What are the causes and effect of global warming?

Question

what causes global warming and what is the effect

Answer 1

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

The sun causes global warming and global warming is all natural. It has happened many times before and it is going on right now we have nothing to do with it.

Answer 3

The green house gas is not there . How can it cause GW???

Answer 4

It's just a natural cycle of the earth that's been going on for millions of years.

We don't cause it and we can't stop it.  We just adapt.

Answer 5

Cause:  Solar activity.  There is still a great deal of uncertainty about the exact mechanisms involved, but the strongest theory is related to the interplay between solar wind, cosmic rays and low-level cloud formation.

Effects:  Higher global temperatures generally produce calmer weather and increased crop yields.  Lower temperatures have historically been associated with famine, severe storms and outbreaks of disease.

Answer 6

Carbon dioxide and useless burning.

Answer 7

You're making one h**l of an assumption that global warming infact exists, and whether humans are the cause. The link below is incredibly interesting reading.

Anyway, i like this particular quote:

will we be able to produce predictable (the operative word) climate change, and a stable climate, by adjusting, at the margins, one human variable, namely carbon dioxide emissions, out of the millions of factors, both natural and human, that drive climate? The answer is: "One hundred per cent, no." This is the seminal point at which the complex science of climate diverges irreconcilably from the central beliefs of the 'global warming' myth. The idea that we can manage climate predictably by adjusting, minimally, our output of some politically-selected gases is both naive and dangerous.

Answer 8

The causes of warming are many. To contribute warming to one cause is just bad science and a total misunderstanding of how dynamic our climate is. The historical record shows cycles of warming and cooling  long before humans had technology. We probably have an impact, but to say we are the sole cause is wrong.  

The effects of warming are unknown, but a look at the geological record show a huge increase in lifeforms and areas of livability on the earth when it is warmer. Most of the warming in the past have occurred at the margins of livability areas thereby spreading lifeforms farther north and south. A glacier is not a lifeform so who cares if they melt. If polar bears become extinct other bears will move north. You will see bears with darker fur instead of white fur. So what. Personally warming is much better for life as a whole than cooling. Ice ages forced most life out of the areas effected. (I used most not all)! There is no such thing as an ideal temp. for Earth as far as research has shown. (If you have a study that answers that question I would love to see it)

Answer 9

Whatever unknown negative effects burning fossile fuels has on the environment, we can be quite confident that global warming from an enhanced greenhouse effect isn't one of them.

The IPCC pulls numbers out of the air in a most unscientific way to try to establish how increased atmospheric CO2 could significantly effect the climate.  Most people who've taken an objective look at the science are left wondering how on Earth the AGW alarmists have reached their conclusions.  

The earth has warmed and cooled quite significantly in the past purely by natural means.  The climate change that has been observed over the last 100 years is almost certainly predominantly natural.