Today, the world faces challenges that have arisen due to global warming. In simple terms, global warming means increase in the mean surface temperature of the earth over a period of time. This 'average' global temperature, which had remained relatively stable for last several thousand years, has started showing a sharp upward trend over the last 150 years or so - that is, since the Industrial Revolution, which picked up pace around the year 1850 and then spread across the world.
One thing that has marked the global industrialization process is the huge increase in the global energy consumption, which has been primarily fuelled by fossil fuels - carbon, petroleum, natural gas, etc. These carbon-based energy resources have fuelled unparalleled economic growth but are also continuously adding enormous quantities of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas. Greenhouse gases are called so because of their properties that are similar to a 'greenhouse' - a closed glass structure used for cultivating plants in controlled environments. Greenhouse gases behave just like greenhouses, as they have a similar ability to trap the energy of the sun.
The process is like this: most of the sun's radiation passes through the atmosphere and a significant portion of it is then reflected back from the surface of the earth in the form of infrared radiation. Greenhouse gases present in the atmosphere absorb a part of this infrared radiation and re-radiate it in the upward as well as downward direction. Because they cause this partial redirection of infrared radiation (heat energy) in the downward direction, they act just like the glass walls of a greenhouse - trapping a part of sun's energy, and thereby causing build-up of heat in the atmosphere.
In this manner, greenhouse gases add to the warming of the planet's atmosphere (global warming). Global warming, in turn, contributes to the phenomenon of climate change, which leads to various serious consequences like heat waves, changes in rainfall patterns, floods, as well as melting of polar ice and glaciers, causing rising ocean levels.
The burning of carbon-based fuels (fossil fuels) is adding billions of tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) to the earth's atmosphere each year, which along with other greenhouse gases, leads to rapid global warming. Therefore, to stop (or reduce) the warming of the planet, we must sharply reduce the use of fuels like coal for power generation. Nuclear plants provide a safe and effective solution in this regard, as they do not emit carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases, and thus play a very important role in stopping global warming.
Nuclear power - which is clean and pollution-free - is the need of the hour. And when we talk of global warming, let us not forget that we are fighting against time. So, the faster we create additional nuclear power capacity, the better.
One thing that has marked the global industrialization process is the huge increase in the global energy consumption, which has been primarily fuelled by fossil fuels - carbon, petroleum, natural gas, etc. These carbon-based energy resources have fuelled unparalleled economic growth but are also continuously adding enormous quantities of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas. Greenhouse gases are called so because of their properties that are similar to a 'greenhouse' - a closed glass structure used for cultivating plants in controlled environments. Greenhouse gases behave just like greenhouses, as they have a similar ability to trap the energy of the sun.
The process is like this: most of the sun's radiation passes through the atmosphere and a significant portion of it is then reflected back from the surface of the earth in the form of infrared radiation. Greenhouse gases present in the atmosphere absorb a part of this infrared radiation and re-radiate it in the upward as well as downward direction. Because they cause this partial redirection of infrared radiation (heat energy) in the downward direction, they act just like the glass walls of a greenhouse - trapping a part of sun's energy, and thereby causing build-up of heat in the atmosphere.
In this manner, greenhouse gases add to the warming of the planet's atmosphere (global warming). Global warming, in turn, contributes to the phenomenon of climate change, which leads to various serious consequences like heat waves, changes in rainfall patterns, floods, as well as melting of polar ice and glaciers, causing rising ocean levels.
The burning of carbon-based fuels (fossil fuels) is adding billions of tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) to the earth's atmosphere each year, which along with other greenhouse gases, leads to rapid global warming. Therefore, to stop (or reduce) the warming of the planet, we must sharply reduce the use of fuels like coal for power generation. Nuclear plants provide a safe and effective solution in this regard, as they do not emit carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases, and thus play a very important role in stopping global warming.
Nuclear power - which is clean and pollution-free - is the need of the hour. And when we talk of global warming, let us not forget that we are fighting against time. So, the faster we create additional nuclear power capacity, the better.