Noun

Singular global warming

Plural uncountable

global warming (uncountable)

1. A sustained increase in the average temperature of the earth, sufficient to cause climate change.

Antonyms

• global cooling

Derived terms

• global warming denial
• global warming denier

Global warming is the increase in the average temperature of Earth's near-surface air and oceans since the mid-20th century and its projected continuation. Global surface temperature increased 0.74 ± 0.18 °C (1.33 ± 0.32 °F) between the start and the end of the 20th century. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concludes that most of the observed temperature increase since the middle of the 20th century was caused by increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases resulting from human activity such as fossil fuel burning and deforestation. The IPCC also concludes that variations in natural phenomena such as solar radiation and volcanism produced most of the warming from pre-industrial times to 1950 and had a small cooling effect afterward. These basic conclusions have been endorsed by more than 40 scientific societies and academies of science, including all of the national academies of science of the major industrialized countries.

Climate model projections summarized in the latest IPCC report indicate that the global surface temperature is likely to rise a further 1.1 to 6.4 °C (2.0 to 11.5 °F) during the 21st century. The uncertainty in this estimate arises from the use of models with differing sensitivity to greenhouse gas concentrations and the use of differing estimates of future greenhouse gas emissions. Some other uncertainties include how warming and related changes will vary from region to region around the globe. Most studies focus on the period up to the year 2100. However, warming is expected to continue beyond 2100 even if emissions stop, because of the large heat capacity of the oceans and the long lifetime of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

An increase in global temperature will cause sea levels to rise and will change the amount and pattern of precipitation, probably including expansion of subtropical deserts. Warming will be strongest in the Arctic and will be associated with continuing retreat of glaciers, permafrost and sea ice. Other likely effects include increases in the intensity of extreme weather events, species extinctions, and changes in agricultural yields.

Political and public debate continues regarding global warming, and what actions (if any) to take in response. The available options are mitigation to reduce further emissions; adaptation to reduce the damage caused by warming; and, more speculatively, geoengineering to reverse global warming. Most national governments have signed and ratified the Kyoto Protocol aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Contents

• 1 For
• 2 Against
• 3 About
• 4 External links

For

• Global warming causing climate change may be the ultimate issue that unites us all.
  • Louise Burfitt-Dons,2008

• "Why try to change the future when the present is so bleak"
  • Santa Bush 11/09/2007

• "We simply must do everything we can in our power to slow down global warming before it is too late... The science is clear. The global warming debate is over."
  • Arnold Schwarzenegger, bill signing ceremony for California's strict anti-emissions law, September 26, 2006. [1]

• "There's a better scientific consensus on this than on any issue I know -- except maybe Newton's second law of dynamics," said D. James Baker, administrator of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "Man has reached the point where his impact on the climate can be as significant as nature's."
  • Warrick, Joby. “Consensus Emerges Earth Is Warming – Now What?” Washington Post 12 Nov. 1997: A01.

• "The answer to global warming is in the abolition of private property and production for human need. A socialist world would place an enormous priority on alternative energy sources. This is what ecologically-minded socialists have been exploring for quite some time now."
  • Louis Proyect, Columbia University

• ‘Since global warming Eskimos now have twenty different words for water.’
  • John O'Farrell - This Is Your Life 2001

• “If you asked me to name the three scariest threats facing the human race, I would give the same answer that most people would: nuclear war, global warming and Windows.”
  • Dave Barry

From Wikiquote under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Wed Dec 23 10:34:05 2009