What is Global Warming?

Global Warming is defined as the increase of the average temperature on Earth. As the
Earth is getting hotter, disasters like hurricanes, droughts and floods are getting more
frequent.

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Over the last 100 years, the average air temperature near the Earth’s surface has risen by
a little less than 1 degree Celsius or 1.3 degrees Fahrenheit. Doesn't seem that much, does
it? Yet it is responsible for the conspicuous increase in storms, floods and raging forest
fires we have seen in recent years, say scientists.

Their data show that an increase of one degree Celsius makes the Earth warmer now than
it has been for at least a thousand years.The top 11 warmest years on record have all been
in the last 13 years, said NASA in 2007, and the first half of 2010 has already gone down
in history as the hottest ever recorded.

Projections from the UN climate change body the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC) say that global surface temperature will probably rise a further 1.1 to 6.4
degrees Celsius (2.0 to 11.5 degrees Fahrenheit) during the 21st century. The huge range
of estimates is due to the amazing complexity of our Earth’s climate system and the
uncertainty about whether mankind will fight this warming or continue with business-as-
usual.

A certain degree of warming is unavoidable even if we managed to reduce our burden on

the climate immediately. Oceans, for example, act as huge heat repositories that follow
changes in air temperature with a time lag of decades or even hundreds of years. Melting
ice caps reflect less sunlight than previously, so our planet absorbs more and more heat.
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Exactly how these changes will influence the warming trend is unclear. All we know for
certain is that it’s going to be warmer and that human greenhouse gas emissions are an
important reason for this.

Are climate change and global warming one and the same?

In a nutshell: global warming is the cause, climate change is the effect.

Scientists often prefer to speak about climate change instead of global warming, because
higher global temperatures don’t necessarily mean that it will be warmer at any given
time at every location on Earth.

Warming is strongest at the Earth's Poles, the Arctic and the Antarctic, and will continue
to be so. In recent years, fall air temperatures have been at a record 9 degrees Fahrenheit
(5 degrees Celsius) above normal in the Arctic, according to the U.S. National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration.

But changing wind patterns could mean that a warming Arctic, for example, leads to
colder winters in continental Europe. Regional climates will change as well, but in very
different ways. Some regions like parts of Northern Europe or West Africa will probably
get wetter, while other regions like the Mediterranean or Central Africa will most likely
receive less rainfall

But it is not just about how much the Earth is warming, it is also about how fast it is
warming. There have always been natural climate changes – Ice Ages and the warm
intermediate times between them – but those evolved over periods of 50,000 to 100,000
years.

In the past, climate change was triggered by changes in the sun’s energy output, the
changing position of continental plates, or the rotating axis of the Earth itself. Many
plants and animals were able to adapt to these slowly changing climates. Even humans
have changed their habitat according to the comings and goings of glaciers.

All these so-called natural forcings, however, have been ruled out for the warming visible
in the last 30 years. Since 1980, temperatures have risen faster than ever before, as far as
scientists can ascertain.

This radical change is leading towards a sudden loss of biodiversity, a dwindling number
and variety of plants and animals. Many species simply won’t be able to adapt fast
enough. According to the most recent UN assessment, 20 to 30 percent of the Earth's
plant and animal species face extinction if the world warms by between 1.5 and 2.5
degrees Celsius.

Even for humans, climate change won’t be a smooth transition to a warmer world, warns
the Tipping Points Report by Allianz and WWF. Twelve regions around the world could
be especially affected by abrupt changes, among them the North Pole, the Amazon
rainforest, and California.

All these facts lead scientists to infer that the global warming we now experience is not a
natural occurrence and that it is not brought on by natural causes. Humanity’s industrial
emissions are responsible, they say.

Global warming
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For past climate change see Paleoclimatology and Geologic temperature record. For
scientific and political disputes, see Global warming controversy and Climate change
consensus.

1880-2009 Global mean surface temperature difference relative to the 1961–1990

average

Comparison of ground based (blue) and satellite based (red: UAH; green: RSS) records
of temperature variations since 1979. Trends plotted since January 1982.

