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Global Warming
“We're altering the environment far faster than we can possibly predict the consequences. This is bound to lead to some surprises.” This quotation was stated by Michael Oppenheimer, Senior Scientist of the Environmental Defense Fund, on the problem of global warming. As Dr. Oppenheimer has said, one of the biggest challenges humans face today is global warming. With the warming up of Earth’s temperature, it causes radical changes in the environment that we live in and has the capabilities to produce catastrophic outcomes that can affect the human race for centuries to come. Fortunately, it is not too late to do something about this major issue. We need to reverse this cycle of global warming and deal with this problem now so that we don’t leave it for our children’s children to try and find a solution to. We need to take responsibility for our actions now and take a stand to do something about it.
Global warming is defined as a gradual increase in planet-wide temperatures and is now well documented and accepted by scientists as fact. It has been determined by the U.S National Research Council that Earth is the hottest it has been in at least 400 years, and possibly even in the last 2,000 years (Shah 2007). Studies indicate that the average global surface temperature has increased by approximately 1.0°F over the last century. This is the largest increase in surface temperature in the last 1,000 years and scientists are

predicting an even greater increase over this century (Shah 2007). This warming is largely attributed to the increase of greenhouse gases, primarily carbon dioxide and methane, in the Earth's upper atmosphere caused by human burning of fossil fuels, industrialization, farming, and deforestation activities (US EPA 2005). Average global temperatures may increase by 2.5º F - 10.4º F by the end of the 21st century. Although the numbers sound small, they can trigger significant changes in climate....