A-Z of Global Warming - The Amazon By Simon Rosser

Introduction

This article is the first in a series of articles which will take the reader on an alphabetic journey on global warming, commencing with A for Amazon.

The phrase global warming is a term that has been in common usage for some time and usually refers to the warming of Earth's atmosphere, and which also implies a manmade or human influence.

Earth's atmosphere is comprised of many gases, oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide and water vapour to name a few. These gases are collectively called greenhouse gases and they keep the Earth's temperature at a comfortable 15 degrees Celsius, without them Earth would be a chilly - 18 degrees Celsius. Since pre-industrial times, usually taken to be around 1750 we know from ice core records that Co2 levels were around 280 ppm, that's 280 parts of Co2 per million parts of air. As industrialisation got underway mankind started to farm the land more intensely than ever before, deforest for agriculture and settlements, and later since around 1850 or so, burn fossil fuels for energy and transport which have added considerably to greenhouse gas levels, particularly Co2.

This has resulted in Co2 levels increasing to around 385 ppm, an increase of around 37% over pre-industrial levels mainly as a result of burning fossil fuels.

How do we know this? Well, data from ice core records that go back at least 650,000 years now show us that Co2 levels have fluctuated naturally during this time between 280 and 300 ppm. Co2 levels have also been measured accurately from the top of Mauna Loa Volcano in Hawaii since 1958, and results show an increase in Co2 levels from 315 ppm to 385 ppm since that time. Therefore Co2 now stands at 85 ppm more than it has been for at least 650,000 years of Earth's history. It is a known scientific fact that higher levels of greenhouse gases will lead to higher temperatures, and this appears to be occurring now. The world has warmed by an average of 0.74 degrees during the last 100 years or so.

As a result of this warming, polar ice has started to decrease and melt, and so are Earth's land based glaciers. This in turn is causing sea levels to rise which is putting low lying islands at risk of flooding or total submersion. This will eventually threaten more and more of the worlds coastal cities and regions.

As Earth's atmosphere starts to warm, the warming itself may cause further positive feedback mechanisms to kick in. A warmer atmosphere holds more water vapour, which is itself a powerful greenhouse gas. This will in turn cause further warming, and so on.

Melting ice means that more sunlight is absorbed by the surrounding "darker" water and land, meaning further warming, and more melting ice. Methane deposits currently held in a frozen but stable state under the sea and under the permafrost maybe released as the oceans warm and permafrost melts, which will cause further warming as methane is a potent greenhouse gas etc etc.

Where better place to start this A-Z journey on global warming than with The Amazon Rainforest, which has an incredibly important role to play in maintaining a balance in the Earth's climate. The Amazon is inextricably linked to the issue of global warming and has a considerable influence on Earth's climate.

Amazon Facts

The Amazon river basin contains the largest rainforest on Earth and covers approximately 40% of the South American continent. The Amazon Rainforest is located within eight countries, Brazil contains 60% of the forest, with Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname and French Guyana containing the rest.

The Amazon forest is a natural reservoir of genetic diversity, containing the largest and most species rich tract of tropical rainforest that exists. The Amazon contains an amazing thirty-percent of Earth's species. One square kilometre of Amazon can contain about 90,000 tons of living plants! It's also amazing to consider that one in five of all the birds in the world make the rainforest their home.

The Amazon basin is drained by the Amazon river, the worlds second longest after the Nile and the river acts as the lifeline of the forest. The river is the most voluminous on Earth.

A few hundred years ago tropical rainforests covered as much as 12% of the Earth's land surface, but today the figure is less than 5%. The largest stretch of rainforest can be found in the Amazon river basin, over half of which lies in Brazil.

Why is the Amazon so important in the context of global warming?

The rainforest acts as a major store of Carbon and produces enormous amounts of oxygen. The Amazon has been referred to as "The lungs of the Earth" because of its affect on the climate. The way this is achieved is through photosynthesis, the process by which green plants/trees use the energy from sunlight to produce food by taking carbon dioxide (Co2) from the air and water and converting them to carbon. The by-product of this is oxygen.

The Amazon therefore helps recycle carbon dioxide by turning it into oxygen, and its estimated that the Amazon produces about 20% of this essential gas for Earth's atmosphere.

