. Global Warming-vs- Climate Change (Causes and Effects)

1. Global Warming-vs- Climate Change (Causes and Effects)

February 10th, 2010 by yhennyhenn

Global Warming, Greenhouse Effect, Climate Change. Undoubtedly, these words sum up the single biggest threat to humanity.

“The era of procrastination, of half measures, of soothing and baffling expedients of delay are coming to a close. In its place, we are entering a period of consequences.” Winston Churchill

The overwhelming majority of scientists agree that our globe is undergoing major climate change. They also agree that the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is rising significantly.

 We can see from satellite images and research that the ice caps are melting faster, our sea levels are rising, and weather patterns are changing. We are experiencing more water shortages and we will see hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones increasing in ferocity and frequency. The deserts will expand and the world will ultimately have difficulty growing enough food. Without doubt, we have to change the way we live.

There are a few scientists who claim our earth is going about business as usual. In dealing with global warming, we should at least adopt an approach based on the precautionary principle. “The precautionary principle states that if the potential consequences of an action are severe or irreversible, in the absence of full scientific certainty the burden of proof falls on those who would advocate taking the action.”

Thousands of scientists from a hundred countries are working on the scientific aspects of climate change. They are not just proving this theory to be correct, but they are also advising on what action we must take.

The earth has gone through many natural climatic cycles during its long history. The scary part is we are causing changes to happen at an unbelievable rate, much faster than normal. Burning fossil fuels pours out greenhouse gases at a life-threatening rate and causing global warming. Global Warming, Greenhouse Effect, Climate Change …. they are all happening right now!

The rate of climate change is now so fast we are struggling to adapt our philosophies, economics, and lifestyle to slow it down. We must alter the way we live or we will suffer staggering consequences.There is a lot of information on this site and I trust it adds to your understanding about greenhouse issues. I also hope it leads you to discover more about global climate change and what you must do.

This is a crisis of global proportion, but please don’t despair! Come with me and understand what causes global warming and climate change, then act, do something…. YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE

CAUSES OF GLOBAL WARMING

What Causes Global Warming?

Scientists have spent decades figuring out what is causing global warming. They’ve looked at the natural cycles and events that are known to influence climate. But the amount and pattern of warming that’s been measured can’t be explained by these factors alone. The only way to explain the pattern is to include the effect of greenhouse gases (GHGs) emitted by humans.

To bring all this information together, the United Nations formed a group of scientists called the International Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC. The IPCC meets every few years to review the latest scientific findings and write a report summarizing all that is known about global warming. Each report represents a consensus, or agreement, among hundreds of leading scientists.

One of the first things scientists learned is that there are several greenhouse gases responsible for warming, and humans emit them in a variety of ways. Most come from the combustion of fossil fuels in cars, factories and electricity production. The gas responsible for the most warming is carbon dioxide, also called CO2. Other contributors include methane released from landfills and agriculture (especially from the digestive systems of grazing animals), nitrous oxide from fertilizers, gases used for refrigeration and industrial processes, and the loss of forests that would otherwise store CO2.

Different greenhouse gases have very different heat-trapping abilities. Some of them can even trap more heat than CO2. A molecule of methane produces more than 20 times the warming of a molecule of CO2. Nitrous oxide is 300 times more powerful than CO2. Other gases, such as chlorofluorocarbons (which have been banned in much of the world because they also degrade the ozone layer), have heat-trapping potential thousands of times greater than CO2. But because their concentrations are much lower than CO2, none of these gases adds as much warmth to the atmosphere as CO2 does.

In order to understand the effects of all the gases together, scientists tend to talk about all greenhouse gases in terms of the equivalent amount of CO2. Since 1990, yearly emissions have gone up by about 6 billion metric tons of “carbon dioxide equivalent” worldwide, more than a 20% increase.

Source..Google.com