Global Warming Cause And Effect

There is great concern over the greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles that contribute to global warming.  Transportation has become a major issue.  New fuels, new cars, and new types of communities are being discussed as solutions. 

Gasoline-burning cars are a major contributor to global warming.  In fact, they are the second largest cause of global warming pollution in the United States.  It would be beneficial if the cars could be more efficient.  If they could burn cleaner fuels, it would even be better. 

It is predicted that Americans will continue to put gasoline-burning cars on the road at alarming rates over the next twenty years.  The number estimated is around 300 million new cars.  With this expectation, it is clear that cars should be made with energy efficiency in mind.  Otherwise, they will cause extensive global warming. 

Hybrid engines are being touted by many celebrities as a way to prevent global warming.  Many celebrities prefer the Prius hybrid car.  These hybrid cars do, in fact, double gas mileage.  At the same time, they reduce harmful emissions that lead to global warming. 

Future technologies for cars, such as fuel cells, may ease global warming even more.  Fuel cells change hydrogen fuel and oxygen into electricity.  Then, the electricity is used to run the vehicle.  This technology has already been used by NASA and is projected to help ease global warming in the future. 

Alternate fuels have been in the news for helping with reducing global warming as well.  One of the most interesting fuels is bio-diesel.  This type of fuel can be made from a variety of sources.  Vegetable oils such as soybean and rapeseed oils have been used successfully in regular diesel vehicles. 

Animal fats work, but are rarely used because they are too expensive.  However, used oil from fast food restaurants can be employed to do the same thing.  It is surprising that global warming can be slowed down by the use of fast food by-products. 

Ethanol is being used in many countries, now including the US, to decrease pollution and dependence on foreign oil.  Global warming is impacted, too.  Brazil, which uses ethanol almost exclusively, makes the fuel from sugar cane.  In the US, corn is the chief source of ethanol. 

Some cars are flex-fuel cars which can be run on different fuel sources.  They can use alcohol, gasoline, or a combination.  E85 is mostly ethanol with 15% of the fuel being gasoline.  This fuel performs a little better than pure ethanol, but is more conducive to cutting down on global warming than gasoline. 

Another way global warming can be addressed through transportation issues is in community planning.  Communities can be built so that people can spend more time walking or cycling than driving.  This cuts down dramatically on greenhouse gas emissions, thereby reducing global warming. 

The world, especially the US, can make some changes in the way they move about and transport their goods.  If people do nothing, greenhouse gasses will surely increase drastically.  However, if changes are made, global warming will be cut to a very large degree. 

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While the majority of celebrities and many scientists in the world view global warming as a disaster of epic proportions, not all agree.  Some people, even scientists, have opposing viewpoints that are based on their own formal observations and the data from many sources.  It is interesting to explore what these people have to say about global warming. 

One of the most talked-about aspects of global warming is the rise in sea levels.  If you are to believe most people who speak on global warming, you have to think that many habitable places on earth will soon be underwater.  There is some evidence to refute this. 

There is a professor of paleogeophysics and geodynamics at Stockholm University who presents interesting data.  According to this professor, the sea levels are in the same range they have been in over the last three hundred years.  There has not even been the slightest rise in sea levels in the last decade. 

While a sea level rise of .1 to .9 meters is predicted by the year 2100, it is not seen by this group of people as a dangerous situation.  After all, there was a .2 rise in the sea level during the past century and humans did not even seem to notice. 

When the global warming pundits talk about the rises in sea level that result from three sheets of ice that melt per year, it is the opponents of the movement that put it into terms that make sense.  If the ice continues to melt at that rate, it will take a thousand years to raise the sea level by 5 cm. 

The people who preach on the dangers of global warming believe that Hurricane Katrina and others were intensified by global warming.  Many experts on the other side of the fence claim that the extreme storms have not been unusual earth events.  They also say that better reporting of severe weather occurrences contributes to the impression that global warming is having an impact. 

While those dedicated to stopping global warming are worried about the recession of the snows of Mount Kilimanjaro, others believe there are reasons besides global warming.  These people say that you have to understand how glaciers interact with the climate around them.  Knowing that the air has been drier, they say, leads you to the fact that the glacial recession is a natural occurrence. 

Many people who fear global warming say that it will increase diseases like malaria by allowing disease-bearing mosquitoes into higher elevations.  Others realize that there are other reasons for the additional cases of malaria and other such diseases. 

