On Global Warming and Climate Changes

History reminds us of Ice Age twenty thousand years ago, when a third of the planet Earth was covered by thick sheet of ice. Recently, focus has been on global warming and the world’s constant climate changes, either becoming warmer or colder, from one year to another.

Climate describes the typical weather of a place at a particular time, while global warming is the increase of the average temperature on Earth. A change in climate is not just a weather change in UK, Australia, China or India. It’s a closely related worldwide weather change.

The Earth’s climate has made its way throughout the planet’s history. There have been times in the periods between Ice Ages, for example, when some plants and animals thriving in hot lands today lived in more northerly regions.

The trouble is that the more planet Earth gets hotter, disasters like floods, hurricanes and other calamities are likely to happen. Projections from the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change tell us that in 21st century, global surface temperature will probably rise a further 1.1 to 6.4 degrees Celsius (2.0 to 11.5 degrees Fahrenheit). The wide range of estimate is due to uncertainties, that is, whether humankind will do something about it or not.

Causes of Climate Change

• The Earth’s climate changes constantly, becoming either warmer or colder from year to year.

• Shift in the Earth’s position relative to the sun

• Burst of sunspot activity in the sun. Sunspots are dark spots on the Sun where the surface is less hot. They seem to change all the time and reach a peak every decade or so. When there are fewer sunspots, the Sun gives Earth less heat. Weather records show that when they reach their maximum level, the weather on Earth is warmer.

• Oceans act as huge heat repositories that follow changes in air temperature with a time lag of decade or even hundreds years. As melting ice caps reflect less sunlight, Earth absorbs more heat.

• The industrial world pumps huge amounts of gases into the air, including carbon dioxide from burning oil in power stations and automobiles. They are so-called “greenhouse gases” because they trap the Sun’s heat in the atmosphere like the glass in the greenhouse.

• Volcanic eruptions

Recording the Weather through Climate Changes

Changes in the climate can be seen by studying weather records noted by scientists in the past. They can also find many clues to climate change in nature. One clue can be found by doing tree ring analysis in trees. By comparing rings from different trees that have existed over two or three thousand years, scientists can build up a record of climate change.

Climate Changes and Global Warming

How these changes influence global warming trends is not clear. What is certain is it’s going to be warmer, with human greenhouse gas emissions an important factor. Also, higher global temperatures don’t necessarily mean it will be warmer at any given place on Earth. In recent times, scientists and world leaders have been concern with air pollution, thought to be the most damaging trigger of global warming.

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