t is important to know the 

true facts about global warming. Because it is not a small or

localized environmental problem, it is going to require international cooperation as well as
personal change from all of us to stop global warming. In fact, it may be the largest challenge
humanity faces in the twenty-first century. Unfortunately, it has also become a highly politicized
issue.
You need to especially carefully about the information concerning global warming– you can
learn which facts are accepted by the scientific community and which are created by ill-informed
or political sources.

Global Warming:
A Fact or Myth?
It is a fact, not a theory. Global warming is a measurable process that is already underway.
Temperature changes, alterations in rainfall patterns, and an increased frequency of
storms are occurring and being measured around the world as we speak. The evidence against
global warming is not convincing in light of the effects we are witnessing already.
Warming is destroying ecosystems worldwide that you and other people depend on,
according to a highly detailed new study conducted by scientists at the Goddard Space Institute.
The study found a trend of change all over planet Earth, including the “timing of plant flowering,
bird nesting, ice melting, salmon migration and pollen release; declines in populations of polar
bears, krill and penguins; and increased growth of Siberian pines and cool-water ocean
plankton.”[1] This extensive study adds to the already voluminous evidence that global warming
is real!

A Scary Figure:
150,000 Dead Every Year
Global warming has changed precipitation patterns around the world, disrupting traditional
agricultural practices that you and the rest of the world depend on to live. The area of land on
the Earth suffering from drought conditions has doubled since 1970.[2] Insurance costs in the
coastal areas of the United States have escalated dramatically. These are the effects you can see
already, and climate change is only beginning to make itself felt.
Climate-related deaths will double in 25 years according to a 2005 report from the World
Health Organization. Climate change is already tied to 150,000 deaths globally every single year.
[3] These deaths are caused by more frequent heat waves and droughts, as well as by floods
and more powerful storms linked to climate change. Global warming has increased deaths in
urban areas as heat waves have exacerbated the effects of smog and related respiratory
problems.

We Cause The Problem

The basic global warming facts are well understood. Human activities are pumping increasing
amounts of carbon dioxide, methane, and other heat-trapping greenhouse gases into the
atmosphere. The elevated concentration of these gases is raising the temperature of the Earth’s
atmosphere, thereby warming the surface of the Earth. This process has been repeatedly
demonstrated in laboratory experiments and is now being measured on the Earth as a whole.

Interesting Effects on Weather

Global warming does not mean a universal and uniform warming of planet Earth, nor does it
mean the end of highly unpredictable weather patterns. However, weather patterns are the
result of an enormously complex process, and the effects of global warming on this process
could be horrific.
There is a lot of uncertainty about how the different “feedbacks” operate, given the
complexity of global weather systems. There is concern that global warming could cause changes
in massive ocean currents like the Gulf Stream, which is part of a global system referred to as
the oceanic “conveyor” because it propels enormous volumes of heat around the world.[4] If this
happened, it would cause huge changes in global weather patterns.
The consequences will be enormous no matter which systems are disrupted first. Scientists
are unsure about which systems in the world’s climate — tropical currents versus polar currents,
or events on land versus in the ocean — cause or trigger changes in other systems. Even though
you may live in a relatively stable climate, at some point the ecosystem you live in is greatly
affected by climates around the world.

Is Uncertainty a Cause for Doubt?

Briefly, the answer is no. While we will never comprehend all there is to be known about such a
vast and interdependent system, the larger trends are clear. You should use these uncertainties
as a springboard for action, not a rationalization for further, unnecessary debate.

We Must Act Soon

The most alarming danger is that once warming reaches a certain level, it could cause global
climate and weather patterns to shift quickly and dangerously. We now have a fairly detailed
understanding of the Earth’s climate from the last 600,000 years and more. In the past, the
climate has not changed slowly, nor has it changed in a linear, incremental fashion.

Abrupt changes dramatically alter life on Earth. Sudden shifts in temperature or ocean
currents result when a certain amount of pressure to change is put in place. Ocean currents like
the Gulf Stream that distribute heat and moisture around the world have historically changed
course in a matter of a few years, or even a few months.[5] The historical record has shown us
the devastation this sort of change can wreak on entire ecosystems.

