Climate Changes Due To Global Warming

There is no doubt that the earth's climate is constantly changing.  Some people feel that it is part of the normal cycle of events on this planet.  Yet, most scientists agree that there are drastic changes occurring that are due to unnatural global warming. 

Image via WikipediaThe weather is getting decidedly warmer.  For the most part, the United States has already warmed up some.  In some places, the average rise in temperature is around four degrees Fahrenheit.  However, all the states show some degree of warming. 

The first and second warmest years on record were 1998 and 2006, respectively.  In fact, every year from the first to the second warmest years, ranked within the warmest 25 years in the US.  In 2006, the annual average temperature was 55 degrees Fahrenheit.  Recent warm years point to a climate change being brought on by global warming. 

Climate changes due to global warming can be seen in the prevalence of drought.  Years are becoming drier in recent decades due to global warming.  This is caused by the heat that is building up around the earth's surface.  Excessive evaporation intensifies drought even more during the spring and fall. 

Global warming has upped the level of drought.  A major drought in the US lasted from 1999-2002.  There were only two other droughts in the last forty years that were so widespread and devastating.  Crops were damaged or would not grow at all, thus shortening the food supply. 

Image via WikipediaThere have been more and more frequent droughts in the West in recent years.  The last 30 years in particular have seen numerous droughts.  These droughts have spawned wildfires that set new records in 2006 for number of fires and of acres burned.  Further proof of global warming is seen in these destructive wildfires. 

While the overall effect of global warming is heat followed by drought, there are still storms.  Since global warming energizes the atmosphere, these storms will be different.  When all is going well, a gentle rain will soak into the earth gradually, causing no more than a minor inconvenience to people.

Lately however (as most in the South and mid-western states are experiencing first-hand), storms are becoming more destructive.  While there have certainly been droughts, rainfall totals have risen in the past century.  This surprising fact is due to the fact that when the rain comes, it comes in rapid downpours.  The sky opens up and dumps water on the earth very quickly in many cases.  This is followed by dry periods. 

The number of times it rains in a year has increased during the last 50 years.  What is more, global warming is causing storms to intensify.  Storms which would have been ordinary thunderstorms in the past are morphing into raging tempests.  Hurricanes have been rated higher in recent years as global warming affects their intensity. 

Global warming is responsible for many climate changes.  It is quite likely that some or our actions help to cause the increase in global warming that precipitates these changes.  If people could make it a common goal to cut down on activities that promote global warming, the earth would be a much more stable environment.