These include the facts that 1) people from lowland areas are resistant to disease but carry it with them when they move to higher elevations, 2) deforestation leaves a breeding ground for mosquitoes, and 3) more pools and ditches will lead to more mosquitoes. 

For many reasons, global warming is not a subject that everyone agrees on.  People from all over the world have different opinions and they often do not wish to see another’s viewpoint.  When the true facts about global warming are clear, people can begin to come together to address the problem. 

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This article, taken from The A-Z of Global Warming deals with the Kyoto Protocol. A major political force which brought global climate change to the fore was born from the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, where an agreement called the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), was agreed. This followed hot on the heals from the release of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s ( IPCC ) first report dealing with climate change.

The Kyoto Protocol as it became known entered into force on the 16th February 2005 and became the first important step in relation to climate change as governments and countries around the world committed themselves to a binding agreement to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

The road to Kyoto was a bumpy one. After agreeing the UNFCCC, governments realised that action had to be taken to set real reduction targets, and so, in 1997, in Kyoto in Japan the parties to the UNFCCC reached agreement on what later became known as The Kyoto Protocol.

For the protocol to enter into force it had to become ratified by at least 55 parties to the convention, and incorporating a list of 35 industrialised nations. These nations together with the EU, accounted for at least 55% of the total of CO2 emissions in 1990.

A stalling point came however when the USA, having signed up to the protocol under President Clinton, withdrew from the protocol when President Bush was elected in early 2000. Luckily, the protocol was thrown a lifeline by Russia, when President Putin ratified the agreement on November 18th 2004.

The protocol’s main aims required industrialised countries to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gasses by 5% below 1990 levels by 2008-2012. The gasses covered are the 6 main greenhouse gasses, namely;

- Carbon dioxide (CO2);
- Methane (CH4);
- Nitrous oxide (N2O);
- Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs);
- Perfluorocarbons (PFCs); and
- Sulphur hexafluoride (SF6)

The agreement attempts to do this by providing for various market based mechanisms to assist countries or individual companies meet their respective emission targets. Emissions caps are put on Annex 1 countries, giving each country an emissions quota, or allowable amount of CO2 emissions. So for example the European Union has been given a target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 8% below 1990 levels. This target can be distributed amongst member states.

In general developed Annex 1 countries have to reduce their CO2 emissions, whilst developing non Annex 1 countries have not had to cap their emissions, but instead will participate in CO2 emission reducing projects.

There are three basic methods open to countries to meet their targets;

Emissions Trading Schemes (ETS)

As explained above, these schemes allow for the trading of CO2 emissions for carbon credits. So, if a country or industry exceeds their assigned amount of CO2 emissions, they would be able to purchase credits from a country or industry that has not. Only a small proportion of global emissions are covered by these schemes, and currently the EU has the largest scheme, the EU ETS.

Clean Development Mechanisms (CDM)

This is a way for Annex 1 countries to earn credits by investing and funding climate friendly projects and technologies in developing countries, thus helping control emissions in these countries.

Joint Implementations Projects (JIP)

Basically these are the same as CDM’s, but with Annex 1 countries investing in climate friendly technology in other Annex 1 countries, rather than other developing countries.

Whilst Kyoto is an incredible achievement it is at present the world’s only agreement attempting to limit greenhouse gas emissions and global warming. There are problems due to the fact that the USA has not ratified the Protocol, and neither had Australia, until literally 3rd December 2007, following government change.

Whist the USA refuses to sign up to the protocol other countries such as India and China, whilst ratifying the Protocol do not have obligations at present to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions on the basis that these countries were not responsible for today’s greenhouse gas levels. However, at the rate these countries are developing, they will soon be the World’s major polluters as they build more and more fossil-fuelled electricity plants to satisfy their energy needs. Indeed it is believed that in June 2007 China overtook the USA as the world’s highest CO2 emitters

It is true to say however that instead of the richest countries reducing their emissions by 5% to 1990 levels, they have in fact increased them by some 10%. It is believed that only four countries, UK, France, Germany and Sweden are on track to meet the targets set.

Recently the UK announced the introduction of a Climate Change Bill making it the first country to set legally binding targets to reduce its CO2 emissions. The Bill will receive royal ascent in the autumn of 2008, and it will set targets to reduce CO2 emissions by 60% by 2050.

What will happen after 2012? Well, UN secretary Ban Ki-moon convened a high level event that took place in New York on 24th September 2007, to promote discussions on ways to move the international community toward negotiations on a new global agreement on climate change. This took place at the UN climate change conference which took place in Bali on 3rd December 2008. The purpose of discussions will be to try and get in place a multilateral framework for action on climate change, already refered to as Kyoto 2, for the period after the Kyoto agreement ends in 2012.

