INTRODUCTION Global warming is the continuing rise in the average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans.

Global warming is caused by increased concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, resulting from human activities such as deforestation and burning of fossil fuels.[2][3] This finding is recognized by the national science academies of all the major industrialized countries and is not disputed by any scientific body of national or international standing.[4][5][A] The instrumental temperature record shows that the average global surface temperature increased by 0.74 C (1.33 F) during the 20th century.[6] Climate model projections are summarized in the Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). They indicate that during the 21st century the global surface temperature is likely to rise a further 1.5 to 1.9 C (2.7 to 3.4 F) for their lowest emissions scenario and 3.4 to 6.1 C (6.1 to 11 F) for their highest.[7] The ranges of these estimates arise from the use of models with differing sensitivity to greenhouse gas concentrations.[8][9] An increase in global temperature will cause sea levels to rise and will change the amount and pattern of precipitation, and a probable expansion ofsubtropical deserts.[10] Warming is expected to be strongest in the Arctic and would be associated with continuing retreat of glaciers, permafrost and sea ice. Other likely effects of the warming include more frequent occurrence of extreme weather events including heatwaves, droughts and heavy rainfall events,species extinctions due to shifting temperature regimes, and changes in agricultural yields. Warming and related changes will vary from region to region around the globe, though the nature of these regional changes is uncertain.[11] In a 4 C world, the limits for human adaptation are likely to be exceeded in many parts of the world, while the limits for adaptation for natural systems would largely be exceeded throughout the world. Hence, the ecosystem services upon which human livelihoods depend would not be preserved.[12] Proposed responses to global warming include mitigation to reduce emissions, adaptation to the effects of global warming, and geoengineering to remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere or reflect incoming solar radiation back to space. The main international mitigation effort is the Kyoto Protocol, which seeks to stabilize greenhouse gas concentration to prevent a "dangerous anthropogenic interference".[13] As of May 2010, 192 states had ratified the protocol.[14] The only members of the UNFCCC that were asked to sign the treaty but have not yet ratified it are the USA and Afghanistan.

causes
Global warming is caused by several things, which include man-made or anthropogenic causes, and global warming is also caused by natural causes. Natural Causes Natural causes are causes that are created by nature. One natural cause is a release of methane gas from arctic tundra and wetlands. Methane is a greenhouse gas and a very dangerous gas to our environment. A greenhouse gas is a gas that traps heat in the earth's atmosphere. Another natural cause is that the earth goes through a cycle of climate change. This climate change usually lasts about 40,000 years. Man-made Causes of Global Warming

Man-made causes probably do the most damage to our planet. There are many man-made causes of global warming. Pollution is one of the biggest man-made problems. Pollution comes in many shapes and sizes. Burning fossil fuels is one thing that causes pollution. Fossil fuels are fuels made of organic matter such as coal, or oil. When fossil fuels are burned they give off a green house gas called CO2. Also, mining coal and oil allows methane to escape. How does it escape? Methane is naturally in the ground. When coal or oil is mined you have to dig up the earth a little bit. When you dig up the fossil fuels you dig up the methane as well letting it escape into the atmosphere. Another major man-made cause of Global Warming is population. More people means more food, and more methods of transportation. That means more methane because there will be more burning of fossil fuels (if you're into gas burning cars like our planet is), and more agriculture. If you've been in a barn filled with animals and you smelled something terrible, you were smelling methane. Another source of methane is manure. Because more food is needed to feed the population we have to raise food. Animals like cows are a source of food which means more manure and hence more methane. Another problem with the increasing population is transportation. More people means more cars, and more cars means more pollution. Also, many people have more than one car. There are definitely ways of raising animals and farming that use no manure and no methane. Once we realized the problem we

should have stopped immediately using manure. Instead we choose to continue killing the planet. We are a very stubborn race. Since CO2 contributes to global warming, the increase in population makes the problem worse because we breathe out CO2. Also, the trees that convert our CO2 to oxygen are being cut down because we're using the land that we cut the trees down from as property for our homes and buildings. We are not replacing the trees (trees are a very important part of our eco-system), so we are constantly taking advantage of our natural resources and giving nothing back in return.