Trees, plants and Co2

Levels of co2 in the atmosphere have been measured since 1958 from a monitoring station located on Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii and they show sharp annual increases and decreases in co2 levels, similar to the tooth on a saw. The readings seemingly mimic a breath of air being taken in and out; it's almost as if the Earth is breathing. The readings correspond to the amount of vegetation on the planet (most of which is contained in the Northern Hemisphere, as the landmass there is greater), taking in co2, and giving out oxygen. During the Northern Hemisphere summer, when the Earth is tilted toward the sun, the Earth's vegetation is able to photosynthesise resulting in an uptake of co2, causing worldwide co2 levels to drop. During winter, when Earth's axis is tilted away from the sun, the opposite happens causing co2 levels to rise again.

When one becomes aware of the correlation between the Earth's vegetation and co2 levels, it is easy to understand why the Amazon, and rainforests in general are such an important part of Earth's ecosystem. If global warming is to be tackled, the Amazon, and other rainforests must be saved.

Copyright (c) 2008 Simon Rosser

A lawyer by trade,I felt inspired to write the A-Z of Global Warming, out in May 2008, following a viewing of Al Gore's documentary, An Inconvenient Truth in Nov 2006. Sourced from up to date scientific information, and in unique A-Z format, the Amazon article gives a flavour of the books contents. To see the unique illustrations from the book in vibrant colour on various gift items, please visit the following link - http://www.cafepress.com/globalwarmin

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Global Warming - Global Climate Change By Birte Edwards

If there is global warming then will there also be global climate changes?

Questions we should ask ourselves: Is global warming happening?

If yes, then: Why is this warming taking place, what are the causes? Are they natural or are they man made?

We could then ask: What impact will this warming have on the climate globally?
And also: Is there anything we can do, as a global community or individually, to stop the warming, slow it down, or reverse it?

The biggest question of all:

Can we, the most successful species on the planet ever, allow ourselves to be ignorant and not take action, one way or the other? Can we allow ourselves to leave behind something different than we received? (Would we do that we anything else in life that we receive?)

So what is global warming

Global warming is the gradual increase of the earth and ocean temperature as a result of the build up of certain gases which trap heat in the atmosphere. These heat-trapping gases, also called greenhouse gases, occur naturally and are produced naturally in certain areas of the planet, but they are also produced in very large quantities through the use of fossil fuels.

One reason it is difficult to pinpoint if global warming and climate change is taking place is that it is a slow process, and a process that has occurred many times before man came on the scene.

Should I be concerned about this

And so what if the ice caps are melting? I am nowhere near an ice cap. What does that have to do with me?

This should be obvious. What happens on one side of the globe affects people on the other side. Most of us strongly believe that, when it comes to politics and economics, and it is as true for the climate as well.

We also know that a natural phenomenon, such as an earthquake, can take place in mid-ocean and kill tens of thousands of people at distances of thousands of miles (such as the December 2005 tsunami).

Eruptions of major volcanoes have profound impact, not only on the people in its vicinity, but also on people far away and the climate even on the other side of the globe.

At the end of the Gulf War in the Middle East in 1991 many of the oil wells in Kuwait were put on fire deliberately. The emissions from these fires caused major climate changes in many parts of the world.

The Earth gets warm and there is Life

The earth is warmed by the sun. The sun's activities and the earth's position to the sun have a direct natural effect on our climate.

In addition to the general heat coming from the sun, there are also sunspots generated on the sun's surface. These sunspots are areas with increased magnetic activity and seem to be the cause of sun flares and mass ejections. When earth is in the path of these flares, enormous waves of additional heat and magnetism impact our planet. The results can be higher temperatures, when other elements that control our climate are disappearing, such as certain protective layers in the atmosphere.

The earth's orbit around the sun is elliptical, and so there are times when the earth is closer to the sun than others. When that occurs, it's normal to have an increase in the world's temperatures.

The earth is kept warm by gases in the atmosphere. These gases, such as carbon dioxide and methane, as well as water vapor, prohibit heat from escaping into space. If our atmosphere contained none of these gases, our planet would be a very cold place. The question being debated is if there actually is an increase in these green house gases that then trap more heat, and so cause climate change.

