Portal:Climate change

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The Climate Change Portal

Surface air temperature change over the past 50 years.[1]

In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to Earth's climate. The current rise in global average temperature is more rapid than previous changes, and is primarily caused by humans burning fossil fuels. Fossil fuel use, deforestation, and some agricultural and industrial practices add to greenhouse gases, notably carbon dioxide and methane. Greenhouse gases absorb some of the heat that the Earth radiates after it warms from sunlight. Larger amounts of these gases trap more heat in Earth's lower atmosphere, causing global warming.

Climate change has an increasingly large impact on the environment. Deserts are expanding, while heat waves and wildfires are becoming more common. Amplified warming in the Arctic has contributed to thawing permafrost, retreat of glaciers and sea ice decline. Higher temperatures are also causing more intense storms, droughts, and other weather extremes. Rapid environmental change in mountains, coral reefs, and the Arctic is forcing many species to relocate or become extinct. Even if efforts to minimise future warming are successful, some effects will continue for centuries. These include ocean heating, ocean acidification and sea level rise.

Climate change threatens people with increased flooding, extreme heat, increased food and water scarcity, more disease, and economic loss. Human migration and conflict can also be a result. The World Health Organization (WHO) calls climate change the greatest threat to global health in the 21st century. Societies and ecosystems will experience more severe risks without action to limit warming. Adapting to climate change through efforts like flood control measures or drought-resistant crops partially reduces climate change risks, although some limits to adaptation have already been reached. Poorer communities are responsible for a small share of global emissions, yet have the least ability to adapt and are most vulnerable to climate change.

Many climate change impacts have been felt in recent years, with 2023 the warmest on record at +1.48 °C (2.66 °F). Additional warming will increase these impacts and can trigger tipping points, such as melting all of the Greenland ice sheet. Under the 2015 Paris Agreement, nations collectively agreed to keep warming "well under 2 °C". However, with pledges made under the Agreement, global warming would still reach about 2.7 °C (4.9 °F) by the end of the century. Limiting warming to 1.5 °C will require halving emissions by 2030 and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.

Strategies to phase out fossil fuels involve conserving energy, generating clean and sustainable electricity, and using electricity to power transportation, heat buildings, and operate industrial facilities. The electricity supply can be made cleaner and more plentiful by vastly increasing the deployment of wind, and solar power, alongside other forms of renewable energy and nuclear power. Carbon can also be removed from the atmosphere, for instance by increasing forest cover and farming with methods that capture carbon in soil. (Full article...)

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Greenhouse gases trap some of the heat that results when sunlight heats the Earth's surface. Three important greenhouse gases are shown symbolically in this image: carbon dioxide, water vapor, and methane.

Greenhouse gases (GHGs) are the gases in the atmosphere that raise the surface temperature of planets such as the Earth. What distinguishes them from other gases is that they absorb the wavelengths of radiation that a planet emits, resulting in the greenhouse effect. The Earth is warmed by sunlight, causing its surface to radiate heat, which is then mostly absorbed by greenhouse gases. Without greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, the average temperature of Earth's surface would be about −18 °C (0 °F), rather than the present average of 15 °C (59 °F).

The most abundant greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere, listed in decreasing order of average global mole fraction, are: Water vapor (H
2
O
), Carbon dioxide (CO
2
), Methane (CH
4
), Nitrous oxide (N
2
O
), Ozone (O
3
), Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs and HCFCs), Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), Perfluorocarbons (CF
4
, C
2
F
6
, etc.), SF
6
, and NF
3
. Yet, while water vapor is a potent greenhouse gas, humans are not directly adding to its concentrations, so it is not one of the primary drivers of climate change, but rather one of the feedbacks. On the other hand, carbon dioxide is causing about three quarters of global warming and can take thousands of years to be fully absorbed by the carbon cycle. Methane causes most of the remaining warming and lasts in the atmosphere for an average of 12 years.

Human activities since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution (around 1750) have increased atmospheric methane concentrations by over 150% and carbon dioxide by over 50%, up to a level not seen in over 3 million years. The vast majority of carbon dioxide emissions by humans come from the combustion of fossil fuels, principally coal, petroleum (including oil) and natural gas. Additional contributions come from cement manufacturing, fertilizer production, and changes in land use like deforestation. Methane emissions originate from agriculture, fossil fuel production, waste, and other sources. (Full article...)
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Credit: NASA
Orbital photograph of human deforestation in progress in the Tierras Bajas project in eastern Bolivia

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Regina McCarthy (born May 3, 1954) is an American air quality expert who served as the first White House national climate advisor from 2021 to 2022. She previously served as the thirteenth Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency from 2013 to 2017.

A Massachusetts native, McCarthy holds degrees from the University of Massachusetts Boston and Tufts University. She was a civil servant in the Massachusetts state government, holding various environmental roles and serving as an environmental advisor to the Governor of Massachusetts. She served as commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection from 2004 to 2009 before joining the EPA in 2009.

On March 4, 2013, President Barack Obama nominated McCarthy to replace Lisa Jackson as EPA administrator. Confirmation hearings started on April 11, 2013. On July 18, 2013, she was confirmed after a record 136-day confirmation process, becoming the face of Obama's global warming and climate change initiative. (Full article...)

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The following are images from various climate-related articles on Wikipedia.

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... that ocean warming has been found to result in stronger hurricanes? Article on Nature News

(Pictured left: Hurricane Isabel (2003) as seen from orbit during Expedition 7 of the International Space Station.)

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This video summarizes how climate change, associated with increased carbon dioxide levels, has affected plant growth.

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References

  1. ^ "GISS Surface Temperature Analysis (v4)". NASA. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
  2. ^ Bhargav, Vishal (2021-10-11). "Climate Change Is Making India's Monsoon More Erratic". www.indiaspend.com. Retrieved 2021-10-11.
  3. ^ Tiwari, Dr Pushp Raj; Conversation, The. "Nobel prize: Why climate modellers deserved the physics award – they've been proved right again and again". phys.org. Retrieved 2021-10-11.
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