Whist the Kyoto Protocol was a big step in the right direction, it seems that much more needs to be done and far greater cuts made to CO2 emissions to ensure global temperatures do not rise over critical levels.

Copyright (c) 2008 Simon Rosser

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This article is taken from The A-Z of Global Warming book due to be published in September 2008. A Lawyer by profession i felt inspired to write the book following a viewing of Al Gore’s documentary An Inconvenient Truth in November 2006. Further information can be found on the following website, www.a-zofglobalwarming.com

Tags: global causes, global natural, global science, global warming activities, global warming arctic, global warming books

In the movie The Day After Tomorrow, there are many special effects including an ice event caused by global warming.  Much of the science of the movie has been called into question.  However, there may be some truth to the idea that global warming could cause an ice age. 

The theory starts with an understanding of why Europe and Scandinavia are not colder already.  After all, other places at the same latitude are covered with ice and permafrost.  Alaska and Greenland are both as close to the North Pole as Europe.  Yet, it is not global warming that keeps Europe warm. 

The ocean currents called the Gulf Stream bring warm waters up to the UK and Europe from the Caribbean.  These waters warm the countries around their path.  This is what causes the UK, Europe, and Scandinavia to have such a nicer climate than, say, Alaska.  Global warming has nothing to do with that. 

An important factor about the Gulf Stream is that to keep the Great Conveyor Belt going, cool water must feed back into the loop and be brought back to the point in the Caribbean where the process began.  This keeps the water moving. 

Global warming is significant in that it could slow the Gulf Stream, or even stop it.  If this were to happen, the cold waters would stay in the area of Europe, the UK, Scandinavia, and the Northeastern US.  It could mean an ice age for those regions. 

In every major cooling event, such as the last great Ice Age, the Gulf Stream has been significantly weakened.  This can happen for different reasons.  In current times, it can happen due to global warming brought on by human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels. 

If the new Ice Age happens, it will likely be due to the melting of the polar ice.  This will dump large quantities of cold, fresh water into the ocean.  It would disrupt the Gulf Stream and cause the cooling of many areas that now have milder climates.  Global warming will be the cause. 

An ice age will probably not happen gradually, either.  This is a phenomenon that takes place rather quickly.  Perhaps it does not happen as fast as the ice event in The Day After Tomorrow.  However, it could happen within a few short years with global warming being to blame. 

The return flow of cold water from Greenland, which goes back to the Caribbean, has already showed a weakening in the last 50 years.  There has been a 20% decline in the amount of current flowing in this direction.  It only makes sense that the warm waters coming from the Caribbean have lessened too. 

These currents are a part of the world-wide network of currents called the Global Thermohaline Circulation.  This global warming could then cause a slowing or stoppage of the Gulf Stream affecting the entire earth. 

The statistics are used to answer the question of whether an ice age could be caused by global warming.  Observations have been made of current data and historical information gleaned by studying the ocean and the lands around it.  With all the information at hand, it appears that it is indeed possible that global warming could lead to an Ice Age. 

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Global warming is discussed in two main types of books.  Some would have you believe there is no problem at all.  Others speak of evidence of global warming, dangerous consequences, and solutions to global warming.  Reading a variety of books on global warming gives a balanced perspective. 

Probably the most well-known book on global warming is Al Gore’s book An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It.  Gore’s book shows reasons why people wan to save he earth from hazards such as global warming.  It also implores world leaders to stands up and listens to the warnings of an environment in crisis. 

An opposing viewpoint is presented in a book titled Unstoppable Global Warming: Every 1,500 Years.  The book, written by Dennis T. Avery and S. Fred Singer, is an argument that global warming is a cyclical event that has happened gradually and systematically throughout history.  Scientific data backs up the claims and demonstrates why no one should be concerned about global warming, in the authors’ opinions. 

However, there is scientific information that supports the claims of global warming dangers.  A book called Global Warming: The Complete Briefing gives facts and theories about the foundations of global warming and climate change.  In it, the future of the world and ways to help minimize global warming are outlined. 

Children can learn about the subject by reading a book called This Is My Planet: The Kids’ Guide to Global Warming.  Jan Thornhill, the author or the book, gives the startling facts about the quickly occurring changes brought on by global warming, and how that is happening.  Catering to the younger audience, though, she is careful to sprinkle the book with a lot of hope and ways for children to help change the situation. 

