six degrees of change

March 24, 2014
Oceanography
Six Degrees Could Change the World The world is getting warmer. Whether the cause is human activity or natural – evidence says it is likely humans, readings from all around the world stat that world’s temperature is steadily rising. How much though? And what will the effects are if they continue to intensify?
According to temperature has increased by about one degree Celsius. But why should we care one degree of warming? A one-degree global change is significant because it takes a vast amount of heat to warm all the oceans, atmosphere and land by that much. In the past, one or two degree drop could cause the work to plunge into a little ice age. Global temperature mainly relies on the amount of energy received from the sun and on the chemical composition of the atmosphere, particular the green house gases which trap heat. With a one degree of gain the world could easily experience major droughts, fires, even some flooding and storms.
How is the scientific data temperature increases collected and how do we learn about the affects changing temperatures could have on our planet? To conduct its analysis scientists collect data from multiple sites including: ship-based and satellite observation of sea temperature, meteorological stations around the world, and Antarctic research station measurements. The affects generated from this data can then be used to create hypothetical but scientifically y supported theories to what the impact the changing temperature could have on the earth.

The video Six Degrees Could Change the World by National Geographic personally had a significant impact on me. I knew that “global warming” was occurring as we speak and I knew that there were some dramatic effects from it.. I could not, however, even fathom how fast it was happening nor that some of the effects demonstrated were even possible. The amazon, ne of the wettest places on earth, could turn into an arid savanna.
Since life on Earth began, every episode of mass extinction has been associated with a change in climate. This time, the greenhouse gases created by humans are causing warming to occur exponentially faster. And since half the world’s forests have been cut down, and most of the natural land surface destroyed, the regulatory systems, which keep climate habitable, can’t function. It’s as though we’ve turned up the thermostat after disabling the safety mechanisms. In this precarious position, a mass extinction now would be worse than any in the past.