessive leakage of terrestrial heat flow. The enormous pressure of oil, gas and shale gas in the Earth's crust counteracts the heat pressure in the Earth's interior and achieves a dynamic equilibrium. Once the oil, gas and shale gas have been mined, the Earth's interior heat flow because of lost the thermal insulation layer, eventually to travel to the surface, causing the Earth's crust "fever", cause the ecological and geological disasters. A large amount of extremely dispersed heat forces gases from the Earth's crust, such as water vapor, CO2

, into the atmosphere and ocean, damaging the energy balance of the atmosphere and causing climate change and meteorological disasters. With the increase of ocean temperature, air humidity increases, the recorded the strongest typhoon, hurricanes and tropical cyclones, and recorded the strongest local rainfall, snow, drought, heat and cold. These are expected to become more frequent as the weather becomes more extreme and violent. Even if humans stop emitting greenhouse gases, global change will still continue for a long time because of this reason. The ground is a big tree, the underground the capillary roots has a football field yet. The same is true even though fossil fuels account for 1% of the total Earth's surface area, but exist in rock pores, cracks, karst caves, faults and grits through the crust, forming a huge

The arctic is sparsely populated, artificial GHGs emissions are almost non-existent, the con-

massive mining of the surrounding countries (Russia, Alaska, Norway, Canada, Denmark,

etc.) has accelerated the melting of arctic sea ice, which is a living example.

in the atmosphere is very low. But the region is rich in oil and gas, and the

, CH4

and other gases stored in the

and

It is generally accepted in the meteorological community that climate change that occurs for longer than 3 months is not caused by factors within the atmosphere but outside of the atmosphere.

Tang et al. [1, 2] suggested that "The fundamental cause of climate change is the solid part of the earth," and atmospheric change is a responsive (or adaptive) state. The authors propose a "geocentric theory of climate change". Ground temperature is a measurement of the physical quantity of surface thermal energy. The change of ground temperature is more conservative than the change of temperature, which is caused by hysteresis. The change of ground temperature as part of the ground surface system, can cause the change of many physical quantities in the atmosphere and ocean, this shows that the solid circulation in various thermal processes are involved in the process of climate change [3]. Ground temperature and sea temperature a direct representation of surface heat. The heat source of the Earth's temperature ocean temperature are solar radiation and heat diffusion within the crust. According to the influence of heat source on the crust, the crust surface can be divided into variable temperature zone, stable temperature zone and increasing temperature zone. The variable temperate zone is the area of the earth that is thinner under the action of solar radiation. As the solar radiation energy cycle changes, changes in day and night temperatures can be observed in this region, as well as periodic changes over the course of a century or more each year. The annual temperature variation decreases with depth in accordance with a certain rule. Most of the world's plains, hilly areas of variable temperature zone thickness most of 15–20 m [4]. Solar radiation affects only the Earth's surface temperature, while heat diffusion in the Earth's crust affects both the deep surface temperature and the ocean temperature. Years of satellite observations have shown that changes in the sun's constant, about one in a thousand, are not enough to cause changes in the Earth's climate. How much warming is caused by the doubling of greenhouse gases (CO2 , CH4 , N2 O, etc.)? Tang [5] has used ancient historical data for rough estimation, the preliminary result is: doubled greenhouse gases cause warming ≤1°C, this indicates the 1.5–4.5°C/2 × CO2 simulation results obtained by various numerical models at home and abroad, at least without the support of ancient historical data. High temperature flow from the mantle is not only an important condition for the evolution of organic matter, but also a major factor in climate change [6]. The Earth's interior is constantly losing heat to the Earth's surface, in some places (such as near the crater or certain fault zones) in some cases (after an earthquake, for example) large values can be reached, it is called a "ground temperature sudden rise" or "geothermic anomaly" [7]. According to the monthly earth temperature data of Chinese stations from 1954 to 1985, a total of 70 stations were counted in the process of "ground temperature sudden rise", 53 "ground temperature sudden rise" were caused by "geothermal anomalies".

Research has shown that forced change of underlying surface is one of the most important causes of climate anomalies [8]. It is a well-known fact that tropical ocean temperature anomalies represented by El Niño events can cause global climate responses. The nature of climate change lies in its non-adiabatic nature [9]. Therefore, the abnormal heat condition of the underlying surface is an important cause of climate change. Alternating cold and warm atmospheric temperatures have certain similarities with ground temperature, and they have corresponding cold and warm centers. The change of ground temperature is synchronous with the change of atmospheric temperature, the difference is that the temperature changes in a small time scale more frequently than the earth temperature, and the earth temperature changes more energy in a larger time scale than the air temperature. The Earth's interior influences atmospheric processes by constantly sending matter and energy to the atmosphere, ultimately causing climate change [10].

data points of coal seam in middle coal seam were measured, found due to the dense of coal seam, high thermal resistance, geothermal gradient of only 18.7°C/hm, thus get a lower ther-

Energy Mining, Earth's Thermal Insulation Damaged and Trigger Climate Change

Xu et al. [14] the paleogeothermal study of Dagang Oilfield shows that the paleogeothermal effect in the oil and gas accumulation process of Dagang Oilfield produced obvious changes in the early stage that flattened at a later stage over time, this indicates that the paleogeothermal change is controlled by regional structure, and the peak area of paleogeothermal is consistent with the area with strong tectonic activity and frequent hydrothermal activity. Therefore, paleogeothermal change is closely related to regional tectonic environment and thermodynamic conditions. The period of paleogeothermal change is the period of intense crustal and structural movements, and also the peak of oil generation and oil and gas migration and accumulation. The heat flow statistics also show that the ground heat flow value of geological unit decreases with the increase of time in the last stage of tectonic thermal events [15]. According to Zhang et al. [16–19] research results, in the southern North China Basin groups of whole geothermal gradient between 13.0 and 39.9°C/km, average of 25.3°C/km.

Compared with other geological units in mainland China, heat flow value is higher than that cryogenic basin of Tarim basin (44°C/hm) and Junggar basin (42.3°C/hm) in western China, and lower than that high temperature basin of the Bohai bay basin (69°C/hm) and Songliao basin (70°C/hm) in eastern China. From these data we can clearly see that unexploited oil and gas fields (Tarim Basin and Junggar Basin) have low heat flow value, large scale and longtime exploitation of oil and gas fields (Bohai Bay Basin, Dagang Oilfield, Songliao Basin, Daqing Oilfield, Jilin Oilfield and Liaohe Oilfield) with high heat flow value, oil and gas fields (Southern North China Basin–Southern North China Oil Field) between the two groups heat flow value is middle. On the basis of previous work, Qiu [20] according to a large number of rock thermal conductivity and thermal generation data, used heat conduction theory to calculate the deep temperature, analyzed the temperature distribution in the deep (below 4 km). The statistical average heat flow value from these heat flows get the Qaidam basin was 52.6 ± 9.6°C/hm. However, the heat flow value of the local wellhead is more than 70 mW/m<sup>2</sup>

which is a thermal anomaly area of the basin. This is due to the large amount of oil production caused by the reduction of the heat insulation seal in the Earth's crust, increase in the earth

Oil-bearing basins are rich in oil, gas, geothermal and other resources. Jiang et al. [21] used authigenic illite crystallinity and the chemical composition of authigenic chlorite to analyze the Jiyang depression Cenozoic ancient geothermal gradient. The results showed that the Jiyang depression Cenozoic ancient geothermal gradient is 37.2–38.2°C/hm. Gong et al. [22] using 703 drilling temperature measurement in Jiyang depression that nowadays the average geothermal gradient is 35.5°C/km, it is concluded that the paleogeothermal gradient is larger than the present geothermal gradient. Jiyang depression Zhanhua east block is located in Dongying estuary area, exploration proves that this area is a dual oil and gas accumulation area rich in oil and gas resources, with various oil and gas types. Based on *Ro* data of regional drilling temperature and vitrinite reflectance, Chen et al. [23] used the multi-stage thermal evolution model of lithosphere and basin scale, the present geothermal field in this area was

, and the average is 53.7 mW/m2

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.80537

.