The Down To Earth Guide To Global Warming, by Laurie David and Cambria Gordon, is another book that uses a bit of humor to discuss a serious subject.  It not only has facts about the genesis of extreme global warming, but it is full of vivid pictures.  As another book for elementary children, it gives ways for kids to fight global warming in every area of their lives. 

A fun and interesting book on the subject of global warming is The Live Earth Global Warming Survival Handbook: 77 Essential Skills to Stop Climate Change.  David de Rothschild, the author, constructed the book to be a tongue-in-cheek look at a survival guide aimed at surviving global warming.  At the same time, it offers important information about ways to improve the environment.  It is a companion book to the Live Earth Concerts in July of 2007 that took place during a 24-hour period around the world. 

It is easy to find books about global warming.  Many are aimed at the children who are next to inherit the earth.  Some focus heavily on scientific data.  Others rely on humor to tell their story.  Some are even a simple call to arms to anyone who will help curb global warming.  Global warming is a subject worth study and there are plenty of books to read about it. 

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If people knew what kind of future global warming would actually bring, they would likely want to do more to help the environment.  The problem is that predicting the future of global warming is a very complex task.  Just as the local weatherman does not always get it right, neither can the predictor of global warming. 

Some of the difficulties inherent in forecasting future global warming have to do with those same factors that every meteorologist faces.  Winds can cool the air or warm it depending on the direction they take.  Cloud cover can cool a hot day.  Air masses move in to cause storms as cool fronts and warm fronts are generated. 

Ocean currents can change the temperature of the land on which they strike.  The earth’s atmosphere is constantly in a cycle of evaporation and precipitation.  The nature of this cycle will affect global warming.  At the same time, all these variables will be affected by global warming in return. 

It is hard to predict the future of global warming when little is known about the actions people will take to prevent it, or not.  Underdeveloped countries will strive towards development.  Generally in the past this has meant using the cheapest industrial equipment available, even if it is the most polluting.  However, these countries may decide to put emphasis on preventing global warming instead. 

It is not known at this time how fast the population of the world will grow.  Statisticians can make educated guesses, but a number of factors can always change the dynamics of population growth.  Biological factors, as well as governmental policies and economics can all play a part.  The more people on earth, the greater the chance for global warming. 

Fuel efficient cars have already been developed, and the research continues to make them even better.  There is a question, though, as to whether the people of the world will embrace these technologies.  At least at first, cost might prevent poor people from having hybrid or other fuel efficient cars.  The extent to which this technology is made available to all people will affect the amount of global warming that can be expected. 

As ice melts in the Polar Regions, the ocean temperatures are affected.  This is due to global warming.  However, it also can perpetuate global warming by changing the evaporation rates of the sea.  The courses and speeds of the oceans currents cannot be predicted with accuracy, but they will have an affect on global warming. 

The proliferation of dark areas can lead to global warming.  The trouble with using this fact to predict global warming is that it is not known how many dark areas will be uncovered by melting ice.  As long as there is enough ice to maintain a light color, a good deal of the heat will be reflected off into the atmosphere. 

While it is nearly impossible to predict the future of global warming with complete accuracy, it is good to explore the subject.  It is important to estimate the damage that will be caused by global warming in order to make the concept of global warming more concrete. 

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Have you heard of global warming before?  If you regularly watch television, surf the internet, or listen to the radio, there is a good chance that you have.  In recent years, global warming is an issue that has seen an increase in press.  Although there is a lot of debate that surrounds global warming, you may still be concerned.  After all, if the predictions are right, the earth may not be a safe place for your future family members.

If the thought of global warming and the affects it can have on the planet in the future scare you, you will want to do you part.  Unfortunately, many individuals do not realize how easy, as well as how affordable it is to join in on the fight against global warming.  Unfortunately, much focus is placed on energy efficient vehicles and appliances.  If you do not have the financial means needed to make these purchases, it is okay, as there are more affordable ways that you can help.

One of the biggest chances that you have to help prevent global warming or lessen its impact is in your home.  In your home, you will want to look at your electricity uses.  Are there appliances, like your computer, that are turned on when you aren’t using them?  How about the lights in your home?  Are your lights turned on even when nobody is in the room?  If you answered yes, these are things that you will want to change.  Limiting your electricity use is a great way to not only help prevent global warming, but it can also save you money too!

