Earl Von Veo

11-Bulkhead

Global Warming
Global warming and climate change are terms for the observed
century-scale rise in the average temperature of the Earth's climate
system and its related effects. Multiple lines of scientific evidence show that
the climate system is warming. Although the increase of near-surface
atmospheric temperature is the measure of global warming often reported in
the popular press, most of the additional energy stored in the climate system
since 1970 has gone into the oceans. The rest has melted ice and warmed
the continents and atmosphere. Many of the observed changes since the
1950s are unprecedented over tens to thousands of years.
Scientific understanding of global warming is increasing.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reported in 2014 that
scientists were more than 95% certain that global warming is mostly being
caused by human (anthropogenic) activities, mainly increasing
concentrations of greenhouse gases such as methane and carbon
dioxide(CO2) (Good P. et al., (2010).

Here's a simple definition of global warming. (And yes, it's really

happening.) Over the past 50 years, the average global temperature has
increased at the fastest rate in recorded history. And experts see the trend is

accelerating: All but one of the 16 hottest years in NASAs 134-year record
have occurred since 2000.
Climate change deniers have argued that there has been a
pause or a slowdown in rising global temperatures, but several recent
studies, including a 2015 paper published in the journal Science, have
disproved this claim. And scientists say that unless we curb global-warming
emissions, average U.S. temperatures could increase by up to 10 degrees
Fahrenheit over the next century ( MacMillan, 2011)
Global warming is the current increase in temperature of the
Earth's surface (both land and water) as well as it's atmosphere. Average
temperatures around the world have risen by 0.75C (1.4F) over the last
100 years about two thirds of this increase has occurred since 1975(Hansen,
J., R. Ruedy, M. Sato, and K. Lo., 2010) In the past, when the Earth
experienced increases in temperature it was the result of natural causes but
today it is being caused by the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the
atmosphere produced by human activities ( Treut et al., 2010).
The natural greenhouse effect maintains the Earth's temperature
at a safe level making it possible for humans and many other life forms to
exist (Center 2011).However, since the Industrial Revolution human activities
have significantly enhanced the greenhouse effect causing the Earth's
average temperature to rise by almost 1C. This is creating the global
warming we see today. To put this increase in perspective it is important to

understand that during the last ice age, a period of massive climate change,
the average temperature change around the globe was only about 5C.
The cause of global warming is the increasing quantity of
greenhouse gases in the atmosphere produced by human activities, like the
burning of fossil fuels or deforestation. These activities produce large
amounts of greenhouse gas emissions which is causing global warming
Greenhouse gases trap heat in the Earth's atmosphere to keep the planet
warm enough to sustain life, this process is called the greenhouse effect. It is
a natural process and without these gases, the Earth would be too cold for
humans, plants and other creatures to live.
The natural greenhouse effect exists due to the balance of the
major types of greenhouse gases. Human-caused emissions have been
increasing greenhouse levels which is raising worldwide temperatures and
driving global warming.
Greenhouse gases are produced both naturally and through human activities.
Unfortunately, greenhouse gases generated by human activities are being
added to the atmosphere at a much faster rate than any natural process can
remove them.
Global levels of greenhouse gases have increased dramatically since the
dawn of the Industrial Revolution in the 1750s. Only a small group of human
activities are causing the concentration of the main greenhouse gases
(carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and fluorinated gases) to rise
(Allison 2009)

The majority of man-made carbon dioxide emissions is from the

burning of fossil fuels such as coal and oil so that humans can power various
vehicles, machinery, keep warm and create electricity. Other important
sources come from land-use changes (ex: deforestation) and industry (ex:
cement production).

Methane is created by humans during fossil fuel production and use,

livestock and rice farming, as well as landfills.

Nitrous oxide emissions are mainly caused by the use of synthetic

fertilizers for agriculture, fossil fuel combustion and livestock manure
management.15

Fluorinated gases are used mainly in refrigeration, cooling and

manufacturing applications (Quere et al., 2012)
References

Good, P.; et al. (2010), An updated review of developments in climate

science research since IPCC AR4. A report by the AVOID
consortium (PDF), London, UK: Committee on Climate Change,
p. 14. Report website.

Macmilan (2010) The Global warming

"Global temperatures." U.K. Met Office.

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climatechange/guide/science/monitoring/global (accessed August 13, 2014).

Hansen, J., R. Ruedy, M. Sato, and K. Lo. "Global Surface Temperature

Change." Reviews of Geophysics 48, no. 4 (2010): RG4004.

Le Treut, H., R. Somerville, U. Cubasch, Y. Ding, C. Mauritzen, A.

Mokssit, T. Peterson and M. Prather. Historical Overview of Climate
Change. In: Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis.
Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA, 2007.

U.K. Met Office. Warming: A guide to climate change. Exeter, U.K.: Met
Office Hadley Centre, 2011.

Hansen, J., and M. Sato. Paleoclimate Implications for Human-Made

Climate Change. In: Climate change inferences from paleoclimate and
regional aspects. Wien: Springer,2012.

Shakun, Jeremy D., and Anders E. Carlson. "A global perspective on

Last Glacial Maximum to Holocene climate change." Quaternary Science
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IPCC. Summary for Policymakers. In: Climate Change 2007: The

Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth
Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York,
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"Global response to climate change." The Royal Society.

https://royalsociety.org/policy/publications/2005/global-response-climatechange/ (accessed August 13, 2014).

U.K. Met Office. Evidence: The state of the climate. Exeter, U.K.: Met
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National Research Council. Ecological impacts of climate change.

Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press, 2008.

The World Bank. World Development Report 2010: Development and

climate change. Washington, DC: World Bank and Oxford University Press,
2010.

Allison, I.. The Copenhagen diagnosis updating the world on the latest
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