131

,

The ground heat flow value is between 30 and 89.6 mW/m<sup>2</sup>

mal conductivity [13].

heat flow.

To address climate change, a "pathogenesis" study of climate change must be performed because an accurate understanding of the pathogenesis of climate change is vital to understand current and future climate change.

### **2.1. Heat flow changes before and after fossil energy exploitation**

Coal, oil, natural gas, shale gas and other fossil fuels are sensitive to temperature, pressure and other geological environmental factors. A series of physical, chemical, structural and structural changes of coal, oil and natural gas are inevitably caused by various tectonic events during geological evolution. Therefore, in the geological records of deep and shallow strata, it is necessary to include evidence related to the Earth's crust insulation seal failure and the surface heating caused by large-scale fossil fuel mining.

Li et al. [11] ground temperature changes observed in Huainan mining area, found that geothermal gradient of Huainan area (2.80–3.80°C/hm) is significantly higher than the old section (1.10–1.82°C/hm); the average geothermal gradient (3.42°C/hm) Pansan mining area west wing is higher than the east wing (3.14°C/hm), the east and west wings showed positive anomalies. In the old mining areas, the long-term mining activities have caused a lot of cracks in the rock strata, which makes cold water at the top infiltration, it cools the rock. In addition, the drainage system of the mine formed a cold water circulation system, which improved the cooling effect of the rock formation. After analyzing the abnormal causes, Li believes that the heat source causing the geothermal abnormality in Huainan mining area is mostly from within the earth, he made it clear that the thermal conductivity of coal is much lower than that of other sedimentary rocks. Therefore, in coal seam, especially in thick coal seam, high geothermal gradient will appear. The coal-bearing strata with more coal seams have more obvious thermal barrier effect on the whole than the depositional cover without coal. He and Wei [12] made an analysis of 30 boreholes and ground temperature test data of deep exploration and construction in Panzhihua coal mine, the general trend is that the high temperature area increases with depth, believed that its heat source comes from the residual heat of magma. Britain's deepest coal mine, in Lancashire, is about 1300 m deep. Verma measured original geothermal values of 26 of the 5 southern coal mines, geothermal gradient is 26.2°C/hm at a depth of 1220 m, the average original ground temperature is 45.7°C. Fourteen data points of coal seam in middle coal seam were measured, found due to the dense of coal seam, high thermal resistance, geothermal gradient of only 18.7°C/hm, thus get a lower thermal conductivity [13].

Research has shown that forced change of underlying surface is one of the most important causes of climate anomalies [8]. It is a well-known fact that tropical ocean temperature anomalies represented by El Niño events can cause global climate responses. The nature of climate change lies in its non-adiabatic nature [9]. Therefore, the abnormal heat condition of the underlying surface is an important cause of climate change. Alternating cold and warm atmospheric temperatures have certain similarities with ground temperature, and they have corresponding cold and warm centers. The change of ground temperature is synchronous with the change of atmospheric temperature, the difference is that the temperature changes in a small time scale more frequently than the earth temperature, and the earth temperature changes more energy in a larger time scale than the air temperature. The Earth's interior influences atmospheric processes by constantly sending matter and energy to the atmosphere,

To address climate change, a "pathogenesis" study of climate change must be performed because an accurate understanding of the pathogenesis of climate change is vital to under-

Coal, oil, natural gas, shale gas and other fossil fuels are sensitive to temperature, pressure and other geological environmental factors. A series of physical, chemical, structural and structural changes of coal, oil and natural gas are inevitably caused by various tectonic events during geological evolution. Therefore, in the geological records of deep and shallow strata, it is necessary to include evidence related to the Earth's crust insulation seal failure and the

Li et al. [11] ground temperature changes observed in Huainan mining area, found that geothermal gradient of Huainan area (2.80–3.80°C/hm) is significantly higher than the old section (1.10–1.82°C/hm); the average geothermal gradient (3.42°C/hm) Pansan mining area west wing is higher than the east wing (3.14°C/hm), the east and west wings showed positive anomalies. In the old mining areas, the long-term mining activities have caused a lot of cracks in the rock strata, which makes cold water at the top infiltration, it cools the rock. In addition, the drainage system of the mine formed a cold water circulation system, which improved the cooling effect of the rock formation. After analyzing the abnormal causes, Li believes that the heat source causing the geothermal abnormality in Huainan mining area is mostly from within the earth, he made it clear that the thermal conductivity of coal is much lower than that of other sedimentary rocks. Therefore, in coal seam, especially in thick coal seam, high geothermal gradient will appear. The coal-bearing strata with more coal seams have more obvious thermal barrier effect on the whole than the depositional cover without coal. He and Wei [12] made an analysis of 30 boreholes and ground temperature test data of deep exploration and construction in Panzhihua coal mine, the general trend is that the high temperature area increases with depth, believed that its heat source comes from the residual heat of magma. Britain's deepest coal mine, in Lancashire, is about 1300 m deep. Verma measured original geothermal values of 26 of the 5 southern coal mines, geothermal gradient is 26.2°C/hm at a depth of 1220 m, the average original ground temperature is 45.7°C. Fourteen

ultimately causing climate change [10].

130 Climate Change and Global Warming

stand current and future climate change.

**2.1. Heat flow changes before and after fossil energy exploitation**

surface heating caused by large-scale fossil fuel mining.

