Global Warming: The Threat of Earth's Changing ClimateChronicle Books, 2001 - 48 pages It's not your imagination: Earth is getting warmer. Global warming is perhaps the most prominent environmental issue of the past decade. Award-winning writer Laurence Pringle describes the causes of this worldwide trend, exploring its past, present, and potential future damage to our climate, ecology, and economy. He also offers practical solutions that will help avert a global disaster of our own making. With over thirty striking color photographs, here is an incisive, clear, authoritative look at a timely topic that all children and adults must faceand soon. |
Contents
| 2 | |
CLIMATES CHANGE | 4 |
THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT | 8 |
THE CARBON CYCLE | 10 |
ADDING GREENHOUSE CASES | 11 |
SIGNS OF A WARMING EARTH | 15 |
STUDYING CLIMATE CHANGE | 19 |
THE THREAT OF RISING SEAS | 23 |
WINNERS OR LOSERS? | 28 |
OBSTACLES TO CHANGE | 31 |
REDUCING GREENHOUSE CASES | 36 |
THE GREATEST CHALLENGE | 40 |
GLOSSARY | 43 |
FURTHER READING | 45 |
INDEX | 46 |
CHANGING WEATHER PATTERNS | 25 |
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Common terms and phrases
ADDING GREENHOUSE GASES aerosols air pollutants amount of carbon Arctic Ocean areas burning fossil fuels carbon cycle carbon dioxide caused by global CFCs climate scientists climatologists coal computer models cooling effect decades decay deforestation degrees Celsius degrees Fahrenheit developing nations disaster droughts Earth's atmosphere Earth's climate system Earth's surface effective than carbon El Niño electricity emitted eruption floods forests frozen year-round glaciers global warming greenhouse effect Greenland ice sheet halocarbons heat-absorbing heat-holding gases humans hurricanes ice age ice sheets increased industrialized nations IPCC Kyoto Protocol LAURENCE PRINGLE layer melting methane miles million molecule Mount Pinatubo natural gas Niño nitrogen Nitrous oxide Northern Hemisphere numbers oxygen ozone Pacific plants and animals predicted produced reduce greenhouse gases Reflected sunlight release rising sea level scientists believe snow soil solar energy tons of carbon trap heat trees tropical twentieth century twenty-first century warmer warming climate WARMING EARTH water vapor weather patterns worldwide