Global warming is when the overall temperature of the planet increases. This is due to the frequent use of fossil fuels (coal, oil, gas) and many other industrial processes causing a build-up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

It has been known since 1896 that carbon dioxide helps stop the Sun's infrared radiation from escaping into space and thus functions to maintain the Earth's relatively warm temperature.

Since 1850 there has been a mean rise in global temperature of approximately 1° C (1.8° F), but this rise could just be part of a natural fluctuation.

Whilst the media claim we’re reasonable for the greenhouse effect, that’s only part of the story (since when are the press ever right???). The surface of the earth is heated when sun rays reach it and it radiates at infrared wavelengths heat energy through the atmosphere into space to prevent the surface over-heating.

Gases in the atmosphere then reflect this radiation back towards the earth, thus heating it. It is expected that the temperature worldwide will increase by anything from 2-6C

The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has been increasing by 0.4 per cent a year because of the use of fossil fuels such as oil, gas, and coal; the amount of vegetation in the tropical rainforests also effects the carbon cycle as less is used by the plants.

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Africa India OtherAsia

LatinAmerica

China EuropeanUnion

OtherEurope

Japan FormerSovietUnion

Australia Canada UnitedStates

Western Europe 26% (ooh, that’s us!)

Asia (excluding USSR) 13.2%

Oceania 1.2%

Africa 1.8% Latin

America 2.9%

North America 35% Eastern

Europe 6.6%

Former USSR 13.2%

Greenhouse gases are the reason for global warming and are mainly produced by industry. The main cause of this is carbon dioxide, which becomes such a problem because of deforestation and burning fossil fuels.

However, carbon dioxide isn’t the only greenhouse gas but by far the most well-known; methane, nitrous oxide and chlorofluorocarbons can also cause global warming.

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Carbon Dioxide

Methane

Chloroflurocarbons

Nitrous Oxide

The scary thing is that methane is part of human waste, so global warming is unstoppable, all that eco-friendly factories will cause is a delay of the inevitable.

The rising water levels will cause many low-lying islands or cities be completely covered in water, and some of these are densely populated such as our capital city, London. Many other countries could be severely damaged.

The Alliance of Small Island States (ASIS) will be decimated; the 43 countries are: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Cape Verde, Comoros, Cook Islands, Cuba, Cyprus, Dominica, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Grenada, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Kiribati, Maldives, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles, Singapore, Solomon Islands, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Vanuatu

Global warming has already caused irreversible damage to the planet; winters are becoming: milder and less likely to be snowy, the arctic has shrunk by 40% in the past few decades and sea levels have risen by 18cm.

Bangladesh is already prone to flooding, so rising water levels could devastate the country.

Rising temperatures worldwide would cause ski resorts to be wrecked as heat will melt the snow & ice there.

Water shortages in the Middle East would cause the River Nile to dry up due to intense evaporation.

Mediterranean beaches will vanish as water levels rise.

Sahara desert could move northwards, even as far as Spain.

Arctic ice cap melts.

Heavy storms not only threaten southern USA, but also the insurance companies in the area face bankruptcy.

Forests are damaged by heat and drought

Permafrost ground will melt, causing massive landslides. Oil pipelines, houses and road foundations will be disintegrated

Global warming is also blamed for strong winds drought and heavy rainfall; however this is only an opinion.

Our homeland will be greatly affected by global warming and will be totally separated into the wet north and dry south.

The heat wave of 2006 killed a large number of elderly people due to the intensifying heat and low supply of water.

The overall temperature in the world has been expected to rise by around 4 degrees by 2080, does this ,mean that when we are similar ages to our grandparents we can look forward to dying in a heat wave?

Reservoirs will be built in the south, which is happening right now and the amount of people that have to find new houses is generally small, however these people still have to make serious changes to their lifestyle.

In the north, however a much different story; excessive rainfall and heat (which causes the snow on mountains to melt) will contribute to widespread flooding.

Have you ever seen a polar bear in person? The way global warming is progressing, then no one will be able to see them. They have adapted to the cold climate, and if the temperature goes up, the polar bear will ‘overheat’ and become extinct.

Dogs can die if they are left in a car with the windows closed. Will the day when dogs die in our own homes arrive in the near future? If it does, then dogs can become extinct in our country.

Penguins also live in the Ice Caps, and if they melt the land they call home could literally vanish from under their feet. Could this be the last place we can see penguins? Or even snow?

Whilst this meeting wasn’t specifically for the topic of global warming, it was prominently discussed among with numerous other topics.

The greenhouse effect was agreed to be reduced and around 150 nations signed a treaty to help reduce this effect, but this was a non-binding treaty.

The short-term costs greatly inhibit what action can be taken to combat global warming.

The Kyoto Protocol states that all who agree must aim to decrease carbon emissions by 5.2% of the amount used in 1990. This must be completed by 2010.

A total of 86 countries agreed to the proposal that carbon emissions should be lowered (via: cars, power plants and other industry). This, however, only applied to MEDC’s; LEDC’s and rapidly industrializing countries were excluded.USA hope to achieve there target of

carbon restriction by emission trading; this is where they maintain/ increase their production and sell their produce to other countries.