Runaway Global Warming:

A Scientific Possibility
There is a chance we may trigger a runaway warming effect that would amplify itself
uncontrollably. The most likely source of such runaway warming is the arctic tundra. In the polar
regions, there are great expanses of tundra that have remained frozen year round for tens of
thousands of years. These ice-locked fields contain enormous stores of organic matter. If these
areas thaw, the decay of that organic matter will accelerate, releasing stored carbon and
methane.[6] That could create a powerful positive feedback loop catalyzing further warming.
It could mean and end of life as we know it. Runaway warming could produce an Earth like
the one that existed in the age of the dinosaurs: a steamy planet with sea levels hundreds of
feet higher than they are now.

Figures on Carbon Dioxide Levels

The scary fact is that we are seeing changes faster than any of the climate models had predicted,
and that the rate of accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is accelerating.
Before the industrial revolution started pouring carbon dioxide into our atmosphere, the level
of carbon in the air was about 275 parts per million (ppm). The average rate of carbon increase
in the atmosphere from 1960 to 2005 was 1.4 ppm per year. But over the decade from 1995 to
2005, the average increase was 1.9 ppm per year,[7]and in 2007 the increase leapt to 2.14
ppm.[8] Carbon is accumulating in our atmosphere ever more quickly.

Figures on Growth in Methane Levels

In 2007, levels rose much faster than in previous years.[9] Although there is much
less methane than CO2 in the atmosphere, methane is by far the more potent greenhouse
gas per unit volume. Scientists are worried that this spike in methane levels may indicate that
global warming is escalating the release of methane from the arctic tundra. This could be part of
a positive feedback loop that will lead to further warming, as mentioned earlier.
In spite of all the attention global warming has been getting lately, we are headed rather
decisively in the wrong direction. That is why you have to act, and act now!
‘

The average facade temperature of the globe has augmented more than 1 degree Fahrenheit
since 1900 and the speed of warming has been almost three folds the century long average
since 1970. This increase in earth’s average temperature is called Global warming. More or
less all specialists studying the climate record of the earth have the same opinion now that
human actions, mainly the discharge of green house gases from smokestacks, vehicles, and
burning forests, are perhaps the leading power driving the

fashion. 
The gases append to the planet's normal greenhouse effect, permitting sunlight in, but
stopping some of the ensuing heat from radiating back to space. Based on the study on past
climate shifts, notes of current situations, and computer simulations, many climate scientists
say that lacking of big curbs in greenhouse gas discharges, the 21st century might see
temperatures rise of about 3 to 8 degrees, climate patterns piercingly shift, ice sheets
contract and seas rise several feet. With the probable exemption of one more world war, a
huge asteroid, or a fatal plague, global warming may be the only most danger to our planet
earth.

You Can Help Fight Global Warming

Many efforts are being made by various nations to cut down the rate of global warming. One
such effort is the Kyoto agreement that has been made between various nations to reduce the
emissions of various green house gases. Also many non profit organizations are working for the
cause. Al Gore was one of the foremost U.S. politicians to heave an alarm about the hazards
of global warming. He has produced a significantly acclaimed documentary movie called "An
Inconvenient Truth," and written a book that archives his advice that Earth is dashing toward
an immensely warmer future. Al Gore, the former vice president of United States has given
various speeches to raise an awareness of global warming. He has warned people about the ill
effects of Global warming and its remedies.
But an interesting side of the global warming episode is that there are people who do not
consider global warming as something that is creating a problem. Skeptics of global warming
think that global warming is not an ecological trouble. According to the global warming
skeptics, the recent enhancement in the earth's average temperature is no reason for alarm.
According to them earth's coastlines and polar ice caps are not at a risk of vanishing. Global
warming skeptics consider that the weather models used to establish global warming and to
forecast its impacts are distorted. According to the models, if calculations are made the last
few decades must have been much worse as compared to actually happened to be. Most of
the global warming skeptics believe that the global warming is not actually occurring. They
stress on the fact the climatic conditions vary because of volcanism, the obliquity cycle,
changes in solar output, and internal variability. Also the warming can be due to the variation
in cloud cover, which in turn is responsible for the temperatures on the earth. The variations
are also a result of cosmic ray flux that is modulated by the solar magnetic cycles.