Dumb question but..what exactly IS global warming?

Question

lol! but i really want to know

plz NO rude comments?

(i want all the details you know!!)

thank you!

Answer 1

Not dumb at all.

Some gases ("greenhouse gases") let sunlight in, which warms the Earth, and then block that heat from leaving. That's the "greenhouse effect", and it's a natural thing, mostly caused by water vapor.

Man is making excessive amounts of greenhouse gases, mostly by burning fossil fuels. That causes the delicate natural balance to go out of whack and the Earth warms. That's global warming.

It won't be a Hollywood movie style disaster. Gradually coastal areas will flood and agriculture will be damaged. But it will be very bad. Rich countries will cope, but it will take huge amounts of money. In poor countries many people will die of starvation, but not all of them.

Most scientists say, in 20-50 years. But we need to start right now to fix it, fixing it will take even longer than that.

Really good website for more information here:

http://www.nrdc.org/globalWarming/f101.a...

Lots of numerical scientific data proving it real here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Clima...

http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report...

Proof that most scientists think it's real and mostly caused by us here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_...

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/fu...

Answer 2

IT IS NOT A HOAX. Global warming is existing and it is true. Can't you guys feel the heat increasing yearly? Plus right where I am living, it is a tropical country..2 days ago, ice crystals started 2 fall from clouds. It was a rare and happy time since there was no snow b4.

Answer 3

There are no dumb questions, only dumb answers.

Global Warming is a THEORY that the amounts of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide we are producing through industrialisation, are causing a greenhouse effect on this planet. In other words, the average temperature of the planet is rising.

No one knows for sure if industrialisation is the only cause of this, or if the planet goes through "natural cycles" of warming and cooling.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warm...

Answer 4

Human industrial activities emit a lot of carbon based pollution, including CO2.  Sunlight loses energy as it passes through the atmosphere. The lower energy light (heat) doesn't have enough left to get back out if it reflects off the oceans or an ice cap. Adding certain gases to the atmosphere causes more heat to be trapped because they have unique properties. Those gases are the same ones released by factories, power plants, cars, etc.   They are often called "greenhouse gases".

Each element or compound can absorb energy over the full range of the spectrum. It can emit energy only on a single frequency specific to the element or compound. This is the principle that makes a laser work.  It is also the principle that makes a spectrascope work, so that we can look at a distant star with a telescope and tell what it is made of.  

In the case of Carbon the emission frequencies fall in the near infrared range (commonly called "heat"). A Carbon 12 CO2 laser has a wavelength of 10600 nanometers and a Carbon 13 CO2 laser has a wavelength of 11100 nanometers. For this reason carbon compounds like CO2 and Methane have a highly active role in the greenhouse effect. In the atmosphere, water also plays a special role, in that it absorbs well on these frequencies, but emits poorly. Water has extremely high absorption at this wavelength. A 30 micron thin layer of water will absorb 90% of CO2 laser radiation, and only 10% will pass through.

I hope this humble explanation sheds some light on the answer to your very erudite question.

Answer 5

Pretty much on average the temperatre of the planet will rise in the long run. That does not mean that we will always be warm somtimes as you may or may not have seen certain areas did get a lot of snow in the winter but that is becasue it is weather. weather is in the short run and it can be cold in the shor run but in the long run the temperature is going to have an upward trend. This is thought to be casued by man kind releaseing green house gases in the air.

Answer 6

Global warming is an in increase in the temperature of the earth surface and lower atmosphere. It has been observed as an increase of 0.6° C (1° F) during the 20th century. It is undetermined whether it is the result of natural cycles, human activity, or some combination of the two.

Answer 7

A hoax designed to reap the benefit from ignorant people in the form of a global cycle effect that has gone on for hundreds of thousands of years.

Answer 8

The globe is getting warmer. Climatologists say that some of this (not all of it) is due to man-made carbon dioxide.

The Earth would be warming even if people weren't on it; even the most pessimistic climatologists admit this.

Warming is supposed to start affecting usn sometime between 2013 and 2200, depending on who you ask. It will apparently warm the oceans first, slowly melt the ice caps, and make the ocean rise up by about a foot. So far the ocean hasn't risen at all.

It will make the Earth wetter, which will mean more farmland. That's pretty much all you need to know about it.