It is important to know the true facts about global warming. Because it is not a small or localized environmental problem, it is going to require international cooperation as well as personal change from all of us to stop global warming. In fact, it may be the largest challenge humanity faces in the twenty-first century. Unfortunately, it has also become a highly politicized issue.
You need to especially carefully about the information concerning global warming-- you can learn which facts are accepted by the scientific community and which are created by ill-informed or political sources.
Global warming is a measurable process that is already underway. Temperature changes, alterations in rainfall patterns, and an increased frequency of storms are occurring and being measured around the world as we speak. The evidence against global warming is not convincing in light of the effects we are witnessing already.
Warming is destroying ecosystems worldwide that you and other people depend on.
Global warming has changed precipitation patterns around the world, disrupting traditional agricultural practices that you and the rest of the world depend on to live. The area of land on the Earth suffering from drought conditions has doubled since 1970. These are the effects seen already, and climate change is only beginning to make itself felt.
Climate-related deaths will double in 25 years according to a 2005 report from the World Health Organization. Global warming has increased deaths in urban areas as heat waves have exacerbated the effects of smog and related respiratory problems. Global warming does not mean a universal and uniform warming of planet Earth, nor does it mean the end of highly unpredictable weather patterns. However, weather patterns are the result of an enormously complex process, and the effects of global warming on this process could be horrific. There is a lot of uncertainty about how the different "feedbacks" operate, given the complexity of global weather systems. The consequences will be enormous no matter which systems are disrupted first. Scientists are unsure about which systems in the world's climate -- tropical currents versus polar currents, or events on land versus in the ocean -- cause or trigger changes in other systems. Even though you may live in a relatively stable climate, at some point the ecosystem you live in is greatly affected by climates around the world.
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