A large part of Europe and North America is facing an unusually hot summer. Many are asking the recurring question: “Is it due to global warming?”
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A boy cooling off under a water faucet in Berlin on July 19 – (Photo: Xinhua/AFP) |
Heat waves have claimed at least 21 lives in France, including a 15-month-old child, raising concerns about a repeat of the heat wave in Europe in 2003, which resulted in at least 15,000 deaths in France and 20,000 in Italy.
Many vast areas of the United States and Canada are also experiencing record high temperatures this month. “We are being cooked,” said American meteorologist Dennis Feltgen from the National Weather Service.
Many scientists believe that the planet is warming and will continue to do so due to the “greenhouse effect” from emissions caused by human activities released into the atmosphere daily. However, some argue that we should not attribute too much to the greenhouse effect or global warming.
Skeptics of this hypothesis (which predicts droughts and floods this century unless greenhouse gas emissions are reduced) claim that the media has exploited these scorching summer days to exaggerate the impact of global warming. They argue that record heat waves can be viewed as part of a natural cycle of highs and lows.
However, many scientists state that the global warming trend is real. The U.S. space agency (NASA) reported that 2005 was the hottest year globally in over a century, and the last three years have also been the hottest since the 1890s.
The National Climatic Data Center stated that the first half of 2006 was the hottest six months since 1895. “Global temperatures have increased by 0.7°C since 1850 and are projected to continue rising by 2-5°C this century,” said Philip Jones, a climate research professor at the University of East Anglia in the UK.
In addition to temperature, there is other evidence that the Earth is warming, such as the rise in sea levels and the decrease in snow cover. Global sea levels are rising about 1.5 mm per year and have increased approximately 20 cm since the late 1800s.
Due to the uncertainties in climate change science, a United Nations body – the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – was established in 1988 to review and assess their databases and reports, which significantly influence policymakers in determining actions to address climate change.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change will release its fourth report next year.
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