Mean surface temperature change for the period 2000 to 2009 relative to the average
temperatures from 1951 to 1980.[1]

Global warming is the increase in the average temperature of Earth's near-surface air
and oceans since the mid-20th century and its projected continuation. According to the
2007 Fourth Assessment Report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC), global surface temperature increased 0.74 ± 0.18 °C (1.33 ± 0.32 °F) during the
20th century.[2][A] Most of the observed temperature increase since the middle of the 20th
century has been caused by increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases, which result
from human activity such as the burning of fossil fuel and deforestation.[3] Global
dimming, a result of increasing concentrations of atmospheric aerosols that block sunlight
from reaching the surface, has partially countered the effects of warming induced by
greenhouse gases.
Climate model projections summarized in the latest IPCC report indicate that the global
surface temperature is likely to rise a further 1.1 to 6.4 °C (2.0 to 11.5 °F) during the 21st
century.[2] 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. 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.[4] Warming is expected to be strongest in the Arctic and would be
associated with continuing retreat of glaciers, permafrost and sea ice. Other likely effects
include changes in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, species
extinctions, and changes in agricultural yields. Warming and related changes will vary
from region to region around the globe, though the nature of these regional variations is
uncertain.[5] As a result of contemporary increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide, the
oceans have become more acidic; a result that is predicted to continue.[6][7]

The scientific consensus is that anthropogenic global warming is occurring.[8][9][10][B]

Nevertheless, political and public debate continues. The Kyoto Protocol is aimed at
stabilizing greenhouse gas concentration to prevent a "dangerous anthropogenic
interference".[11] As of November 2009, 187 states had signed and ratified the protocol.[12]
Contents
[hide]
 1 Temperature changes
 2 External forcings
o 2.1 Greenhouse gases
o 2.2 Aerosols and soot
o 2.3 Solar variation
 3 Feedback
 4 Climate models
 5 Attributed and expected effects
o 5.1 Natural systems
o 5.2 Ecological systems
o 5.3 Social systems
 6 Responses to global warming
o 6.1 Mitigation
o 6.2 Adaptation
o 6.3 UNFCCC
 7 Views on global warming
o 7.1 Politics
o 7.2 Public opinion
o 7.3 Other views
 8 Etymology
 9 See also
 10 Notes
 11 References
 12 Further reading

 13 External links

Temperature changes
Main article: Temperature record

Two millennia of mean surface temperatures according to different reconstructions, each

smoothed on a decadal scale, with the actual recorded temperatures overlaid in black.
Evidence for warming of the climate system includes observed increases in global
average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising
global average sea level.[13][14][15][16][17] The most common measure of global warming is the
trend in globally averaged temperature near the Earth's surface. Expressed as a linear
trend, this temperature rose by 0.74 ± 0.18 °C over the period 1906–2005. The rate of
warming over the last half of that period was almost double that for the period as a whole
(0.13 ± 0.03 °C per decade, versus 0.07 °C ± 0.02 °C per decade). The urban heat island
effect is estimated to account for about 0.002 °C of warming per decade since 1900.[18]
Temperatures in the lower troposphere have increased between 0.13 and 0.22 °C (0.22
and 0.4 °F) per decade since 1979, according to satellite temperature measurements.
Temperature is believed to have been relatively stable over the one or two thousand years
before 1850, with regionally varying fluctuations such as the Medieval Warm Period and
the Little Ice Age.[19]

Estimates by NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) and the National
Climatic Data Center show that 2005 was the warmest year since reliable, widespread
instrumental measurements became available in the late 19th century, exceeding the
previous record set in 1998 by a few hundredths of a degree.[20][21] Estimates prepared by
the World Meteorological Organization and the Climatic Research Unit show 2005 as the
second warmest year, behind 1998.[22][23] Temperatures in 1998 were unusually warm
because the strongest El Niño in the past century occurred during that year.[24] Global
temperature is subject to short-term fluctuations that overlay long term trends and can
temporarily mask them. The relative stability in temperature from 2002 to 2009 is
consistent with such an episode.[25][26]

Temperature changes vary over the globe. Since 1979, land temperatures have increased
about twice as fast as ocean temperatures (0.25 °C per decade against 0.13 °C per
decade).[27] Ocean temperatures increase more slowly than land temperatures because of
the larger effective heat capacity of the oceans and because the ocean loses more heat by
evaporation.[28] The Northern Hemisphere warms faster than the Southern Hemisphere
because it has more land and because it has extensive areas of seasonal snow and sea-ice
cover subject to ice-albedo feedback. Although more greenhouse gases are emitted in the
Northern than Southern Hemisphere this does not contribute to the difference in warming
because the major greenhouse gases persist long enough to mix between hemispheres.[29]

The thermal inertia of the oceans and slow responses of other indirect effects mean that
climate can take centuries or longer to adjust to changes in forcing. Climate commitment
studies indicate that even if greenhouse gases were stabilized at 2000 levels, a further
warming of about 0.5 °C (0.9 °F) would still occur.[30]

External forcings

External forcing refers to processes external to the climate system (though not necessarily
external to Earth) that influence climate. Climate responds to several types of external
forcing, such as radiative forcing due to changes in atmospheric composition (mainly
greenhouse gas concentrations), changes in solar luminosity, volcanic eruptions, and
variations in Earth's orbit around the Sun.[31] Attribution of recent climate change focuses
on the first three types of forcing. Orbital cycles vary slowly over tens of thousands of
years and thus are too gradual to have caused the temperature changes observed in the
past century.