FACTS Is Global Warming Really Happening? Yes. The Earth is already showing many signs of worldwide climate change. Average temperatures have climbed 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit (0.8 degree Celsius) around the world since 1880, much of this in recent decades, according to NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies. The rate of warming is increasing. The 20th century's last two decades were the hottest in 400 years and possibly the warmest for several millennia, according to a number of climate studies. And the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports that 11 of the past 12 years are among the dozen warmest since 1850. The Arctic is feeling the effects the most. Average temperatures in Alaska, western Canada, and eastern Russia have risen at twice the global average, according to the multinational Arctic Climate Impact Assessment report compiled between 2000 and 2004. Here are the basic facts on global warming. FACT: There is no debate among scientists about the basic facts of global warming. FACT: Although water vapor traps more heat than CO2, because of the relationships among CO2, water vapor and climate, to fight global warming nations must focus on controlling CO2. FACT: Any beneficial effects of global warming will be far outweighed by damage and disruption. MYTH: Global warming is just part of a natural cycle. The Arctic has warmed up in the past. FACT: The global warming we are experiencing is not natural. People are causing it. FACT: Although humans as a whole have survived things such as drought, stretches of warmth and cold and more, entire societies have collapsed from dramatic climatic shifts. FACT: While different pockets of different countries have experienced some cold winters here and there, the overall trend is warmer winters.

FACT: In most parts of the world, the retreat of glaciers has been dramatic. The best available scientific data indicate that Greenland's massive ice sheet is shrinking, less ice leads to more warming and feeds global warming. FACT: Climate prediction is fundamentally different from weather prediction, just as climate is different from weather. FACT: Global warming and the ozone hole are two different problems.

The Best Solution to Stop GlobalWarming By investing in renewable energy and energy efficiency, and increasing the efficiency of the cars we drive, we can take essential steps toward reducing our dependence on oil and other fossil fuels that cause global warming. There are lotof companies dedicated to building engines and inventions that could save us from the effects of global warming. Using energy more efficiently and moving to renewable energy (wind, solar, geothermal, and bioenergy) would significantly reduce our emissions of heat-trapping gases. The United States currently produces 70 percent of its electricity from fossil fuels such as coal, natural gas, and oil, but only two percent from renewable sources. By creating new "free energy" sources like wind power or electric cars. We can slow down the effects of global warming. What we really need is a new engine for cars that would take no gasoline whatsoever or any other type of fuel that creates carbon dioxide. Many inventors in the past have created free energy machines, many of those were lost with time. -Another way to stop global warming is to plant more trees. We have cut down way too many trees in the past, and we are still doing it. Much of the tropical rainforest has been cut down, rainforests create a lot of oxygen for us to breathe. By cutting them down we lower our level of oxygen in the air. -Many people are already planting more trees, but we need much more people getting into it around the world. The best solution to global warming is to plant more trees (a lot more) and we need to replace our current destructive technologies with more efficient technologies that don't pollute the air we breathe. In summary the best solution to stop global warming is to plant massive amounts of trees, and we need to drastically reduce emissions. Their really is no other secret recipe to stop global warming and find a solution. Incredible new technologies are needed and we need to take better care of our environment.

