What Is Global Warming? Global warming is the warming of the earth through carbon dioxide (CO2) being pumped into the atmosphere from tailpipes and smokestacks. Then the gases trap heat like the glass in a greenhouse. This is where the term the “greenhouse effect” came from.http://www.worldviewofglobalwarming.org/
What’s HappeningScientists say that the barrierinsulating the continental icecaps is melting. “The impacts of warmingtemperatures in Antarcticaare likely to occur first in thenorthern sections of thecontinent, where summertemperatures approach themelting point of water, 32degrees F (0 degrees C).”http://www.climatehotmap.org/antarctica.html
What’s HappeningAs the ice melts, big chunksof glaciers will break off andbecome like ice cubes in a bigglass of water. The icechunks, known as icebergs,create mass in the ocean. Theicebergs displace the watercausing the ocean level torise. Some of the shoreline inmany places like Florida(where the land is at a lowaltitude) will go under water.
What Will Happen “Rising global temperatures are expected to raise sea level, and change precipitation and other local climate conditions. Changing regional climate could alter forests, crop yields, and water supplies. It could also affect human health, animals, and many types of ecosystems. Deserts may expand into existing rangelands, and features of some of our national parks mayhttp://www.nrdc.org/globalWarming/default.asp altered.” be permanently http://yosemite.epa.gov/oar/globalwarm
Where Has It Been HappeningThis is where temperatures have risen in the world.http://www.worldviewofglobalwarming.org/pages/warmingmap.h
The yellow represents warming, melting glaciers, flooding and rising of sea level.The red represents the spread of disease, earlier springs, pl nta a lshift a popul t a nd nima s nd aioncha cor lr bl ching, dow s, hea ysnow ls, a fl nges, a eef ea npour v fal nd ooding, dr s a fir htp:/w w imaehot p.or ought nd es. t / w .cl t ma g/
How Long Has It Been Going On The reason the temperature has risen so much in the past 150 years is because of how much more we have used fossil fuels, which gives off carbon dioxide. “According to NOAA, the global warming rate in the last 25 years has risen to 3.6 degrees F per century, which tends to confirm the predictions of temperature increases made by international panels of climate scientists (IPCC).” http://www.worldviewofglobalwa
How Long Has It Been Going On The earth has had highs and lows, droughts and floods, but nothing has been like the past 150 years. http://www.worldviewofglobalwarming.
What’s Happening to the Animals “Penguin population decline. Adelie penguin populations have shrunk by 33 percent during the past 25 years in response to declines in their winter sea ice habitat.” Reference: Fraser, W. 1998. Antarctic biology and medicine program, University of Montana, personal communication. http://www.climatehotmap.org/antarctica.html
What’s Happening to the Animals“Coral reef bleaching, the whitening of diverseinvertebrate taxa, results from the loss ofsymbiotic zooxantheallae and/or a reduction inphotosynthetic pigment concentrations inzooxanthellae residing within scleractiniancorals. Coral reef bleaching is caused byvarious anthropogenic and natural variations inthe reef environment including seatemperature, solar irradiance, sedimentation,xenobiotics, subaerial exposure, inorganicnutrients, freshwater dilution, and epizootics.Coral bleaching events have been increasing inboth frequency and extent worldwide in thepast 20 years. Global climate change may playa role in the increase in coral bleaching events,and could cause the destruction of major reeftracts and the extinction of many coralspecies.”http://www.marinebiology.org/coralbleaching.htm
What’s Happening to the AnimalsRegions where major coral reef bleaching events have takenplace during the past 15 yearsYellow spots indicate major bleaching events.http://www.marinebiology.org/coralbleaching.htm
ConclusionGlobal warming is affecting plants, animals, humans and theearth. We need to learn how to conserve our use of fossilfuels to minimize carbon dioxide production. This will slowdown the effects of global warming.