Greenhouse gases

Main articles: Greenhouse effect, Radiative forcing, and Atmospheric CO2

Greenhouse effect schematic showing energy flows between space, the atmosphere, and
earth's surface. Energy exchanges are expressed in watts per square meter (W/m2).

Recent atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) increases. Monthly CO2 measurements display
seasonal oscillations in overall yearly uptrend; each year's maximum occurs during the
Northern Hemisphere's late spring, and declines during its growing season as plants
remove some atmospheric CO2.

The greenhouse effect is the process by which absorption and emission of infrared
radiation by gases in the atmosphere warm a planet's lower atmosphere and surface. It
was proposed by Joseph Fourier in 1824 and was first investigated quantitatively by
Svante Arrhenius in 1896.[32] The question in terms of global warming is how the strength
of the presumed greenhouse effect changes when human activity increases the
concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Naturally occurring greenhouse gases have a mean warming effect of about 33 °C

(59 °F).[33][C] The major greenhouse gases are water vapor, which causes about 36–70
percent of the greenhouse effect; carbon dioxide (CO2), which causes 9–26 percent;
methane (CH4), which causes 4–9 percent; and ozone (O3), which causes 3–7 percent.[34]
[35][36]
Clouds also affect the radiation balance, but they are composed of liquid water or
ice and so have different effects on radiation from water vapor.

Human activity since the Industrial Revolution has increased the amount of greenhouse
gases in the atmosphere, leading to increased radiative forcing from CO2, methane,
tropospheric ozone, CFCs and nitrous oxide. The concentrations of CO2 and methane
have increased by 36% and 148% respectively since 1750.[37] These levels are much
higher than at any time during the last 650,000 years, the period for which reliable data
has been extracted from ice cores.[38][39][40] Less direct geological evidence indicates that
CO2 values higher than this were last seen about 20 million years ago.[41] Fossil fuel
burning has produced about three-quarters of the increase in CO2 from human activity
over the past 20 years. Most of the rest is due to land-use change, particularly
deforestation.[42]

Over the last three decades of the 20th century, GDP per capita and population growth
were the main drivers of increases in greenhouse gas emissions.[43] CO2 emissions are
continuing to rise due to the burning of fossil fuels and land-use change.[44][45]:71 Emissions
scenarios, estimates of changes in future emission levels of greenhouse gases, have been
projected that depend upon uncertain economic, sociological, technological, and natural
developments.[46] In most scenarios, emissions continue to rise over the century, while in
a few, emissions are reduced.[47][48] These emission scenarios, combined with carbon cycle
modelling, have been used to produce estimates of how atmospheric concentrations of
greenhouse gases will change in the future. Using the six IPCC SRES "marker"
scenarios, models suggest that by the year 2100, the atmospheric concentration of CO2
could range between 541 and 970 ppm.[49] This is an increase of 90-250% above the
concentration in the year 1750. Fossil fuel reserves are sufficient to reach these levels and
continue emissions past 2100 if coal, tar sands or methane clathrates are extensively
exploited.[50]

The destruction of stratospheric ozone by chlorofluorocarbons is sometimes mentioned in

relation to global warming. Although there are a few areas of linkage, the relationship
between the two is not strong. Reduction of stratospheric ozone has a cooling influence.
[51]
Substantial ozone depletion did not occur until the late 1970s.[52] Ozone in the
troposphere (the lowest part of the Earth's atmosphere) does contribute to surface
warming.[53]

Aerosols and soot

Ship tracks over the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast of the United States. The climatic
impacts from aerosol forcing could have a large effect on climate through the indirect
effect.
Global dimming, a gradual reduction in the amount of global direct irradiance at the
Earth's surface, has partially counteracted global warming from 1960 to the present.[54]
The main cause of this dimming is aerosols produced by volcanoes and pollutants. These
aerosols exert a cooling effect by increasing the reflection of incoming sunlight. The
effects of the products of fossil fuel combustion—CO2 and aerosols—have largely offset
one another in recent decades, so that net warming has been due to the increase in non-
CO2 greenhouse gases such as methane.[55] Radiative forcing due to aerosols is temporally
limited due to wet deposition which causes aerosols to have an atmospheric lifetime of
one week. Carbon dioxide has a lifetime of a century or more, and as such, changes in
aerosol concentrations will only delay climate changes due to carbon dioxide.[56]

