Global warming is a large effect of human impact on the planet. It is already a big problem and is going to be even bigger if it isn't stopped. These are some facts about global warming you probably would have wanted to know.

1. By Saagar Parikh

2. Global sea levels have been rising for
the past several thousand years,
owing to the retreat of glaciers from
the last ice age.

3. Average global sea level has
increased eight inches since 1880, but
is rising much faster on the U.S. East
Coast and Gulf of Mexico.

4. Global warming is now accelerating
the rate of sea level rise, increasing
flooding risks to low-lying
communities and coastal properties.

5. Global warming may be largely to
blame for the increasingly
destructive wildfires in the Western
United States.

6. Scientists find
that longer and
fiercer wildfire
seasons since
1986 are closely
associated with
warmer summer
temperatures.

7. Higher spring and
summer
temperatures and
earlier spring
snow-melt result
in forests that are
hotter and drier
for longer periods
conditions for
of time, priming
to ignite andwildfire
sspread.

8. Dangerously hot weather is already
occurring more frequently than it did
60 years ago—and scientists expect
heat waves to become more
frequent and severe as global
warming intensifies.

9. This increase in heat waves creates
serious health risks, and can lead to
heat exhaustion, heat stroke, and
aggravate existing medical
conditions.

11. Tens of millions of trees have died in
the Rocky Mountains itself over the
past 15 years, victims of a climate-
driven assault of tree-killing insects,
wildfires, and stress from heat and
drought.

12. Trees are dying twice as fast as they
were 17 years ago in the Pacific
Northwest, 25 years ago in California,
and interior states taking 29 years to
double.

13. Rising temperatures will likely lead to
increased air pollution, a longer and
more intense allergy season, the
spread of insect-borne diseases,
more frequent and dangerous heat
waves, and heavier rainstorms and
flooding.

14. All of these changes pose serious and
costly risks to public health.

15. Scientific evidence shows that global
warming is increasing certain types
of extreme weather events, including
heat waves, flooding, extreme
precipitation events, fires, and severe
droughts.

16. Global warming creates conditions
that can lead to more powerful
hurricanes and tornadoes.

17. As temperatures increase, more rain
falls during the heaviest downpours,
increasing the risk of flooding events.

19. Climate change affects a variety of
factors associated with drought and
is likely to increase drought risk in
certain regions.

20. As temperatures warm, the likeliness
and duration of drought increases in
the southwestern and western
United States.

21. As less rain falls in drought prone
areas such as southwestern and
western United States, many people
are depending on groundwater from
aquifers (natural, underground water
reservoirs) to fulfill their needs.

22. More water from aquifers will be
pumped, even as less rainfall comes
to replenish it.

23. Sometimes this leads to the aquifers
collapsing as groundwater is sucked
out of the soil and the pressure is
reduced.

24. In response, the land above actually
drops, a process known as land
subsidence.

25. Once this has occurred, the
groundwater storage space is
essentially lost forever. In some areas
of California, land is dropping by
approximately one foot a year due to
land subsidence.
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26. Spring arrives much earlier than it
used to — 10 days earlier on average
in the northern hemisphere.

27. Snow melts earlier. Reservoirs fill too
early and water needs to be released
for flood control.

28. Vegetation and soil dry out earlier,
setting the stage for longer and more
damaging wildfire seasons.

29. Temperatures are rising in the
planet's polar regions, especially in
the Arctic, and the vast majority
of the world's glaciers are
melting faster than new snow and ice
can replenish them.

30. Scientists expect the rate of melting
to accelerate, with serious
consequences for future sea level
rise.

31. Rising temperatures and the
accompanying impacts of global
warming — including more frequent
heat waves, heavier precipitation,
and more severe droughts in others
— has significant implications for
crop and meat production.

32. Global warming has potential to
seriously disrupt our food supply,
drive costs upward, and affect
everything from coffee to cattle,
from staple food crops to the garden
in your backyard.

33. Higher sea temperatures from global
warming have already caused major
coral bleaching events. Bleaching
occurs when corals respond to the
stress of warmer temperatures by
expelling the colorful algae that live
within them.

34. Increasing levels of carbon dioxide in
the water cause additional damage
to corals, leaving them defenseless
against storm damage and erosion.

35. Some coral are able to recover, but
too often the coral dies, and the
entire ecosystem for which it forms
the base, virtually disappears.

36. In one year alone, 16 percent of the
world's coral reefs were wiped out. A
sea temperature change of as little as
one degree Celsius would yield
similar losses.

37. A changing climate affects the range
of plants and animals, changing their
behavior and causing disruptions up
and down the food chain.

38. The range of some warm-weather
species will expand, while those that
depend on cooler environments
will face shrinking habitats and
potential extinction.

40. Potential For Future Abrupt
Climate Change
Scientists know that Earth's climate
has changed abruptly in the past.
Even though it is unlikely to occur in
the near future, global warming may
increase the risk of such events.

41. One of the most significant potential
results is a shift in an ocean
circulation pattern known as
thermohaline circulation, which
would have drastic climate changes
and widespread consequences for
Europe and the U.S. East Coast.