Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Fig. 1
CO
2
(ppm) trend over years (VijayaVenkataRaman et al.
2012
)
will imply a dramatic increase in CO
2eq
concentration to as much as 731 ppm in the
year 2130 leading to a 3.7 8C global warming above pre-industrial temperatures
(Valero et al.
2011
).
Global warming will lead to a rise in the sea level caused by thermal expansion
of the water. When the sea level rises above 0.40 m, it will submerge 11 % of the
area of Bangladesh, and as a result, this fact will lead to almost 10 million
homeless (IPCC
2007
).
Another consequence of global warming is the occurrence of increasingly
extreme atmospheric events. Global warming may also be responsible for the
thawing of the permafrost (permanently frozen ground), where approximately
1 9 10
6
million tons (1,000 GtCO
2
eq) is still retained. This astonishing figure is
equivalent to the current worldwide production (34 GtCO
2
eq) during 30 years.
It is important to mention the probable meltdown of the world economy
associated with climate change. According to Stern (
2007
) if we act now, the cost
of all the services and products to tackle climate change will be 1 % of the GDP;
otherwise, an economic depression of about 20 % GDP may take place.
Increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide levels is also responsible for ocean
acidification (Hofmann and Schellnhuber
2010
; Harrould-Kolieb and Herr
2012
).
This will lead to severe negative consequences in coral reefs putting habitats of
high economic value at risk.
The coral reefs habitats represent fish resources that feed more than
1,000 million people and have an economic value estimated at 20,000 million euro
(Bourne
2008
; Anthony et al.
2008
).
In this context is important also to bear in mind the value of services provided
free of charge by Nature that reaches almost 33 billion (10
12
) dollars/year
(Constanza et al.
1998
). As a comparison, the global GDP in the same period was
of 18 billion (10
12
) dollars per year, roughly half the value of the services and
products provided by Nature.
