Global Warming

CAUSES OF GLOBAL WARMING: Global warming also causes sea surface temperatures to rise, precipitation patterns to change, etc.. (NASA, 2002)
Global warming can have many different causes, but it is most commonly associated with human interference, specifically the release of excessive amounts of greenhouse gases. (EPA, 2006)
Global warming is caused by excessive quantities of greenhouse gases emitted into Earth's near-surface atmosphere. Greenhouse gases are both man-made and occur naturally, and include a number of gases, including: * carbon dioxide * methane * nitrous oxide * chlorofluorocarbons * water vapour
Optimal amounts of naturally occurring greenhouse gases, especially water vapor, are necessary to maintain the Earth's temperature at inhabitable levels. Without greenhouse gases, Earth's temperature would be too cold for human and most other life.However, excessive greenhouse gases cause Earth's temperature to warm considerably which cause major, and occasionally catastrophic, changes to weather and wind patterns, and the severity and frequency of various types of storms.
Greenhouse gases directly and indirectly generated by mankind, though, have increased radically for the past 150 years, and especially in the past 60 years.
Major sources of greenhouse gases generated by mankind are: * Burning of fossil fuels, which includes oil and gas, coal and natural gas. * Chlorofluorocarbons, commonly used in refrigeration, cooling and manufacturing applications. * Methane, which is caused by emissions from landfills, livestock, rice farming (which uses methane-emitting bacteria), septic processes, and fertilizers.
Deforestation
An increase in global temperature will cause sea levels to rise and will change the amount and pattern of precipitation, and a probable expansion of subtropical deserts.[11] Warming is expected to be strongest in the Arctic and would be associated with continuing retreat of glaciers,permafrost and sea ice. Other likely effects of the warming include more frequent occurrence ofextreme-weather events including heat waves, droughts and heavy rainfall, species extinctions due to shifting temperature regimes, and changes in crop yields. Warming and related changes will vary from region to region around the globe, with projections being more robust in some areas than others.[12] If global mean temperature increases to 4 °C above preindustrial levels, the limits for human adaptation are likely to be exceeded in many parts of the world, while the limits for adaptation for natural systems would largely be exceeded throughout the world. Hence, theecosystem services upon which human livelihoods depend would not be preserved