As previously stated, you will want to lessen the amount of electricity used in your home.  One of the easiest ways to do so is to ensure that all lights and appliances are turned off when they are not in use.  What is nice about this approach is that it is completely free and, as previously stated, you can save yourself money!  Another step involves examining your heat.  Instead of having your thermostat cranked up high, you may want to put on a sweater and turn the heat down.  Even a few degrees can help reduce the toxic emissions that come from your home. 

In keeping with electricity, you will want to take a close look at energy efficient light bulbs.  Unfortunately, many individuals do not realize the many benefits to using these light bulbs, as opposed to traditional ones.  For starters, you can save yourself a little bit of money each year by switching all or at least most of the lights in your home to energy efficient light bulbs.  Also, these light bulbs work much longer than traditional ones.  Depending on your use, an energy efficient light bulb can last as long as one or two years.  By price comparing, you can easily find multi-packs of these energy efficient lights for around five dollars.  Talk about affordability!

Even if you are a renter, as opposed to a homeowner, there are still ways that you can work to combat global warming.  You may want to speak with your landlord about making any window repairs, especially if you feel cold air entering into your home when it shouldn’t be.  Ask your landlord about the hot water heater, do they use a hot water heater blanket?  Hot water heater blankets are affordably priced and they can help to save the environment and your landlord may also be able to save a little bit of money as well, as they can lower the temperature of their water heater.

As previously stated, you may not have the financial means needed to purchase a new hybrid or energy efficient car.  Even so, you will still want to take a close look at your methods of transportation.  When you drive, do you really need to?  If you are able to walk, carpool or take public transportation, you are encouraged to do so.  Even if you leave your car home, just a couple of times a week, you are still doing your part, even though small, to help stop the horrific impacts that global warming may have on our planet.

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Are you interested in learning more about global warming?  If you are interested in familiarizing yourself with the science behind global warming, the impact it will have on the planet, as well as ways that we can help to stop global warming, you will find that you have a number of different options. Although you can turn to news reports, books and other printed resources on global warming, and the internet, you may want to examine documentaries.

In recent years, documentaries have increased in popularity.  This is due in part to knowledge.  With the world constantly changing, and not just in terms of global warming, many feel “lost,” if they aren’t in the know.  This is the main purpose of documentaries, to educate, yet entertain viewers.  If you would like to learn more about global warming though documentaries, you will want to examine Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth.

Until recently, Al Gore was most well known for his role of the Vice President of the United States.  He served as the Vice President under Bill Clinton.  More recently, Al Gore has been known for his active role in the fight against global warming.  In addition to explaining the science behind global warming and in addition to describing the impacts it will have on our planet, Al Gore is also known for sharing the many ways that we, as humans, can help to stop global warming.  Many of these ideas are easy and affordable to implement.

Returning back to the documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, this is one of the most impact having documentaries you will likely see in your lifetime.  What makes this documentary unique and well worth the watch is the combination of scientific proof and passion.  Al Gore has numerous resources for you to examine on your television screen.  These resources include graphs, scanned documents from global warming cover-ups, and much more.  The passion in this movie comes from Al Gore himself.  He has as way about sharing his knowledge and information in a way that will rock you to your core.

Speaking of being shocked, this documentary, which is basically a recording of PowerPoint presentations Gore has given across the county and around the world, has a huge shock factor.  This is most commonly seen with before and after pictures.  Mount Kilimanjaro is one of the examples used.  The computer generated images that show you the impact on coastal flooding, which will result from global warming, will either leave your mouth gaping open in shock or leave you in tears.

Even though Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth documentary comes highly rated and recommended, by celebrities, scientists, meteorologists, other political figures, and everyday individuals, you may be unsure if it is worth the buy.  As a reminder, this documentary and others can usually be found for rent in one of your local video stores.

Despite being able to rent An Inconvenient Truth, as opposed to buying it, you may still be unsure if it is worth the watch.  If your movie tastes typically involve comedies, action, and drama, you may assume that a documentary on global warming is not the perfect match for you.  If that is the case, you will want to watch the previews or the trailer for this riveting documentary.  There, you will find the tagline “If you love your planet.  If you love your children.  You have to see this film.”  If that doesn’t send a tingle down your spine, what will? 

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Celebrities are putting their fame to use by calling attention to the subject of global warming.  Famous people in the entertainment industry are using their knowledge of film-making to create documentaries about global warming.  Others are simply using their influence to make a statement. 

One project is designed to help people become more informed about and involved with global warming.  The venture is called Global Cool, and its lofty goal is to get one billion people to lower the levels of carbon emissions they put into the environment.  Celebrities involved with this global warming initiative include Orlando Bloom, Josh Hartnett, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Pink.  Some bands have also joined the fight. 

