The Earth’s climate has changed many times during the planets history, ranging from the ice age to long periods of warmth, with our scientific understanding changing over time. Historically, the earth’s natural factors such as volcanic eruptions, changes in the orbit, and the released energy from the Sun have affected the climate. Beginning late in the 18th century and the Industrial Revolution, man and industry production have very likely influenced the Earth’s climate and affected the composition of the atmosphere.

Global warming occurs when the earth heats up. Specifically the temperature rises and trapped heat and light from the sun in the earth’s atmosphere increase the temperature.  This happens when greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, water vapor, nitrous oxide, and methane are released. This hurts many people, animals, and plants. Many cannot take the change, so they die. For approximately 200 years the burning of fossil fuels, such as coal and oil, and deforestation have caused the concentrations of heat-trapping “greenhouse gasses” to increase enormously in our atmosphere. There gases keep heat from escaping to space, somewhat like the glass panels of a greenhouse.

Green house gases are necessary to all life. These gases keep the planet’s surface warm; more than it otherwise would be. The Earth’s temperature is climbing above previous historical levels as the concentrations of these gases continue to increase in the atmosphere. According to NOAA and NASA data in the last 100 years the Earth’s average surface temperature has an increased by about 1.2 to 1.4 F (EPA, 2009). Since 1998, the record has been set for the eight warmest years in which 2005 was the warmest year in history. Man and the increase in technology and production, along with various other activities is likely the cause. Many scientists have begun to observe the severe changes of the climate that include shrinking of the polar ice caps, a drastic increase in the sea level, and even the trees have been blooming much earlier as the key growing seasons have grown much longer over time. Ice on rivers and lakes freezing later and breaking up earlier, with thawing of permafrost are also indicative of these changes. In recent decades climate sciences have characterized the increased rate of research in the field as evidenced by the notable evolution of scientific methodology and tools; models and observations supporting and enabling research (Le Treut, Somerville, Cubasch & Ding, 2007). During the last four decades, the rate at which scientists have added to the body of knowledge of the atmosphere and ocean processes has accelerated dramatically.