Global warming is caused by the release of carbon dioxide into our atmosphere. It's like the urban smog we saw in the 1900s, trapping or trapping infrared heat from the sun in the atmosphere. The global average increase in temperature can be directly correlated to the average increase in carbon dioxide in our atmosphere.
There is significant evidence that our planet's weather and climate patterns are changing rapidly as a direct result of global warming. Drought, retreating glaciers and ice caps, extreme storms, rising ocean temperatures and sea levels, shifts in the distribution of organisms and diseases. Many believe that human activities are a significant cause. As of this year, compelling scientific evidence has come to light that quantifies this problem (October 2007). The rate at which carbon dioxide is absorbed by the world's oceans has now been greatly reduced. This is because the oceans are now overloaded with carbon dioxide. From this point on, more and more of our CO2 emissions will go directly into the atmosphere, contributing to global warming.
“The warming atmosphere and seas provide a lot of extra energy that is available to create abnormal weather patterns. Recent data around the world shows an increase in the severity of storms, drought, rainfall and flooding. The disastrous hurricane season of 2005 was just one indication of how synergistic weather is with sea level rise, resulting in wetland loss, social problems and the inability of governments to respond. Three storms strengthened to Category 5 in the Atlantic basin for the first time in one season (Katrina, Rita and Wilma). According to NOAA, an unprecedented 27 named tropical storms have formed, and more than half of them have become hurricanes.
“According to reports from scientists and Arctic natives, the Arctic is receding very rapidly (as a direct result of global warming). 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 that the glaciers are moving meters per hour and thinning rapidly. The Arctic ice sheet shrinks in summer to the smallest it has ever been in modern measurements, and even the winter cold doesn't freeze it as much as it used to. Basically, there is a rise in overall sea level along with an increase in violent weather, so coastal areas will be hit very hard from now on.
In fact, we can now expect all previous models of climate change to be obsolete. Rather like a movie straight out of Hollywood, you can imagine a scientist trying to explain to the president how the slowing rate of CO2 absorption by the world's oceans translates directly into increased CO2 in the atmosphere, and that "we now expect 2 degrees of global temperature increase in the next 10 years rather than 50 years previously estimated, Mr. President. Or for you gas-guzzling Americans: Forget the big coastal cities, Mr. President. I would also suggest that New Orleans will not need redevelopment or major capital expenditures. My guess is that another category 4 or higher hurricane will destroy all the Levy's in the coastal areas. Significant sea-level rises will prevent any attempts to protect these areas.
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