Other Answers (12)

• Stronger Hurricanes, prolonged stay of the weather phenomena called %26quot;El Niño%26quot; and %26quot;El Niña%26quot; in countries such as Chile and the Philippines and now snow in sun bleached areas like Australia are just some of the many things that are affecting the entire world. Food shortages, warmer weather all over and the melting of the polar ice caps that is changing even the migration patterns of some aquatic species. Flash flooding in countries like Bangladesh, India and many south east asian countries have been affected as well. And these are just some of the very many effects of Global warming. 0% 0 Votes
  Strong Science Guides Our Work
  Advancing policy through breakthrough research.
  
  Staff scientists Dr. Stephan Schwartzman (foreground), Dr. Rebecca Goldburg (standing), Dr. Douglas Rader and science adviser Dr. William Chameides.
  Scientists founded Environmental Defense 40 years ago. Ever since, our biologists, chemists, engineers and physicists have used science to cut through logjams.
  
  In 1998, for instance, atmospheric physicist Dr. Michael Oppenheimer — then our climate director and now science adviser — published a paper in Nature warning that human-caused global warming might so accelerate polar melting that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet could begin to collapse. Such an event ultimately would raise sea levels 20 feet.
  
  Oppenheimer’s focus on %26quot;tipping points%26quot; that could destabilize the climate fundamentally altered the thinking of scientists and policymakers.
  
  %26quot;Oppenheimer got the whole scientific community focused on critical thresholds like melting ice sheets,%26quot; says our science adviser Dr. William Chameides. %26quot;What we needed to do became clear: Develop emissions targets that can prevent the globe from reaching these points of no return.%26quot;
  
  
  
  The Basics of Global Warming
  Before the Industrial Revolution, the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere was in a rough balance with what could be stored on Earth. Natural emissions of heat-trapping gases matched what could be absorbed in natural sinks. For example, plants take in CO2 when they grow in spring and summer, and release it back to the atmosphere when they decay and die in fall and winter.
  
  Too much greenhouse effect
  Industry took off in the mid-1700s, and people started emitting large amounts of greenhouse gases. Fossil fuels were burned more and more to run our cars, trucks, factories, planes and power plants, adding to the natural supply of greenhouse gases. The gases—which can stay in the atmosphere for at least fifty years and up to centuries—are building up beyond the Earth%26#039;s capacity to remove them and, in effect, creating an extra-thick heat blanket around the Earth.
  
  The result is that the globe has heated up by about one degree Fahrenheit over the past century—and it has heated up more intensely over the past two decades.
  
  If one degree doesn%26#039;t sound like a lot, consider this: the difference in global average temperatures between modern times and the last ice age—when much of Canada and the northern U.S. were covered with thick ice sheets—was only about 9 degrees Fahrenheit. So in fact one degree is very significant—especially since the unnatural warming will continue as long as we keep putting extra greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
  
  How much is too much?
  Already, people have increased the amount of CO2, the chief global warming pollutant, in the atmosphere to 31 percent above pre-industrial levels. There is more CO2 in the atmosphere now than at any time in the last 650,000 years. Studies of the Earth’s climate history show that even small changes in CO2 levels generally have come with significant shifts in the global average temperature.
  
  Scientists expect that, in the absence of effective policies to reduce greenhouse gas pollution, the global average temperature will increase another 2.0 degrees Fahrenheit to 11.5 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100.
  
  Even if the temperature change is at the small end of the predictions, the alterations to the climate are expected to be serious: more intense storms, more pronounced droughts, coastal areas more severely eroded by rising seas. At the high end of the predictions, the world could face abrupt, catastrophic and irreversible consequences. Find out more about what a warmer world could look like.
  
  The science is clear
  Scientists are no longer debating the basic facts of climate change. In February 2007, the thousands of scientific experts collectively known as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concluded that there is greater than 90 percent likelihood that people are causing global warming. (IPCC, 2007)
  
  These latest findings amplify what other highly respected science organizations say:
  
  In a joint statement with 10 other National Academies of Science, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences said:
  %26quot;The scientific understanding of climate change is now sufficiently clear to justify nations taking prompt action. It is vital that all nations identify cost-effective steps that they can take now, to contribute to substantial and long-term reduction in net global greenhouse gas emissions.%26quot;—Joint Statement of Science Academies: Global Response to Climate Change, 2005
  
  The American Geophysical Union, a respected organization comprising over 41,000 Earth and space scientists, wrote in its position on climate change that %26quot;natural influences cannot explain the rapid increase in global near-surface temperatures observed during the second half of the 20th century.%26quot;
  
  suddenly showing up in the U.S., outbreaks of various diseases have been reported in parts of South America and Africa that until recently had never seen them. In Mexico, dengue fever has spread above its former elevation limit of 3,300 feet and has appeared as high as 5,600 feet. In Colombia, the mosquitoes that carry dengue fever and yellow fever viruses were previously limited to 3,300 feet but have been recently found at 7,200 feet. (Epstein, P.)
  
  While disease-carrying mosquitoes are already moving into new areas, a 1998 study provides sober results about what the future might hold. Using three different global climate change models, researchers found that a relatively small rise in temperature increases dengue%26#039;s epidemic potential. (Patz) As temperatures rise, fewer mosquitoes are necessary to maintain or spread these kinds of serious, often fatal disease. http://www.fightglobalwarming.com/page.c... 0% 0 Votes