- While 1999 was the warmest year on record worldwide, it might surprise you to know that some places are going against the global trend. The central and eastern parts of the nation are seeing cooler temperatures in the fall.
- Tree rings, sediment samples, and ice cores show the Earth’s ancient atmosphere has seen much wilder swings than what we’ve recorded. Over the course of the millennia, temperatures have oscillated as much as 20° F in one decade.
- Think about this: In the U.S., 50 percent of all-time state record highs were set in the 1930s. That’s before industrialization was widespread enough to have an impact on the environment.
- The urban heat island effect is seen in cities where building materials, such as concrete and asphalt, trap the heat of the day. The end result is warmer temperatures – especially at night. It has little to do with global warming, except that it serves to taint the temperature record.
The earth has warmed by one degree, but that doesn't sound very significant. After all, the difference between 77° F and 78° F feels the same.
But think about the difference between 32° F and 33° F, the threshold for freezing. If temperatures become warmer than the 32° mark, icebergs start melting, sea levels rise...The consequences are serious.
Simply put, distilling the global warming quandary to one statistic paints an incomplete picture. Even scientists can't agree on whether the trend is natural or human-induced.
What we do know amounts to only one degree of what we need to know to fully understand global warming.
Go To Page: 1
| Here's the follow-up discussion on this article: | View all related messages |
For a complete listing of article comments, questions, and other discussions related to Amy Marquis's Weather topic, please visit the Discussions page.