Global Warming and Climate Change

Global warming is the increase in the average temperature of the Earth's near-surface air and oceans in recent decades and its projected continuation.

Increasing global temperature will cause sea level to rise, and is expected to increase the intensity of extreme weather events and to change the amount and pattern of precipitation. Other effects of global warming include changes in agricultural yields, trade routes, glacier retreat, species extinctions and increases in the ranges of disease vectors.

Remaining scientific uncertainties include the amount of warming expected in the future, and how warming and related changes will vary from region to region around the globe. There is ongoing political and public debate worldwide regarding what, if any, action should be taken to reduce or reverse future warming or to adapt to its expected consequences. Most national governments have signed and ratified the Kyoto Protocol, aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and outside of the United States there is considerably less debate over the effects and uncertainties of global warming.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Global Warming".

Global warming is the most serious environmental threat of our time.

As these facts show, affordable options are available. And America cannot afford to fall behind any more in the race to invent clean, renewable energy sources.

45% - Increase in world’s solar generating capacity in 2005.

2 - Rank of China as global producer of solar cells, behind Japan (U.S. ranks 4th).

$1.5 billion - Amount US government spends a year on renewable energy research.

$1 billion - Amount ExxonMobil earns in a day.

$2 billion - Amount GE Energy Financial Services invested in wind, solar, biomass and geothermal energy in 2007.

$200 billion - Amount China has committed to invest in renewable energy sources over the next 15 years.

0.74% - Projected cost of smart cap-and-trade climate policy on US economic output in 2030.

100% - Projected growth of the US economy by 2030.

53 - Number of senators supporting cap and trade legislation.

0 - Number of bills passed by Congress to cap and reduce America's global warming pollution.

Sources: World Watch Institute, Earth Policy Institute, Department of Energy, CNN, GE Energy Financial Services, Reuters, Upcoming Report: Climate Policy and the U.S. Economy. Environmental Defense, 2008