What is worldwide warming?
Worldwide warming is the rise in average temperatures across the globe, which has been (happening now) at least since record keeping began in 1880.
Here are the bare numbers, according to the National Ocean-related and (related to the air outside) Management (NOAA): Between 1880 and 1980, the worldwide once-a-year temperature increased at a rate of 0.13 degrees Fahrenheit (0.07 degrees Celsius) per ten years, on average. Since 1981, the rate of increase has sped up, to 0.32 F (0.18 C) per ten years. This has led to an overall 3.6 F (2 C) increase in worldwide average temperature today compared with the preindustrial time in history. So far, 2016 is the hottest year on record, but that record has been close to falling (more than two, but not a lot of) times already. The years 2019 and 2020 both came within fractions of degrees of knocking 2016 off its perch. In 2020, the average worldwide temperature over land and ocean was 1.76 F (0.98 C) warmer than the 20th-century average of 57.0 F (13.9 C).
Modern worldwide warming is caused by humans. The burning of (coal, natural gas, oil, etc.) has released pollution (that heats up the Earth) into the atmosphere, which trap warmth from the sun and drive up surface and air temperatures. Worldwide warming is a word that means the same as climate change, though "climate change" has become the preferred term among scientists.
What causes worldwide warming?
The main driver of today's warming is the burning (in an explosion) of (coal, natural gas, oil, etc.). These hydrocarbons heat up the planet via the (glass building where plants are grown) effect, which is caused by the interaction between Earth's atmosphere and incoming radiation from the sun.
"The basic physics of the (glass building where plants are grown) effect were figured out more than a hundred years ago by a smart guy using only pencil and paper," Josef Werne, a professor of (the study of rocks) and (related to surrounding conditions or the health of the Earth) science at the University of Pittsburgh, told Live Science.
That "smart guy" was Svante Arrhenius, a Swedish scientist and (happening sometime in the future) receiver of a Nobel Prize in chemistry. Simply put, solar radiation hits Earth's surface and then bounces back toward the atmosphere as heat. Gases in the atmosphere trap this heat, preventing it from escaping into the nothingness of space (good news for life on the planet). In a paper presented in 1895, Arrhenius figured out that pollution (that heats up the Earth) such as carbon dioxide could trap heat close to the Earth's surface, and that small changes in the amount of those gases could make a big difference in how much heat is trapped.
How pollution (that heats up the Earth) cause worldwide warming
Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, humans have been quickly changing the balance of gases in the atmosphere. Burning (coal, natural gas, oil, etc.) like coal and oil releases water vapor, carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), ozone and nitrous oxide (N2O), which are carefully thought about/believed the first (or most important) pollution (that heats up the Earth). Carbon dioxide is the most common pollution (that heats up the Earth). Between about 800,000 years ago and the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, CO2's presence in the atmosphere amounted to about 280 parts per million (ppm, meaning there were about 280 molecules of CO2 in the air per every million air molecules). As of 2020 (the last year when full data are available), the average CO2 in the atmosphere was 412.5 ppm, according to the National Centers for (related to surrounding conditions or the health of the Earth) Information.
That may not sound like much, but according to the Scripps Institution of (the study of oceans), levels of CO2 haven't been that high since the Pliocene period of time in history, from about 5.3 million to 2.6 million years ago. At that time, the Arctic was ice-free for at least part of the year and significantly warmer than it is today, according to 2013 research published in the journal Science.
In 2016, CO2 accounted for 81.6% of all U.S. pollution (that heats up the Earth) (things sent out or given off), according to an analysis from the (related to surrounding conditions or the health of the Earth) Protection (service business/government unit/power/functioning) (EPA).
"We know through high-accuracy instrumental measurements that there is a never-before-seen increase in CO2 in the atmosphere. We know that CO2 soaks up (like a towel) infrared radiation [heat] and the worldwide mean temperature is increasing," Keith Peterman, a professor of chemistry at York College of Pennsylvania, and his research partner, Gregory Foy, an associate professor of chemistry at York College of Pennsylvania, told Live Science in a joint email message.
CO2 makes its way into the atmosphere through a variety of routes. Burning (coal, natural gas, oil, etc.) releases CO2 and is, by far, the biggest U.S. (thing that's given/work that's done) to (things sent out or given off) that warm the globe. According to the 2018 EPA report, U.S. (coal, natural gas, oil, etc.) burning (in an explosion), including electricity generation, released just over 5.8 billion tons (5.3 billion metric tons) of CO2 into the atmosphere in 2016. Other processes -- such as non-energy use of fuels, iron and steel production, cement production and waste burning -- boost the total once-a-year CO2 release in the U.S. to 7 billion tons (6.5 billion metric tons).