Xu et al. [14] the paleogeothermal study of Dagang Oilfield shows that the paleogeothermal effect in the oil and gas accumulation process of Dagang Oilfield produced obvious changes in the early stage that flattened at a later stage over time, this indicates that the paleogeothermal change is controlled by regional structure, and the peak area of paleogeothermal is consistent with the area with strong tectonic activity and frequent hydrothermal activity. Therefore, paleogeothermal change is closely related to regional tectonic environment and thermodynamic conditions. The period of paleogeothermal change is the period of intense crustal and structural movements, and also the peak of oil generation and oil and gas migration and accumulation. The heat flow statistics also show that the ground heat flow value of geological unit decreases with the increase of time in the last stage of tectonic thermal events [15]. According to Zhang et al. [16–19] research results, in the southern North China Basin groups of whole geothermal gradient between 13.0 and 39.9°C/km, average of 25.3°C/km. The ground heat flow value is between 30 and 89.6 mW/m<sup>2</sup> , and the average is 53.7 mW/m2 . Compared with other geological units in mainland China, heat flow value is higher than that cryogenic basin of Tarim basin (44°C/hm) and Junggar basin (42.3°C/hm) in western China, and lower than that high temperature basin of the Bohai bay basin (69°C/hm) and Songliao basin (70°C/hm) in eastern China. From these data we can clearly see that unexploited oil and gas fields (Tarim Basin and Junggar Basin) have low heat flow value, large scale and longtime exploitation of oil and gas fields (Bohai Bay Basin, Dagang Oilfield, Songliao Basin, Daqing Oilfield, Jilin Oilfield and Liaohe Oilfield) with high heat flow value, oil and gas fields (Southern North China Basin–Southern North China Oil Field) between the two groups heat flow value is middle. On the basis of previous work, Qiu [20] according to a large number of rock thermal conductivity and thermal generation data, used heat conduction theory to calculate the deep temperature, analyzed the temperature distribution in the deep (below 4 km). The statistical average heat flow value from these heat flows get the Qaidam basin was 52.6 ± 9.6°C/hm. However, the heat flow value of the local wellhead is more than 70 mW/m<sup>2</sup> , which is a thermal anomaly area of the basin. This is due to the large amount of oil production caused by the reduction of the heat insulation seal in the Earth's crust, increase in the earth heat flow.

Oil-bearing basins are rich in oil, gas, geothermal and other resources. Jiang et al. [21] used authigenic illite crystallinity and the chemical composition of authigenic chlorite to analyze the Jiyang depression Cenozoic ancient geothermal gradient. The results showed that the Jiyang depression Cenozoic ancient geothermal gradient is 37.2–38.2°C/hm. Gong et al. [22] using 703 drilling temperature measurement in Jiyang depression that nowadays the average geothermal gradient is 35.5°C/km, it is concluded that the paleogeothermal gradient is larger than the present geothermal gradient. Jiyang depression Zhanhua east block is located in Dongying estuary area, exploration proves that this area is a dual oil and gas accumulation area rich in oil and gas resources, with various oil and gas types. Based on *Ro* data of regional drilling temperature and vitrinite reflectance, Chen et al. [23] used the multi-stage thermal evolution model of lithosphere and basin scale, the present geothermal field in this area was analyzed and its thermal history was restored. The results are shown that (1) nowadays the geothermal gradient is 35.8°C/km, Gudao and Kendong areas geothermal gradient is higher, more than 37°C/km; (2) the early paleocene terrestrial heat flow value is 83.6°C/km, equivalent to the calorific value of a modern active rift. Since paleocene, the basin has shown a trend of gradual cooling. Although there have been two warming, the warming rate has finally decreased. The current terrestrial heat flow value is 63°C/km, the heat flow value is close to the global average; (3) the main source rocks in this area have undergone continuous heating and are now in the "oil generation window", in depth, there is a large hydrocarbon accumulation space, and the thermal evolution background is favorable for hydrocarbon generation. It can be seen that the formation of oil and gas effectively blocked the heat flow (**Table 1**).

temperature in China's Daxinanling Amur region has increased 0.8°C from the 1970s to 1990s [30]. The ground temperature has increased 0.3–0.6°C in the Heilongjiang upper valley region from 1958 to 1990 [31]. Observations based on the Qinghai-Tibet highway and Railway geothermal features and degradation mode by Jin et al. and Li et al. [32, 33], showed permafrost degradation, ground temperature increases, the summer's biggest melt depth deepening, winter freezing depth decreases, and permafrost thickness thinning, or disappear completely in some areas. At present, the downward melting rate of frozen soil in Qinghai-Tibet Railway

Energy Mining, Earth's Thermal Insulation Damaged and Trigger Climate Change

, while the upward melting rate reaches 12–30 cm a−<sup>1</sup>

general, ground temperature rises faster than air temperature.

observation results of meteorological stations.

temperature and ground temperature warming rate are 0.33 and 0.37°C/10a, respectively. In

According to a report in the British NEW SCIENTIST on 12 Dec 1994, climate warming is not consistent with climate change expectations based on the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere on earth. Researchers believe the southwest Pacific is a valuable reference for monitoring climate change because it has fewer cities and less air pollution. New Zealand's National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research has provided firsthand information on the warming of the Indian Ocean. The Antarctic Climate and Ecosystem Cooperative Research Centre (Australia Tasmania Hobart) of Nathan Bindoff to early and mid-1960s records of ships across the Indian Ocean temperature data and research ship 1987 Darwin recorded data are compared, and he calculated in latitude 32° south 250–1500 m in the depths of the ocean temperature rose about 0.5°C. Bindoff believes that temperature changes in the deep ocean are an important indicator of global climate change. He suggests that when measuring temperatures deep in the ocean, seasonal fluctuations are small. Thus, measurements of the deep ocean can provide more accurate results and fewer observations than measurements of sea level. The Indian Ocean has proved to be the third ocean in which deep water is warming. Bindoff published similar results in 1992 and showed that temperatures in the southwest Pacific increased at almost the same rate. Gregorlo Parrilla and his team at the Spanish institute of oceanography found that the north Atlantic was also warming [34]. Professor Pollack [35] after analyzing more than 60 geothermal data in South Africa found that, in the past 100 years in the area ground temperature increased by 0.3–0.8°C, an average of 0.55°C, completely consistent with the results of global change research. International famous geothermal scientists and members of the National Academy of Sciences Arthur H. Lachenbruch research of a lot of temperature data from northern Alaska drilling (inside the Arctic Circle) and came to the conclusion that this area has increased 2–4°C temperature over the past century [36]. After studying more than 30 borehole temperature measurements from Cuba, vice chairman of the international heat flow committee and that year director of the Institute of Physics of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, Dr. Čermák pointed out that, Cuba region increased temperatures 2–3°C in the past 200–300 years [37]. Professor Mareschal from the Université du Québec, Canada and Dr. Jessop from the Geological Survey Institute of Canada [38] based on a large amount of temperature measurement data in central and eastern Canada, reported temperature increase 1–2°C in the past 100–200 years, and most of the temperature changes inferred from ground temperature data are consistent with the

. The annual average

133

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.80537

is about 6–25 cm a−<sup>1</sup>

#### **2.2. Deep geotemperature and deep sea temperature both rise**

Du et al. [24] analyzed the variation trend of the deep ground temperature of Lasa, indicating that the average ground temperature of Lasa has a significant upward trend in the past 45 years, the tendency to rate is 0.58–0.69°C/10a. Compared with the average increase rate of atmospheric temperature over the same period, geothermal temperature is growing even faster. In addition, geothermal observations from seasonal permafrost and weather stations in the permafrost regions of the former Soviet union show that the average annual geothermal temperature at most weather stations has increased over the past century [25]. In the Swiss Alps, the temperature of the permafrost layer below the surface has been increasing at a rate of 0.5–1.0°C/10a since 1980 [26]. The permafrost temperature measurement results, acquired in a north–south direction across Alaska, showed that the upper limit of the permafrost temperatures has increased by 0.5–1.5°C from the late 1980s to 1996 [27]. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau permafrost temperature in the 1960–1990s increased by 0.2–0.3°C [28]. Qinghai-Tibet Railway in north and south of ground temperature linear heating rate is larger, especially in the south of the Qinghai-Tibet railway warming rate averaged 0.56°C/10a [29]. The permafrost ground


