SHOCKFACTS: Climate change

• During the 20^th century, the Earth's average temperature increased by 0.6 degrees Celcius. The warmest year of that century was 1998, and the warmest decade was the 1990s.

• During the 20th century, the sea level rose by 10-20cm, and the Earth's snow coverage decreased by around 10%. In recent decades, arctic sea-ice thickness has decreased by about 40%.

• The level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, a key cause of global warming, has increased 30% since 1750, it is now the highest in 20 million years.

• The Earth's surface temperature is projected to increase by 1.4-5.8% between 1990 and 2010. Temperatures will also vary more widely, and extreme weather events are predicted to increase. Sea levels are predicted to rise by 10cm in that time.

• The projected rate of warming between 1990 and 2010 is the highest in 10,000 years. Many of the global-warming-causing gases now in the atmosphere are long-lasting, meaning that even if emissions are cut, global warming will continue for the next 1000 years.

[Source: The Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. <http://www.ipcc.ch>.]

From Green Left Weekly, July 6, 2005.

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From GLW issue 632