(cutting down huge numbers of trees) is also a large contributor to excess CO2 in the atmosphere. In fact, (cutting down huge numbers of trees) is the second largest made by people (human-made) source of carbon dioxide, according to the Food and Farming Organization of the United Nations. After trees die, they release the carbon they have stored during (making food from light). The change of forest land into ranching, (where there are lots of homes) or farming-based land also means fewer trees to take up carbon from the atmosphere. According to the UN's 2020 Worldwide Forest Useful things/valuable supplies Test/evaluation, about 1,040 (areas of land about 200 feet X 220 feet) (420 hectares) of forest have been lost to (cutting down huge numbers of trees) since 1990, but the good news is that since 2015, the rate of forest loss has slowed.
Around the world, methane is the second most common pollution (that heats up the Earth), but it is the (producing the most with the least waste) at trapping heat. The EPA reports that methane is 25 times (producing more with less waste) at trapping heat than carbon dioxide. In 2016, the gas accounted for about 10% of all U.S. pollution (that heats up the Earth) (things sent out or given off), according to the EPA.
Methane can come from many natural sources, but humans cause a large part of/amount of methane (things sent out or given off) through mining, the use of natural gas, the mass raising of farm animals and the use of (places where garbage and trash are dumped). (cows, bulls, etc.) make up/be equal to the largest single source of methane in the U.S., according to the EPA, with the animals producing nearly 26% of total methane (things sent out or given off).
What are the effects of worldwide warming?
Worldwide warming doesn't just mean warming, which is why "climate change" has become the favorite term among (people who work to find information) and policymakers. While the globe is becoming hotter on average, this temperature increase can have weird, puzzling, and unexpected effects, such as more frequent and extreme snowstorms. Climate change can and will affect the globe in (more than two, but not a lot of) big ways: by melting ice, by drying out already-arid areas, by causing weather extremes and by disrupting the delicate balance of the oceans.
Melting ice
Maybe the most visible effect of worldwide warming so far is the melting of huge masses of ice and sea ice. The ice sheets have been backing away/moving away since the end of the last ice age, about 11,700 years ago, but the last century's warming has hurried their death. A 2016 study found that there is a 99% chance that worldwide warming has caused the recent retreat of huge masses of ice; in fact, the research showed, these rivers of ice retreated 10 to 15 times the distance they would have if the climate had stayed stable. Huge mass of ice National Park in Montana had 150 huge masses of ice in the late 1800s. As of 2015, when the last full survey was taken, there were 26.. The loss of huge masses of ice can cause the loss of human life, when icy dams holding back huge mass of ice lakes upset the balance of and burst or when suddenly rushes/suddenly flows caused by unstable ice bury villages.
At the North Pole, warming is going ahead/moving forward twice as quickly as it is at middle (how north or south you are on the Earth), and the sea ice is showing the strain. Fall and winter ice in the Arctic hit record lows in both 2015 and 2016, meaning the ice wide area did not cover as much of the open sea as (before that/before now) watched/followed. In 2020, summer sea ice hit the second-lowest extent ever recorded, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). According to NASA, the 13 smallest values for greatest possible winter extent of sea ice in the Arctic were all measured in the last 13 years. The ice also forms later in the season and melts more easily in spring. According to the NSIDC, January sea ice extent has declined 3.15% per ten years over the past 40 years. Some scientists think the Arctic Ocean will see ice-free summers within 20 or 30 years.
In the Antarctic, the effects of worldwide warming have been more (number or thing that changes).. The Western Antarctic Peninsula is warming faster than anywhere else besides some parts of the Arctic, according to the Antarctic and Southern Ocean (supporting) group. The peninsula is where the Larsen C ice shelf just broke in July 2017, creating an iceberg the size of Delaware. Now, scientists say that a quarter of West Antarctica's ice is in danger of collapse and the huge Thwaites and Pine Island huge masses of ice are flowing five times faster than they did in 1992. The Thwaites huge mass of ice is especially capable of being hurt because 2021 research suggests it sits over an area where Earth's crust is (compared to other things) thin and (related to the heat deep in the Earth) heat can weaken the ice from below.
East Antarctica has long been more tough to the effects of worldwide warming. But recent data hints that even this last cold strong protector of the southern continent may be feeling the effects of rising temperatures. According to Yale's (surrounding conditions)360, huge masses of ice in East Antarctica are starting to move faster. That means more land-based ice headed toward the ocean -- a major driver of sea level rise.
Heating up
Worldwide warming will change things between the poles, too. Many already-dry areas are expected to get even drier as the world warms. The southwest and central plains of the United States, for example, are expected to experience at least 20 years-long "megadroughts" harsher than anything else in human memory.
"The future of (time period with not enough rain) in western North America is likely to be worse than anybody has experienced in the history of the United States," Benjamin Cook, a climate scientist at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City who published research in 2015 projecting these (time periods with not enough rain), told Live Science. "These are (time periods with not enough rain) that are so far beyond our modern experience that they are almost impossible to even think about."