**Table 1.** Thermal conductivity of various rocks and fossil fuels.

temperature in China's Daxinanling Amur region has increased 0.8°C from the 1970s to 1990s [30]. The ground temperature has increased 0.3–0.6°C in the Heilongjiang upper valley region from 1958 to 1990 [31]. Observations based on the Qinghai-Tibet highway and Railway geothermal features and degradation mode by Jin et al. and Li et al. [32, 33], showed permafrost degradation, ground temperature increases, the summer's biggest melt depth deepening, winter freezing depth decreases, and permafrost thickness thinning, or disappear completely in some areas. At present, the downward melting rate of frozen soil in Qinghai-Tibet Railway is about 6–25 cm a−<sup>1</sup> , while the upward melting rate reaches 12–30 cm a−<sup>1</sup> . The annual average temperature and ground temperature warming rate are 0.33 and 0.37°C/10a, respectively. In general, ground temperature rises faster than air temperature.

analyzed and its thermal history was restored. The results are shown that (1) nowadays the geothermal gradient is 35.8°C/km, Gudao and Kendong areas geothermal gradient is higher, more than 37°C/km; (2) the early paleocene terrestrial heat flow value is 83.6°C/km, equivalent to the calorific value of a modern active rift. Since paleocene, the basin has shown a trend of gradual cooling. Although there have been two warming, the warming rate has finally decreased. The current terrestrial heat flow value is 63°C/km, the heat flow value is close to the global average; (3) the main source rocks in this area have undergone continuous heating and are now in the "oil generation window", in depth, there is a large hydrocarbon accumulation space, and the thermal evolution background is favorable for hydrocarbon generation. It can be seen that the formation of oil and gas effectively blocked the heat flow (**Table 1**).

Du et al. [24] analyzed the variation trend of the deep ground temperature of Lasa, indicating that the average ground temperature of Lasa has a significant upward trend in the past 45 years, the tendency to rate is 0.58–0.69°C/10a. Compared with the average increase rate of atmospheric temperature over the same period, geothermal temperature is growing even faster. In addition, geothermal observations from seasonal permafrost and weather stations in the permafrost regions of the former Soviet union show that the average annual geothermal temperature at most weather stations has increased over the past century [25]. In the Swiss Alps, the temperature of the permafrost layer below the surface has been increasing at a rate of 0.5–1.0°C/10a since 1980 [26]. The permafrost temperature measurement results, acquired in a north–south direction across Alaska, showed that the upper limit of the permafrost temperatures has increased by 0.5–1.5°C from the late 1980s to 1996 [27]. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau permafrost temperature in the 1960–1990s increased by 0.2–0.3°C [28]. Qinghai-Tibet Railway in north and south of ground temperature linear heating rate is larger, especially in the south of the Qinghai-Tibet railway warming rate averaged 0.56°C/10a [29]. The permafrost ground

**2.2. Deep geotemperature and deep sea temperature both rise**

132 Climate Change and Global Warming

**The Earth's crust component Thermal conductivity (W/m K)**

Coal 0.21 Petroleum 0.14 Natural gas 0.052 Oil shale 0.08 Shale gas 0.049 Combustible ice 0.121 Sedimentary rock 3.41 Granite 3.49 Basalt 2.17

**Table 1.** Thermal conductivity of various rocks and fossil fuels.

According to a report in the British NEW SCIENTIST on 12 Dec 1994, climate warming is not consistent with climate change expectations based on the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere on earth. Researchers believe the southwest Pacific is a valuable reference for monitoring climate change because it has fewer cities and less air pollution. New Zealand's National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research has provided firsthand information on the warming of the Indian Ocean. The Antarctic Climate and Ecosystem Cooperative Research Centre (Australia Tasmania Hobart) of Nathan Bindoff to early and mid-1960s records of ships across the Indian Ocean temperature data and research ship 1987 Darwin recorded data are compared, and he calculated in latitude 32° south 250–1500 m in the depths of the ocean temperature rose about 0.5°C. Bindoff believes that temperature changes in the deep ocean are an important indicator of global climate change. He suggests that when measuring temperatures deep in the ocean, seasonal fluctuations are small. Thus, measurements of the deep ocean can provide more accurate results and fewer observations than measurements of sea level. The Indian Ocean has proved to be the third ocean in which deep water is warming. Bindoff published similar results in 1992 and showed that temperatures in the southwest Pacific increased at almost the same rate. Gregorlo Parrilla and his team at the Spanish institute of oceanography found that the north Atlantic was also warming [34].

Professor Pollack [35] after analyzing more than 60 geothermal data in South Africa found that, in the past 100 years in the area ground temperature increased by 0.3–0.8°C, an average of 0.55°C, completely consistent with the results of global change research. International famous geothermal scientists and members of the National Academy of Sciences Arthur H. Lachenbruch research of a lot of temperature data from northern Alaska drilling (inside the Arctic Circle) and came to the conclusion that this area has increased 2–4°C temperature over the past century [36]. After studying more than 30 borehole temperature measurements from Cuba, vice chairman of the international heat flow committee and that year director of the Institute of Physics of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, Dr. Čermák pointed out that, Cuba region increased temperatures 2–3°C in the past 200–300 years [37]. Professor Mareschal from the Université du Québec, Canada and Dr. Jessop from the Geological Survey Institute of Canada [38] based on a large amount of temperature measurement data in central and eastern Canada, reported temperature increase 1–2°C in the past 100–200 years, and most of the temperature changes inferred from ground temperature data are consistent with the observation results of meteorological stations.

### **3. Energy mining causing all kinds of disasters**

In the space of just 3 years from 1998 to 2000, four curves representing temperature changes in the northern hemisphere or the world over the last 1000 years have been published internationally. Why extend the study to 1000 years, and why build a temperature curve in the northern hemisphere or around the world? There are two main reasons: first, long enough sequences to show whether warming in the twentieth century was abnormal and thus whether it was the result of human activity. Second, determine whether Medieval Warm Period (MWP) and Little Ice Age (LIA) really exist in the last millennium from the northern hemisphere or global scale. Because both events occurred before human activity could have a significant impact, most authors attribute them to natural climate change. If natural change is also global, and the magnitude of change is close to, or even greater than, the warming of the twentieth century, it suggests that the warming of the twentieth century may also be caused by natural causes. Wang et al. [39] synthetically analyzed four temperature sequences established by Mann et al., Jones et al., Crowley et al., and Briffa that represent the average temperature of the northern hemisphere or the global in the last 1000 years, and using the 30 sites information for nearly 1000 years of global average temperature sequence (W), and USES the energy balance model for nearly 1000 years of the simulation results of temperature change (S), compared with the simulation results on the various temperature sequence, the conclusion is that Little Ice Age is relatively obvious, and Medieval Warm Period is not as consistent as that of Little Ice Age. Calculate the centennial average in 1925, 1950, 1975 and 2000, the 1000 average anomaly at 0.50°C or so, the centenary average is significantly higher than the average for any century from the eleventh to the twelfth century. It is clear that climate change over the past century or so has not been caused by natural causes. Analysis of the insulation sealing function of fossil energy, overexploitation, depth of surface temperature increase of the surface heat flux and ocean temperature rise, it can explain the relationship between environmental change and various abnormal disasters in recent 100 years. For example, long-term continuous rise of the Earth's surface temperature in the deep and shallow layers changes the mechanical structure of the Earth's crust, soft change of soil and rock cohesion, landslides, debris flow and other geological disasters will occur frequently. The increase of ground temperature causes harmful substances in rocks to dissolve into groundwater, some areas will face water quality induced water shortage.

