Global Warming is the increase of Earth's average surface temperature due to effect of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels or from deforestation, which trap heat that would otherwise escape from Earth. This is a type of greenhouse effect.
Global Warming Impacts
Many of the following "harbingers" and "fingerprints" are now well under way:- Rising Seas--- inundation of fresh water marshlands (the everglades), low-lying cities, and islands with seawater.
- Changes in rainfall patterns --- droughts and fires in some areas, flooding in other areas. See the section above on the recent droughts, for example!
- Increased likelihood of extreme events--- such as flooding, hurricanes, etc.
- Melting of the ice caps --- loss of habitat near the poles. Polar bears are now thought to be greatly endangered by the shortening of their feeding season due to dwindling ice packs.
- Melting glaciers - significant melting of old glaciers is already observed.
- Widespread vanishing of animal populations --- following widespread habitat loss.
- Spread of disease --- migration of diseases such as malaria to new, now warmer, regions.
- Bleaching of Coral Reefs due to warming seas and acidification due to carbonic acid formation --- One third of coral reefs now appear to have been severely damaged by warming seas.
- Loss of Plankton due to warming seas --- The enormous (900 mile long) Aleution island ecosystems of orcas (killer whales), sea lions, sea otters, sea urchins, kelp beds, and fish populations, appears to have collapsed due to loss of plankton, leading to loss of sea lions, leading orcas to eat too many sea otters, leading to urchin explosions, leading to loss of kelp beds and their associated fish populations.
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