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Global Warming
Arctic ice is rapidly disappearing, and the region may have its first completely ice-free summer by 2040 or earlier. Polar bears and indigenous cultures are already suffering from the sea-ice loss.
The Arctic is feeling the effects the most. Average temperatures in Alaska, western Canada, and eastern Russia have risen at twice the global average.
Average temperatures have climbed 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit around the world since 1880, much of this in recent decades.
The rate of warming is increasing. The 20th century's last two decades were the hottest in 400 years and possibly the warmest for several millennia. And the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports that 11 of the past 12 years are among the dozen warmest since 1850.
Industrialization, deforestation, and pollution have greatly increased atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases that trap heat near Earth's surface.
Sea level could rise 7 to 23 inches by the century's end. Rises of just 4 inches could flood many South Seas islands and swamp large parts of Southeast Asia. Some hundred million people live within 3 feet of mean sea level, and much of the world's population is concentrated in vulnerable coastal cities. In the U.S., Louisiana and Florida are especially at risk.
The ocean's circulation system, known as the ocean conveyor belt, could be permanently altered, causing a mini-ice age in Western Europe and other rapid changes.
More than a million species face extinction from disappearing habitat, changing ecosystems, and acidifying oceans.
Causes
Potential Effects
Signs of Warming
