It is a non-existent, man-made term to describe the globe as warming up more than in previous years. NO solid scientific data is available to verify it so far. It is junk science at best propagated by a few earth loving wierdos who value whales and trees over human life.
2007-07-18 05:53:15
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answer #1
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answered by Anonymous
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On Feb. 2, 2007, the United Nations scientific panel studying climate change declared that the evidence of a warming trend is "unequivocal," and that human activity has "very likely" been the driving force in that change over the last 50 years. The last report by the group, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, in 2001, had found that humanity had "likely" played a role.
The addition of that single word "very" did more than reflect mounting scientific evidence that the release of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases from smokestacks, tailpipes and burning forests has played a central role in raising the average surface temperature of the earth by more than 1 degree Fahrenheit since 1900. It also added new momentum to a debate that now seems centered less over whether humans are warming the planet, but instead over what to do about it. In recent months, business groups have banded together to make unprecedented calls for federal regulation of greenhouse gases. The subject had a red-carpet moment when former Vice President Al Gore's documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth," was awarded an Oscar; and the Supreme Court made its first global warming-related decision, ruling 5 to 4 that the Environmental Protection Agency had not justified its position that it was not authorized to regulate carbon dioxide.
The greenhouse effect has been part of the earth's workings since its earliest days. Gases like carbon dioxide and methane allow sunlight to reach the earth, but prevent some of the resulting heat from radiating back out into space. Without the greenhouse effect, the planet would never have warmed enough to allow life to form. But as ever larger amounts of carbon dioxide have been released along with the development of industrial economies, the atmosphere has grown warmer at an accelerating rate: Since 1970, temperatures have gone up at nearly three times the average for the 20th century.
The latest report from the climate panel predicted that the global climate is likely to rise between 3.5 and 8 degrees Fahrenheit if the carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere reaches twice the level of 1750. By 2100, sea levels are likely to rise between 7 to 23 inches, it said, and the changes now underway will continue for centuries to come.
2007-07-18 02:13:03
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answer #2
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answered by Joy L 2
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Will explain in simple terms:
Global is world wide not just local events.
Warming is to become warm,and in the case of global warming, the worlds air masses, waters, etc. heat up. It may sound strange, but as the world heats up, weather & tide patterns change. This, along with, emissions from nature & humans cause green house effect. The trash (CO2) in the air blocks the suns rays and the world then starts to cool off.
That, in a nut shell, is what is going on.
2007-07-18 02:01:56
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answer #3
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answered by dragon 5
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Some gases ("greenhouse gases") let sunlight in, which warms the Earth, and then block that heat from leaving. That's the "greenhouse effect", and it's a natural thing, mostly caused by water vapor.
Man is making excessive amounts of greenhouse gases, mostly by burning fossil fuels. That causes the delicate natural balance to go out of whack and the Earth warms. That's global warming.
It won't be a Hollywood style disaster. Gradually coastal areas will flood and agriculture will be damaged. But it will be very bad. Rich countries will cope, but it will take huge amounts of money. In poor countries many people will die of starvation, but not all of them.
Most scientists say, in 20-50 years. But we need to start right now to fix it, fixing it will take even longer than that.
More information here:
http://profend.com/global-warming/
Lots of numerical scientific data proving it real here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Climate_Change_Attribution.png
http://www.ipcc.ch/SPM2feb07.pdf
2007-07-18 03:25:54
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answer #4
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answered by Bob 7
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Global warming
Global mean surface temperature anomaly 1850 to 2006 relative to 1961–1990
Mean surface temperature anomalies during the period 1995 to 2004 with respect to the average temperatures from 1940 to 1980
Global warming refers to the increase in the average temperature of the Earth's near-surface air and oceans in recent decades and its projected continuation.
Global average air temperature near the Earth's surface rose 0.74 ± 0.18 °C (1.33 ± 0.32 °F) during the past century. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concludes, "most of the observed increase in globally averaged temperatures since the mid-20th century is very likely due to the observed increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gas concentrations,"[1] which leads to warming of the surface and lower atmosphere by increasing the greenhouse effect. Natural phenomena such as solar variation combined with volcanoes have probably had a small warming effect from pre-industrial times to 1950, but a small cooling effect since 1950.[2][3] These basic conclusions have been endorsed by at least 30 scientific societies and academies of science, including all of the national academies of science of the major industrialized countries. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists is the only scientific society that rejects these conclusions.[4][5] A few individual scientists disagree with some of the main conclusions of the IPCC.[6]
Climate models referenced by the IPCC project that global surface temperatures are likely to increase by 1.1 to 6.4 °C (2.0 to 11.5 °F) between 1990 and 2100.[1] The range of values reflects the use of differing scenarios of future greenhouse gas emissions and results of models with differences in climate sensitivity. Although most studies focus on the period up to 2100, warming and sea level rise are expected to continue for more than a millennium even if greenhouse gas levels are stabilized.[1] This reflects the large heat capacity of the oceans.
Remaining scientific uncertainties include the exact degree of climate change expected in the future, and how changes will vary from region to region around the globe. There is ongoing political and public debate on a world scale regarding what, if any, action should be taken to reduce or reverse future warming or to adapt to its expected consequences. Most national governments have signed and ratified the Kyoto Protocol, aimed at combating greenhouse gas emissions.
2007-07-18 02:02:15
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answer #5
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answered by ritukiran16 3
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Global -- all over the Earth
Warming -- a gradual heating
2007-07-21 15:19:32
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answer #6
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answered by Anonymous
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"Global Warming" isn't the preferred term any more. Since the climate is cooling some years and warming others, the new preferred term is "Catastrophic Climate Change".
Plus it sounds scarier.
2007-07-18 03:00:29
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answer #7
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answered by Dr Jello 7
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Huge crop of crap that is theory based and not factual.
Free Tibet.
2007-07-18 07:50:00
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answer #8
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answered by Anonymous
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no term, the earth is like a person' {who smokes}, every year that persons lungs gets darker. well every year we fill the earth up with more and more crap so it is slowley dieing..
2007-07-18 02:01:24
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answer #9
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answered by atl28falcons 1
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i cant stad cussing i think ist ignorat but you tempted me
so sut the heck up ( stupid a question)
2007-07-18 02:51:56
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answer #10
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answered by Anonymous
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