GLOBAL WARMING
By Ashley Thomas
Table of Content
Global Warming
• Introduction
• Impact
• How will global warming change earth
• References
Global Warming
• Throughout its long history, Earth has warmed and cooled
time and again. Climate has changed when the planet received
more or less sunlight due to subtle shifts in its orbit, as the
atmosphere or surface changed, or when the Sun’s energy
varied. But in the past century, another force has started to
influence Earth’s climate: humanity.
What is Global Warming
• Global warming is the unusually rapid increase in Earth’s
average surface temperature, primarily due to the greenhouse
gases released by people burning fossil fuels.
Oronieuvs.blogspot.com
How Much More Will Earth Warm?
• Models predict that as the world consumes ever more fossil fuel,
greenhouse gas concentrations will continue to rise, and Earth’s average
surface temperature will rise with them.
How Will Earth Respond to Warming Temperatures?
The impact of global warming is far greater than just increasing temperatures.
 Warming modifies rainfall patterns,
 amplifies coastal erosion,
 lengthens the growing season in some regions,
 melts ice caps and glaciers, and alters the ranges of some infectious
diseases.
Some of these changes are already occurring.
Global warming will shift major climate patterns, possibly prolonging and intensifying the
current drought in the U.S. Southwest. The white ring of bleached rock on the once-red
cliffs that hold Lake Powell indicate the drop in water level over the past decade—the
result of repeated winters with low snowfall.
(Photograph ©2006 Tigresblanco.
Changing Weather
• For most places, global warming will result in more frequent hot days and
fewer cool days, with the greatest warming occurring over land.
• It is impossible to pin any single unusual weather event on global warming.
• Heat waves, droughts, and intense rain events have increased in frequency
during the last 50 years.
Rising Sea Levels
• The weather isn’t the only thing global warming will impact: rising sea levels
will erode coasts and cause more frequent coastal flooding
• Between 1870 and 2000, the sea level increased by 1.7 millimeters per year
on average, for a total sea level rise of 221 millimeters
• As temperatures rise, ice will melt more quickly.
Impacting Ecosystems
• Warmer temperatures have already shifted the growing season in many
parts of the globe.
• This change in the growing season affects the broader ecosystem.
• To survive the extreme temperatures, both marine and land-based plants
and animals have started to migrate towards the poles.
• The IPCC estimates that 20-30 percent of plant and animal species will be at
risk of extinction if temperatures climb more than 1.5° to 2.5°C.
One inevitable consequence of global warming is sea-level rise. In the face of higher sea
levels and more intense storms, coastal communities face greater risk of rapid beach
erosion from destructive storms like the intense nor’easter of April 2007 that caused
this damage.
•
Photograph ©2007 metimbers 2000.
Impacting People
• The changes to weather and ecosystems will also affect people more
directly.
• As tropical temperature zones expand, the reach of some infectious
diseases, such as malaria, will change.
• On a longer time scale, fresh water will become scarcer, especially during
the summer, as mountain glaciers disappear.
• Ultimately, global warming will impact life on Earth in many ways, but the
extent of the change is largely up to us.
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