| On June 23, 1988, James Hansen, the director of the Goddard Institute at NASA, told the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources that global warming was a reality and that is was extremely dangerous.Global warming, also known as the greenhouse
effect, immediately received international attention. Scientists, environmentalists, and governments around the world took an interest in the subject.
Global warming is called the greenhouse effect because the gases that are gathering above the earth make the planet comparable to a greenhouse. By trapping heat near the surface of the earth, the greenhouse effect is warming the planet and threatening the environment.Many scientists criticized Mr. Hansen's report, and the debate over global warming continues today. Current fears stem largely from the fact that global warming is occurring at such
a rapid pace. Models are predicting that over the next century, the global temperature will rise by several degrees. Some scientists still do not think that the effects of global warming are as severe as some people say. They think that droughts, hurricanes, and floods often blamed on global warming might actually have other causes.
One major difficulty in studying global warming is the fact that weather data only exists for the last century and a half. As a result, understanding the present and predicting the future are very difficult. Global Warming - Causes
Global Warming - Effects
Global Warming - SolutionsAn article titled The Coming ClimateGlobal Warming CentralGlobal Warming Information Page
The EPA on global warming |
