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El Niño Sea-Level Rise Wreaks Havoc in California’s
San Francisco Bay Region
Holly Ryan, Helen Gibbons,
James W. Hendley II, Peter Stauffer,
U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 175-99,
Online Version 1.0,
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS),
U.S. Department of the Interior
[ 9 May 2005 ]
(General Audience)
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Insurer warns premiums will rise as global warming continues
Mark Tamhane, The World Today,
ABC Online, Australian Broadcasting Corporation
[ 11 December 2003 ]
(General Audience)
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Climate Change - An Australian Guide to the Science and Potential Impacts
Barrie Pittock, Editor,
Australian Greenhouse Office,
Department of the Environment and Heritage,
Australian Government
[ 10 December 2003 ]
(General Audience)
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Will global warming trigger a new ice age?
Bill McGuire, Professor of Geophysical Hazards,
University College London,
for Guardian Unlimited,
Guardian Newspapers Limited
[ 13 November 2003 ]
(General Audience)
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Arctic to lose all summer ice by 2100
Fred Pearce, Breaking News,
NewScientist.com
[ 4 December 2002 ]
(General Audience)
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Africa’s deserts are in “spectacular” retreat
Fred Pearce, Breaking News,
NewScientist.com
[ 18 September 2002 ]
(General Audience)
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Global warming lengthens day
American Geophysical Union
[ 11 February 2002 ]
(General Audience)
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Mosquito Adapting to Global Warming, Study Finds
Bijal P. Trivedi, National Geographic News,
National Geographic Society
[ 5 November 2001 ]
(General Audience)
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Is Global Warming Harmful to Health?
Paul R. Epstein, Scientific American.com,
Scientific American, Inc.
[ August 2000 ]
(General Audience)
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Global warming, a potential consequence of the greenhouse
effect, is one of the “hottest”, most controversial
topics in both science and world politics today. Due to the political
agendas of entities ranging from Greenpeace to the auto, energy and mining
industries, the waters regarding the subject have been muddied considerably.
Some people, including a number of prominent scientists and researchers,
deny the possibility of global warming altogether. The evidence, while
previously in conflict, now speaks clearly; global warming is a
reality. In my eyes, therefore, the issues requiring attention
are:
- Worldwide recognition of the problem by scientific, political and
civilian communities at large;
- Identification of causes;
- Accurate prediction of types of changes and speeds at which they
may occur;
- Determination as to what, if anything, can be done to reverse or
mitigate the process;
- Prediction and resolution of environmental, social, economic and
political impacts of resultant changes.
The greenhouse effect exists because certain gases, known collectively as
greenhouse gases, have accumulated in our atmosphere.
These gases, by virtue of their molecular structure, enable most solar
radiation (short wave infrared) to penetrate the atmosphere, but absorb
thermal energy radiated from the Earth’s surface (long wave infrared).
These gases prevent some surface heat from radiating into space, trapping
it within the atmosphere much as the glass in a greenhouse traps heat to
keep plants warm (albeit by a completely different process).
The greenhouse effect is essential for our survival; without it,
Earth would be a much colder place, incapable of sustaining life as we know
it. However, if the quantity of heat retained increases over time due
to an overabundance of greenhouse gases, the atmosphere and even the oceans
may begin to warm on a global scale. Heating of the air and oceans
would cause glaciers and polar ice to melt, raising sea levels worldwide.
In fact, we are witnessing the occurrence of such events now.
It appears that the debate over whether global warming is actually taking place
has been resolved, though there are still doubters. Global warming
is real, not imagined, and it is affecting our lives today.
Debate continues to rage over the causes of global warming,
since numerous greenhouse gases are produced by combustion and the burning
of fossil fuels. Is global warming a natural or man-made
phenomenon? When entertaining this debate, it is important to remember
that greenhouse gases are also produced by many natural processes that have
taken place throughout Earth’s geologic history.
Possible outcomes of global warming include food shortages, loss of natural
habitat, changes in ocean currents, and submergence of coastal and island
land mass; if abrupt, these changes could result in starvation, mass
migrations (of both animals and people), extinctions, world economic
catastrophe and, of course, wars fought over dwindling resources and
territory.
Emphasis must be given to resolving the debate over whether global warming
is a natural or man-made phenomenon; it is only through
resolution of this question that we can move forward. If global warming
is a natural process, it may very well be too large for mankind to
influence; we must then focus our efforts on how to adapt to its
consequences. If, on the other hand, global warming proves to be man-made,
we must determine what the effects of global warming are likely to be,
what can be done to moderate these effects, and whether the process has
already progressed too far to be influenced in a significant manner.
Finally, is global warming the end game? Will Earth simply
continue to warm; will our atmosphere reach a new, warmer equilibrium
state; or will global warming ultimately unleash physical changes that
result in dramatic atmospheric cooling effects, possibly plunging our
planet into a new Ice Age?
Authored by Kenneth L. Anderson.
Original article published 14 April 2003, updated 5 April
2005.
Follow links to the right to learn more about current and potential future effects of global warming.
At the left margin, Related Links address topics of interest
pertaining to global warming, greenhouse effect, climate change and other climatology and weather subjects. View the
Climate Change SiteMap
for a complete list of global warming and climate change topics.
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