These gases are created naturally from wetlands and the arctic tundra. Plants in other parts of the world use these gases and in exchange give out oxygen, a gas that we need for breathing.

How does Global Warming Affect the Climate

Average temperatures world wide will rise. There is no consensus among scientists as to how much. But even a small rise can have vast impact on our environment.

With more heat in the atmosphere the temperature of the oceans will go up. This in turn will impact the ice caps, as well as hot water eco-systems. At the ice caps the glaciers will begin to melt. Some say this has already started.

As the water in the oceans heats up it will absorb less and less CO2 (carbon dioxide), thereby contributing further to global warming. The ice caps and the oceans have a very important part in the balancing of global climate. Fewer ice caps ... less reflection of sunlight ... more heat stays in. Warmer oceans ... less reflection ... more heat stays in. Inland glaciers will also feel the effect and melt.

As the ice caps and inland glaciers melt, water levels will rise. This will put low-lying coastal areas under threat of flooding.

As the water temperature changes, it will influence the frequency and the ferocity of hurricanes and tornadoes.

As ocean temperatures go up, finely balanced underwater ecosystems may not be able to survive, such as coral reefs in tropical areas, thereby affecting the whole oceanic eco-system.

As ocean temperatures go up, there will be less rain in hot dry climate zones. This means longer and more devastating droughts. These areas will be more susceptible to wild fires. Deserts will expand, and whole eco-systems will be threatened.

As inland glaciers melt, the flow in the rivers coming off them will increase, causing floods.

Have Climate changes happened before
Climate changes have occurred and will continue to occur naturally. They occur when there is a change in global temperatures due to the influences mentioned above. This influences ocean temperatures, precipitation, deforestation and the migration of wildlife. Relatively recent examples of climate changes are the ice ages and the periods in between; the last ice age ending some 10.000 years ago.

How much do we humans as a species influence this process of global warming

As we have seen greenhouse gasses occur naturally as part of the balancing of earth's temperature.

Does human activity increase the concentration of these gasses in the atmosphere? Since everything on this planet has an affect on everything else, I think it is safe to say that human activity plays a role. We have to decide how much. Since the dawn of human history we have influenced our environment. We have dried up swamps, cut down trees to such an extent that forests vanished, we have expanded agricultural land at the cost of natural resources, we have mined and drilled and what not.

From the beginning of the Industrial Revolution our impact on nature has dramatically increased. Being so successful a species we have even increased in numbers to the detriment of other species.

In the natural world trees absorb carbon dioxide and other gases and exude oxygen, the gas we need in order to breathe. The burning of fossil fuels in transportation, industry, and power plants produce carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gasses in quantities larger than natural.

Since more and more forests are being cut down, especially the rain forests, there are less trees to absorb the carbon dioxide, again resulting in a rise in general greenhouse gas content in the atmosphere.

Is this a double indemnity

Is it possible that earth is going through a period of natural warming?
Is it possible that the activity of man is affecting the planet?

What are we up against

The above scenario may seem frightening and depressing. Frightening enough to make us do something, depressing if we don't do anything. As stated global warming and climate change is a very slow process and has been going on for eons.

We don't have all the facts, though a majority believes it is happening. Within a period of global warming, there could be shorter periods of cooling, off-setting the warming to some extent. Such shorter intervals can also be misleading, making some believe that global warming is just in the mind of a few crisis loving scientists or politicians.

Obviously we cannot change the natural causes, such as the earth's orbit around the sun and the sun flares. But we can have an impact on the man-made causes. Just as we may have caused an aggravation of warming, we can also take an active role in reducing continued aggravation.

The question here is: Can we allow ourselves NOT to take such action?

Do we as top predator, or the most successful species, have a responsibility for what happened, and what will happen?

What actions can we take, as individuals or as societies, or both?

If there is just an inkling of possibility that we may be causing some of this, shouldn't we do something about it?

Answer some of these questions will come in further articles as well as information on how we can make a difference. Some of the information will be for societies to take action on, but there is so much each and every one can do on a small scale, and many small rivers can make a big one.

