Would a temperature rise of a couple degrees really change the global climate?
An increase of a few degrees won’t simply make for pleasantly warmer temperatures around the globe. Even a modest rise of 1.1°-1.7°C could have dramatic effects. In the last 10,000 years, the Earth’s average temperature hasn’t varied by more than 1.0°C. Temperatures only 2.7°-5°C cooler than those today prevailed at the end of the last Ice Age, in which much of Canada was covered by more than 1,000 metres of ice. The Impacts of Climate Change: Coming to a Planet near you! A wide range of the impacts of global warming are becoming apparent. For example, there has been about a 40% decline in Arctic sea-ice thickness during late summer to early autumn in recent decades. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), just 2°C (of additional warming would suffice to take the world into the realm of risks to many ecosystems and a large increase in extreme events such as storms, floods and droughts. A key finding of the International Symposium on the Stabilization of green
An increase of a few degrees won’t simply make for pleasantly warmer temperatures around the globe. Even a modest rise of 2°- 3°F (1.1°-1.7°C) could have dramatic effects. In the last 10,000 years, the Earth’s average temperature hasn’t varied by more than 1.8°F (1.0°C). Temperatures only 5°-9°F cooler than those today prevailed at the end of the last Ice Age, in which the Northeast United States was covered by more than 3,000 feet of ice. Scientists predict that continued global warming on the order of 2.5°-10.
An increase of a few degrees won’t simply make for pleasantly warmer temperatures around the globe. Even a modest rise of 2°- 3°F (1.1°-1.7°C) could have dramatic effects. In the last 10,000 years, the Earth’s average temperature hasn’t varied by more than 1.8°F (1.0°C). Temperatures only 5°-9°F cooler than those today prevailed at the end of the last Ice Age, in which the Northeast United States was covered by more than 3,000 feet of ice. Scientists predict that continued global warming on the order of 2.5°-10.4°F over the next 100 years (as projected in the IPCC’s Third Assessment Report) is likely to result in: • a rise in sea level between 3.5 and 34.6 in. (9-88 cm), leading to more coastal erosion, flooding during storms, and permanent inundation • severe stress on many forests, wetlands, alpine regions, and other natural ecosystems • greater threats to human health as mosquitoes and other disease-carrying insects and rodents spread diseases over larger geographical regions • disr
An increase of a few degrees won’t simply make for pleasantly warmer temperatures around the globe. Even a modest rise of 1.1 to 1.7 degrees Celsius could have dramatic effects. In the last 10,000 years, the Earth’s average temperature hasn’t varied by more than one degree Celsius. Temperatures only one to five degrees Celsius cooler than those today prevailed at the end of the last Ice Age, in which the Northeast United States was covered by more than 3,000 feet of ice. Scientists predict that continued global warming on the order of 1.5 to 6.2 degrees Celsius over the next 100 years (as projected in the IPCC’s Third Assessment Report) is likely to result in: * a rise in sea level between nine and 88 centimeters, leading to more coastal erosion, flooding during storms, and permanent inundation * severe stress on many forests, wetlands, alpine regions, and other natural ecosystems * greater threats to human health as mosquitoes and other disease-carrying insects and rodents spread dise
