Global Warming

Summary

It doesn't seem possible. The entire Earth is getting warmer because of human activity? Many scientists say it's true.

The warming of the Earth is the subject of intense concern of many scientists, policy-makers, and citizens. Participants in the debate are often ignorant of the facts and the scientific principles underlying global warming. This is understandable. Global warming is an incredibly complex subject and many important facts are not widely known. Planetforlife will try to explain the science of global warming with objectivity and detachment.

Information Sources

The bulk of the information presented on this website comes from three sources.

In 1988 the United Nations established the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change). The IPCC is fundamentally a scientific body although the UN is a political institution. Leading scientists from around the world make up the IPCC. In 2001, the IPCC published a report called Climate Change 2001: The Scientific Basis. At 900 pages, it is rather ponderous but there are three summaries; one is graphical, one is technical and one is for policymakers. You can see the report, the summaries,  and related reports at:
http://www.grida.no/climate/ipcc_tar/

The U.S. Department of State published the US Climate Action Report in May of 2002. This report is the third communication to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The report is hosted on the EPA's (Environmental Protection Agency) website. At 11 megabytes, this 269 page PDF format report is large and exhaustive. But it is well done and there are many pictures. You can see the report or an overview HERE
Planetforlife also has a copy of the full report.
http://www.planetforlife.com/pdffiles/uscar.pdf

NASA (National Aeronautical and Space Administration) builds and orbits meteorological satelites. NASA also has expertise in meteorology and climatology. In June of 2003, NASA/Goddard Institute for Space Studies published a very readable presentation called Can We Defuse the Global Warming Time Bomb? by James Hansen.
http://www.giss.nasa.gov/research/impacts/
A slightly revised version of the report appears in the March 2004 issue of Scientific American.
http://www.sciam.com/
Other papers by James Hansen appear at:
http://www.pnas.org/
Dr. Hansen has testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. (May 2001)

These sources represent the mainstream of scientific thought on the subject of global warming.

Politics

Global warming is such an all encompassing problem that it is necessary to deal with all its aspects, and that includes the politics. Politicians, when formulating policy, will need inputs from many disciplines, including science. Unfortunately, global warming has become a political issue. It is ominous that politicians, at least in the U.S., are attempting to influence science.

Planetforlife will try to keep the science and the politics separate.

First Upload: 12 May 2004