Birte Edwards is a concerned world citizen. She writes on the subject of climate and going green. You can visit her blog http://www.alternativepowerpanel.com/blog for more. On other sites she talks about the importance of personal growth, coaching and living in a changing world.

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Is This The Effects Of Global Warming? By Trefor Evans

There’s been a lot of hype recently about the effects of global warming and the impact of mankind on our environment. Living in Chamonix I have witnessed the worst winter I can remember in terms of snow levels. It was a very slow start to the season with Christmas holiday makers only just getting a dusting of snow over the festive break to keep them entertained with just the odd flurry from then on for the next month. The expected snow falls that kept appearing on the local weather guides failed to arrive and there was just the occasional dump through out the season to appease the powder hungry skiers and snowboarders.

When the heavens finally opened in February the usual low temperatures were not apparent and what snow had been there previously was being washed away by rain falling as high as 200m. Thankfully Chamonix is surrounded by the highest peaks in Western Europe so the more adventurous of the snow seekers were able to enjoy fantastic snow off the top of the Aiguille du Midi and top bin of the Grands Montets. Things haven’t got any better and in Mid April it looks like I will be hanging up my snowboard boots for the season whereas last year I was riding through the middle of may.

So is this poor season to be blamed on the effects of Global warming or is this just the natural cycle of temperature throwing us a particularly warm winter?

Not that I’m complaining – I’ve managed to dust off the mountain bike and this weekend saw the official start of BBQ season! Super U must have enjoyed record sales for charcoal for an April weekend! It could even be warm enough to hook out the swimmers and take a trip to the lakes in Passy!

PARIS - The heat wave sweeping Europe is a direct consequence of the warming of the earth's atmosphere, experts say. "We are observing and suffering the first effects of global warming," Hervé Le Treut, meteorologist at the French Centre for Scientific Research told IPS.

"The emissions of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, are leading to higher temperatures all over the world, but these are observed in an irregular manner across the continents," he said. "The global weather is clearly disturbed."

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Global Warming - The Significance of Rising Water Temperatures And Climate Change By Mike Hirn

An alarm is being raised about global warming causing dramatic rises in the temperature of ocean waters. Scientists are studying warming waters all over the globe to determine the extent of this rise in temperatures.

The consequences of global warming are far-reaching. One of the most devastating effects of global warming is an impact on tropical storms. Hurricanes that would have been category 3 storms in years past are now category 4 or above because they are energized when they pick up warmer-than-normal ocean water. There has been a significant increase in these higher intensity storms over the last 35 years. In 2005, the Atlantic was bombarded with 27 tropical storms powerful enough to receive a name, and fifteen of them developed into hurricanes. Five of these storms were classified as category 4 hurricanes and four reached the level of category 5. Hurricane Katrina made a terrible mark on history in August of 2005. It became the costliest hurricane in American history and also one of most lethal.

Earth's ice is crucial in order to maintain the delicate balance in the environment. As global warming causes temperatures to rise in the oceans, glaciers and icecaps are melting more rapidly. One particular ice shelf in Antarctica, the northern section of the Larson B shelf, collapsed in recent years. Scientists suddenly realized how fast the ice shelf could disintegrate. The polar ice cap is dissolving at an astonishing rate as well--9% per decade. This recent phenomenon is a definite cause for alarm. In the last half century, the thickness of ice in the Arctic has decreased by 40%.

Perennial sea ice in the Arctic has been receding as well. In 2005 there was a record low in square miles of sea ice. Just two years later, in 2007, the record was broken again with half a million square miles less perennial ice than in 2005. Some scientists predict that all the sea ice will be gone by 2040.

Melting ice will also cause sea levels to rise. When this happens, islands are lost and coastal communities are flooded. Various suggestions have been made about the levels that the water could reach, anywhere from 10 to 23 inches by 2100.

Global warming has the potential to make the earth a very inhospitable place to live. Rising temperatures in ocean waters are a clear indication that the process has begun. With the melting of ice in the glaciers, icecaps, and on the sea, it is a matter of time before global warming has even more harmful effects. It is up to the people of the world to do what they can to stop or slow this alarming environmental problem.

