Fast Facts About Climate Change
The Science of Climate Change
Greenhouse gases, including carbon
dioxide, methane and water vapor, trap heat in the
Earth's atmosphere and warm the planet.
In general, the greenhouse
effect is a good thing. Without greenhouse gases, the
temperature on Earth would be too cold to support life. With too
many, it would heat up beyond survivable levels. Earth is
sometimes called the Goldilocks
it is "just
of carbon dioxide in
the atmosphere has been measured from an observatory on Mauna
Loa, a volcano in Hawaii.
The pre-industrial concentration of carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere was 280
parts per million (ppm).
As of December 2015, 402.56
Today, the amount of carbon dioxide is higher
than at any time in the last 650,000 years. And
the Earth's average temperature is increasing
faster than ever before.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change projects that global
temperatures are expected to be within the range of 0.5°F
to 8.6°F by 2100, with a likely increase of at least
2.7°F, in the 21st century.
Contributing to Climate Change
The United States is the second
largest contributor to CO2 in
our atmosphere, though it is home to just 4.4
percent of the
world’s population. If everyone in the world lived the way people
do in the U.S., it would take four
provide enough resources for everyone!
of carbon dioxide emitted
by the average family in the United States breaks down this way:
One half from
heating and cooling the house
One quarter from
One quarter from
- Burning one
gasoline puts 19
carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
Effects on People, Wildlife and the Planet
expected to rise 1
- 4 feet before
the end of this century - and perhaps as much as 6.6 feet (if, as
some models predict, the rate of ice melting from Greenland and
In 1910 Glacier National Park was home to more an estimated 150
glaciers. That number has now shrunk to less
than 30. This national park is expected to eventually
lose all its glaciers. This is only one example of glacial melt
that is occurring all over the world.
The current pace of global average temperature rise puts
to 35 percent of plant and animal species at
increased risk of extinction.
Rain forest destruction contributes
to climate change. That's because trees store carbon dioxide as
they grow. Clearing and burning forests releases
large amounts of carbon dioxide into
- The world’s coral reefs are in
the midst of a global mass die off. The coral bleaching event
could destroy 5
percent of all reefs. This is extremely detrimental to
the already diminished coral population that took a massive hit
during the 1998 El Nino.
http://climate.nasa.gov/ NASA: Global Climate Change
National Wildlife Federation