Higher sea temperatures in the deep and shallow layers allow water in the ocean to evaporate more rapidly, increase rainfall in flood-prone areas. The winter became warmer and the stock of snow decreased. Melting snow water no longer trickles down mountains for months, but flows directly into rivers. More and more rivers are turning into seasonal rivers, while a oncein-a-century flood are now occurring every year. Too much heat enters the atmosphere from the earth's interior, causes the subtropical high and cold air intensity to increase. It's bound to make summer hotter and much colder in winter. The frequent of ENSO and La-Niña not only cause the abnormal climate, but also causes the extreme rain and drought due to the disorder of precipitation. The world's climate will gradually become polarized from summer to winter,

**Table 2.** Exploitation quantity of global coal, crude oil and natural gas vs ENSO frequency of occurrence output (add

15 months, several El Nino events that have occurred since the 1990s have taken only about half a year apart, the longest interval is less than

Energy Mining, Earth's Thermal Insulation Damaged and Trigger Climate Change

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.80537

135

**Time Coal Oil Gas ENSO frequency of occurrence**

).

1649–1879 Closely related to submarine volcanic eruption.

1880–1980 1500 (1500) 517 (517) 30 (30) Happen once between 2 and 7 years, duration is about 1 year. 1981–2005 1125 (2625) 440 (957) 20 (50) The interval of occurrence is about 3 years and the duration is about

2 years, lasted 3 years.

According to statistics, the number of natural disasters worldwide has more than tripled in the past 20 years. The global average of 120 natural disasters per year in the early 1980s has risen to about 500 now. Climate change and various environmental and geological disasters

The increase of underlying surface temperature causes the distribution of tropical plants to move northward. The invasion of harmful species will have a significant impact on the distribution of plants in the north. Rising temperatures have led to a decline in sperm counts in male animals, the degeneration of male genetic material in plants and the mass extinction of animal and plant populations. The ground temperature, water temperature, ocean temperature and atmospheric temperature rise, have made local tropical pests and diseases, such as the south of schistosomiasis, malaria and cockroaches carry diseases) mass migration north, the distribution of threat to human health. Frequent warm winters have caused changes in the biological habits of nature, such as hibernation. Due to the heavy use of highly toxic pesticides, the propagation of pests and the multiplication of environmental toxicity will

Is the earth a giant fireball with high temperature and pressure inside? Do fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas provide efficient, long-lasting thermal insulation to the crust? Are hard crustal rock layers insulated? The Mawangdui Han Dynasty Tomb in Changsha and the Ming Dynasty Ding Tomb in Beijing both have inadvertently conducted objective, long-term

**4. Even if human stop GHGs, change continue for 1000 years**

from rainy to dry season.

up) (unit: billion ton, trillion m2

have been reported (**Table 2**) [40–45].

exacerbate environmental degradation.

Scientists observed that in the last 50 years nearly 40 offshore areas around the world have become dead seas, and the main reasons are pollution and climate warming. A study by scientists from China's state oceanic administration confirmed that sea levels along the Pacific west coast are expected to accelerate rise in the future, it will rise by 10–40 cm in 2030 and 40–90 cm in 2100.

Underlying surface and sea water temperature rise, not only led type on glaciers and permafrost to melt or even disappear, will also make the water acid is higher and higher, the survival of Marine life is more and more difficult, Marine biological extinction, and global warming is getting worse. Lake water temperature rises, lake water eutrophication aggravates, blue algae, red tide frequently appears, water quality deteriorates. Ground temperature rise, snow mountains melt, and snow line rises, droughts and floods occur frequently and land and ocean degradation aggravate.


**3. Energy mining causing all kinds of disasters**

134 Climate Change and Global Warming

water shortage.

40–90 cm in 2100.

land and ocean degradation aggravate.

In the space of just 3 years from 1998 to 2000, four curves representing temperature changes in the northern hemisphere or the world over the last 1000 years have been published internationally. Why extend the study to 1000 years, and why build a temperature curve in the northern hemisphere or around the world? There are two main reasons: first, long enough sequences to show whether warming in the twentieth century was abnormal and thus whether it was the result of human activity. Second, determine whether Medieval Warm Period (MWP) and Little Ice Age (LIA) really exist in the last millennium from the northern hemisphere or global scale. Because both events occurred before human activity could have a significant impact, most authors attribute them to natural climate change. If natural change is also global, and the magnitude of change is close to, or even greater than, the warming of the twentieth century, it suggests that the warming of the twentieth century may also be caused by natural causes. Wang et al. [39] synthetically analyzed four temperature sequences established by Mann et al., Jones et al., Crowley et al., and Briffa that represent the average temperature of the northern hemisphere or the global in the last 1000 years, and using the 30 sites information for nearly 1000 years of global average temperature sequence (W), and USES the energy balance model for nearly 1000 years of the simulation results of temperature change (S), compared with the simulation results on the various temperature sequence, the conclusion is that Little Ice Age is relatively obvious, and Medieval Warm Period is not as consistent as that of Little Ice Age. Calculate the centennial average in 1925, 1950, 1975 and 2000, the 1000 average anomaly at 0.50°C or so, the centenary average is significantly higher than the average for any century from the eleventh to the twelfth century. It is clear that climate change over the past century or so has not been caused by natural causes. Analysis of the insulation sealing function of fossil energy, overexploitation, depth of surface temperature increase of the surface heat flux and ocean temperature rise, it can explain the relationship between environmental change and various abnormal disasters in recent 100 years. For example, long-term continuous rise of the Earth's surface temperature in the deep and shallow layers changes the mechanical structure of the Earth's crust, soft change of soil and rock cohesion, landslides, debris flow and other geological disasters will occur frequently. The increase of ground temperature causes harmful substances in rocks to dissolve into groundwater, some areas will face water quality induced

Scientists observed that in the last 50 years nearly 40 offshore areas around the world have become dead seas, and the main reasons are pollution and climate warming. A study by scientists from China's state oceanic administration confirmed that sea levels along the Pacific west coast are expected to accelerate rise in the future, it will rise by 10–40 cm in 2030 and

Underlying surface and sea water temperature rise, not only led type on glaciers and permafrost to melt or even disappear, will also make the water acid is higher and higher, the survival of Marine life is more and more difficult, Marine biological extinction, and global warming is getting worse. Lake water temperature rises, lake water eutrophication aggravates, blue algae, red tide frequently appears, water quality deteriorates. Ground temperature rise, snow mountains melt, and snow line rises, droughts and floods occur frequently and **Table 2.** Exploitation quantity of global coal, crude oil and natural gas vs ENSO frequency of occurrence output (add up) (unit: billion ton, trillion m2 ).