Knowledge is the key to solving problems associated with the Climate Change and Global Warming situation. You can get more information at http://www.globalwarming-101.com

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Definition For Global Warming - Along With Extra Information on Global Warming By Kris Foster

The Definition for global warming--Introduction

The temperature of planet earth has been on the rise due to the excessive release of carbon dioxide and various harmful gases into the atmosphere. These gases come from cars, factories, industries, air conditioners, etc. This leads to a phenomenon known as global warming.

Definition for Global warming-

Global warming can be simply defined as 'warming of the planet earth due to increase in the average temperature which is caused due to emission of various harmful gases into the environment.'

Some amount of global warming is caused naturally(the earth goes through a cycle of climatic change). But scientists believe that the present and sudden warming is caused due to human activities that are harmful to the environment.

When harmful gases are in excess in the atmosphere, they affect the ozone layer which is a layer that protects us from the harmful rays of the sun. When it gets affected, the harmful rays are let into our atmosphere and hence can cause various skin diseases, etc. Also, due to unfiltered rays entering, the global temperature increases beyond the need.

This warming is actually very harmful to the planet as well as to human beings. Various disasters like floods, cyclones are suspected to be caused due to global warming. A very simple reason why global warming is suspected for these effects is that global warming is responsible for sudden climatic change. This sudden climatic change further causes disasters.

As per the definition of global warming stated above, the average temperature of the earth increases. Hence, this causes the glaciers and icebergs to melt down. Thus, apart from the natural beauty of these cold regions being destroyed, animals living is such areas are also affected. Polar bears are one of the species which are getting endangered due to global warming.

For more information on global warming, articles, facts, etc on global warming, please visit TalkGlobalWarming site.

You can also learn how you can do your bit to save the planet by clicking here

*Feel free to publish this article on your website or blog, but make sure all the links are active and do not make any changes in the article.*

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Is Global Warming Caused By Greenhouse Gases Or By The Sun? By Per Strandberg

Most scientists believe that the current global warming is caused by man-made emissions of greenhouse gases and that the most important of these gases is Carbon Dioxide or CO2.

They also believe that the Sun's influence for this warming is very small. We now know that the irradiance or "heat transfer" from the Sun to the Earth has varied relative little during recent decades. Therefore the conclusion that most scientists have done is that the resent warming must be man-made, this is because they haven't found any other reasonable explanation.

However what we know over how much a specific increase of CO2 has on global temperature is poor. The reason in that the knowledge of how greenhouse gases affect cloud formation is mostly down to speculations. Cloud formation physics is quite a complicated process to explain with many factors.

So, rather than having a solid theoretical and measured basis for how much man-made greenhouse gases affect the climate, the made estimation is mostly down to deduction.

They argue: We know how much the temperature has increased so therefore we can calculate how much a specific increase in greenhouse gases will increase the global temperature in the future. We have done this through deduction as we already have attributed the known increase to be greenhouse driven.

However scientists who study the Sun have long noted similarities between solar activity and terrestrial weather patterns.

Also the weather changes the last century is not something unique. Given the relative small changes in the observed irradiance "heat emitted from the Sun", those changes in temperature during past centuries are hard to explain if you don't include some other types of influence from the Sun.

It was not until the Danish scientist Henrik Svensmark suggested that cosmic radiation could influence cloud cover that a plausible explains for this apparent correlation was given.

Here is this theory!

When the Sun is very active, as it is now, the solar wind and the solar magnetic field are both strong. This in turn shields the Earth from high energy particles coming from the cosmos, usually from particles which were once created in supernova explosions. This affects low cloud cover formation as the radiation create ions which seeds cloud forming water droplets. During times when there are many high energy particles reaching low altitudes there are more low cloud cover and the Earth cools. When there are few high energy particles penetrating to low altitudes then less clouds form and the Earth warms.

Usually clouds higher up in the atmosphere are almost always ionized from both low and high energy particles because both those types of particles penetrate high altitudes at all time.

The created variations are only in the low altitude cloud cover which is affected by very high energy cosmic particles.

