GLOBAL WARMING: A SCIENCE OVERVIEW

Fossil fuels (i.e., coal, oil, and natural gas) provide about 85% of the world's energy, sustaining the world's standard-of-living and providing much of the power for transportation, generation of electricity, home heating, and food production. Compared to other sources of energy, fossil fuels are relatively inexpensive, transportable, safe, and abundant. At the same time, their use contributes to environmental problems such as air pollution and acid rain, which are being addressed through various control efforts, and to long-term climate change, which governments have begun to address through adoption of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change negotiated in 1992. Drawing primarily from international assessment reports, this paper summarizes six key elements of the science of climate change (often referred to simply as "global warming" although the projected changes involve changes in many variables in addition to a rise in global average temperature). These results are presented as context for considering the challenges of both limiting long-term warming and adapting to the warming that will occur as a result of past use of fossil fuels and the inevitable future use over coming decades.

• Record URL:
  http://climate.dot.gov/documents/workshop1002/maccracken2.pdf
• 
• Authors:
  • MacCracken, M C
• Conference:
  • The Potential Impacts of Climate Change on Transportation
  • Location: Washington, D.C.
  • Date: 2002-10-1 to 2002-10-2
• Publication Date: 2003

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References;
• Pagination: 16p
• Monograph Title: THE POTENTIAL IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON TRANSPORTATION: WORKSHOP SUMMARY AND PROCEEDINGS

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Climate; Control; Environmental impacts; Fossil fuels; Global warming
• Uncontrolled Terms: Adaptation (Physiology)
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Environment; Planning and Forecasting; Transportation (General); I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00962763
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Sep 2 2003 12:00AM