Global Warming Quicker Than Forecast

An increasingly large amount of scientific research, published since the IPCC 4th Assessment Report was released in 2007, shows that climate change is occurring right now, and that it is much faster than predicted only two years ago.

The evidence for this statement is from a multitude of areas. Some of the regions currently undergoing change are shown below.

-Multiple ecosystems, in multiple locations, now show the effects of global warming. Examples include the timing of plant flowering, animal breeding, and lake thawing.

-Higher ocean surface temperatures in Pacific & Atlantic hurricane-formation zones leading to stronger cyclones are definitely related to anthropogenic warming.

-Acidification of the world's oceans is happening quickly, because of CO2 in massive amounts being dissolved in salty water. This is going to have major changes on marine environments and as a result food supplies for many areas.

-Probable sea-level rise over the next 100 years will be higher than that calculated in 2007. It will probably increase at least 100cm, based on newly released scientific studies.

-The increased melting of the Greenland ice sheet which began in the summer of 2004 has been definitely related to global warming.

-West Antarctica has melted at an accelerated rate since 1999 and has suffered 10 major ice shelf collapses since then. After an ice shelf collapses there is a rapid and marked acceleration of glacial flows, contributing to sea level increases.

-Arctic sea-ice is melting much faster than previously estimated, and it is almost certain that the Arctic will be ice-free in summer before 2080.

-Permafrost in the Arctic Circle is thawing much quicker than recently thought, and is releasing larger amounts of greenhouse gases than predicted.

The global warming that is now occurring is going to extend for multiple centuries even after all human-released greenhouse gas escape ceases. This is due to the significant inertia that exists in the climate and the delayed decay of carbon dioxide from within the environment.

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