Recently an experiment called SKY (Cloud in Danish) was made by Svensmark which conclusively confirmed this cloud forming mechanism experimentally and that this type of cosmic ionization has an important seed effect on clouds. Links between low cloud cover variations and high energy particles intensity have also now been confirmed by satellite studies.

Per Strandberg has a Master Degree in Applied Physics & Electronics. He is the webmaster of a unique website which gives visitors comprehensive information, with graphics and key data that deal with current theories on global warming. http://www.global-warming-and-the-climate.com

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Global Warming is Not Real By Lance Winslow

What makes you think the global warming is real? Because you saw a movie that Al Gore who is a politician decided to promote and a hefty sum of profit to himself (assuming he was paid)? Is that your line of reasoning? Let's face it political parties and politicians always want you to fear something as a motivator to get you to vote for something or do something or believe something in order to promote their agenda. Why would this be any different?

For those who are truly concerned about the environment because we all have to live with in the ecological system and also we must breathe the air and drink the water it makes sense to do as little polluting as possible. It would be nice if everyone looked in the mirror and lived a carbon free life.

But if we are to lead the mindless masses into a giant fear that global warming will end life on Earth in an incredible apocalypse then obviously we have been pushing the wrong buttons for far too long. It is time to stop leading by fear and to lead by thinking and use the brains that we have and our minds to solve the problems of the species.

Global warming is not real just like Y2K was not real. Mankind is not going to blow them selves up with a massive nuclear war nor is Bird flu going to wipe out the human species. All these things had been perpetuated and now it looks like Chicken Little is on steroids, but do we have to clone our poultry and use the same tactics over and over again to control the people?

Global warming is not real and it should be obvious to anyone looking at the total picture. I certainly hope this article is of interest and that is has propelled thought. The goal is simple; to help you in your quest to be the best in 2007. I thank you for reading my many articles on diverse subjects, which interest you.

"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/. Lance is a guest writer for Our Spokane Magazine in Spokane, Washington

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Canadian Issues Over Global Warming and Clear Cutting? By Lance Winslow

The Northeastern Canadians love to complain and one of the things they love to complain about is the United States of America, the single greatest nation ever created in the history of mankind. Perhaps these complaints are a knee jerk reaction to an inferiority complex? It is interesting however that with only 8000 people in their total military that Canada relies on the United States of America to protect it and we do.

Then they complain that we do not offer health care for our citizens free from the government. Interesting because they do not offer a military to protect their own people. In fact we could invade and take over Canada without a single bullet being fired because they have no military to defend themselves of course they never think of that.

The Canadians also like to tell us that America pollutes too much and does not care about global warming. They complain about the CO2 that we put out into the atmosphere at our power plants, never mind the fact it due to the Bush Administration's initiatives we will soon have clean coal technologies, which will prevent this.

By the way did you know that trees take carbon dioxide and turn it into oxygen? Maybe we should ask the Canadians why they are clear cutting their forests, when the world really needs to be planting about five to 10 billion trees to stop global warming? What planet are they living on? The amount of hypocrisy from Canadians attacking the United States in the media needs to stop.

This verbal abuse from a failing and economically crumbling socialist country is utterly ridiculous. Stop cutting down your trees if you care about global warming. Look in your own mirror first. What hypocrisy. I certainly hope this article is of interest and that is has propelled thought. The goal is simple; to help you in your quest to be the best in 2007. I thank you for reading my many articles on diverse subjects, which interest you.

"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/. Lance is a guest writer for Our Spokane Magazine in Spokane, Washington

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Simple Ways to Prevent Global Warming By Mohamed Thariq

Global warming is the increase in average temperature of the earth atmosphere and ocean in the recent decades and it is projected continuation due to the buildup of green house gases causing green house effect. The earth's average temperature is about 33 C warmer that it should be without the green house effect. Trouble is human activities are causing the increase in green house gases.

Since, we humans are the cause for global warming we need to take steps and find ways to prevent global warming. In our house holds one of the ways to prevent global warming is to save up electricity and being energy efficient by switching of electronics and other appliances which are not in use and replacing old appliance with less energy consuming goods.

For example, "washing and tumble drying a dirty T-shirt consumes three-quarters of the energy used in manufacturing and using it," said Francisco Javier Navarro of the QUT Institute of Sustainable Resources.

