1vegan
10-29-03, 08:07 AM
From the World Watch Institute newsletter:
Global Temperatures Get Hot, Hot, Hot
Vital Signs Fact of the Week
Thursday, October 23, 2003
The year 2002 was the second hottest since record keeping began in the 1880s. The global average temperature climbed to 14.52 degrees Celsius. The nine warmest years on record have occurred since 1990, and scientists expect that the temperature record set in 1998 will be surpassed by a new high in 2003.
Scientists have linked the warming trend that accelerated in the twentieth century to the buildup of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gasses. By burning fossil fuels, people released some 6.44 billion tons of carbon into the atmosphere in 2002. With less than five percent of the world's population, the United States is the single largest source of carbon from fossil fuels--emitting 24 percent of the world's total.
Source:
Carbon Emissions and Temperatures Climb, Vital Signs 2003, pp. 40-41.
www.worldwatch.org/brain/media/pdf/pubs/vs/2003_carbon-temp.pdf
Worldwatch Links:
Vital Signs Fact of the Week Archive
www.worldwatch.org/topics/vsow/
Take action: Vital Signs 2003, What You Can Do
www.worldwatch.org/press/news/2003/05/23/
Additional Resources:
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: www.ipcc.ch/
About the Worldwatch Institute: The Worldwatch Institute is an independent research organization that works for an environmentally sustainable and socially just society, in which the needs of all people are met without threatening the health of the natural environment or the well-being of future generations. For more information, visit us on the web at www.worldwatch.org.
Global Temperatures Get Hot, Hot, Hot
Vital Signs Fact of the Week
Thursday, October 23, 2003
The year 2002 was the second hottest since record keeping began in the 1880s. The global average temperature climbed to 14.52 degrees Celsius. The nine warmest years on record have occurred since 1990, and scientists expect that the temperature record set in 1998 will be surpassed by a new high in 2003.
Scientists have linked the warming trend that accelerated in the twentieth century to the buildup of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gasses. By burning fossil fuels, people released some 6.44 billion tons of carbon into the atmosphere in 2002. With less than five percent of the world's population, the United States is the single largest source of carbon from fossil fuels--emitting 24 percent of the world's total.
Source:
Carbon Emissions and Temperatures Climb, Vital Signs 2003, pp. 40-41.
www.worldwatch.org/brain/media/pdf/pubs/vs/2003_carbon-temp.pdf
Worldwatch Links:
Vital Signs Fact of the Week Archive
www.worldwatch.org/topics/vsow/
Take action: Vital Signs 2003, What You Can Do
www.worldwatch.org/press/news/2003/05/23/
Additional Resources:
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: www.ipcc.ch/
About the Worldwatch Institute: The Worldwatch Institute is an independent research organization that works for an environmentally sustainable and socially just society, in which the needs of all people are met without threatening the health of the natural environment or the well-being of future generations. For more information, visit us on the web at www.worldwatch.org.