CHARACTER FORMATION PROJECT

2014
Global Warming
The Science of Climate Change

NAME : CHIN SEONG WEI
COHORT : 1401D
LECTURER : MR.YOSHUA








The course that I have chosen in Coursera is Global Warming ( the science of climate
change ) by David Archer. avid Archer is Professor of Geophysical Sciences at the University of
Chicago where he has taught since 1993. Archer has worked on a wide range of topics
pertaining to the global carbon cycle and its relation to global climatewith special focus on
ocean sedimentary processes and the balance between carbon dioxide levels in the oceans and
in the atmosphere.Archer is the author of The Long Thaw: How Humans Are Changing the Next
100,000 Years of Earth's Climate, which earned him the 2009 Walter P. Kistler Book Award. He
also co-editor of The Warming Papers: The Scientific Foundation for the Climate Change
Forecast, and author of The Climate Crisis: an Introductory Guide to Climate Change, The Global
Carbon Cycle, and the undergraduate textbook Global Warming: Understanding the
Forecast.Elected a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union in 2010 for exceptional scientific
contributions to the field, Archer is a contributor to realclimate.org, where working climate
scientists make their research and writing available to journalists and the general public. He
regularly speaks to general audiences about the science of climate change. It is pretty
interesting because this class describes the science of global warming and the forecast for
humans impact on Earths climate. The reason I chose this course is purely due to my curiosity
towards the Earths climate.
Global warming is the gradual increase in the overall temperature of the earth's
atmosphere generally attributed to the greenhouse effect caused by increased levels of carbon
dioxide, CFCs, and other pollutants. Since 1971, 90% of the increased energy has been stored in
the oceans, mostly in the 0 to 700m region. Despite the oceans' dominant role in energy
storage, the term "global warming" is also used to refer to increases in average temperature of
the air and sea at Earth's surface. Since the early 20th century, the global air and sea surface
temperature has increased about 0.8 C (1.4 F), with about two-thirds of the increase occurring
since 1980. Each of the last three decades has been successively warmer at the Earth's surface
than any preceding decade since 1850 is accelerating. The number of large wildfires is growing.
Dangerous heat waves are becoming more common. Extreme storm events are increasing in
many areas. More severe droughts are occurring in others.
These are just some of the consequences of global warming, which are already having
significant and harmful effects on our health, our environment, and our communities. Global
warming is happening right now, the planet's temperature is rising. The trend is clear and
unmistakable. Every one of the past 37 years has been warmer than the 20th century average.
The 12 warmest years on record have all occurred since 1998. Globally, the average surface
temperature has increased more than one degree Fahrenheit since the late 1800s. Most of that
increase has occurred over just the past three decades. This is quite a shocking fact but we ,
humans are the most responsible one for the cause. We are overloading our atmosphere with
carbon dioxide, which traps heat and steadily drives up the planets temperature. Where does
all this carbon come from? The fossil fuels we burn for energy coal, natural gas, and oil and
the loss of forests due to deforestation, especially in the tropics.
Global warming has led to greenhouse effect. The greenhouse effect is a process by
which thermal radiation from a planetary surface is absorbed by atmospheric greenhouse gases,
and is re-radiated in all directions. Since part of this re-radiation is back towards the surface and
the lower atmosphere, it results in an elevation of the average surface temperature above what
it would be in the absence of the gases. Carbon pollution is the main reason our planet is
getting hotter, increasing the chances of weather disasters, drought and flood and hurting our
health.There are solutions. For starters, we can cut carbon pollution by reducing our
dependence on fossil fuels and increasing our use of clean, renewable energy. And we can
implement policies that help us prepare for flooding, drought, storms and other consequences
of climate change.But first, we need national leadership that will stop ignoring what the earth
and scientists are telling us about climate change -- and instead start ignoring those who
continue to deny it is happening.Global warming is already underway with consequences that
must be faced today as well as tomorrow. Evidence of changes to the Earth's physical, chemical
and biological processes is now evident on every continent.
To fully appreciate the urgency of climate change, it's important to understand the ways
it affects society and the natural environment. Sea levels are rising and glaciers are shrinking;
record high temperatures and severe rainstorms and droughts are becoming increasingly
common. Changes in temperatures and rainfall patterns alter plant and animal behavior and
have significant implications for humans. When it comes to connecting the dots between
climate change, extreme weather and health, the lines are clear.The earth is saying something
with record heat, drought, storms and fire. Scientists are telling us this is what global warming
looks like.
We can act now to reduce our carbon emissions, slow the pace of global warming, and
pass on a safer, healthier world to our children. Or we can choose to do nothing, continue
pumping massive amounts of carbon into an already overloaded atmosphere, and suffer the
increasingly costly consequences. Together, we can tackle global warming away. We have the
practical solutions and technologies at hand to substantially reduce our emissions, create a
clean energy economy, To accomplish it, we must demand action from our elected leaders.
Taking simple, practical steps to reduce our personal carbon emissions and aggressively fight
against misinformation about global warming might be helpful. In crux, we must prepare our
cities and communities for the growing impacts of climate change
Thank you.