Higher sea temperatures in the deep and shallow layers allow water in the ocean to evaporate more rapidly, increase rainfall in flood-prone areas. The winter became warmer and the stock of snow decreased. Melting snow water no longer trickles down mountains for months, but flows directly into rivers. More and more rivers are turning into seasonal rivers, while a oncein-a-century flood are now occurring every year. Too much heat enters the atmosphere from the earth's interior, causes the subtropical high and cold air intensity to increase. It's bound to make summer hotter and much colder in winter. The frequent of ENSO and La-Niña not only cause the abnormal climate, but also causes the extreme rain and drought due to the disorder of precipitation. The world's climate will gradually become polarized from summer to winter, from rainy to dry season.

According to statistics, the number of natural disasters worldwide has more than tripled in the past 20 years. The global average of 120 natural disasters per year in the early 1980s has risen to about 500 now. Climate change and various environmental and geological disasters have been reported (**Table 2**) [40–45].

The increase of underlying surface temperature causes the distribution of tropical plants to move northward. The invasion of harmful species will have a significant impact on the distribution of plants in the north. Rising temperatures have led to a decline in sperm counts in male animals, the degeneration of male genetic material in plants and the mass extinction of animal and plant populations. The ground temperature, water temperature, ocean temperature and atmospheric temperature rise, have made local tropical pests and diseases, such as the south of schistosomiasis, malaria and cockroaches carry diseases) mass migration north, the distribution of threat to human health. Frequent warm winters have caused changes in the biological habits of nature, such as hibernation. Due to the heavy use of highly toxic pesticides, the propagation of pests and the multiplication of environmental toxicity will exacerbate environmental degradation.

### **4. Even if human stop GHGs, change continue for 1000 years**

Is the earth a giant fireball with high temperature and pressure inside? Do fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas provide efficient, long-lasting thermal insulation to the crust? Are hard crustal rock layers insulated? The Mawangdui Han Dynasty Tomb in Changsha and the Ming Dynasty Ding Tomb in Beijing both have inadvertently conducted objective, long-term "scientific experiments" on the thermal insulation of charcoal, grease and rock, there is a sharp contrast. Mawangdui Han Dynasty Tomb did not use stone materials, but the tomb was sealed with charcoal and white paste mud containing grease, after more than 2100 years, all the articles in the tomb, including coffins and bodies, including silks and grain, are well preserved [46, 47]. By contrast, in the Ming Dynasty Ding Tomb, the six hardest layers of white marble and striped stone were used to build tombs and coffins, but the owners were not preserved. In less than 400 years the body of the Wanli Emperor had all rotted away, leaving only a dry skeleton [48, 49]. Therefore, no matter how thick it is, no matter how hard the rock is, it is impossible to resist the normal earth heat flow, let alone the increased heat flow. This fully shows that coal and oil have high efficiency and lasting thermal insulation. If the combination of white plaster and charcoal can seal the Mawangdui Han Dynasty Tomb perfectly, then the combination of oil, gas and coal can seal the Earth's crust perfectly.

influences atmospheric processes by constantly sending matter and energy to the atmosphere, ultimately causing climate change. (e) The formation of fossil energy in the Earth's crust effectively blocked the Earth's heat flow. (f) According to scientific observation, after the exploitation of fossil energy, the earth heat flow can reach a very large value, and the phenomenon of "ground temperature sudden rise" occurs. The earth and sea temperatures in the deep and shallow layers have increased significantly. (g) The excavation of the Mawangdui Han Dynasty Tomb indicates that the sealed with charcoal and white paste mud containing grease can effectively block the earth heat flow for more than 2100 years, and the Ming Dynasty Ding Tomb, built from six layers of extremely hard rock, has no thermal insulation. (h) The fossil

Energy Mining, Earth's Thermal Insulation Damaged and Trigger Climate Change

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.80537

137

We have every reason to believe that, once the human society attention to this problem, there must be many scientists in the process of their practice to find out more and more due to the endless exploitation of the human mass on the fossil energy of the Earth's crust insulated sealing damage, increase the ground temperature, SST caused cause ecological geological disaster, climate change, and a series of direct or indirect evidence of meteorological disasters.

Data supporting this article come from China's Ministry of Energy. Data cannot be released

BiboShenzhen 518 Institute, Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi. Tech. Park, Shanghai, China

Sinica. 1995;**15**(4):2-6 (in Chinese with Abstract in English)

[1] Tang M. The impact of lithosphere forcing on climate change. Scientia Meteorologica

[2] Tang M, Gao X. A rule and three guesses about the global mean (zero-dimension) climatic variation. Journal of Nanjing Institute of Meteorology. 1992;**15**(1):17-21 (in Chinese

[3] Tang M, Jian Z. Seasonal mean soil temperature anomaly field at depth 3.2 m and its application in prediction for flood season. Plateau Meteorology. 1994;**13**(2):178-187 (in

[4] Wang J, Huang S, Huang G. Chinese Geotemperature Distribution Basic Characteristic.

energy in the crust has obvious thermal resistance [59].

**Acknowledgements**

**Author details**

**References**

Yao Mu and Xinzhi Mu\*

because of national security concerns.

with Abstract in English)

Chinese with Abstract in English)

Beijing: Seism Press; 1990. pp. 59-60 (in Chinese)

\*Address all correspondence to: 92690\_fan@sina.com

Since the industrial revolution in Britain, the massive exploitation of countless coal mines, oil fields and gas fields has caused tens of millions of parts to be superimposed into a whole effect. Global changes caused by "heating" of the Earth's crust and underlying surfaces are already evident.

The relationship between atmospheric CO2 concentration and climate has been challenged by the fact that recent temperature increases have been much lower than scientists predicted for CO2 concentration increases. The theory of the greenhouse effect of climate change is perplexed by a large number of climate and natural anomalies [50–53]. In fact, most of the CO2 entering the air is absorbed by the sea water and gradually becomes carbonate deposited on the seabed, forming rocks, or move to land through the shells, bones and dust of aquatic creatures. Carbonate absorbs CO2 from the air and becomes bicarbonate, which is dissolved in water and eventually returned to the ocean [54]. With the continuous absorption of heat from the underlying surface and sea water, the temperature increase rate of the ground and sea temperature will be significantly greater than the average temperature increase of the atmosphere [55]. At some point, it might even happen the global average temperature will stop rising.

Research by Amanda Scott of NOAA and others shows that global warming is irreversible and accelerating. Even if humans stop emitting greenhouse gases, warming will continue for 1000 years. This conclusion refutes the theory of greenhouse effect of climate change, suggesting that there are other reasons for global warming.

Upward melting of glaciers and frozen soils [32, 56] (upward, bottom up melting) and deep sea temperatures and ground temperatures are increasing are far greater than the magnitude of increase of the average atmospheric temperature for the same period [34, 53, 57–58], and these are things that the theory of greenhouse effect cannot explain.

