Global warming facts

2005 was the hottest year on record
(tied with 1998), according to NASA.

There has been a 100% Increase in intensity and duration
of hurricanes and tropical storms since the 1970's, according to a 2005 MIT study.

$100 billion was the estimated cost of damage caused by
hurricanes hitting the U.S. coast in 2005 alone, according to the National Climatic Data Center.

By 2030 Glacier National Park will have no glaciers left, according to the U.S. Geological Survey predictions.

400, 000 square miles of Arctic sea ice have melted in the last 30 years (roughly the size of Texas), threatening polar bear habitats and further accelerating global warming worldwide, according to the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment.

15% - 37% of plant and animal species could be wiped out by global warming by 2050.

The United States is ranked number one as a global warming polluter
compared to other large nations.

6 former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency leaders say the U.S. is not doing enough to fight global warming.

Global warming facts and statistics

At the rate our climate is changing, the world will soon be warmer than at any time in th last 10,000 years.

The world has warmed by 0.5 degC over the past century and an average 2 degC warming is predicted by 2100.

There is scientific consensus that air pollution from human activities is partly responsible for global warming.

Climatic changes will alter natural vegetation, wildlife habitats, crop growing seasons, and distribution of pests and diseases.

Global warming will cause a continued and accelerated rise in sea levels, threatening half of the world's most critical coastal wetlands.

A one-meter rise in sea level would threaten half of the world's coastal wetlands of international importance for their biodiversity.

A 3 degC to 4 degC warming could eliminate up to 85% of the remaining wetlands in the semi-arid regions of southern Europe.

The loss of wetlands in the flood plains of rivers in the African Sahel could make some local populations of turtles and birds extinct.

A 3 degC to 4 degC warming could eliminate all open waters of the prairie pothole region in the US, an area where half of the wild duck population hatch out.

About 30 new infectious diseases have emerged in the past 20 years.

Global warming will expose millions of people to new health risks. Infectious diseases are emerging, resurging and undergoing redistribution on a global scale.

Global sea level has risen between 10 to 25 cm in the last 100 years and will rise faster still in the coming decades.

By the year 2050, up to one million additional deaths from malaria may be occurring annually as a result of climate change.

The arctic is unusually important for migratory birds. An estimated 15% of the world's bird species are arctic specialists. In north america, 36 species breed only above 60 degN latitude.

Ringed seals are the principal prey of polar bears. Unseasonal warming can lead to collapses of the snow caves where female seals bear their young. The young as yet have no blubber and die of exposure when cold conditions return. Scientists suspect that declines in seal populations will occur in this manner, and will ultimately lead to declines in polar bear populations.

Detailed climate models suggest that a doubling of greenhouse gas concentrations will lead to a 30% reduction in the tundra available to Arctic species.

Many of the world's most distinctive mammals are found only in the Arctic, including walrus, several species of seals, arctic foxes, collared lemmings, arctic and tundra hares, muskoxen, polar bears, mmarwhals and bowhead whales.

As sea ice becomes thinner due to increased temperatures, animal intruders from the south, such as grizzly bears and moose, are penetrating north affecting local populations.

Between 15 to 20% of the large nature reserves in southern reserves in southern Africa would experience a change in biome or habitat type under different climate change scenarios.

Climatic changes will alter natural vegetation, wildlife habitats, crop growing seasons, and the distribution of pests and diseases.

Source: WWF, Climate Change Campaign - Protecting our Planet from Global Warming. World Wide Fund for Nature

