Whoa! You mean we have more to worry about than buying a bigger snowblower, air conditioner or emergency boat? Bet on it! Scientists say that their latest computer models, which are getting more and more accurate, predict a mean global temperature rise of 2 to 6 degrees over the next century, enough to cause sea level to rise by 6 to 38 inches depending on location around the world. This means that you shouldn't invest in shore-front property for your grandchildren's grandchildren. In fact, Charleston, New Orleans, Miami and hundreds of other coastal and river cities aren't good long-term investments either. Eventually planners will have to consider a lot of dikes (woe is Holland) and a lot of crowding in inland cities as people are forced to move. The good news is it won't happen during your life. The bad news is you'll only contribute to the problem.
Besides computer models, scientists point to other proofs that climate has been changing. One proof, they say, is that carbon dioxide in the earth's atmosphere has increased by more than 25 percent since the Industrial Revolution and about half of this change occurred over the past 35 years. The major threat, CO2, should double by 2100, the computers predict, and this isn't good because it means more global warming as CO2 contributes to the Greenhouse Effect, which results from a gaseous layer that blocks heat from escaping the Earth's atmosphere.
Ocean temperature is something else that scientists can measure and they say it has increased about one-half to one degree Fahrenheit during the past century. Night temperatures increased a bit more than day increases, mid-latitude (at and near
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