Global Warming Warning In 2007, the Arctic reached its lowest level of sea ice in 30 years (University of Colorado at Boulder). This is due to global warming or what scientists call climate change. The problem with global warming is that it has damaging consequences for future generations. Preventing global climate change depends on early identification of human-caused effects on the climate. Current opinions on global warming are; those who do not think that the Earth is going through climate change, others who believe that the Earth is going through climate change because of humans, and some who believe that the Earth is going through climate change but it is not because of human activities. To understand global warming, we must look meticulously at the technical data. Global warming is a significant increase in the Earth's climate temperature over a relatively short period of time due to human activities (Strickland). More precisely, an increase of one or more degrees Celsius over a period of one to two hundred years. The greenhouse effect drives global warming; furthermore, this force keeps the Earth habitable. The danger arises when greenhouse gases reach high levels. When sunlight enters the atmosphere, the surface absorbs about seventy percent of it. Then, the surface cools by radiating heat energy upwards. Only a small percentage of the energy emitted from the surface passes through the sky into space. Greenhouse molecules consume a large amount of thermal energy emitted from the surface, then re-radiated to surfaces and the lower atmosphere. Greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide, methane gas, nitrous oxide and water vapor. As more greenhouse gases fill the air, less heat escapes into space, helping to warm the surface.... center of paper... ry. "Ice under fire: Antarctica." Worldviewofglobalwarming.org. Blue Earth Alliance and Web. 14 September 2011. .Biello, David. "A deep thaw: how much will the disappearance of glaciers increase sea levels?" Scientificamerican.com. Scientific American, A Division Of Nature America, Inc, 5 September 2008. Web. 15 September 2011. .US Geological Survey. "Sea level and climate". Pubs.usgs.gov. Eastern Publications Group Web Team, January 31, 2000. Web. September 16, 2011. .Hoag, Hannah. “Global warming is already causing extinctions, scientists say.” Nationalgeographic.com. National Geographic Society, November 28, 2006. Web. September 16. 2011. .