Global warming is due to the increase in the atmosphere of greenhouse gas concentrations like water vapour, carbon dioxide, methane and ozone. Greenhouse gases are those gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect. The largest contributing source of greenhouse gas is the burning of fossil fuels leading to the emission of carbon dioxide.
Source taken from HERE.
d. Effects of global warming.
There are two major effects:
- Increase of temperature on the Earth by about 3 - 5 degrees Celsius by the tear 2100.
- Rise of sea levels by at least 25 meters by the year 2100.
Increasing global temperatures are causing a lot of changes. Sea levels are rising due to the thermal expansion of the ocean, in addition to melting of land ice. Amounts and patterns of precipitation are changing.
Changes in temperature and precipitation patterns increase the frequency, duration, and intensity of other extreme weather events, such as floods, droughts, and tornadoes. As a further effect of global warming, diseases like malaria are returning into areas where they have been put an end to earlier.
Although global warming is affecting the number and magnitude of these events, it is difficult to connect specific events to global warming. Most studies focus on the period up to 2100, warming is expected to continue past then because carbon dioxide has an estimated atmospheric lifetime of 50 to 200 years.
Source taken from HERE.