In addition to their direct effect by scattering and absorbing solar radiation, aerosols have
indirect effects on the radiation budget.[57] Sulfate aerosols act as cloud condensation
nuclei and thus lead to clouds that have more and smaller cloud droplets. These clouds
reflect solar radiation more efficiently than clouds with fewer and larger droplets.[58] This
effect also causes droplets to be of more uniform size, which reduces growth of raindrops
and makes the cloud more reflective to incoming sunlight.[59] Indirect effects are most
noticeable in marine stratiform clouds, and have very little radiative effect on convective
clouds. Aerosols, particularly their indirect effects, represent the largest uncertainty in
radiative forcing.[60]

Soot may cool or warm the surface, depending on whether it is airborne or deposited.
Atmospheric soot aerosols directly absorb solar radiation, which heats the atmosphere
and cools the surface. In isolated areas with high soot production, such as rural India, as
much as 50% of surface warming due to greenhouse gases may be masked by
atmospheric brown clouds.[61] Atmospheric soot always contributes additional warming to
the climate system. When deposited, especially on glaciers or on ice in arctic regions, the
lower surface albedo can also directly heat the surface.[62] The influences of aerosols,
including black carbon, are most pronounced in the tropics and sub-tropics, particularly
in Asia, while the effects of greenhouse gases are dominant in the extratropics and
southern hemisphere.[63]

Solar variation

Main article: Solar variation

Solar variation over the last thirty years.

Variations in solar output have been the cause of past climate changes.[64] The consensus
among climate scientists is that changes in solar forcing probably had a slight cooling
effect in recent decades. This result is less certain than some others, with a few papers
suggesting a warming effect.[31][65][66][67]

Greenhouse gases and solar forcing affect temperatures in different ways. While both
increased solar activity and increased greenhouse gases are expected to warm the
troposphere, an increase in solar activity should warm the stratosphere while an increase
in greenhouse gases should cool the stratosphere.[31] Observations show that temperatures
in the stratosphere have been cooling since 1979, when satellite measurements became
available. Radiosonde (weather balloon) data from the pre-satellite era show cooling
since 1958, though there is greater uncertainty in the early radiosonde record.[68]

A related hypothesis, proposed by Henrik Svensmark, is that magnetic activity of the sun
deflects cosmic rays that may influence the generation of cloud condensation nuclei and
thereby affect the climate.[69] Other research has found no relation between warming in
recent decades and cosmic rays.[70][71] The influence of cosmic rays on cloud cover is
about a factor of 100 lower than needed to explain the observed changes in clouds or to
be a significant contributor to present-day climate change.[72]

Feedback
Main article: Climate change feedback

Feedback is a process in which changing one quantity changes a second quantity, and the
change in the second quantity in turn changes the first. Positive feedback amplifies the
change in the first quantity while negative feedback reduces it. Feedback is important in
the study of global warming because it may amplify or diminish the effect of a particular
process. The main positive feedback in global warming is the tendency of warming to
increase the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere, a significant greenhouse gas. The
main negative feedback is radiative cooling, which increases as the fourth power of
temperature; the amount of heat radiated from the Earth into space increases with the
temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere. Imperfect understanding of feedbacks is a
major cause of uncertainty and concern about global warming.

Climate models
Main article: Global climate model
The main tools for projecting future climate changes are mathematical models based on
physical principles including fluid dynamics, thermodynamics and radiative transfer.
Although they attempt to include as many processes as possible, simplifications of the
actual climate system are inevitable because of the constraints of available computer
power and limitations in knowledge of the climate system. All modern climate models are
in fact combinations of models for different parts of the Earth. These include an
atmospheric model for air movement, temperature, clouds, and other atmospheric
properties; an ocean model that predicts temperature, salt content, and circulation of
ocean waters; models for ice cover on land and sea; and a model of heat and moisture
transfer from soil and vegetation to the atmosphere. Some models also include treatments
of chemical and biological processes.[73] Warming due to increasing levels of greenhouse
gases is not an assumption of the models; rather, it is an end result from the interaction of
greenhouse gases with radiative transfer and other physical processes.[74] Although much
of the variation in model outcomes depends on the greenhouse gas emissions used as
inputs, the temperature effect of a specific greenhouse gas concentration (climate
sensitivity) varies depending on the model used. The representation of clouds is one of
the main sources of uncertainty in present-generation models.[75]

