Global warming synonyms

  1. What is global warming?
  2. The Changing Language Of Climate Change
  3. Climate Change Terms and Definitions


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What is global warming?

Here are the bare numbers, according to the Modern global warming is caused by humans. The burning of fossil fuels has released greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, which trap warmth from the sun and drive up surface and air temperatures. Global warming is a synonym for climate change, though " climate change" has become the preferred term among scientists. What causes global warming? The main driver of today's warming is the combustion of fossil fuels. These hydrocarbons heat up the planet via "The basic physics of the greenhouse effect were figured out more than a hundred years ago by a smart guy using only pencil and paper," Josef Werne, a professor of geology and environmental science at the University of Pittsburgh, told Live Science. That "smart guy" was Svante Arrhenius, a Swedish scientist and eventual recipient of a Nobel Prize in chemistry. Simply put, solar radiation hits Earth's surface and then bounces back toward the atmosphere as heat. carbon dioxide could trap heat close to the Earth's surface, and that small changes in the amount of those gases could make a big difference in how much heat is trapped. How greenhouse gases cause global warming Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, humans have been rapidly changing the balance of gases in the atmosphere. Burning fossil fuels like coal and oil releases water vapor, carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), ozone and nitrous oxide (N2O), which are considered the primary greenhouse gases. Carbon dioxide ...

The Changing Language Of Climate Change

The language surrounding climate change is changing right alongside the climate itself. But, it all began with global warming … What is global warming and greenhouse gases? Climate change was first known to many of us as global warming, a phrase dating to the 1950s that indicates “a longterm rise in Earth’s average atmospheric temperature.” The idea that global warming exists and could be attributed to human behavior, however, was first put forward in 1896 by Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius. Over the next century, as technology improved, scientists continued to measure the temperatures of the oceans and record rising levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Another key climate change term attested by 1975, greenhouse gases, like carbon dioxide and methane, lead to the atmospheric heating phenomenon of the greenhouse effect, which contributes to global warming. The phenomenon, likened to the way heat gets trapped inside a greenhouse, was first described by Joseph Fourier in 1827, though not called as such until the early 1900s. The term global warming went mainstream in the late 1980s, when An Inconvenient Truth, which explained the concept of global warming and the mounting scientific evidence that humans are treading a dangerous path if we don’t reduce our carbon emissions. But, the term global warming seemed to confuse some into thinking that the Earth would just continue to get warmer and warmer and, eventually, there would be no more winter. It’s a misconceptio...

Climate Change Terms and Definitions

Climate change refers to significant changes in global temperature, precipitation, wind patterns and other measures of climate that occur over several decades or longer. The seas are rising. The foods we eat and take for granted are threatened. Evidence suggests many of these extreme Search below for key terms and definitions related to climate change. Aerosols Aerosols are small suspended particles in a gas. Scientists can detect them in the atmosphere. They range in size from one nanometer (one billionth of a meter) to 100 micrometers (one millionth of a meter). Antarctic sea iceis nearly a geographic opposite of its Arctic counterpart because Antarctica is a landmass covered in ice surrounded by an ocean, and the Arctic is an ocean of sea ice surrounded by land. Anthropogenic Anthropogenic describes a process or result generated by human beings. Aquaculture uses a body of water for the cultivation of plants and animals. (Compare to agriculture, which uses land to cultivate plants and animals.) Ponds, lakes, rivers, and the ocean serve as places to breed, rear and harvest aquatic species. Aquifer Aquifer is water-bearing rock from which water can be pumped. Arctic sea ice is an integral part of the Arctic Ocean and an important indicator of climate change. During winter’s dark months, sea ice will typically cover the majority of the Arctic Ocean. Biofuels Biofuels are renewable fuels derived from biological materials, such as algae and plants, that can be regenerated. Th...