Global Warming Impacts and Effects The effects of Global Warming can already be seen The IPCC's Third Assessment Report finds that in the last 40 years, the global average sea level has risen, ocean heat content has increased, and snow cover and ice extent have decreased, which threatens to inundate low-lying island nations and coastal regions throughout the world. Effects of global warming already being felt on plants and animals worldwide Global warming is having a significant impact on hundreds of plant and animal species around the world -- although the most dramatic effects may not be felt for decades, according to a new study in the journal Nature. "Birds are laying eggs earlier than usual, plants are flowering earlier and mammals are breaking hibernation sooner," "Clearly, if such ecological changes are now being detected when the globe has warmed by an estimated average of only 1 degree F (0.6 C) over the past 100 years, then many more far-reaching effects on species and ecosystems will probably occur by 2100, when temperatures could increase as much as 11 F (6 C)." Global Warming Effects that will happen in the future: Global warming will have serious impacts on the environment and on society. Higher temperatures will cause a melting of ice in Greenland and Antarctica. This will accelerate the rise of sea level. The speed at which global warming is expected to occur in the 21st century is faster than most plant and animal species will be able to cope with. Some will adapt but others will suffer and may become extinct. Global warming will affect agriculture. New crops will be able to be grown in areas that are currently too cold to support them. However, more pests and diseases may offset any benefits higher temperatures may have. Water resources will also be affected. Some reservoirs may dry up if temperature increases, especially if rainfall also decreases. Rising sea levels may pollute fresh groundwater supplies with salt water. Global warming will also affect human health. There may be more heat-related illnesses in hotter summers, and increased breathing problems as higher temperatures increase air pollution in cities, reducing air quality. The malaria mosquito may also be able to spread to other regions of the world where it is currently too cold to survive and breed. More extreme weather, for example storms, floods and droughts will have severe impacts on the environment and on society. The poorest people in society will unfortunately be those least able to cope with the impacts of global warming.

Predicted Effects and Impacts of Global Warming More Floods: "Projected adverse impacts based on models include . . . a widespread increase in the risk of flooding for human settlements (tens of millions of inhabitants in settlements studied) from both increased heavy precipitation events and sea level rise." Increased spread of infectious diseases: "an increase in the number of people exposed to vector borne diseases (e.g. cholera) and an increase in heat stress mortality." Degraded water quality: "Projected climate change will tend to degrade water quality through higher water temperatures and increased pollutant load from runoff and overflows of waste facilities." More frequent and more intense heat waves, droughts, and tropical cyclones: "The vulnerability of human societies and natural systems to climate extremes is demonstrated by the damage, hardship, and death caused by events such as droughts, floods, heat waves, avalanches, and storms." Some basic predictions of global warming on temperature and sea level:
y y y y

global mean temperature should increase by between 1.4 and 5.8 C (2.5 to 10 F). the Northern Hemisphere cover should decrease further, but the Antarctic ice sheet should increase. the sea level should rise by between 9 and 88 cm (3.5" to 35"). other changes should occur, including an increase in some extreme weather events.

New Alarming global warming statistics According to NASA, the hottest year on record was 2005, which matched 1998. Twice in the last ten years, we've had the hottest temperatures on average ever recorded in our planet's history. That is very likely more than just a coincidence. In fact, the past nine years have all been among the 25 warmest years on record, a streak which is unprecedented in the historical record. For that to happen, it's likely there has to be an underlying factor, and that factor seems to be global warming. U.S. and global annual temperatures are now around 1.0 F degrees warmer than they were in 1900. The rate of warming has accelerated over the past 30 years, increasing at a rate of three times faster than the century-scale trend. It's likely the increase in CO2 emissions has something to do with that rate increase. According to an MIT study, there's been a 100% increase in the intensity and duration of hurricanes and tropical storms since the 1970s, most likely due to the increased amount of CO2 emissions to our atmosphere, which has increased the Earth's surface temperature, and warmer weather is believed to increase the intensity of tropical storms and hurricanes. In fact, the levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide has increased by 31% between 1800 and 2000, going from 280 parts per million to 367 parts per million. Scientists predict that carbon dioxide levels could be as high as 970 parts per million by the year 2100. According to the National Climactic Data Centre estimates, $100 billion of damage was caused by hurricanes hitting the U.S. coast in 2005 alone. The increase in severity of the hurricanes and tropical storms is most likely due to the increase of CO2 emissions, which