Global climate model projections of future climate most often have used estimates of
greenhouse gas emissions from the IPCC Special Report on Emissions Scenarios (SRES).
In addition to human-caused emissions, some models also include a simulation of the
carbon cycle; this generally shows a positive feedback, though this response is uncertain.
Some observational studies also show a positive feedback.[76][77][78] Including uncertainties
in future greenhouse gas concentrations and climate sensitivity, the IPCC anticipates a
warming of 1.1 °C to 6.4 °C (2.0 °F to 11.5 °F) by the end of the 21st century, relative to
1980–1999.[2]

Models are also used to help investigate the causes of recent climate change by
comparing the observed changes to those that the models project from various natural and
human-derived causes. Although these models do not unambiguously attribute the
warming that occurred from approximately 1910 to 1945 to either natural variation or
human effects, they do indicate that the warming since 1970 is dominated by man-made
greenhouse gas emissions.[31]

The physical realism of models is tested by examining their ability to simulate current or
past climates.[79] Current climate models produce a good match to observations of global
temperature changes over the last century, but do not simulate all aspects of climate.[42]
Not all effects of global warming are accurately predicted by the climate models used by
the IPCC. Observed Arctic shrinkage has been faster than that predicted.[80] Precipitation
increased proportional to atmospheric humidity, and hence significantly faster than
current global climate models predict.[81] [82]

Attributed and expected effects

Main articles: Effects of global warming and Regional effects of global warming
Global warming may be detected in natural, ecological or social systems as a change
having statistical significance.[83] Attribution of these changes e.g., to natural or human
activities, is the next step following detection.[84]

Natural systems

Sparse records indicate that glaciers have been retreating since the early 1800s. In the
1950s measurements began that allow the monitoring of glacial mass balance, reported to
the WGMS and the NSIDC.

Global warming has been detected in a number of systems. Some of these changes, e.g.,
based on the instrumental temperature record, have been described in the section on
temperature changes. Rising sea levels and observed decreases in snow and ice extent are
consistent with warming.[17] Most of the increase in global average temperature since the
mid-20th century is, with high probability,[D] atttributable to human-induced changes in
greenhouse gas concentrations.[85]

Even with current policies to reduce emissions, global emissions are still expected to
continue to grow over the coming decades.[86] Over the course of the 21st century,
increases in emissions at or above their current rate would very likely induce changes in
the climate system larger than those observed in the 20th century.

In the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report, across a range of future emission scenarios,
model-based estimates of sea level rise for the end of the 21st century (the year 2090-
2099, relative to 1980-1999) range from 0.18 to 0.59 m. These estimates, however, were
not given a likelihood due to a lack of scientific understanding, nor was an upper bound
given for sea level rise. Over the course of centuries to millennia, the melting of ice
sheets could result in sea level rise of 4–6 m or more.[87]

Changes in regional climate are expected to include greater warming over land, with most
warming at high northern latitudes, and least warming over the Southern Ocean and parts
of the North Atlantic Ocean.[86] Snow cover area and sea ice extent are expected to
decrease. The frequency of hot extremes, heat waves, and heavy precipitation will very
likely increase.

Ecological systems
In terrestrial ecosystems, the earlier timing of spring events, and poleward and upward
shifts in plant and animal ranges, have been linked with high confidence to recent
warming.[17] Future climate change is expected to particularly affect certain ecosystems,
including tundra, mangroves, and coral reefs.[86] It is expected that most ecosystems will
be affected by higher atmospheric CO2 levels, combined with higher global temperatures.
[88]
Overall, it is expected that climate change will result in the extinction of many species
and reduced diversity of ecosystems.[89]

Social systems

There is some evidence of regional climate change affecting systems related to human
activities, including agricultural and forestry management activities at higher latitudes in
the Northern Hemisphere.[17] Future climate change is expected to particularly affect some
sectors and systems related to human activities.[86] Low-lying coastal systems are
vulnerable to sea level rise and storm surge. Human health will be at increased risk in
populations with limited capacity to adapt to climate change. It is expected that some
regions will be particularly affected by climate change, including the Arctic, Africa, small
islands, and Asian and African megadeltas. In some areas the effects on agriculture,
industry and health could be mixed, or even beneficial in certain respects, but overall it is
expected that these benefits will be outweighed by negative effects.[90]

Responses to global warming

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is an approach to mitigation. Emissions may be

sequestered from fossil fuel power plants, or removed during processing in hydrogen
production. When used on plants, it is known as bio-energy with carbon capture and
storage.

