Global Warming Trend Continues

Global Warming Trend Continues today’s Video of the Day from NASA describes the decades-long warming trend that the Earth is experiencing.

The last 5 years are the hottest years that have been documented since modern-day record keeping began in 1880, and 2018 was the fourth hottest. Regions warm at various rates. The pattern is independent of where greenhouse gases are emitted, because the gases persist long enough to diffuse across the planet. Since the pre-industrial period, global average land temperatures have increased almost twice as fast as global average surface temperatures. This is because of the larger heat capacity of oceans, and because oceans lose more heat by evaporation. Over 90% of the extra energy in the climate system over the last 50 years has been stored in the ocean. 

Air pollution, in the form of aerosols, not only puts a large burden on human health, but also affects the climate on a large scale. From 1961 to 1990, a gradual reduction in the amount of sunlight reaching the Earth’s surface was observed, a phenomenon popularly known as global dimming, typically attributed to aerosols from biofuel and fossil fuel burning.

Global Warming Trend Continues as shown above in the video shows the affects of global warming and what it does to the enviorment and the wild life and its surroundings. Temperature rise is also affected by climate feedbacks such as the loss of sunlight-reflecting snow cover, and the release of carbon dioxide from drought-stricken forests. Collectively, these amplify global warming.

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By Chrissy Sexton, Earth.com Staff Writer

Video Credit: NASA