Scientists are now reporting that global warming has become a serious threat to the Earth’s future. Reports indicate that the Earth’s surface temperature has risen .4 degrees Celsius in the last 25 years. This has grave implications for the Earth’s future. Fortunately, there are things you can do to slow global warming.

Scientists predict global warming will bring big changes to the planet. Many countries are looking at ways to prepare for global warming. While much of the adaptation has to be an effort by governments, individuals can take steps to prepare as well. Read on to learn more.
Step One
Understand what global warming is. Greenhouse gases from human activities such as industry and transportation get trapped in the atmosphere and make the planet warmer.
Step Two
Look at the predictions for the effects of global warming. There's a wide range, including changes in weather patterns involving prolonged periods of drought and more frequent and intense storms. Water levels could also rise along coastlines.
Step Three
Evaluate the predictions for your region. In many parts of the world, scientists can look at what an increase in temperatures may do to specific areas.
Step Four
Prepare some measures to address your specific situation. For instance, farmers and gardeners can change crops and plants to more drought-resistant varieties. Consider hurricane shutters or other protective measures when living in areas vulnerable to intense storms.
Step Five
Get involved. Businesses and individuals can make a difference. Join community organizations, organize carpools and choose more fuel efficient vehicles. Do energy audits and re-fits.
Step Six
Look for job and business opportunities. The reality of global warming has produced a wide variety of new careers in areas such as clean power, environmental management and environmental technologies.

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Over the past 25 years or so, scientists around the world have observed a worrisome trend: the average temperature of the earth’s atmosphere and oceans has been increasing. Although global warming is a slow process—accounting for an increase of about 1 degree Fahrenheit over the course of the 20th century—it has profound implications. Here’s a quick guide to this much-argued, but little-understood, phenomenon.

Step One
Blame the Greenhouse Effect. Some gases—notably carbon dioxide—tend to trap heat in the earth’s atmosphere, and as the concentration of these gases increases, so does the atmosphere’s temperature. Burning fossil fuels releases huge amounts of carbon dioxide, over and above the CO2 exhaled by humans and other animals. Worse, global C02 emissions have gone hand-in-hand with deforestation, meaning there aren’t as many trees to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as there used to be.
Step Two
One or two degrees make a big difference. A natural response to global warming is to say “So what’s the big deal? It’ll be an average of 76 degrees over the summer instead of 75 degrees.” True, that one degree won’t make much difference to your summer wardrobe, but it has a huge effect on the polar ice caps, which are slowly melting. As a result, scientists predict that average water levels around the world will rise anywhere from 10 to 100 feet over the next 100 years. (Even 10 feet would render many coastal cities uninhabitable.)
Step Three
Global warming doesn’t necessarily mean “warm.” Here’s another observation by the average joe: “Jeez, it’s five degrees out! There goes your global warming!” Unfortunately, the way climate works, an average increase of one or two degrees in atmospheric temperature can actually cause some places to get colder, because of resulting changes in ocean currents. In other words, hundreds of years from now, it’s not inconceivable that global warming will cause a new Ice Age.
Step Four
Get ready for some weird weather. Statistically, a 70-degree day in New York in January isn’t, by itself, evidence for global warming—nor are freak snowstorms in Denver, nor an unusually strong hurricane season, such as the U.S. experienced last year. However, taken together, these strong shifts in the weather indicate that something is awry in the way heat is being channeled from the atmosphere to the oceans, and vice versa—and the best guess is, you guessed it, global warming.
Step Five
The situation isn’t hopeless. Faced with a planetary phenomenon like global warming, many folks will throw up their hands and say, “what can I do?” The fact is, though, that if we change our consumption patterns now—abandoning our SUVs, looking for alternative energy sources, preserving the Amazon rain forest, etc.—we can have a major impact on the future. If you’re concerned, you should at least alter your behavior—and if you don’t think that’s enough, get involved with an environmental group or write a letter to your congressperson.

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