Mitigation

Main article: Global warming mitigation

See also: Carbon capture and storage and Fee and dividend

Reducing the amount of future climate change is called mitigation of climate change. The
IPCC defines mitigation as activities that reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, or
enhance the capacity of carbon sinks to absorb GHGs from the atmosphere.[91] Many
countries, both developing and developed, are aiming to use cleaner, less polluting,
technologies.[45]:192 Use of these technologies aids mitigation and could result in
substantial reductions in CO2 emissions. Policies include targets for emissions reductions,
increased use of renewable energy, and increased energy efficiency. Studies indicate
substantial potential for future reductions in emissions.[92] Since even in the most
optimistic scenario, fossil fuels are going to be used for years to come, mitigation may
also involve carbon capture and storage, a process that traps CO2 produced by factories
and gas or coal power stations and then stores it, usually underground.[93]

Adaptation

Main article: Adaptation to global warming

Other policy responses include adaptation to climate change. Adaptation to climate

change may be planned, e.g., by local or national government, or spontaneous, i.e., done
privately without government intervention.[94] The ability to adapt is closely linked to
social and economic development.[92] Even societies with high capacities to adapt are still
vulnerable to climate change. Planned adaptation is already occurring on a limited basis.
The barriers, limits, and costs of future adaptation are not fully understood.

Another policy response is engineering of the climate (geoengineering). This policy

response is sometimes grouped together with mitigation.[95] Geoengineering is largely
unproven, and reliable cost estimates for it have not yet been published.[96]

UNFCCC

Most countries are Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change (UNFCCC).[97] The ultimate objective of the Convention is to prevent
"dangerous" human interference of the climate system.[98] As is stated in the Convention,
this requires that GHGs are stabilized in the atmosphere at a level where ecosystems can
adapt naturally to climate change, food production is not threatened, and economic
development can proceed in a sustainable fashion.

The UNFCCC recognizes differences among countries in their responsibility to act on

climate change.[99] In the Kyoto Protocol to the UNFCCC, most developed countries
(listed in Annex I of the treaty) took on legally binding commitments to reduce their
emissions.[100] Policy measures taken in response to these commitments have reduced
emissions.[101] For many developing (non-Annex I) countries, reducing poverty is their
overriding aim.[102]

At the 15th UNFCCC Conference of the Parties, held in 2009 at Copenhagen, several
UNFCCC Parties produced the Copenhagen Accord.[103] Parties agreeing with the Accord
aim to limit the future increase in global mean temperature to below 2 °C.[104]

Views on global warming

Main articles: Global warming controversy and Politics of global warming
See also: Scientific opinion on climate change and Climate change consensus

Per capita greenhouse gas emissions in 2000, including land-use change.

Total greenhouse gas emissions in 2000, including land-use change.

There are different views over what the appropriate policy response to climate change
should be.[105][106] These competing views weigh the benefits of limiting emissions of
greenhouse gases against the costs. In general, it seems likely that climate change will
impose greater damages and risks in poorer regions.[107]

Politics

Developing and developed countries have made different arguments over who should
bear the burden of costs for cutting emissions. Developing countries often concentrate on
per capita emissions, that is, the total emissions of a country divided by its population.[108]
Per capita emissions in the industrialized countries are typically as much as ten times the
average in developing countries.[109] This is used to make the argument that the real
problem of climate change is due to the profligate and unsustainable lifestyles of those
living in rich countries.[108] On the other hand, commentators from developed countries
more often point out that it is total emissions that matter.[108] In 2008, developing
countries made up around half of the world's total emissions of CO2 from cement
production and fossil fuel use.[110]

The Kyoto Protocol, which came into force in 2005, sets legally binding emission
limitations for most developed countries.[100] Developing countries are not subject to
limitations. This exemption led the U.S. and Australia to decide not to ratify the treaty,[111]
[112] [113]
although Australia did finally ratify the treaty in December 2007.[114]

Public opinion

In 2007–2008 Gallup Polls surveyed 127 countries. Over a third of the world's population
was unaware of global warming, with people in developing countries less aware than
those in developed, and those in Africa the least aware. Of those aware, Latin America
leads in belief that temperature changes are a result of human activities while Africa,
parts of Asia and the Middle East, and a few countries from the Former Soviet Union lead
in the opposite belief.[115] In the Western world, opinions over the concept and the
appropriate responses are divided. Nick Pidgeon of Cardiff University finds that "results
show the different stages of engagement[clarification needed] about global warming on each side
of the Atlantic"; where Europe debates the appropriate responses while the United States
debates whether climate change is happening.[116][117][vague][dubious – discuss]