heats up the Earth's near-surface temperatures. In fact, the average surface temperature has increased by about 0.6 C (1.0 F) over the last 100 years. This is likely why snow cover and ice extent have decreased over the past few decades. According to the U.S. Geological Survey predictions, Glacier National Park will have no glaciers left by the year 2030, further showing the rapidity of global warming and the impact it can have on our planet in the very near future. According to the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment, 400,000 square miles of Arctic sea ice have melted, which is threatening polar bear habitats and further accelerating global warming worldwide. That amount of Arctic sea ice is approximately the size of the state of Texas, and we've lost that in just the last 30 years, further emphasizing that we need to take action now before the damage becomes too severe for our efforts to really matter. The sea level has risen by 4?-8? (10-20 cm) over the past 100 years, which is likely due to the melting of the polar glaciers, which is likely due to the increase in the Earth's near-surface temperature, and that's being increased by the increase in CO2 emissions into Earth's atmosphere. This can lead to devastating effects for coastal communities because the sea level is rising, which means that when the sea comes in-tide, more erosion can occur, and if coastal communities are present, more damage done to them. In addition, losing the glaciers reduces the amount of usable fresh water on our planet. It is also projected that 15-37% of all plant and animal species could be wiped out by global warming by the year 2050, which could further cause considerable damage to our planet's ecosystem. The United States is ranked nr.1 among large nations of being a global warming polluter, contributing 25% of emissions, even though the U.S. only makes up 5% of the world's population. This provides more evidence that the U.S. Government must do more to combat global warming. In fact, six former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) leaders say that the U.S. is not doing enough to fight global warming. The fact that there have been NO bills passed by the U.S. Congress to cut global warming pollution further confirms what many EPA leaders are saying. As you can see, there is statistical evidence that proves that global warming is causing changes to our planet, and changes that will do more harm than good. Governments and individuals need to pay close attention to these statistics in order to figure out ways to reverse the disturbing trends that are now occurring. The sooner we take heed of these statistics and implement changes that address global warming, the quicker we can reverse the disturbing trends and the less damage will occur to our planet and way of life.

The Arctic is thawing very rapidly, documented by new reports from scientists and arctic natives. The Arctic Climate Impact Assessment was released in late 2004, and shows changes from the ice at the North Pole to animals and human settlements. More recent reports from Greenland show outlet glaciers moving meters per hour and rapidly thinning. The Arctic Ocean ice cap is shrinking in summer to the smallest it has ever been in modern measurements, and even winter cold has not been refreezing it as extensively as before. That sea ice is habitat for the polar bear. Declines in bear nutrition, birth weight and survival have moved the U.S. government (urged by three environmental groups) to propose the bear be named a species threatened with extinction. Agassiz Glacier (1913) BEFORE: Take a look at Agassiz Glacier, in this photograph taken in 1913, near Boulder Pass, Glacier National Park. NEXT IMAGE: Agassiz Glacier (2005) Click to enlarge.

Agassiz Glacier (2005) AFTER: Compare it to this 2005 photograph of Agassiz Glacier taken from the same location (near Boulder Pass, Glacier National Park)

Boulder Glacier (1932) BEFORE: Shown above is a picture of Boulder Glacier, taken near Boulder Pass, Glacier National Park, in 1932. The foreground rocks provided an excellent reference point to rephotograph the historic photo.

Boulder Glacier (2005) AFTER: Boulder Glacier photographed from nearly 73 years later from the same place as the 1932 photo. The foreground rocks provided an excellent reference point to re-photograph the historic photo.

Swiftcurrent Glacier (1900) BEFORE: Photograph of the Swiftcurrent Glacier, taken in 1900 from the Swiftcurrent trail, Glacier National Park.

Swiftcurrent Glacier (1998) AFTER: Photograph of the Swiftcurrent Glacier, taken in 1988 from the Swiftcurrent trail, Glacier National Park.

Here is a graph showing the data on Temperature in the United States for 2006, notice that in most states the temperatures were "much above normal".

