Global warming

Earth science

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Global warming, the phenomenon of increasing average air temperatures near the surface of Earth over the past one to two centuries. Climate scientists have since the mid-20th century gathered detailed observations of various weather phenomena (such as temperatures, precipitation, and storms) and of related influences on climate (such as ocean currents and the atmosphere’s chemical composition). These data indicate that Earth’s climate has changed over almost every conceivable timescale since the beginning of geologic time and that the influence of human activities since at least the beginning of the Industrial Revolution has been deeply woven into the very fabric of climate change.

Giving voice to a growing conviction of most of the scientific community, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was formed in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). In 2013 the IPCC reported that the interval between 1880 and 2012 saw an increase in global average surface temperature of approximately 0.9 °C (1.5 °F). The increase is closer to 1.1 °C (2.0 °F) when measured relative to the preindustrial (i.e., 1750–1800) mean temperature. The IPCC stated that most of the warming observed over the second half of the 20th century could be attributed to human activities. It predicted that by the end of the 21st century the global mean surface temperature would increase by 0.3 to 4.8 °C (0.5 to 8.6 °F) relative to the 1986–2005 average. The predicted rise in temperature was based on a range of possible scenarios that accounted for future greenhouse gas emissions and mitigation (severity reduction) measures and on uncertainties in the model projections. Some of the main uncertainties include the precise role of feedback processes and the impacts of industrial pollutants known as aerosols which may offset some warming.

Graph of the predicted increase in Earth’s average surface temperature according to a series of …

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Many climate scientists agree that significant societal, economic, and ecological damage would result if global average temperatures rose by more than 2 °C (3.6 °F) in such a short time. Such damage would include increased extinction of many plant and animal species, shifts in patterns of agriculture, and rising sea levels. The IPCC reported that the global average sea level rose by some 19–21 cm (7.5–8.3 inches) between 1901 and 2010 and that sea levels rose faster in the second half of the 20th century than in the first half. It also predicted, again depending on a wide range of scenarios, that by the end of the 21st century the global average sea level could rise by another 26–82 cm (10.2–32.3 inches) relative to the 1986–2005 average and that a rise of well over 1 metre (3 feet) could not be ruled out.

The scenarios referred to above depend mainly on future concentrations of certain trace gases, called greenhouse gases, that have been injected into the lower atmosphere in increasing amounts through the burning of fossil fuels for industry, transportation, and residential uses. Modern global warming is the result of an increase in magnitude of the so-called greenhouse effect, a warming of Earth’s surface and lower atmosphere caused by the presence of water vapour, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxides, and other greenhouse gases. In 2014 the IPCC reported that concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxides in the atmosphere surpassed those found in ice cores dating back 800,000 years. Of all these gases, carbon dioxide is the most important, both for its role in the greenhouse effect and for its role in the human economy. It has been estimated that, at the beginning of the industrial age in the mid-18th century, carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere were roughly 280 parts per million (ppm). By the middle of 2014, carbon dioxide concentrations had briefly reached 400 ppm, and, if fossil fuels continue to be burned at current rates, they are projected to reach 560 ppm by the mid-21st century—essentially, a doubling of carbon dioxide concentrations in 300 years.

The greenhouse effect on Earth. Some incoming sunlight is reflected by Earth’s atmosphere and …

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A vigorous debate is in progress over the extent and seriousness of rising surface temperatures, the effects of past and future warming on human life, and the need for action to reduce future warming and deal with its consequences. This article provides an overview of the scientific background and public policy debate related to the subject of global warming. It considers the causes of rising near-surface air temperatures, the influencing factors, the process of climate research and forecasting, the possible ecological and social impacts of rising temperatures, and the public policy developments since the mid-20th century. For a detailed description of Earth’s climate, its processes, and the responses of living things to its changing nature, see climate. For additional background on how Earth’s climate has changed throughout geologic time, see climatic variation and change. For a full description of Earth’s gaseous envelope, within which climate change and global warming occur, see atmosphere.