Other views

Most scientists accept that humans are contributing to observed climate change.[44][118]
National science academies have called on world leaders for policies to cut global
emissions.[119] There are, however, some scientists and non-scientists who question
aspects of climate change science.[120][121]

Organizations such as the libertarian Competitive Enterprise Institute, conservative

commentators, and companies such as ExxonMobil have challenged IPCC climate
change scenarios, funded scientists who disagree with the scientific consensus, and
provided their own projections of the economic cost of stricter controls.[122][123][124][125]
Environmental organizations and public figures have emphasized changes in the current
climate and the risks they entail, while promoting adaptation to changes in infrastructural
needs and emissions reductions.[126] Some fossil fuel companies have scaled back their
efforts in recent years,[127] or called for policies to reduce global warming.[128]

Etymology

The term global warming was probably first used in its modern sense on 8 August 1975
in a science paper by Wally Broecker in the journal Science called "Are we on the brink
of a pronounced global warming?".[129][130][131] Broecker's choice of words was new and
represented a significant recognition that the climate was warming; previously the
phrasing used by scientists was "inadvertent climate modification," because while it was
recognized humans could change the climate, no one was sure which direction it was
going.[132] The National Academy of Sciences first used global warming in a 1979 paper
called the Charney Report, it said: "if carbon dioxide continues to increase, [we find] no
reason to doubt that climate changes will result and no reason to believe that these
changes will be negligible."[133] The report made a distinction between referring to surface
temperature changes as global warming, while referring to other changes caused by
increased CO2 as climate change.[132] This distinction is still often used in science reports,
with global warming meaning surface temperatures, and climate change meaning other
changes (increased storms, etc..)[132]

Global warming became more widely popular after 1988 when NASA scientist James E.
Hansen used the term in a testimony to Congress.[132] He said: "global warming has
reached a level such that we can ascribe with a high degree of confidence a cause and
effect relationship between the greenhouse effect and the observed warming."[134] His
testimony was widely reported and afterward global warming was commonly used by the
press and in public discourse.[132]
See also

Book:Glob
al
warming
Books are collections of articles that can be downloaded or ordered in print.
Global warming portal
 Glossary of climate change
 Index of climate change articles
 History of climate change science

