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by Holli Riebeek • design by Robert Simmon •
May 11, 2007 
 Theoriginal versionof this fact sheet, published in 2002 andwritten by John Weier, is archived as a PDF.
Over the last five years, 600 scientists fromthe Intergovernmental Panel on ClimateChange sifted through thousands of studiesabout global warming published in forumsranging from scientific journals to industrypublications and distilled the world’saccumulated knowledge into thisconclusion: “Warming of the climatesystem is unequivocal.” 
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 Far from being some future fear, globalwarming is happening now, and scientistshave evidence that humans are to blame.For decades, cars and factories havespewed billions of tons of greenhousegases into the atmosphere, and thesegases caused temperatures to risebetween 0.6°C and 0.9°C (1.08°F to1.62°F) over the past century. The rate of warming in the last 50 years was doublethe rate observed over the last 100 years. Temperatures are certain to go up further. 
The effects of global warmingare already being feltworldwide. The Larsen-B IceShelf on the Antarctic Peninsulacollapsedover 35 days in early2002, prompted by 3°C of warming since the 1940s.(NASA image by Jesse Allen,based on MODIS data.)
 
 
What is Global Warming?
Global warmth begins with sunlight. Whenlight from the Sun reaches the Earth,roughly 30 percent of it is reflected backinto space by clouds, atmosphericparticles, reflective ground surfaces, andeven ocean surf. The remaining 70 percentof the light is absorbed by the land, air,and oceans, heating our planet’s surfaceand atmosphere and making life on Earthpossible. Solar energy does not stay boundup in Earth’s environment forever. Instead,as the rocks, the air, and the sea warm,they emit thermal radiation, or infraredheat. Much of this thermal radiation travelsdirectly out to space, allowing Earth tocool. 
Global Warming
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Introduction 
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What is Global Warming? 
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Evidence for Global Warming
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Building a Climate Model 
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Predicting Future Warming 
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Potential Effects of GlobalWarming 
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References
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