Business Fit Magazine January 2019 Issue 1 | Page 9

The Amazonian Project is a non-governmental nonprofit organisation dedicated to the creation, development and implementation of programs aimed at the protection and conservation of the environment, especially those which defend the Amazon rainforest, its ecological balance, the welfare of its people and the preservation of its rich artistic and technological knowledge. Our values at the Amazonian Project are: Respect for Nature - "What we build today, we will live tomorrow." Equal Opportunity - respecting individuals. Commitment and Fraternity - based on the sense of unity and belonging to a global society. Justice - in a world where everyone can use their potential regardless of gender, race, nationality or sexual orientation. Our programs include: Indigenous Culture and Art - Exhibitions, Vanishing Art, Indian Musical Training Centres (CFMI) and Indigenous Culture and Art - Portraits Photographic Exhibition Yanomami. We also have some pilot projects such as Sustainable Development and Environmental Protection and an educational campaign which aims to preserve Indigenous knowledge and cultures. Here we discuss one of the main threats to our environment, Global Warming. Global warming refers to an unequivocal and continuing rise in the average temperature of Earth’s climate system. Since 1971, 90% of the warming has occurred in the oceans. Despite the oceans’ dominant role in energy storage, the term “global warming” is also used to refer to increases in average temperature of the air and sea at Earth’s surface. Since the early 20th century, the global air and sea surface temperature has increased about 0.8 °C, with about two-thirds of the increase occurring since 1980. Each of the last three decades has been successively warmer at the Earth’s surface than any preceding decade since 1850. Scientific understanding of the cause of global warming has been increasing. It has been reported that most of global warming was being caused by increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases produced by human activities. In 2010 that was recognised by the national science academies of all major industrialised nations. The largest driver of global warming is carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel combustion, cement production and land use changes such as deforestation. Human influence has been detected in warming of the atmosphere and the ocean, in changes in the global water cycle, in reductions in snow and ice, in global mean sea level rise, and in changes in some climate extremes. Future climate change and associated impacts will vary from region to region around the globe. The effects of an increase in global temperature include a rise in sea levels, and a change in the amount and pattern of precipitation, as well as a probable expansion of subtropical deserts. Warming is expected to be strongest in the Arctic, with the continuing retreat of glaciers, permafrost, and sea ice. Other likely effects of the warming include more frequent extreme weather events including heat waves, droughts and heavy rainfall; ocean acidification; and species extinctions due to shifting temperature regimes. Effects significant to humans include the threat to food security from decreasing crop yields and the loss of habitat from inundation. Future climate change is expected to particularly affect certain ecosystems, including tundra, mangroves, and coral reefs. It is expected that most ecosystems will be affected by higher atmospheric CO2 levels, combined with higher global temperatures. Overall, it is expected that climate change will result in the extinction of many species and reduced diversity of ecosystems. Climate change could result in global, large- scale changes in natural and social systems. Two examples are ocean acidification caused by increased atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide, and the long-term melting of ice sheets, which contributes to sea level rise. 9