2. What is Global Warming?
It is the phenomenon that
shows an average rise in the
temperature of the Earth’s
atmosphere and oceans in
recent decades.
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3. Causes of Global Warming
• Variations in solar activity
• Fluctuations in ocean currents
• Volcanic eruptions
• Greenhouse gases
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4. The Greenhouse Effect
The "greenhouse effect" is the
warming that happens when
certain gases in Earth's
atmosphere trap heat. These
gases let in light but keep heat
from escaping, like the glass
walls of a greenhouse.
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6. A Reality in Pictures
• Glacier National Park, USA 1932
• Glacier National Park, USA 1988
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7. A Reality in Pictures
• Peru, 1980
• Peru, 2002
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8. A Reality in Pictures
• Kilimanjaro, 1970
• Kilimanjaro, 2000
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9. A Reality in Pictures
• Nepal, 1978
• Nepal, 2004
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10. A Reality in Pictures
Even more obvious from space, these
pictures of the North Polar cap from
NASA show a melting of 25% in 25
years.
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11. Effects of Global Warming
• Ice is melting worldwide, especially at the Earth’s
poles. This includes mountain glaciers, ice sheets
covering West Antarctica and Greenland, and Arctic
sea ice.
• Researcher Bill Fraser has tracked the decline of the
Adélie penguins on Antarctica, where their numbers
have fallen from 32,000 breeding pairs to 11,000 in
30 years.
• Sea level rise became faster over the last century.
Earth after global • Some butterflies, foxes, and alpine plants have
warming moved farther north or to higher, cooler areas.
• Precipitation (rain and snowfall) has increased
across the globe, on average.
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12. Future Effects of Global Warming
• Other effects could happen later in the century, if warming continues.
Sea levels are expected to rise Hurricanes and other storms are Floods and droughts will become
between 7 and 23 inches (18 and 59 likely to become stronger more common
centimeters)
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13. What Should We Do?
By using energy wisely, we could help reduce the demand for fossil fuel,
which in turn could reduce the global warming. We can do the following:
• Reduce, • Use the “Off”
Reuse, Recycle switch
• Change a light • Plant a tree
bulb
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