The threat of global warming
If the scientific predictions of global warming hold true, there`s trouble ahead for much of the world`s fresh water - and for people living in low-lying areas. The phenomenon, first described in the 1980`s, attributes projected rises in global temperatures to the emission of carbon dioxide and other {open_quotes}greenhouse gases,{close_quotes} so called because they trap the sun`s solar energy close to the Earth`s surface, much as a glass roof helps keep a greenhouse warm. The overwhelming source of these emission is the burning of fossil fuels such as oil, gasoline, coal and natural gas, the principal power sources of modern industry and transportation. In 1988, the United Nations set up the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to study the validity and potential effects of global warming. The panel, composed of an international group of climate scientists, issued a report in June 1990 predicting a nearly two-degree rise in the globe`s average temperature by 2020. At that unprecedented rate of increase, the panel found, humankind would be living in a hotter environment that ever before.
- OSTI ID:
- 258974
- Journal Information:
- CQ Researcher, Vol. 5, Issue 47; Other Information: PBD: 15 Dec 1995
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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