By global warming means an increase in the time average
temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans. In practice we speak of global
warming to refer to the observed warming over the last decades. We hypothesize
that the temperature has risen since the late nineteenth century due to human
activities, mainly by emissions of carbon dioxide increased the greenhouse
effect. The theory also predicts that temperatures will continue to rise in the
future if they continue to greenhouse gases.
The term "global warming" generally implies human
activity. A more neutral term, climate change, is normally used to refer to any
change in climate, without entering into discussions about its cause. Instead,
to indicate the existence of human influence sometimes the term is used
anthropogenic climate change. It should be emphasized that global warming and
the greenhouse effect are not synonymous; rather it is believed that the greenhouse
effect is the cause of global warming observed.
Often the discussion is focused on the temperature, but
global warming or any kind of climate change may involve changes in other
variables: global precipitation and patterns, cloud cover and all the other
elements of the atmospheric system. The complexity of the problem and its
multiple interactions make the only objective way to simultaneously evaluate
these changes is through the use of computer models that attempt to simulate
the physics of the atmosphere and ocean.
The multi governmental and scientific body in charge of its
overall analysis is the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, for
its acronym in English Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change). One of its
lines more visible action is the Kyoto Protocol, which promotes a reduction of
pollutant emissions (mainly greenhouse gases) by the industrialized countries.
Difference between global warming and greenhouse effect?