Global warming facts from http://globalwarming.sdsu.edu

The Earth was formed about 4,540,000,000 years ago.
In the beginning, the Earth's atmosphere contained very little oxygen (less than 1% oxygen pressure).
Early plants started to develop more than 2 billion years ago, probably about 2,700,000,000.
Through photosynthesis, plants uptake carbon dioxide into the biosphere as organic matter, and release oxygen as a byproduct.
Through geologic time, oxygen accumulated gradually in the atmosphere, reaching a value of about 21% of atmospheric gases at the present time.
Through geologic time, surplus organic matter has been sequestered in the lithosphere as fossil organic materials (coal, petroleum, and natural gas).
Early animals (the first organisms with external shells) started to develop around 600,000,000 years ago.
Animals operate in the opposite way than plants: they take up oxygen, burn organic matter (food), and release carbon dioxide as a byproduct.
Early humans (Australopithecus anamensis) began to develop about 4,100,000 years ago.
Cool climatic conditions have prevailed during the past 1,000,000 years. The species Homo sapiens evolved under these climatic conditions.
Homo sapiens dates back to more than 400,000 years.
Estimates for the variety Homo sapiens sapiens, to which all humans belong, range from 130,000 to 195,000 years old.
The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was as low as 190 ppm during the last Ice Age, about 21,000 years ago.
The last Ice Age began to recede about 20,000 years ago.
The agricultural revolution, where humans converted forests and rangelands into farms, began to develop about 10,000 years ago.
The agricultural revolution caused a reduction in standing biomass in the biosphere and reduced the uptake of carbon dioxide in midlatitudinal regions, indirectly contributing, however so slightly, to global warming.
The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increased gradually from a low of 190 ppm 21,000 year ago, to about 290 ppm in the year 1900, i.e., at an average rate of 0.00478 ppm per year.
The industrial revolution, where humans developed machines (artificial animals, since they consume fuels, which are mostly organic matter), began in England about 240 years ago (1767).
In October 1999, the world's population reached 6,000,000,000, which is double that of the year 1959 (the doubling occurred in 40 years).
The world's population is currently increasing at the rate of about 80,000,000 per year (about 1.2 %).
The current world population is 6,575,000,000 (February 2007).
The global fleet of motor vehicles is estimated at 830,000,000 (2006).
The global fleet of motor vehicles has been recently growing at the rate of 16,000,000 per year.
Motor vehicles (cars, trucks, buses, and scooters) account for 80% of all transport-related energy use.
The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which was at 290 ppm in the year 1900, rose to 316 ppm in 1959, or at an average 0.44 ppm per year.
Measurements of the concentration of carbon dioxide since 1959 (316 ppm) have revealed an increase to 378 ppm in 2004, or at an average 1.38 ppm per year.
The concentration of carbon dioxide has increased an average of about 1.8 ppm per year over the past two decades.
The concentration of carbon dioxide increased 2.87 ppm in 1997-98, more than in any other year of record.
The year 1998 was the warmest of record. The year 2002 was the second warmest (to that date). The year 2003 was the third warmest (to that date). The year 2004 was the fourth warmest (to that date). Last year (2005) equaled 1998 as the warmest of record.
About 75% of the annual increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide is due to the burning of fossil fuels.
The remaining 25% is attributed to anthropogenic changes in land use, which have the effect of reducing the net uptake of carbon dioxide.
Anthropogenic changes in land use occur when forests are converted to rangelands, rangelands to agriculture, and agriculture to urban areas.
Other patterns of land degradation--deforestation, overgrazing, overcultivation, desertification, and salinization--reduce the net uptake of carbon dioxide, indirectly contributing, however slightly, to global warming.

Source: http://globalwarming.sdsu.edu

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Comment Script

Comments

Thank You!

Hi, I am a student in middle school, and I am writing an editorial about global warming, and I must say that this source really helped! Thank you! One thing, though. I need to cite this site in MLA format, but I would need the author and the date of the document. So, if you could please e-mail me back with that information, it would really help. You don't have to if you don't want to, and if you don't, I'll understand. All I'm saying is that it would really help. Thank you for your time. GO GREEN! :D

#1 - Lara Abiona - 02/27/2008 - 01:49

comment

It is really nice to see people caring about global warming and putting information out into the public for people to see. A lot of my friends I know don't believe global warming is true and I think they have to be blind and deaf not to know what a serious problem it is. A lot of websites are saying Al Gore is crap and nothing major will happen with the increasing carbon dioxide levels. People need to look at the facts and understnd that this is real. If you don't care, then you are STUPID!

#2 - Megan - 03/05/2008 - 01:17

In my opinion...

http://www.intelliot.com/blog/archives/2007/03/17/is-global-warming-fake/this this answers everything.
Al gore is stupid crap like you 2 middle schoolers to say the least. 20 years ago scientists proposed that an increase in carbon dioxide could help the world warm up.
(they had to deal with global cooling)

#3 - true science - 03/07/2008 - 18:02

A response to "true science"

"The science that demonstrates global warming is real can answer all of the skeptics questions. Check out these great articles and you'll see that the anti-global warming argument is full of flaws and backed by only a few professional skeptics. Some of them are the same scientists who argue that smoking does you no harm!

Global Warming Skeptic Bingo - http://timlambert.org/2005/04/gwsbingo/
Stoat - http://mustelid.blogspot.com/2005/03/more-myths-of-near-future.html
Global Cooling Skeptics - http://blog.getm.org/?p=56 How to talk to a Global Warming Skeptic - http://illconsidered.blogspot.com/2006/02/how-to-talk-to-global-warming-sceptic.html"

#4 - A. Pearce - 03/11/2008 - 08:12

Good Info

I am a high school student doing a research project for a class and I ofund this info really good to use on my project. Good Job guys!!!

#5 - Unknown - 04/18/2008 - 22:09


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