How has the Global Temperature of the Earth and the United States Changed over the Last 100 Years?
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, temperatures have increased roughly 1.53 degrees Fahrenheit (.85 degrees Celsius) in the 132 year span from 1880 to 2012. In the northern hemisphere, the warmest 30-year period of the last 1400 years is the three decades from 1983 to 2012 (Marsis, 2015). In the chart to the right, if one is to follow the blue line, they can see the long term increase in temperature starting from 1880. It is also evident in the chart that the biggest increase and warmest years are from 1980 to present, which was mentioned in the statement above. Despite some slight differences in research and calculations …show more content…
The image to the right shows the percentage of U.S greenhouse gas emissions in 2013 (Overview of Greenhouse Gases, 2015). Greenhouse gases work by letting visible and ultraviolet light in sunlight to pass through the atmosphere of the Earth and reach the surface. When the light then strikes the Earth’s surface it is reflected back into the atmosphere as heat or infrared energy and greenhouse gases absorb the heat which, as a result, makes the Earth’s temperature slowly increase (Angelle, 2010). The warming happens when the atmosphere traps the radiation heat from Earth toward space. As most know, life on Earth depends on energy from the sun. Of the light that reaches the Earth’s atmosphere, about half of it passes through the clouds and air to the surface, where it absorbed and radiated back in the form of heat. Of that heat about 90% is absorbed by the greenhouse gases and radiated back toward the surface warming the Earth (“A Blanket around the Earth,” 2015). If greenhouse gases continue to increase and the Earth’s atmosphere stays the same scientists believe it will continue to warm the Earth because the amount of radiation directed back at the Earth will continue to increase, which in turn would continue to raise the temperature of the Earth. Scientists also always mentioned the fact that the Earth is a very complicated climate system, therefore, the increase in energy could also cause other unexpected things to occur that would further change global temperature and climate (“Greenhouse Effects,”
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, temperatures have increased roughly 1.53 degrees Fahrenheit (.85 degrees Celsius) in the 132 year span from 1880 to 2012. In the northern hemisphere, the warmest 30-year period of the last 1400 years is the three decades from 1983 to 2012 (Marsis, 2015). In the chart to the right, if one is to follow the blue line, they can see the long term increase in temperature starting from 1880. It is also evident in the chart that the biggest increase and warmest years are from 1980 to present, which was mentioned in the statement above. Despite some slight differences in research and calculations …show more content…
The image to the right shows the percentage of U.S greenhouse gas emissions in 2013 (Overview of Greenhouse Gases, 2015). Greenhouse gases work by letting visible and ultraviolet light in sunlight to pass through the atmosphere of the Earth and reach the surface. When the light then strikes the Earth’s surface it is reflected back into the atmosphere as heat or infrared energy and greenhouse gases absorb the heat which, as a result, makes the Earth’s temperature slowly increase (Angelle, 2010). The warming happens when the atmosphere traps the radiation heat from Earth toward space. As most know, life on Earth depends on energy from the sun. Of the light that reaches the Earth’s atmosphere, about half of it passes through the clouds and air to the surface, where it absorbed and radiated back in the form of heat. Of that heat about 90% is absorbed by the greenhouse gases and radiated back toward the surface warming the Earth (“A Blanket around the Earth,” 2015). If greenhouse gases continue to increase and the Earth’s atmosphere stays the same scientists believe it will continue to warm the Earth because the amount of radiation directed back at the Earth will continue to increase, which in turn would continue to raise the temperature of the Earth. Scientists also always mentioned the fact that the Earth is a very complicated climate system, therefore, the increase in energy could also cause other unexpected things to occur that would further change global temperature and climate (“Greenhouse Effects,”