The statement above tells us that our decision on washing our cloths have a great impact on the amount of carbon dioxide we release into the atmosphere. It makes a huge different in energy consumption to hang cloths out on a washing line to dry instead of using a tumble dryer. This is one of the ways an individual can do to prevent global warming.

Another reason for global warming is the emission from the cars that we drive every day. For the past few decades the world population had increased dramatically. This had lead to increase in the car population in the world. Thus increase in the carbon footprint in the atmosphere.

I am not saying we cannot drive to work. We must start to choose the car that is fuel efficient and use bio-fuel. Initially buying this type of cars is expensive, but think about the thousands of dollars you are going to save on fuel price. You are saving you money at the same time you are being environmentally friendly. Now a day's electric cars are available in many parts of the world. If you can afford to have one than it is a great way to prevent global warming as the emissions level will be reduce at large.

If you have just a normal car you can also play your part to prevent global warming. You can cycle or take public transportation by bus or train if you workplace is just a short distance from your home. You can walk to the market to do your marketing if it is nearby.

We must strongly believe that every individual can do their part to prevent global warming. Not only that, we must create awareness in our community on ways to prevent global warming Only a collected effort by the entire humanity can reduce the global warming, which is a deep rooted problem.

The first step to prevent global warming is to be educated about what is global warming in the first place. I am also researching on simple ways to prevent global warming. So I have started my first step what about you?

http://preventglobalwarming.brighterplanet.org

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Effects of Global Warming By Hadi Imran

Global warming is the process that increased the average temperature of the Earth, near-surface air and oceans. The term global warming is a specific example of the broader term climate change, which can also refer to global cooling. In principle, global warming is neutral as to the period or causes, but in both common and scientific usage the term generally refers to recent warming and implies a human influence. The climate system varies through natural, internal processes and in response to variations in external "forcing" factors including solar activity, volcanic emissions, variations in the earth's orbit In the past 200 years human industrial activity has injected carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, and recently global average temperatures have been increasing. The predicted effects for the environment and for human life are numerous and varied. The main effect is an increasing global average temperature.

The scientific consensus is that these greenhouse gases have been responsible for most of the present warming trend. That consensus is not unanimous. The earth has experienced natural global warming and cooling many times in the past. The recent Antarctic EPICA ice core spans 800,000 years, including eight glacial cycles with interglacial warming periods much hotter than current temperatures.the time of the last glacial maximum about 20,000 years ago.

Scientists have studied global warming with computer models of the climate. These models are based on physical principles of fluid dynamics, radiative transfer, and other processes, with some simplifications being necessary because of limitations in computer power. Some effects on both the natural environment and human life are, at least in part, already being attributed to global warming. Although global warming and ozone depletion often are linked in the media, the relationship between the two is not strong. Scientists have stated with 66-90% confidence that the effects of volcanic and human-caused aerosols have offset some of global warming, and that greenhouse gases would have resulted in more warming than observed if not for this effect. Many estimates of aggregate net economic costs of damages from climate change across the globe, the social cost of carbon (SCC), expressed in terms of future net benefits and costs that are discounted to the present, are now available.

Peer-reviewed estimates of the SCC for 2005 have an average value of US$43 per tonne. Rising global temperature might cause forest fires to occur on larger scale, and more regularly. This releases more stored carbon into the atmosphere than the carbon cycle can naturally re-absorb, as well as reducing the overall forest area on the planet, creating a positive feedback loop Projected climate changes due to global warming have the potential to lead to future large-scale and possibly irreversible changes in our climate resulting in impacts at continental and global scales. With increasing average global temperature, the water in the oceans expands in volume, and additional water enters them which had previously been locked up on land in glaciers, for example, the Greenland and the Antarctic ice sheets.

The sea level has risen more than 120 metres since the peak of the last ice age about 18,000 years ago. For some time it was hoped that a positive effect of global warming would be increased agricultural yields, because of the role of carbon dioxide in photosynthesis, especially in preventing photorespiration While local benefits may be felt in some regions (such as Siberia), recent evidence is that global yields will be negatively affected.

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