Global Warming

Global Warming An increase in the earth's average atmospheric temperature that causes corresponding changes in climate and that may result from the greenhouse effect. Deion Hammond Strategies TB133 08/15/09

Causes
Carbon dioxide from power plants and buildings
Carbon dioxide emitted from cars and airplanes
Methane
Nitrous Oxide

Effects
Climate Change
Rising sea levels
Decreased snow cover in the northern hemisphere
Instrumental temperature record

Impacts of Increasing Temperature
Ice is melting worldwide, especially at the Earth’s poles. This includes mountain glaciers, ice sheets covering West Antarctica and Greenland, and Arctic sea ice.
Researcher Bill Fraser has tracked the decline of the Adélie penguins on Antarctica, where their numbers have fallen from 32,000 breeding pairs to 11,000 in 30 years.
Sea level rise became faster over the last century.
Some butterflies, foxes, and alpine plants have moved farther north, or to higher, cooler areas.
Precipitation (rain and snowfall) has increased on average around the globe .
Spruce bark beetles have boomed in Alaska thanks to 20 years of warm summers. The insects have chewed up more than 4 million acres of spruce trees.

Spread of Disease
5. As northern countries warm, disease carrying insects migrate north bringing plague and disease with them. Some scientist believe that in some countries thanks to global warming, malaria has not been fully eradicated.

Warmer Waters and More Hurricanes
4. As the temperatures of oceans rise, so will the probability of stronger hurricanes as seen in 2004 and 2005.

Droughts and Heat Waves
3. Although some areas of Earth will become wetter due to global warming, other areas will suffer serious droughts and heat waves. Africa will receive the worst of it, with more severe droughts also expected in Europe. Water is already a dangerously rare commodity in Africa, and according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, global warming will exacerbate the conditions and could lead to conflicts and war.

Economic Consequences
2. Most of the effects of anthropogenic global warming won’t be good. And these effects spell one thing for the countries of the world: economic consequences. Hurricanes cause do billions of dollars in damage, diseases cost money to treat and control and conflicts exacerbate all of these.

Melting Polar Ice Caps
First , it will raise sea levels. There are 5,773,000 cubic miles of water in ice caps, glaciers, and permanent snow. According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center, if all glaciers melted today the seas would rise about 230 feet. Luckily, that’s not going to happen all in one go! But sea levels will rise.
Second , melting ice caps will throw the global ecosystem out of balance. The ice caps are fresh water, and when they melt they will desalinate the ocean, or in plain English - make it less salty. The desalinization of the gulf current will “screw up” ocean currents, which regulate temperatures. The stream shutdown or irregularity would cool the area around north-east America and Western Europe. Luckily, that will slow some of the other effects of global warming in that area!
Third , temperature rises and changing landscapes in the artic circle will endanger several species of animals. Only the most adaptable will survive.
Fourth , global warming could snowball with the ice caps gone. Ice caps are white, and reflect sunlight, much of which is relected back into space, further cooling Earth. If the ice caps melt, the only reflector is the ocean. Darker colors absorb sunlight, further warming the Earth.

Sources of Information
http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/sciencetech/5-deadliest-effects-of-global-warming/276
http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/gw-effects.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effects_of_global_warming
http://www.ecobridge.org/content/g_cse.htm
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/global+warming

Global Warming

by djhammond on Aug 15, 2009

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