Many efforts are being made by various nations to cut down the rate of global warming. One such effort is the Kyoto agreement that has been made between various nations to reduce the emissions of various green house gases. Also many non profit organizations are working for the cause. Al Gore was one of the foremost U.S. politicians to heave an alarm about the hazards of global warming. He has produced a significantly acclaimed documentary movie called "An Inconvenient Truth," and written a book that archives his advice that Earth is dashing toward an immensely warmer future. Al Gore, the former vice president of United States has given various speeches to raise an awareness of global warming. He has warned people about the ill effects of Global warming and its remedies.
Global Warming is Inspiring Scientists to Fight for Awareness
Scientists all over the world are making predictions about the ill effects of Global warming and connecting some of the events that have taken place in the pat few decades as an alarm of global warming. The effect of global warming is increasing the average temperature of the earth. A rise in earth’s temperatures can in turn root to other alterations in the ecology, including an increasing sea level and modifying the quantity and pattern of rainfall. These modifications may boost the occurrence and concentration of severe climate events, such as floods, famines, heat waves, tornados, and twisters. Other consequences may comprise of higher or lower agricultural outputs, glacier melting, lesser summer stream flows, genus extinctions and rise in the ranges of disease vectors. As an effect of global warming species like golden toad, harlequin frog of Costa Rica has already become extinct. There are number of species that have a threat of disappearing soon as an effect of global warming. As an effect of global warming various new diseases have emerged lately. These diseases are occurring frequently due to the increase in earths average temperature since the bacteria can survive better in elevated temperatures and even multiplies faster when the conditions are favorable. The global warming is extending the distribution of mosquitoes due to the increase in humidity levels and their frequent growth in warmer atmosphere. Various diseases due to ebola, hanta and machupo virus are expected due to warmer climates. The marine life is also very sensitive to the increase in temperatures. The effect of global warming will definitely be seen on some species in the water. A survey was made in which the marine life reacted significantly to the changes in water temperatures. It is expected that many species will die off or become extinct due to the increase in the temperatures of the water, whereas various other species, which prefer warmer waters, will increase tremendously. Perhaps the most disturbing changes are expected in the coral reefs that are expected to die off as an effect of global warming. The global warming is expected to cause irreversible changes in the ecosystem and the behavior of animals.
Global Warming Causes
As said, the major cause of global warming is the emission of green house gases like carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide etc into the atmosphere. 
The major source of carbon dioxide is the power plants. These power plants emit large amounts of carbon dioxide produced from burning of fossil fuels for the purpose of electricity generation. About twenty percent of carbon dioxide emitted in the atmosphere comes from burning of gasoline in the engines of the vehicles. This is true for most of the developed countries. Buildings, both commercial and residential represent a larger source of global warming pollution than cars and trucks.
Building of these structures require a lot of fuel to be burnt which emits a large amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Methane is more than 20 times as effectual as CO2 at entrapping heat in the atmosphere. Methane is obtained from resources such as rice paddies, bovine flatulence, bacteria in bogs and fossil fuel manufacture. When fields are flooded, anaerobic situation build up and the organic matter in the soil decays, releasing methane to the atmosphere. The main sources of nitrous oxide include nylon and nitric acid production, cars with catalytic converters, the use of fertilizers in agriculture and the burning of organic matter. Another cause of global warming is deforestation that is caused by cutting and burning of forests for the purpose of residence and industrialization.
The major source of carbon dioxide is the power plants. These power plants emit large amounts of carbon dioxide produced from burning of fossil fuels for the purpose of electricity generation. About twenty percent of carbon dioxide emitted in the atmosphere comes from burning of gasoline in the engines of the vehicles. This is true for most of the developed countries. Buildings, both commercial and residential represent a larger source of global warming pollution than cars and trucks. Building of these structures require a lot of fuel to be burnt which emits a large amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Methane is more than 20 times as effectual as CO2 at entrapping heat in the atmosphere. Methane is obtained from resources such as rice paddies, bovine flatulence, bacteria in bogs and fossil fuel manufacture. When fields are flooded, anaerobic situation build up and the organic matter in the soil decays, releasing methane to the atmosphere. The main sources of nitrous oxide include nylon and nitric acid production, cars with catalytic converters, the use of fertilizers in agriculture and the burning of organic matter. Another cause of global warming is deforestation that is caused by cutting and burning of forests for the purpose of residence and industrialization.
