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
Global warming may dent El Nino's protective shield from Atlantic hurricanes, increase droughts
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Sep 23, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- El Niño, the periodic eastern Pacific phenomenon credited with shielding the United States and Caribbean from severe hurricane seasons, may be overshadowed by its brother in the central Pacific ...
Forests of Artificial Trees Could Slow Global Warming
Aug 28, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A new study on how technology could help to regulate climate change has studied hundreds of ideas, and selected three considered practical and able to be implemented quickly. The report's ...
Mystery mechanism drove global warming 55 million years ago
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Jul 13, 2009 |
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A runaway spurt of global warming 55 million years ago turned Earth into a hothouse but how this happened remains worryingly unclear, scientists said on Monday.
Ice Sheets Can Retreat 'In a Geologic Instant,' Study of Prehistoric Glacier Shows
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Jun 21, 2009 |
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(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 ...
Dust plays larger than expected role in determining Atlantic temperature
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Mar 26, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The recent warming trend in the Atlantic Ocean is largely due to reductions in airborne dust and volcanic emissions during the past 30 years, according to a new study.
Engineer devises ways to improve gas mileage
Mar 16, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Last summer, it was very expensive to fill up a gas tank when the gasoline price hit close to four dollars a gallon. Transportation by road or air consumes fuel, which not only increases our vulnerability ...
Sea Level Rise Due to Global Warming Poses Threat to New York City
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Mar 13, 2009 |
4.3 / 5 (138) |
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(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 ...
Avoiding the hothouse and the icehouse
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Feb 11, 2009 |
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By controlling emissions of fossil fuels we may be able to greatly delay the start of the next ice age, new research from the Niels Bohr Institute at University of Copenhagen concludes. The results have been ...
Earth's seasons now arrive 2 days earlier, researchers report
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Jan 21, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Not only has the average global temperature increased in the past 50 years, but the hottest day of the year has shifted nearly two days earlier, according to a new study by scientists from the University ...
White roofs, streets could curb global warming
Sep 17, 2008 |
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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 ...
Is global warming unstoppable?
Nov 23, 2009 |
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In a provocative new study, a University of Utah scientist argues that rising carbon dioxide emissions - the major cause of global warming - cannot be stabilized unless the world's economy collapses or society builds the ...
Oceans' uptake of manmade carbon may be slowing
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 18, 2009 |
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The oceans play a key role in regulating climate, absorbing more than a quarter of the carbon dioxide that humans put into the air. Now, the first year-by-year accounting of this mechanism during the industrial ...
UN: Fight climate change with free condoms
Nov 18, 2009 |
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(AP) -- The battle against global warming could be helped if the world slowed population growth by making free condoms and family planning advice more widely available, the U.N. Population Fund said Wednesday.
New research provides blueprint for molecular basis of global warming
Nov 17, 2009 |
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A new study indicates that major chemicals most often cited as leading causes of climate change, such as carbon dioxide and methane, are outclassed in their warming potential by compounds receiving less attention.
'Whitewash' could slow global warming: Peruvian scientist
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 04, 2009 |
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A Peruvian scientist has called on his country to help slow the melting of Andean glaciers by daubing white paint on the rock and earth left behind by receding ice so they will absorb less heat.