Leonardo DiCaprio is actually very involved with the movement to stop global warming.  He has a website devoted to the topic.  On it, you can take a look at two films DiCaprio has worked on, with others.  One is called Water Planet and the other is simply Global Warming. 

This actor also started the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation in 1998.  Its purpose was to steer people towards involvement in environmentally friendly organizations. 

The foundation also addressed the central themes of global warming such as greenhouse gases and fossil fuels.  Now, DiCaprio has worked on a documentary about global warming about earth’s 11th hour, which details the problems and innovative solutions. 

Other actors are getting involved in the stop global warming movement, too.  Brad Pitt is the narrator of a series on green architecture.  The shows discuss ways to build that will help the environment. 

Another documentary features Keanu Reeves and Alannis Morrisett as narrators.  The global warming film, entitled The Great Warming, is all about the changes in the climate caused by excessive global warming. 

Earth Day has always been a magnet for celebrity attention.  As time goes by and more is known about global warming, the list of celebrities speaking out on Earth Day becomes even more impressive.  It seems that the earth has become more precious to those in-the-know and they use this day as a platform for change. 

Al Gore, aside from his Vice Presidency and his Presidential aspirations, has earned a certain amount of celebrity himself.  With the release of his movie, An Inconvenient Truth, Gore has entered the limelight in a new way.  He appears to be trying to use his status and fame to influence people to aid in the fight against global warming. 

Perhaps the most powerful environmental activist on the scene today is producer Laurie David.  She is the wife of actor Larry David of Curb Your Enthusiasm.  She has lobbied for governmental change to promote the cause.  Then, she started organizing the Stop Global Warming Virtual March to rally support among the everyday people.  She has so far encouraged hundreds of thousands of people to join her. 

No one can ever know whether actors are trying to get attention or whether they are truly citizens concerned about global warming.  There are probably some whose motives are not exactly pure.  In the end, though, all celebrities who live by their environmental principles are a good influence.

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There is no doubt that the earth’s climate is constantly changing.  Some people feel that it is part of the normal cycle of events on this planet.  Yet, most scientists agree that there are drastic changes occurring that are due to unnatural global warming. 

The weather is getting decidedly warmer.  For the most part, the United States has already warmed up some.  In some places, the average rise in temperature is around four degrees Fahrenheit.  However, all the states show some degree of warming. 

The first and second warmest years on record were 1998 and 2006, respectively.  In fact, every year from the first to the second warmest years, ranked within the warmest 25 years in the US.  In 2006, the annual average temperature was 55 degrees Fahrenheit.  Recent warm years point to a climate change being brought on by global warming. 

Climate changes due to global warming can be seen in the prevalence of drought.  Years are becoming drier in recent decades due to global warming.  This is caused by the heat that is building up around the earth’s surface.  Excessive evaporation intensifies drought even more during the spring and fall. 

Global warming has upped the level of drought.  A major drought in the US lasted from 1999-2002.  There were only two other droughts in the last forty years that were so widespread and devastating.  Crops were damaged or would not grow at all, thus shortening the food supply. 

There have been more and more frequent droughts in the West in recent years.  The last 30 years in particular have seen numerous droughts.  These droughts have spawned wildfires that set new records in 2006 for number of fires and of acres burned.  Further proof of global warming is seen in these destructive wildfires. 

While the overall effect of global warming is heat followed by drought, there are still storms.  Since global warming energizes the atmosphere, these storms will be different.  When all is going well, a gentle rain will soak into the earth gradually, causing no more than a minor inconvenience to people.

Because of global warming, storms are becoming more destructive.  While there have certainly been droughts, rainfall totals have risen in the past century.  This surprising fact is due to the fact that when the rain comes, it comes in rapid downpours.  The sky opens up and dumps water on the earth very quickly in many cases.  This is followed by dry periods. 

The number of times it rains in a year has increased during the last 50 years due to global warming.  What is more, global warming is causing storms to intensify.  Storms which would have been ordinary thunderstorms in the past are morphing into raging tempests.  Hurricanes have been rated higher in recent years as global warming affects their intensity. 

Global warming is responsible for many climate changes.  Often, people cause the increase in global warming that precipitates these changes.  If people could make it a common goal to cut down on activities that promote global warming, the earth would be a much more stable environment. 

Tags: global warming gases, global warming graphs, global warming greenhouse, global warming humans, global warming ice age