To sum up, there is the following evidence to support that the Earth's crust heat insulation seal damage caused by fossil energy exploitation is the main cause of global change: (a) Global warming is not consistent with climate change as predicted by the buildup of greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere. (b) Global warming is irreversible and accelerating, even if humans stop emitting greenhouse gases, warming will continue for 1000 years. (c) Scientists have shown that high heat flow from the mantle is not only an important factor in the evolution of organic matter, but also a major factor in climate change. (d) The Earth's interior influences atmospheric processes by constantly sending matter and energy to the atmosphere, ultimately causing climate change. (e) The formation of fossil energy in the Earth's crust effectively blocked the Earth's heat flow. (f) According to scientific observation, after the exploitation of fossil energy, the earth heat flow can reach a very large value, and the phenomenon of "ground temperature sudden rise" occurs. The earth and sea temperatures in the deep and shallow layers have increased significantly. (g) The excavation of the Mawangdui Han Dynasty Tomb indicates that the sealed with charcoal and white paste mud containing grease can effectively block the earth heat flow for more than 2100 years, and the Ming Dynasty Ding Tomb, built from six layers of extremely hard rock, has no thermal insulation. (h) The fossil energy in the crust has obvious thermal resistance [59].

We have every reason to believe that, once the human society attention to this problem, there must be many scientists in the process of their practice to find out more and more due to the endless exploitation of the human mass on the fossil energy of the Earth's crust insulated sealing damage, increase the ground temperature, SST caused cause ecological geological disaster, climate change, and a series of direct or indirect evidence of meteorological disasters.

### **Acknowledgements**

"scientific experiments" on the thermal insulation of charcoal, grease and rock, there is a sharp contrast. Mawangdui Han Dynasty Tomb did not use stone materials, but the tomb was sealed with charcoal and white paste mud containing grease, after more than 2100 years, all the articles in the tomb, including coffins and bodies, including silks and grain, are well preserved [46, 47]. By contrast, in the Ming Dynasty Ding Tomb, the six hardest layers of white marble and striped stone were used to build tombs and coffins, but the owners were not preserved. In less than 400 years the body of the Wanli Emperor had all rotted away, leaving only a dry skeleton [48, 49]. Therefore, no matter how thick it is, no matter how hard the rock is, it is impossible to resist the normal earth heat flow, let alone the increased heat flow. This fully shows that coal and oil have high efficiency and lasting thermal insulation. If the combination of white plaster and charcoal can seal the Mawangdui Han Dynasty Tomb perfectly,

Since the industrial revolution in Britain, the massive exploitation of countless coal mines, oil fields and gas fields has caused tens of millions of parts to be superimposed into a whole effect. Global changes caused by "heating" of the Earth's crust and underlying surfaces are

by the fact that recent temperature increases have been much lower than scientists predicted

plexed by a large number of climate and natural anomalies [50–53]. In fact, most of the CO2 entering the air is absorbed by the sea water and gradually becomes carbonate deposited on the seabed, forming rocks, or move to land through the shells, bones and dust of aquatic

in water and eventually returned to the ocean [54]. With the continuous absorption of heat from the underlying surface and sea water, the temperature increase rate of the ground and sea temperature will be significantly greater than the average temperature increase of the atmosphere [55]. At some point, it might even happen the global average temperature will

Research by Amanda Scott of NOAA and others shows that global warming is irreversible and accelerating. Even if humans stop emitting greenhouse gases, warming will continue for 1000 years. This conclusion refutes the theory of greenhouse effect of climate change, suggest-

Upward melting of glaciers and frozen soils [32, 56] (upward, bottom up melting) and deep sea temperatures and ground temperatures are increasing are far greater than the magnitude of increase of the average atmospheric temperature for the same period [34, 53, 57–58], and

To sum up, there is the following evidence to support that the Earth's crust heat insulation seal damage caused by fossil energy exploitation is the main cause of global change: (a) Global warming is not consistent with climate change as predicted by the buildup of greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere. (b) Global warming is irreversible and accelerating, even if humans stop emitting greenhouse gases, warming will continue for 1000 years. (c) Scientists have shown that high heat flow from the mantle is not only an important factor in the evolution of organic matter, but also a major factor in climate change. (d) The Earth's interior

concentration increases. The theory of the greenhouse effect of climate change is per-

concentration and climate has been challenged

from the air and becomes bicarbonate, which is dissolved

then the combination of oil, gas and coal can seal the Earth's crust perfectly.

already evident.

136 Climate Change and Global Warming

for CO2

stop rising.

The relationship between atmospheric CO2

ing that there are other reasons for global warming.

these are things that the theory of greenhouse effect cannot explain.

creatures. Carbonate absorbs CO2

Data supporting this article come from China's Ministry of Energy. Data cannot be released because of national security concerns.

### **Author details**

Yao Mu and Xinzhi Mu\*

\*Address all correspondence to: 92690\_fan@sina.com

BiboShenzhen 518 Institute, Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi. Tech. Park, Shanghai, China

### **References**


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**Chapter 9**

**Provisional chapter**

**Impact of Cold Wave on Vulnerable People of Tarai**

Climate extremity phenomena are increasing with the global climate change. Cold wave is one of these climate extremities affecting the health of people, especially vulnerable groups. Nepal is also experiencing the impacts of global warming on its temperature patterns. The climate data of more than four decades have shown an increasing trend of annual temperatures across Nepal. However, the change in temperatures is found varying greatly among its three broad physiographic regions: Tarai, hill, and mountains, as well as among four distinct seasons: winter, pre-monsoon, monsoon, and post-monsoon during a year. Further, since the last two decades Nepal has experienced climatic extremities such as heat wave, cold wave, precipitation concentration, prolonged dryness affecting livelihood of the people and demographic features like mortality, morbidity, etc. This study intends to deal with the impact of cold extremity on the death of vulnerable people such as children and elderly in the Tarai region. It draws on meteorological data for four decades since 1974. The magnitude of mortality rate of those vulnerable people is analyzed from 1974 to 2013, and prediction of mortality rate is made with respect to decrease in temperature or intensity of

**Keywords:** cold wave, temperature change, vulnerable people, number of death,

The evidences of impacts of climate change across the world are that there has been an increase in climate extremity phenomena such as cold wave, heat wave, extreme

**Impact of Cold Wave on Vulnerable People of Tarai** 

© 2016 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

© 2019 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use,

distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.82201

**Region, Nepal**

**Region, Nepal**

Pushkar K. Pradhan

Pushkar K. Pradhan

**Abstract**

cold wave.

