By Wendy Brock
It's not a debate among the science community: global warming is happening and according to statistics from Environmental Defense, America is the top global warming polluter in the world. The only argument between scientists is how fast global warming is occurring.
Global warming is happening because burning fossil fuels, such as coal and oil creates greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere. Greenhouse gases are necessary, but too much of something is never good. The concentration of these gases is causing a meltdown of the ice sheets and overall weather change. Eventually, this will lead to catastrophic worldwide climate changes that will affect life as we know it.
Deforestation, cutting down forests in devastating amounts, reduces the amount of oxygen in our atmosphere. Trees and other foliage help reduce excess carbon dioxide. Without help from Mother Nature, the extra carbon dioxide will continue to heat up the planet. According to the University of Michigan's Global Change Program, about one half of the forests that once covered the Earth are gone. Without these forests, there isn't much to combat the overwhelming amount of carbon dioxide levels.
Environmental Defense, a company founded to tackle serious environmental problems, cites these statistics:
* 2006 was the hottest year on record in the continental United States. * America is the number one global warming polluter in the world. * There is a twenty percent increase in America's carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels since 1990. * The U.S. fire season has increased by 78 days over the past twenty years.
NASA produced a recent study that shows summers in the 2080's will be extremely hot with temperatures reaching up to 108 degrees across the United States. NASA satellite imagery shows a permanent decline in the Arctic sea ice cover by 9 percent per decade since 1979.
The Global Warming Info Site warns researchers on global warming statistics: "You will need to keep an open mind when you are reading these facts as they can change even during a week's periodThese statistics could be the carbon emissions which industries and cars produce in the atmosphere per month."
Global warming statistics are constantly changing and many variables need to be considered in order to have accurate results. However, the facts are clear that the Earth is warming and people are to blame.
As a published writer in Pentacle Magazine and a former news reporter for NPR, I love the discovery of a good story and delivering it to an audience. My love of writing and sharing knowledge is emphasized in my articles on various subjects such as beauty, family, writing, and cooking.
View all of my articles at: http://www.helium.com/user/show_articles/35372My blog: http://www.wendybrock.blogspot.com/
