Reducing global warming: what each individual can do
In the last few centuries, the earth’s climate is predicted to change because human activities are altering the chemical composition of the atmosphere through the build up of Carbon dioxide, CFCs, methane and other gases, the heat-trapping in the earth’s atmosphere which causes a gradual rise in the earth’s temperature.
What is more, temperature increases will have significant impacts on human activities: where we can live, what food we can grow and how or where we can grow them, and where organisms we consider pests can thrive. To be prepared for the effects of these potential impacts we need to know how much the earth is warming, for how long the earth has been warming, and the cause of the warming.
From a human perspective, climate change is the departure from the expected average weather or climate normal for a given place and time of year. As a result, surface temperatures have increased from 0.5-1.0°F since the late 20th century. The snow covering in the Northern Hemisphere and floating ice in the Arctic Ocean decreasing. Globally, the sea level has risen 4-8 inches over the past century. In addition, worldwide rainfall over land has increased by about one percent. Otherwise, the biggest destroyer of the ozone in the stratosphere is the set of individual produced chemical compounds (chlorofluorocarbons - CFC's), which act as greenhouse gases in the lower atmosphere. Furthermore, there are a growing number of plants and animals changing their grassland and behaviour in response to shifts in climate.
