Global Warming
This is the gradual increase of the temperature of the Earth's lower atmosphere as a result of the increase in greenhouse gas emissions since the Industrial Revolution.
In 2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued a series of reports describing the latest results of worldwide scientific research into global warming. The panel found that “warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global average sea level.”
The panel noted that temperatures had increased 0.76 degrees Celsius (1.3 degrees Fahrenheit) between 1850 and 2005. The IPCC projects a temperature increase of 1.98-11.5 degrees Fahrenheit by 2099. (See also "Climate Change")
Sources:
-- “Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis (Summary for Policymakers).” Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Available online at http://ipcc-wg1.ucar.edu/wg1/wg1-report.html
-- “Climate Change: State of Knowledge,” EPA Web site. Accessed Sept. 5, 2007. http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/science/stateofknowledge.html
-- “Global Warming,” from Columbia Encyclopedia on the Infoplease.com Web site. Accessed Sept. 5, 2007. http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/sci/A0821016.html
