Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Definition. The global warming potential (GWP) is defined as an "index measuring the radiative forcing following an emission of a unit mass of a given substance, accumulated over a chosen time horizon, relative to that of the reference substance, carbon dioxide (CO 2 ). The GWP thus represents the combined effect of the differing times these ...
In common usage, climate change describes global warming —the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to Earth's climate.
This is close to the observed overall warming during that time of 0.9 °C to 1.2 °C. Temperature changes during that time were likely only ±0.1 °C due to natural forcings and ±0.2 °C due to variability in the climate. [31]: 3, 443 Global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions in 2019 were equivalent to 59 billion tonnes of CO 2.
Greenhouse gases ( GHGs) are the gases in the atmosphere that raise the surface temperature of planets such as the Earth. What distinguishes them from other gases is that they absorb the wavelengths of radiation that a planet emits, resulting in the greenhouse effect. [ 1 ]
Carbon cycle. The carbon cycle is that part of the biogeochemical cycle by which carbon is exchanged among the biosphere, pedosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere of Earth. Other major biogeochemical cycles include the nitrogen cycle and the water cycle. Carbon is the main component of biological compounds as well as a major component ...
Society portal. v. t. e. Human impact on the environment (or anthropogenic environmental impact) refers to changes to biophysical environments [ 1] and to ecosystems, biodiversity, and natural resources [ 2] caused directly or indirectly by humans. Modifying the environment to fit the needs of society (as in the built environment) is causing ...
The Kyoto Protocol ( Japanese: 京都議定書, Hepburn: Kyōto Giteisho) was an international treaty which extended the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that commits state parties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, based on the scientific consensus that global warming is occurring and that human-made CO 2 ...
The history of the scientific discovery of climate change began in the early 19th century when ice ages and other natural changes in paleoclimate were first suspected and the natural greenhouse effect was first identified. In the late 19th century, scientists first argued that human emissions of greenhouse gases could change Earth's energy ...