Ancient global warming periods seen
Periods of intense global warming lasting tens of thousands of years occurred more frequently in the past than previously believed, U.S. researchers say.
Releases of carbon dioxide sequestered in the deep oceans were the most likely trigger of these ancient "hyperthermal" events, a team led by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego said.
Most of the events raised average global temperatures between 3.6 and 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit, an amount comparable to current estimates of how much temperatures are expected to rise in coming decades as a consequence of human-caused global warming, a UCSD release reported Wednesday.
Hyperthermals provide historical perspective on what Earth will experience as it continues to warm from widespread use of fossil fuels, Scripps geology Professor Richard Norris said.
"There are lots of ancient examples of global warming on a scale broadly like the expected future warming.
"These hyperthermals seem not to have been rare events," he said. "We can use these events to examine the impact of global change on marine ecosystems, climate and ocean circulation."
The hyperthermals took place roughly every 400,000 years during a warm period of Earth's history that prevailed some 50 million years ago and lasted about 40,000 years before temperatures returned to normal, he said.
Releases of carbon dioxide sequestered in the deep oceans were the most likely trigger of these ancient "hyperthermal" events, a team led by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego said.
Most of the events raised average global temperatures between 3.6 and 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit, an amount comparable to current estimates of how much temperatures are expected to rise in coming decades as a consequence of human-caused global warming, a UCSD release reported Wednesday.
Hyperthermals provide historical perspective on what Earth will experience as it continues to warm from widespread use of fossil fuels, Scripps geology Professor Richard Norris said.
"There are lots of ancient examples of global warming on a scale broadly like the expected future warming.
"These hyperthermals seem not to have been rare events," he said. "We can use these events to examine the impact of global change on marine ecosystems, climate and ocean circulation."
The hyperthermals took place roughly every 400,000 years during a warm period of Earth's history that prevailed some 50 million years ago and lasted about 40,000 years before temperatures returned to normal, he said.
Global warming as 'cargo cult science'
During World War II, remote Pacific islands like Vanuatu became involved in war efforts when they became part of supply lines. To the natives the arrival of noisy "birds" was almost miraculous, bringing delicious foods and wondrous cargo.
After the war the birds left. Into the uncertain vacuum returned old terrors of hunger and sickness, and an angry Earth. Superstitious natives copied what they had seen. They made model planes and runways. They had the form right – the outward form of religion – but lacked power. As they had seen so they, and their priests, did. But no airplanes landed. Anthropologists call this religion a "cargo cult."
After the war the birds left. Into the uncertain vacuum returned old terrors of hunger and sickness, and an angry Earth. Superstitious natives copied what they had seen. They made model planes and runways. They had the form right – the outward form of religion – but lacked power. As they had seen so they, and their priests, did. But no airplanes landed. Anthropologists call this religion a "cargo cult."
Could global warming be causing recent earthquakes?
Severe earthquakes in Haiti, Chile and now Japan have experts around the world asking whether the world's tectonic plates are becoming more active — and what could be causing it.
Some scientists theorize that the sudden melting of glaciers due to man-made climate change is lightening the load on the Earth's surface, allowing its mantle to rebound upwards and causing plates to become unstuck.
These scientists point to the historical increase in volcanic and earthquake activity that occurred about 12,000 years ago when the glaciers that covered most of Canada in an ice sheet several kilometres thick suddenly melted.
The result was that most of Canada's crust lifted — and is still rising.
Scientists have discovered that the accelerated melting of the Greenland ice sheet over the last 10 years already is lifting the southeastern part of that island several millimetres every year.
