WhatisGlobalWarming.doc

What is Global Warming?
The Earth as an ecosystem is changing, attributable in great part to the effects of globalization and man. More carbon dioxide is now in the atmosphere than has been in the past 650,000 years. This carbon stays in the atmosphere, acts like a warm blanket, and holds in the heat — hence the name ‘global warming.’
The reason we exist on this planet is because the earth naturally traps just enough heat in the atmosphere to keep the temperature within a very narrow range - this creates the conditions that give us breathable air, clean water, and the weather we depend on to survive. Human beings have begun to tip that balance. We've overloaded the atmosphere with heat-trapping gasses from our cars and factories and power plants. If we don't start fixing the problem now, we’re in for devastating changes to our environment. We will experience extreme temperatures, rises in sea levels, and storms of unimaginable destructive fury. Recently, alarming events that are consistent with scientific predictions about the effects of climate change have become more and more commonplace.
什么是全球性变暖（温室效应）？
地球，作为一个生态系，主要是随着人类的发展和全球化而变化，循环的。此时此刻，大气层里的二氧化碳达到了过去65万年历史的最高点。这些在大气层的二氧化碳就像保暖毯，保持着地球表面的热度－－顾名思义，全球性变暖，也就是温室效应。
我们能够存活于这个星球－地球，是因为它自然地将适量的热气控制在大气层里，以此来保证地球表面温度只在一定范围内波动－－这提供了我们生存的条件，如可呼吸的空气，干净的水源，还有我们生存所必需的天气。我们已经使大气层超负荷地载满了我们车辆，工厂和能源厂排放的保温气体。如果我们不立即开始行动来改善并解决这个问题的话，我们将亲眼目睹环境的摧残性变化。我们将经历更极端的气温，海平线的大幅度上涨，以及更多我们根本无法想象的破坏性风暴的来临。最近，就在科学家们对气候变化带来的各种影响预测下，惊心动魄的灾难连续不断。