CONTENTS INTRODUCTION CHAP GLOBAL WARMING EARTH's CHANGING CLIMATE 10 HAPTER STUDYING GLOBAL WARMING 25 CHAPTER EFFECTS OF GLOBAL WARMING 33 HAPTER RESPONSES TO GLOBAL WARMING 51 67 69 CONCLUSION GLOSSARY For MORE INFORMATION BIBLIOGRAPHY 12 76 INDEX 77
iving things have aver age temperatures For humans normal body LTE temperature is 98 6 °F 37°C For most birds average body temper ature is a little higher from 104 to 108 °F 40° to 42 °C Planets while not living EC entities nevertheless also have average temperatures For Venus the hottest planet in the solar system the average surface tem perature is about 867 °F 464 °C hot enough to melt lead The aver I age surface temperature of Mars is about 82 °F 63 °C The aver N age temperature on Earth is about N 60 °F 16 °C Or at least that's the current figure Scientists have I observed and noted that over the past 100 years the temperature of I our planet has been rising And just as an above normal body temperature is a warning sign of illness a growing number of sci entists are asserting that the rising surface temperature on Earth a
INTRODUCTION Shrinking habitats such as that for this polar bear and her cubs is one possible outcome of an increasingly hotter planet Scientists predict that if the Arctic sea ice continues melting as projected the polar bear population of 20so may be one third of what it is today Johnny Johnson Riser Getty Images