Climatic variation since the last glaciation

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Global warming is related to the more general phenomenon of climate change, which refers to changes in the totality of attributes that define climate. In addition to changes in air temperature, climate change involves changes to precipitation patterns, winds, ocean currents, and other measures of Earth’s climate. Normally, climate change can be viewed as the combination of various natural forces occurring over diverse timescales. Since the advent of human civilization, climate change has involved an “anthropogenic,” or exclusively human-caused, element, and this anthropogenic element has become more important in the industrial period of the past two centuries. The term global warming is used specifically to refer to any warming of near-surface air during the past two centuries that can be traced to anthropogenic causes.

A series of photographs of the Grinnell Glacier taken from the summit of Mount Gould in Glacier …

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To define the concepts of global warming and climate change properly, it is first necessary to recognize that the climate of Earth has varied across many timescales, ranging from an individual human life span to billions of years. This variable climate history is typically classified in terms of “regimes” or “epochs.” For instance, the Pleistocene glacial epoch (about 2,600,000 to 11,700 years ago) was marked by substantial variations in the global extent of glaciers and ice sheets. These variations took place on timescales of tens to hundreds of millennia and were driven by changes in the distribution of solar radiation across Earth’s surface. The distribution of solar radiation is known as the insolation pattern, and it is strongly affected by the geometry of Earth’s orbit around the Sun and by the orientation, or tilt, of Earth’s axis relative to the direct rays of the Sun.

Worldwide, the most recent glacial period, or ice age, culminated about 21,000 years ago in what is often called the Last Glacial Maximum. During this time, continental ice sheets extended well into the middle latitude regions of Europe and North America, reaching as far south as present-day London and New York City. Global annual mean temperature appears to have been about 4–5 °C (7–9 °F) colder than in the mid-20th century. It is important to remember that these figures are a global average. In fact, during the height of this last ice age, Earth’s climate was characterized by greater cooling at higher latitudes (that is, toward the poles) and relatively little cooling over large parts of the tropical oceans (near the Equator). This glacial interval terminated abruptly about 11,700 years ago and was followed by the subsequent relatively ice-free period known as the Holocene Epoch. The modern period of Earth’s history is conventionally defined as residing within the Holocene. However, some scientists have argued that the Holocene Epoch terminated in the relatively recent past and that Earth currently resides in a climatic interval that could justly be called the Anthropocene Epoch—that is, a period during which humans have exerted a dominant influence over climate.

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Though less dramatic than the climate changes that occurred during the Pleistocene Epoch, significant variations in global climate have nonetheless taken place over the course of the Holocene. During the early Holocene, roughly 9,000 years ago, atmospheric circulation and precipitation patterns appear to have been substantially different from those of today. For example, there is evidence for relatively wet conditions in what is now the Sahara Desert. The change from one climatic regime to another was caused by only modest changes in the pattern of insolation within the Holocene interval as well as the interaction of these patterns with large-scale climate phenomena such as monsoons and El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO).

During the middle Holocene, some 5,000–7,000 years ago, conditions appear to have been relatively warm—indeed, perhaps warmer than today in some parts of the world and during certain seasons. For this reason, this interval is sometimes referred to as the Mid-Holocene Climatic Optimum. The relative warmth of average near-surface air temperatures at this time, however, is somewhat unclear. Changes in the pattern of insolation favoured warmer summers at higher latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere, but these changes also produced cooler winters in the Northern Hemisphere and relatively cool conditions year-round in the tropics. Any overall hemispheric or global mean temperature changes thus reflected a balance between competing seasonal and regional changes. In fact, recent theoretical climate model studies suggest that global mean temperatures during the middle Holocene were probably 0.2–0.3 °C (0.4–0.5 °F) colder than average late 20th-century conditions.

Over subsequent millennia, conditions appear to have cooled relative to middle Holocene levels. This period has sometimes been referred to as the “Neoglacial.” In the middle latitudes this cooling trend was associated with intermittent periods of advancing and retreating mountain glaciers reminiscent of (though far more modest than) the more substantial advance and retreat of the major continental ice sheets of the Pleistocene climate epoch.