Methane is a result of ruminant livestock (cows, for example) which hold four stomachs to chew their cud.
Currently the Earth hold 1.4 billion cattle and 1.2 billion sheep, this amounts to an eight-kilogram annual average of methane for the sheep alone, whilst cattle produces between 60-120 kilograms of methane.
The methane is a consequence of enteric fermentation, the process of digestion, also the methanogen archaea is also prominent in cow’s rumen, which is important in the breakdown of grass and carbohydrates. The after-effect of the waste product from the archaea breaking down the cellulose on the grass in methane, which is released from the mouth. This methane submits into the atmosphere and increases the film of GHG, further trapping the terrestrial radiation, thus in due course impacts the heat budget and the enhanced GHG effect. Deforestation is the removal of vegetation and tree typically for agriculture use and urban development. There are different types of this land cover change process include fires, clear-cutting (agriculture), logging (timber) and degradation (climate change). Forest environments cover over one third of the globe and store roughly 80 percent of the world’s carbon. Tree are known as natural carbon sinks, holding of carbon, which can also be referred to as carbon sequestration and can hold up to 22 kilograms of carbon per year.
Carbon sequestration is vital for the balance of our climate as if we do not have enough natural sinks that carbon will be released into the atmosphere thus in turn enhancing GHG emissions. It is estimated that between 74,000 to 93,000 square kilometres of forests are lost per annum. Brazil, which contains the Amazon, has the highest rate with 17 per cent of the Amazon already been lost in the last 50 years. Due to forests large involvement in carbon storage, albedo, rising temperature and fires regimes, this can affect photosynthesis levels and the carbon cycle. Also, deforestation reduces evapotranspiration by pants.
This could result in a water table rise because the plants are no longer using the water. Studies have shown that a decrease in rainfall by as much as 50 percent due to the decline of evapotranspiration.QUESTION TWO Adaption in Rural areasAdaption refers to when humans make alteration/ adjustments in response to a change in environment, in this case specifically climate change. Due to our increasing climate change it is projected that by 2030 Australia will have seen a 1 degree Celsius of warming, which will lead to more heat waves an dup to 20 percent more droughts in rural areas. This will largely affect regional and rural communities.Desalination refers to the removal of salts and minerals from a target substance, as in soil desalination, which is an issue for agriculture.
Human practices have had to adapt, or in the future will have to adapt, to the changing water supply. The world recently is suffering from high water stress, approximately 44 percent of our globe, which equivalates to 2.8 billion, and it is seen to rise to 3.9 billion by 2030. Climate change can be regarded as the cause of this, climate change itself has resulted in more rainfall in the north of Western Australia (WA), whilst south west WA is experiencing a drier climate.
Evidence put forward by The Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, suggests that GHG emitted by human activities responsible for the decline (half of it at least) in rainfall in the south west. More water storages and infrastructure are needed to combat the rainwater supply decreasing to support rivers, lakes, groundwater and revivors. The Jandakot and Gnangara waters mounds provide 43 percent of Perth’s water supply since surface water has become inadequate to provide water for the two million population, in urban areas, it is also needed to supply rural hinterland such as Kalgoorlie. Although these two sources will nit be able to provide if WA’s climate continues to dry out. Thus, two large scale reverse osmosis seawater desalination plants have been constructed to meet the increasing demand. However, this alone still will not solve WA’s problem of weakening water supply.
Currently there are 17,000 desalination plants globally with many is the power countries of the USA, Western Europe and Japan. Perth itself operates two plants, the Kwinana and Southern Seawater. Over 40 percent of Perth’s water needs, which amounts to 150 billion annually, is met through these plants. They both function through reverse osmosis, this mean the pressurised water is disconnected from the dissolved material, salt, and pushed through the membrane. This allows for two streams of water to form: one has a low concentration of dissolved salts, the fresh water stream that is made into drinking water and the other contains the remaining dissolved salts, the concentrate is returned to the ocean. This plan of action holds strengths and weaknesses, a plus for the plants is that it does not lead to further exhaustion of current dams, however these plants are very expensive to build, they also produce heavily concentrated brine which could be propelled back in to the oceans affecting marine life.
Desalination on its own will not solve WA’s decreasing water supply, although it is effective and are is not dependent on rainfall, it requires a responsible government to put into operation sustainable water saving measures, strategies and programs, for example education and mandatory restrictions, prior to the dependence on desalination plants.Reforestation refers to the natural or intentional restocking of existing forests and woodlands that have been reduced, usually through deforestation. Reforestation can be used to remedy or improve the quality of human life by soaking up pollution and dust from the air, rebuild natural habitats and ecosystems, mitigate global warming since forests facilitate