**1. Introduction**

Tarai region, Nepal

Bandana Pradhan, Puspa Sharma and

Bandana Pradhan, Puspa Sharma and

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.82201

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

#### **Impact of Cold Wave on Vulnerable People of Tarai Region, Nepal Impact of Cold Wave on Vulnerable People of Tarai Region, Nepal**

DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.82201

Bandana Pradhan, Puspa Sharma and Pushkar K. Pradhan Bandana Pradhan, Puspa Sharma and Pushkar K. Pradhan

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.82201

#### **Abstract**

Climate extremity phenomena are increasing with the global climate change. Cold wave is one of these climate extremities affecting the health of people, especially vulnerable groups. Nepal is also experiencing the impacts of global warming on its temperature patterns. The climate data of more than four decades have shown an increasing trend of annual temperatures across Nepal. However, the change in temperatures is found varying greatly among its three broad physiographic regions: Tarai, hill, and mountains, as well as among four distinct seasons: winter, pre-monsoon, monsoon, and post-monsoon during a year. Further, since the last two decades Nepal has experienced climatic extremities such as heat wave, cold wave, precipitation concentration, prolonged dryness affecting livelihood of the people and demographic features like mortality, morbidity, etc. This study intends to deal with the impact of cold extremity on the death of vulnerable people such as children and elderly in the Tarai region. It draws on meteorological data for four decades since 1974. The magnitude of mortality rate of those vulnerable people is analyzed from 1974 to 2013, and prediction of mortality rate is made with respect to decrease in temperature or intensity of cold wave.

**Keywords:** cold wave, temperature change, vulnerable people, number of death, Tarai region, Nepal

#### **1. Introduction**

The evidences of impacts of climate change across the world are that there has been an increase in climate extremity phenomena such as cold wave, heat wave, extreme

© 2016 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2019 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

depressions, intense precipitation, rising number of warm days and nights, and decreasing number of cold days and nights. AR4 and AR5 IPCC have predicted an increase in frequency and intensity of warm spells or heat waves in the end of twenty-first century, affecting to increase vector-borne diseases, water-borne diseases, reduce cold-related mortality, and diminish food production and labor productivity at different levels over most land areas of the earth [1, 2]. As a matter of fact, there is large number of studies on health effects of heat waves [3, 4]. Some of the studies argue that the contribution of rising in minimum temperatures has decreased in number of deaths associated with cold spells [5, 6]. On the other hand, there are few studies dealing with cold spells and health impacts. For instance, some studies indicated that the effects of extreme cold temperatures are generally more prolonged than heat wave without mortality displacement [3, 7]. However, most of the existing studies on health effects of cold spells are found to be associated with the temperate climate regions in developed countries, while there are very few such studies carried out in tropical or subtropical regions of developing countries [3, 8–11].

physiographic regions across the country in general and for analyzing seasonal trends of climate and climatic extremities for the Tarai region in particular. The prediction of trends of temperatures by year has been carried out for two distinct slots: 1974–2014 and

Impact of Cold Wave on Vulnerable People of Tarai Region, Nepal

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.82201

145

Data on daily death of the vulnerable population groups due to cold wave during the winter season from 1974 to 2013 for all districts of the Tarai region were obtained from available sources [18–22]. The contribution of seasonal temperature change, mainly, cold wave to the deaths of the vulnerable groups, and the mortality rate have been analyzed by using multiple

The multiple linear regression analysis has been used to develop a model for predicting mortality from the climatic variables at different time lags. This relationship is given by the

*Y* = *o* + *β*1*X*1 + *β*2*X*2……..*kXk* + *ε* (1)

The perception about the death due to cold spell or wave and status of vulnerable population groups were carried out by informal talking among 25 respondents selected randomly: 5 each from different walks of life such as the local communities, government personnel, public

Geographically, Nepal can be divided into three broad physiographic regions, namely mountain, hill, and Tarai from north to south (**Figure 1**). The altitudes of these three regions range from 8848 m above sea level (masl) in the north to 60 masl in the south over an average north-

The Tarai is the smallest physiographic region, sharing 23% of the country's total area, but it has the largest population with over 50% of the nation's total population of 26.6 million (**Table 1**). Population has increased consistently in this region during the past decades. In 1971, the Tarai's population had shared nearly 38% of the country's total population that increased to over 50% in 2011 [17]. The rapid growth of the Tarai population is considered due to natural cause and other causes including internal migration of population from the hills

health personnel, female community health volunteers and school teachers.

**3.1. Brief introduction to physiography, climate, and population of Nepal**

south span of 193 km [24]. Tarai refers to plain topography in Nepal.

and international migration from adjoining Indian states [17, 21].

is the predictor, Y is mortality (predicted), β<sup>o</sup>

is a constant and is

2000–2014.

regression analysis.

is coefficients, X<sup>i</sup>

equation [23]:

where β<sup>k</sup>

random error.

**3. Findings**

*3.1.1. Physiography*

Nepal has experienced global warming and its impacts on forming climate extremities, illhealth of the people, change in agricultural production patterns, etc. over the past recent decades. Cold wave is one of the climate extremities due to global warming in Nepal. The studies of National Agriculture Research Council (NARC) have indicated negative impacts of cold wave on agricultural productivity in Nepal [12]. Other studies have shown the health of the inhabitants being affected due to cold wave in the Tarai region of Nepal in the last two decades [13–16]. The present chapter intends to analyze the climate change patterns and the climate extremities such as cold wave and its impacts on the vulnerable populations in the Tarai region of Nepal.

### **2. Methodology**

The vulnerable population is defined in terms of age group such as children below 5 years of age, pregnant women, and elderly population above 65 years of age [17]. The three subsets of under-five children, such as neonates <1 months, infant <1 year and <5 years, of which neonates is the most vulnerable and it is followed by other subsets [18].

The climate prevailing in Nepal can be divided into four seasons, based on rainfall and temperature conditions. They are rainy summer or Monsoon (June–September with rainy, hot, and humid weather), winter (December–February with coldest and driest weather), pre-monsoon (March–May with hot weather and thunderstorms) and post-monsoon (October–November with cool and pleasant weather). The climate data including monthly minimum and maximum temperatures for all individual years from 1974 to 2014 by the physiographic regions, such as mountain, hill, and Tarai have been acquired from all 67 weather stations from the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, Kathmandu, and Nepal [19]. These data have been used for describing climate change patterns for all physiographic regions across the country in general and for analyzing seasonal trends of climate and climatic extremities for the Tarai region in particular. The prediction of trends of temperatures by year has been carried out for two distinct slots: 1974–2014 and 2000–2014.

Data on daily death of the vulnerable population groups due to cold wave during the winter season from 1974 to 2013 for all districts of the Tarai region were obtained from available sources [18–22]. The contribution of seasonal temperature change, mainly, cold wave to the deaths of the vulnerable groups, and the mortality rate have been analyzed by using multiple regression analysis.

The multiple linear regression analysis has been used to develop a model for predicting mortality from the climatic variables at different time lags. This relationship is given by the equation [23]:

$$Y = \beta o + \beta 1X1 + \beta 2X2 \dots \dots \dots \text{[kXk+\varepsilon]}\tag{1}$$

where β<sup>k</sup> is coefficients, X<sup>i</sup> is the predictor, Y is mortality (predicted), β<sup>o</sup> is a constant and is random error.

The perception about the death due to cold spell or wave and status of vulnerable population groups were carried out by informal talking among 25 respondents selected randomly: 5 each from different walks of life such as the local communities, government personnel, public health personnel, female community health volunteers and school teachers.