The study (described a possible future event) an 85% chance of (time periods with not enough rain) lasting at least 35 years in the area by 2100. The main driver, the (people who work to find information) found, is the increasing (change from a liquid to a gas) of water from hotter and hotter soil. Much of the (rain, snow, etc.) that does fall in these dry areas will be lost.
Meanwhile, 2014 research found that many areas will likely see less rainfall as the climate warms. Subtropical areas, including the Mediterranean, the Amazon, Central America and Indonesia, will likely be hardest hit, that study found, while South Africa, Mexico, western Australia and California will also dry out.
(time periods with not enough rain), in turn, can set the stage for terrible and destructive wildfires. Many factors go into how many (areas of land about 200 feet X 220 feet) are burned each year and how much damage fires do, but according to National Interagency Fire Center data, there has been a steady increase in the extent of wildfires since the 1980s. The top 10 years of land burned have all happened since 2005.
Extreme weather
Another hit/effect of worldwide warming: extreme weather. Gigantic dangerous storms and hurricanes are expected to become much stronger as the planet warms. Hotter oceans disappear more moisture, which is the engine that drives these storms. The U.N Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (describes a possible future event) that even if the world diversifies its energy sources and changes (from one thing to another) to a less (coal, natural gas, oil, etc.)-intensive (process of people making, selling, and buying things) (known as the A1B picture/situation), (related to areas near the Equator/hot and humid) cyclones are likely to be up to 11% much stronger on average. That means more wind and water damage on capable of being hurt (lands next to a body of water).
Surprisingly, climate change may also cause more frequent extreme snowstorms. According to the National Centers for (related to surrounding conditions or the health of the Earth) Information, extreme snowstorms in the eastern United States have become twice as common as they were in the early 1900s. Here again, this change comes because warming ocean temperatures lead to increased (change from a liquid to a gas) of moisture into the atmosphere. This moisture powers storms that hit the continental United States.
Ocean disruption
Some of the most immediate hits/effects of worldwide warming are beneath the waves. Oceans act as carbon sinks, which means they soak up (like a towel) dissolved carbon dioxide. That's not a bad thing for the atmosphere, but it isn't great for the marine community. When carbon dioxide reacts with seawater, the pH of the water declines (that is, it becomes more (acid-like/harsh)), a process known as ocean (turning something more acid). This increased (how much acid something has) eats away at the (silvery metal/important nutrient) carbonate shells and skeletons that many ocean (living things) depend on for survival. These creatures include shellfish, pteropods and corals, according to NOAA.
Corals, especially, are the canary in a coal mine for climate change in the oceans. Marine scientists have watched/followed upsetting levels of coral removing the color from, events in which coral expel the (two things helping each other) (seaweed, etc.) that provide the coral with things that act as foods and give them their colorful colors. Removing the color from happens when corals are stressed, and upsetting things can include high temperatures. In 2016 and 2017, Australia's Great (something that blocks or stops something) Reef experienced back-to-back whitening/lightening events. Coral can survive removing the color from, but repeated removing the color from events make survival less and less likely.
Worldwide warming fast facts
- Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are at 417 ppm in 2021, their highest levels in 650,000 years.
- Average worldwide temperature has increased by 1.9 F (3.4 C) since 1880.
- The minimum wide area of Arctic summer sea ice has declined 13% per ten years since satellite measurements began, in 1979.
- Land ice has declined at the poles by 428 gigatons a year since 2002.
- Worldwide sea level has risen 7 inches (178 millimeters) in the past century.
Further useful things/valuable supplies on worldwide warming
For up-to-date news and data on worldwide warming, visit Climate.gov, a storage place of information given by NOAA. The National Centers for (related to surrounding conditions or the health of the Earth) Information provides a monthly "state of the climate" report watching and following (popular things/general ways things are going) within the U.S. and around the world. For answers to common questions about worldwide warming, visit NASA's Worldwide Climate Change page.
For a truly deep dive into the science, modeling and (statements about possible future events) surrounding worldwide warming, read the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Sixth Test/evaluation report. The IPCC website also hosts fact sheets and outreach materials designed for the general public.
(list of books and articles used for something)
Hayhoe, Katherine. "Saving Us: A Climate Scientist's Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World." Simon & Schuster. September 2021.
Mann, Michael. "The New Climate War: The Fight to Take Back Our Planet." PublicAffairs. January 2021.
U.S. (related to surrounding conditions or the health of the Earth) Protection (service business/government unit/power/functioning). "Climate Change." Jan. 14, 2022. https://www.epa.gov/climate-change
Stephanie Pappas is an adding/giving writer for Live Science, covering topics ranging from science related to the Earth to archaeology to the human brain and behavior. She was (before that/before now) a senior writer for Live Science but is now a (person who works at little jobs in a self-employed way) based in Denver, Colorado, and regularly adds/gives to Scientific American and The Monitor, the monthly magazine of the American Psychological Association. Stephanie received a bachelor's degree in (the study of thinking and behavior) from the University of South Carolina and a graduate certificate in science communication from the University of California, Santa Cruz.
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