Global warming
hideGlobal warming is the increase in the average temperature of the Earth's near-surface air and oceans since the mid-20th century and its projected continuation. Global surface temperature increased 0.74 ± 0.18 °C (1.33 ± 0.32 °F) during the last century. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concludes that increasing greenhouse gas concentrations resulting from human activity such as fossil fuel burning and deforestation are responsible for most of the observed temperature increase since the middle of the 20th century. The IPCC also concludes that variations in natural phenomena such as solar radiation and volcanoes produced most of the warming from pre-industrial times to 1950 and had a small cooling effect afterward. These basic conclusions have been endorsed by more than 45 scientific societies and academies of science, including all of the national academies of science of the major industrialized countries.
Climate model projections summarized in the latest IPCC report indicate that the global surface temperature will probably rise a further 1.1 to 6.4 °C (2.0 to 11.5 °F) during the twenty-first century. The uncertainty in this estimate arises from the use of models with differing sensitivity to greenhouse gas concentrations and the use of differing estimates of future greenhouse gas emissions. Some other uncertainties include how warming and related changes will vary from region to region around the globe. Most studies focus on the period up to the year 2100. However, warming is expected to continue beyond 2100 even if emissions stop, because of the large heat capacity of the oceans and the long lifetime of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
An increase in global temperature will cause sea levels to rise and will change the amount and pattern of precipitation, probably including expansion of subtropical deserts. The continuing retreat of glaciers, permafrost and sea ice is expected, with warming being strongest in the Arctic. Other likely effects include increases in the intensity of extreme weather events, species extinctions, and changes in agricultural yields.
Political and public debate continues regarding climate change, and what actions (if any) to take in response. The available options are mitigation to reduce further emissions; adaptation to reduce the damage caused by warming; and, more speculatively, geoengineering to reverse global warming. Most national governments have signed and ratified the Kyoto Protocol aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. A small number of scientists dispute the consensus on global warming science.
For more information about Global warming, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with global warming
Climate change odds much worse than thought: New analysis shows warming could be double previous estimates
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
May 19, 2009 |
4.3 / 5 (177) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The most comprehensive modeling yet carried out on the likelihood of how much hotter the Earth’s climate will get in this century shows that without rapid and massive action, the problem will ...
Sea Level Rise Due to Global Warming Poses Threat to New York City
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Mar 13, 2009 |
4.3 / 5 (138) |
34
(PhysOrg.com) -- Global warming is expected to cause the sea level along the northeastern U.S. coast to rise almost twice as fast as global sea levels during this century, putting New York City at greater ...
White roofs, streets could curb global warming
Sep 17, 2008 |
4.1 / 5 (113) |
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The idea of painting our roofs and roads white to offset global warming is not new, but a recent study has calculated just how significantly white surfaces could impact greenhouse gas emissions. Last week, researchers at ...
Obama looking at cooling air to fight warming
Apr 08, 2009 |
4.5 / 5 (102) |
33
(AP) -- Tinkering with Earth's climate to chill runaway global warming - a radical idea once dismissed out of hand - is being discussed by the White House as a potential emergency option, the president's ...
Statistics experts reject global cooling claims
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Oct 26, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (92) |
23
(AP) -- Have you heard that the world is now cooling instead of warming? You may have seen some news reports on the Internet or heard about it from a provocative new book.
Scientists: No link cloud coverage and global warming
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
May 11, 2009 |
4.1 / 5 (89) |
35
With the U.S. Congress beginning to consider regulations on greenhouse gases, a troubling hypothesis about how the sun may impact global warming is finally laid to rest.
EPA closer to global warming warning (Update)
Mar 23, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (79) |
5
(AP) -- The Environmental Protection Agency has taken the first step on the long road to regulating greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act.
Forests could flip from sink to source of CO2: study
Apr 17, 2009 |
4.7 / 5 (78) |
12
Forests that today soak up a quarter of carbon pollution spewed into the atmosphere could soon become a net source of CO2 if Earth's surface warms by another two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), cautions ...
Global warming impacting Greenlanders' daily lives
Jul 09, 2009 |
4.5 / 5 (75) |
21
From his trawler that motors along the Nuuk fjord, fisherman Johannes Heilmann has watched helplessly in recent years as climate change takes its toll on Greenland.
Melting Greenland ice sheets may threaten Northeast United States, Canada
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
May 27, 2009 |
4.2 / 5 (71) |
18
Melting of the Greenland ice sheet this century may drive more water than previously thought toward the already threatened coastlines of New York, Boston, Halifax, and other cities in the northeastern United ...
Ice Sheets Can Retreat 'In a Geologic Instant,' Study of Prehistoric Glacier Shows
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Jun 21, 2009 |
4.5 / 5 (61) |
20
(PhysOrg.com) -- Modern glaciers, such as those making up the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, are capable of undergoing periods of rapid shrinkage or retreat, according to new findings by paleoclimatologists ...
Obama to unveil dramatic new auto emissions standards
May 19, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (57) |
16
A new front in the battle against climate change will open Tuesday, when President Barack Obama unveils sweeping new auto regulations described as equivalent to taking 177 million cars off the road.
In hot water: World sets ocean temperature record (Update)
Aug 20, 2009 |
4.7 / 5 (53) |
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(AP) -- Steve Kramer spent an hour and a half swimming in the ocean this week - in Maine.
Global warming to carry big costs for California
Mar 12, 2009 |
4.3 / 5 (56) |
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(AP) -- From agricultural losses to devastation wrought by wildfires, California's economy is expected to see significant costs resulting from global warming in the decades ahead, according to a new report.
A new measure of global warming from carbon emissions
Jun 10, 2009 |
4.2 / 5 (57) |
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Damon Matthews, a professor in Concordia University's Department of Geography, Planning and the Environment has found a direct relationship between carbon dioxide emissions and global warming. Matthews, together with colleagues ...
