Janet Schlarbaum About Earth’s Temperature By Michael Duggan

Global warming describes the increase of the earth’s average temperature beginning with the Industrial Revolution in the late 18th century. Although increases to the planet’s average temperature have been recorded in ice core data for millions of years, the speed and frequency of the current temperature increase has resulted in this recent heating episode being called global warming. It is attributed to the increase in the burning of fossil fuels initially for steam engines and then in the creation of electricity. Both the fossil fuel consumption and temperature rise curves have increased exponentially in the last two centuries, leading the scientific community to conclude that the use of fossil fuels is the one of the main causes of global warming. The evidence supporting this conclusion is now overwhelming, with governments, corporations and individuals realising the implications and the importance of reducing its causes.

Why is reducing fossil fuel burning important and how does global warming affect our climate? The earth’s climate is defined by a complex system of meteorological elements such as temperature, humidity and rainfall that have been recorded over an extended period of time. The planet is also divided into different climatic categories, including tropical wet, mediterranean and arid to name a few. In the last two hundred years or so, changes to the planet’s climate have occurred. These are predominantly attributed to global warming or the increase in average surface temperatures around the globe. The affects of global warming have significant implications for earth’s climate.

Global warming actually affects the planet’s climate in a number of ways. Increased temperatures are the principle cause of climate change as they cause more evaporation to occur in the oceans, resulting in more frequent and extreme rainfall events. Over land, higher temperatures can produce drier and hotter weather conditions leading to increased desertification or enlargement of current arid climate zones. Although, global warming relates to an increase in the average world temperature, different regions will experience different climatic effects. In general, most regions will become warmer and drier, however many regions will also experience colder temperatures and increased precipitation. These variances will continue to increase, resulting in uncharacteristic weather patterns with extreme events, like hurricanes and cyclones intensifying. Changing climate also has many implications for flora and fauna that have adapted to present weather conditions. Species that cannot migrate or adapt quickly enough may become extinct. Humans will also be affected, as the distribution of arable land may change, making it harder to grow crops. Extreme weather events can also endanger settlements and human lives.

One of the most concerning affects of global warming is the increased melting of polar ice caps, resulting in rising sea levels. This process actually increases global warming because less radiation from the sun is reflected by the ice back out to space. Instead more sunlight is absorbed by land and water fueling further warming and increased melting of polar ice. Climate is also affected by this process as many weather systems are influenced by ocean currents at the poles. The large volumes of melted fresh water from the ice caps can alter ocean currents potentially causing significant changes to the global climate.

By: Jerome Exner

Placed by Janet Schlarbaum
Green house gases, are they as big of a problem as people say? People who know little about green house gases, truly are not aware how its effecting our earth, so hopefully this information clears some of this up, and will show you how serious this problem is actually is.

For 2.5 million years, the earths climate has constantly been changing, from our ice ages to warmer years, but in the last century our climate’s temperature has been rising unusually fast, from about 1.3 to 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit. Scientists believe that it is our own human activity, thats driving the temperature up, and this process is called ” global warming”.

Dating back to the times when the industrial revolution began, factories, trains, and eventually cars, have burned fossil fuels such as oil and coal, which were and still are, releasing huge amounts of carbon dioxide, and other gas’s into our earths atmosphere. These green house gases, or trapped heat near the surface of the earth, are formed by a natural process of the sun, and this is called the ” greenhouse effect”. The green house effect, begins with the sun and the energy it radiates to the earth. The Earth and the atmosphere absorb some of this energy, and the rest is radiated back into space. Now with that being said, these naturally occurring gases, in the atmosphere trap some of this energy and reflect it back, thus, warming the earth. Scientists now believe that the green house effect is getting intensified by all the extra green house gases that humans are releasing.

Signs of global warming, include a recent pattern of very warm years. 1998 was one of the warmest years in history, with 2005, a quick runner up. Furthermore, readings taken from ice core samples, Show that green house gas’s, C02, and methane, have hit there highest levels in 420,000 years, and our sea ice is also shrinking.Our sea ice has declined 10% in the last 30 years.

As long as our nations around the globe, consume these energy’s, and increase their fuel consumption, the overall mass of green house gas’s will continue to rise. Researchers predict that our temperature will increase by 2 – 10 degrees Fahrenheit by the end of the century. What is uncertain is what rising temperatures,will mean for our planet. Some forecast rising sea levels which of coarse would mean floods, along coastal areas around the world. Weather patterns are changing also, making hurricanes more frequent, severe drought is more common in warm areas, and species which are unable to adapt to this change will face a huge drop in numbers and inevitably, extinction.

Janet Schlarbaum Climate Change