Global Warming Articles

Global warming articles and the latest global warming information will be presented. This page will be a directory of sorts with links below to my articles on anything to do with global warming and climate change issues. The sources of my information will range from books and magazine articles to internet articles and blog comments.

How To Keep Informed

Despite the political debate that continues to rage there is no debate among the vast majority of the scientific community that climate change and global warming are real. And the activities due to mankind are the reason for the warming of the planet. Some of the respected scientific organizations that recognize the human impact on global warming are: The American Meteorological Society, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to name a few.

We need a certain amount of greenhouse gases to survive, in order to keep the planet at a comfortable 59 F. However, it is generally agreed that the extra greenhouse gases (mostly CO2) emitted from the activities of mankind is leading to the un-natural warming. The pre-industrial revolution CO2 concentration of 280 parts-per-million (ppm) has now risen to 390 ppm today. This is higher than anytime over the last 800,000 years according to ice core data. It might be the highest in many millions of years. As a result the global temperature has increased around 1.5 F since 1850. This is the warmest global temperature in the last 400 years. I will present global warming articles that expands on this information.

Things To Watch Out For

The effects of this global warming and climate change includes rising sea levels, due to thermal expansion of the sea and melting of glacial ice. So far for the 20th century the sea level has risen around 8 inches. Due to the melting ice, it is expected that the Arctic Ocean could be ice-free during the summer - for the first time in 55 million years. Glacier National Park is expected to lose all its glaciers by 2030. More extreme weather (with more drought in some locations and flooding in others) is expected along with more forest fires (where drought and deforestation persists), more insect-borne disease, higher extinction of species, and shifting climate zones.

In addition to some of the "classic" global warming effects - it is interesting to note that the growing season is also growing longer. Since 1900 the Western U.S. growing season has increased by 20 days. In the Eastern U.S., the increase is more like 6 days per century. The reaction to this is mixed; some gardeners or farmers might like the extra time to grow more crops/food. Yet, this also gives pests a longer period to adapt and weeds can get a better foothold. (Sources: "Signs of Climate Change" by Richard Hilderman & "Growing Season Widens Due to Global Warming by Alison Rogers, Mother Earth News, August/September 2011)

This and more will be covered in some of the global warming articles which will be added below.

Reading the latest global warming articles is a good way to keep up on the changes in the science of global warming and climate change.