Notes
A. ^ Increase is for years 1905 to 2005. Global surface temperature is defined in the
IPCC Fourth Assessment Report as the average of near-surface air temperature
over land and sea surface temperature. These error bounds are constructed with a
90% confidence interval.
B. ^ The 2001 joint statement was signed by the national academies of science of
Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, the Caribbean, the People's Republic of
China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, New Zealand,
Sweden, and the UK. The 2005 statement added Japan, Russia, and the U.S. The
2007 statement added Mexico and South Africa. The Network of African Science
Academies, and the Polish Academy of Sciences have issued separate statements.
Professional scientific societies include American Astronomical Society,
American Chemical Society, American Geophysical Union, American Institute of
Physics, American Meteorological Society, American Physical Society, American
Quaternary Association, Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society,
Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences, Canadian
Meteorological and Oceanographic Society, European Academy of Sciences and
Arts, European Geosciences Union, European Science Foundation, Geological
Society of America, Geological Society of Australia, Geological Society of
London-Stratigraphy Commission, InterAcademy Council, International Union of
Geodesy and Geophysics, International Union for Quaternary Research, National
Association of Geoscience Teachers, National Research Council (US), Royal
Meteorological Society, and World Meteorological Organization.
C. ^ Note that the greenhouse effect produces an average worldwide temperature
increase of about 33 °C (59 °F) compared to black body predictions without the
greenhouse effect, not an average surface temperature of 33 °C (91 °F). The
average worldwide surface temperature is about 14 °C (57 °F).
D. ^ In the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report, published in 2007, this attribution is
given a probability of greater than 90%, based on expert judgement.[135] According
to the US National Research Council Report – Understanding and Responding to
Climate Change - published in 2008, "[most] scientists agree that the warming in
recent decades has been caused primarily by human activities that have increased
the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere."[44]
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As the number of people on this planet, increase the rate at which we are losing
other species has greatly increased. It is estimated that if no drastic action is
taken, 1/3 to 2/3 of our species will be extinct by the middle of the 21st century.
Currently, it is estimated that 27,000 species become extinct each year.
Across the earth, a great deal of our wetland areas that are being destroyed by
humans. These wetlands have great diversity and productivity. We do not have
much wetland left so it is imperative to the many creatures that call that area a
home that we save as much of these areas as we can. Much of these wetlands are
used for oil and gas production.
As one can see, the need for living space, natural resources to help power our
blow dryers and computers are taking the lives of our anima friends. Now if we
have more people, it doesn?t take a UW college professor to realize that the
demand for energy, food and land will increase.
If we were to look at everything around us, we would notice that everything
comes from the earth. The TV in front of me is made of plastic, which needs
petroleum, the coffee table I?m typing this on is made of wood, the left over
pizza I had for breakfast comes from cows which need grass, you get the idea.
Basically we use the earth?s resources to enhance our lives. The problem arises
when our luxuries damage our earth and environment. When a country?s
resources become depleted, it not only becomes an environmental problem, it
becomes a economic burden because now, they must import their resources
from other countries.
One of the major problems we have today is deforestation.
Leading causes of deforestation includes:
Loggers taking down trees for commercial use,clearing forests for
ranching,clearing forests to provide land for other crops such as bananas and
clearing space to create roads for cars to move
Some common problems associated with deforestation are when people cut
down trees to provide space for growing other crops, they deteriorate the
quality of the soil. After a few growing seasons, the soil which, to begin with
already had low nutrients becomes even worse therefore limiting the possibility
of future growth.When we loose trees, we will not have anything to change
carbon dioxide into oxygen and the possibility of finding new cures to diseases is
lost. The forest contains a great deal of plants that are used to make medicine
(Anyone see the movie Medicine Man, I never did but I?m guessing that?s what
it was about.). We may not know it, but the forest could contain the cures for
AIDS, Cancer and many of the other diseases that we face. As the number of
people increase, we will need more energy to support them. Energy requires the
burning of fossil fuels. The burning of fuel results in an increase in global
temperature, (and sometimes, we have to destroy the environment to get it),
which in turn melts the icebergs, which then increases the sea level. When he sea
level increase, we have flooding; this is not good thing. More than 50 percent of
the medicine we find in the environment is found in the rainforests We better
get our land in shape before we assume we could leave it to science. Never let us
forget our essences. Theirs a time for everything,
and now its to heal our world!!!! Deforestation and Global Warming

Overpopulation: Root Cause of Many Problems

POLLUTION: The more people there are, the more homes there are to heat or cool, cars
to fuel, products to manufacture, and so on. All of this generates pollution; the benefits of
stopping population growth are undeniably far greater than those of using more hybrid
cars or CFLs.STARVATION: Nations become incapable of meeting their food needs
when their populations rise, making them less self-reliant. Famine rarely seems to occur
in countries with low population densities, especially if they have a substantial amount of
farmland.TRAFFIC: Clearly a lower population density would produce fewer "traffic
jams" and less crowding on public transportation. Instead of targeting the root of the
problem, people talk about building additional highways and adding more lanes to
them.CONFLICT: International and civil wars are often brought about by the desire to
gain additional resources and/or territory. As a country's population becomes higher, its
need for resources and land are increased. It may also seek to use war to boost its
economy, as overpopulation makes it poorer.EXTINCTION: When species of animals
become extinct or endangered, it is often the result of humans using them (or things they
eat) as food. Increasing human populations need more food and are less concerned about
protecting endangered animals.DEPLETION: Finite natural resources, like oil, uranium
and coal, are being rapidly depleted to serve the energy and manufacturing needs of
people around the world. As the population continues to rise, this will only worsen and
the environment will be sacrificed to extract harder-to-obtain resources.EDUCATION:
More children bring about higher education costs and more crowding in schools. Because
children do not pay taxes and their parents pay no more property taxes individually for
having more children, this ends up increasing everyone's taxes.

Undoubtedly, there are other major problems which overpopulation also helps to bring
about. This is an issue which a vast number of countries must address. The U.N. Human
Development Report has indicated that many nations had their population rise by more
than double in the years since 1975. Significant increases occurred in Greece, Nepal,
Australia, the United States, and many others.Instead of attempting to solve the world's
problems with expensive new technology and ineffective feel-good schemes, we should
find a solution to their root cause. This solution could include government incentives for
people who have fewer children (worldwide) and efforts to improve the availability of
birth control and sexual education in developing countries. The mass media should also
cease its promotion of having multiple children as something beneficial to society.