Climate warming in the context of "Global surface temperature"

Play Trivia Questions online!

 or

Skip to study material about Climate warming in the context of "Global surface temperature"
Ad spacer

⭐ Core Definition: Climate warming

Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to Earth's climate. The modern-day rise in global temperatures is driven by human activities, especially fossil fuel (coal, oil and natural gas) burning since the Industrial Revolution. Fossil fuel use, deforestation, and some agricultural and industrial practices release greenhouse gases. These gases absorb some of the heat that the Earth radiates after it warms from sunlight, warming the lower atmosphere. Carbon dioxide, the primary gas driving global warming, has increased in concentration by about 50% since the pre-industrial era to levels not seen for millions of years.

Climate change has an increasingly large impact on the environment. Deserts are expanding, while heat waves and wildfires are becoming more common. Amplified warming in the Arctic has contributed to thawing permafrost, retreat of glaciers and sea ice decline. Higher temperatures are also causing more intense storms, droughts, and other weather extremes. Rapid environmental change in mountains, coral reefs, and the Arctic is forcing many species to relocate or become extinct. Even if efforts to minimize future warming are successful, some effects will continue for centuries. These include ocean heating, ocean acidification and sea level rise.

↓ Menu

>>>PUT SHARE BUTTONS HERE<<<
In this Dossier

Climate warming in the context of Soil gas

Soil gases (soil atmosphere) are the gases found in the air space between soil components. The spaces between the solid soil particles, if they do not contain water, are filled with air. The primary soil gases are nitrogen, carbon dioxide and oxygen. Oxygen is critical because it allows for respiration of both plant roots and soil organisms. Other natural soil gases include nitric oxide, nitrous oxide, methane, and ammonia. Some environmental contaminants below ground produce gas which diffuses through the soil such as from landfill wastes, mining activities, and contamination by petroleum hydrocarbons which produce volatile organic compounds. The soil atmosphere is also made of a variety of volatile compounds emitted by soil organisms, as respiratory metabolites, allelopathic compounds or semiochemical signals used in within-species and between-species communication. Soil is a net emitter of greenhouse gases, in particular when and where permafrost is thawing and degassing under the influence of climate warming.

Gases fill soil pores in the soil structure as water drains or is removed from a soil pore by evaporation or root absorption. The network of pores within the soil aerates, or ventilates, the soil. This aeration network becomes blocked when water enters soil pores. Not only are both soil air and soil water very dynamic parts of soil, but both are often inversely related.

↑ Return to Menu
LINKED FROM (PARENTS)
← Soil gas
LINKS TO (CHILDREN)
Global surface temperature → Climate system → Climate variability and change → Climate → Scientific consensus on climate change → Fossil fuel → Coal → Petroleum → Natural gas → Industrial Revolution → Deforestation and climate change → Greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture → Greenhouse gas → Greenhouse effect → Thermal radiation → Carbon dioxide → Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of Earth → Pre-industrial society → Effects of climate change → Desertification → Heat wave → Wildfire → Polar amplification → Permafrost → Retreat of glaciers since 1850 → Arctic sea ice decline → Tropical cyclones and climate change → Drought → Extreme weather → Montane ecosystems → Coral reef → Climate change in the Arctic → Extinction risk from climate change → Ocean temperature → Ocean acidification → Sea level rise →