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You are in: Special Report: 1998: 10/98: Global warming | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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![]() Global warming: The facts
Scientists say global warming causes rising sea levels: The map shows the effect a rise of 1.5m would have on the Nile delta
Every time severe weather strikes, global warming seems to be blamed. But what is it and should we be worried?
Is it real? Records show that the average temperature of the planet is climbing quite rapidly. The global average surface air temperature has risen by between 0.3 and 0.6 degrees C in the last century. For Britain, 1998 has proved the hottest year in the last thousand years.
The greenhouse effect Most scientists believe recent global warming has been generated by human influence on a naturally-occurring phenomenon called the greenhouse effect.
Under normal conditions some of the sun's heat is radiated back into space
The 'greenhouse effect' occurs when heat is trapped in the atmosphere by gases like carbon dioxide, methane and CFCs
The consequences General warming is expected to lead to an increase in the number of extremely hot days and decrease in the number of extremely cold days.
What can be done? Future trends may depend on action humans take to modify their activities. Both scientists and environment campaigners say human impact on the climate can be reduced by a number of measures:
What we are seeing now is the result of the greenhouse gases emitted up till 1968, because the climate takes about 30 years to catch up with extra pollution already emitted. The damage our pollution today is causing will not become apparent till about 2030. And analysis of ancient ice rings drilled from miles down on the Greenland ice cap shows that the climate can cool down or heat up quite dramatically in less than three decades. |
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