Graph of the Sources of Greenhouse Gases

Global Temperatures Are Indeed Rising

Global Warming Skeptics, Many People are Still Skeptics when it comes to Global Warming(CONCLUSION) Despite all the evidence on Global warming there are still a lot of skeptics that attribute the warming on our planet to other factors. Here is a good article that shows the point of view of many skeptics. Is the debate now over for skeptics of global warming hysteria? Readers of USA Today may certainly have that impression. Satellite and weather-balloon research released today removes a last bastion of scientific doubt about global warming, researchers say, reported USA Today on Aug.12. Certainly the USA Today report was partially correct the researchers did, in fact, say that the last bastion of scientific doubt had been removed. But claims and reality often dont match up. Three papers published in the journal Science last week purport to debunk an important argument advanced by skeptics of the notion of catastrophic, manmade global warming. The skeptics argument is that while temperatures measured on the Earths surface seem to indicate that global temperatures have increased at a rate of about 0.20 degrees Centigrade per decade (deg. C/decade) since the 1970s, temperatures measured in the atmosphere by satellite and weather balloons have shown only a relatively insignificant amount of warming for the same time period (about 0.09 deg. C/decade). The implication of the skeptics argument is that whatever warming seems to be happening on the Earths surface, similar warming isnt happening in the atmosphere. This might mean that any observed surface warming is more likely due to the urban heat island effect -- where the heat-retaining properties of concrete and asphalt in urban areas artificially increase local temperatures -- rather than increasing atmospheric levels of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide.

One of the new Science studies reported that the satellites had drifted in orbit, causing errors in temperature measurement. Corrections to the satellite data, according to the researchers, would increase the atmospheric warming estimate to 0.19 deg. C/decade -- more in line with the 0.20 deg. C/decade warming of the Earths surface. Another study reported that heating from tropical sunlight had skewed the balloon temperature measurements. Ben Santer of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, one of the studies authors, told USA Today that, Once corrected, the satellite and balloon temperatures align with other surface and upper atmosphere measures, as well as climate change models. So is it really game-set-match in favor of the global warming alarmists? Not so fast, say the skeptics. When University of Alabama-Huntsville researcher Roy Spencer, a prominent climatologist, factored the newly reported corrections into his calculations, his estimate of atmospheric warming was only 0.12 deg. C/decade -- higher than the prior estimate of 0.09 deg. C/decade, but well below the Science study estimate of 0.19 deg C/decade and the surface temperature estimate of 0.20 deg. C/decade. As to the claimed errors in the weather balloon measurements, Spencer says that no other effort to adjust the balloon data has produced warming estimates as high as those reported in the new study and that it will take time for the research community to form opinions about whether the new adjustments advocated are justified. Climate expert Dr. Fred Singer of the Science and Environmental Policy Project says the temperature adjustments are not a big deal. Greenhouse theory says (and the models calculate) that the atmospheric trend should be 30 percent greater than the surface trend -- and it isnt, says Singer. Furthermore, the models predict that polar [temperature] trends should greatly exceed the tropical values -- and they clearly dont ... In fact, the Antarctic has been cooling, adds Singer. Singer also had some related thoughts concerning the gloom-and-doom forecasts concerning future temperatures. Last January, a study in the journal Nature estimated that a doubling of atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide would increase global temperatures anywhere from 1.9 degrees Centigrade to 11.5 degrees Centigrade by mid-century. But Singer says the researchers varied only six out of many more parameters necessary to model clouds Their result confirms that clouds are still too difficult to model and that climate models underlying the Kyoto Protocol have never been validated. So its far from case-closed on global warming skepticism. Moreover, aside from the controversy over the satellite and weather balloon data, many key climate questions remain unanswered including: whether humans are causing significant warming; whether warming is undesirable; and whether anything be done to avert any undesirable warming. Because of its prohibitive costs, alarm over global warming has been rejected numerous times by President Bush and the U.S. Senate. European nations are already discovering that their economies cant live with the Kyoto Protocol that was just implemented in February. Despite alarmist media reports, global warming-mania is melting. Its no wonder the alarmists are in such a hurry to close the book on the science.