The surface of the Earth is elastic. A heavy load such as a glacier will cause it to sink, pushing aside the liquid rock underneath.
The Greenland glacier is about three kilometres at its thickest and it is believed that its weight has depressed sections of the land under the glacier about one kilometre. In fact, the weight of the glacier is so great that significant portions of Greenland have been pushed well below sea level.
"There is certainly some literature that talks about the increased occurrence of volcanic eruptions and the removing of load from the crust by deglaciation," said Martin Sharp, a glaciologist at the University of Alberta. "It changes the stress load in the crust and maybe it opens up routes for lava to come to the surface.
"It is conceivable that there would be some increase in earthquake activity during periods of rapid changes on the Earth's crust."
Other scientists, however, believe that tectonic movements similar to the one that caused the Japanese quake are too deep in the Earth to be affected by the pressure releases caused by glacier melt.
These scientists theorize, however, that glacier melts could cause shallower quakes.
Andrew Hynes, a tectonics expert at McGill University, said the issue is not so much the load shift on the Earth's crust, but rather the increased fluid pressure in the fault that lubricates the rock, allowing the plate to slide.
"All earthquakes, except those produced by volcanic activity, are essentially the unsticking of faults," he said.
In other words, if you pump fluid into a fault, it can reduce the friction and allow the rock to slide.
Could the stress transfers and the added melt from glaciers inject more fluid into the rocks, creating earthquakes?
"It would only apply to earthquakes that are at shallow depths," he said. "But I wouldn't push it any further than that."
He added, however, that the decompression from melting glaciers could cause an increase in volcanic activity by releasing the liquid rock and its explosive potential.
At the same time, the number and severity of earthquakes appear to have increased over the last thirty years in tandem with accelerating glacial melt.
Some experts claim that jump can be explained by the increased number of seismograph stations — more than 8,000 now, up from 350 in 1931 — allowing scientists to pinpoint earthquakes that would otherwise have been missed.
But this does not explain the recent increase in major earthquakes, which are defined as above 6 on the Richter magnitude scale. Japan's earthquake was a 9.
Scientists have been tracking these powerful quakes for well over a century and it's unlikely that they have missed any during at least the last 60 years.
According to data from the U.S. Geological Survey there were 1,085 major earthquakes in the 1980s. This increased in the 1990s by about 50 per cent to 1,492 and to 1,611 from 2000 to 2009. Last year, and up to and including the Japanese quake, there were 247 major earthquakes.
Some scientists theorize that the sudden melting of glaciers due to man-made climate change is lightening the load on the Earth's surface, allowing its mantle to rebound upwards and causing plates to become unstuck.
These scientists point to the historical increase in volcanic and earthquake activity that occurred about 12,000 years ago when the glaciers that covered most of Canada in an ice sheet several kilometres thick suddenly melted.
The result was that most of Canada's crust lifted — and is still rising.
Scientists have discovered that the accelerated melting of the Greenland ice sheet over the last 10 years already is lifting the southeastern part of that island several millimetres every year.
The surface of the Earth is elastic. A heavy load such as a glacier will cause it to sink, pushing aside the liquid rock underneath.
The Greenland glacier is about three kilometres at its thickest and it is believed that its weight has depressed sections of the land under the glacier about one kilometre. In fact, the weight of the glacier is so great that significant portions of Greenland have been pushed well below sea level.
"There is certainly some literature that talks about the increased occurrence of volcanic eruptions and the removing of load from the crust by deglaciation," said Martin Sharp, a glaciologist at the University of Alberta. "It changes the stress load in the crust and maybe it opens up routes for lava to come to the surface.
"It is conceivable that there would be some increase in earthquake activity during periods of rapid changes on the Earth's crust."
Other scientists, however, believe that tectonic movements similar to the one that caused the Japanese quake are too deep in the Earth to be affected by the pressure releases caused by glacier melt.
These scientists theorize, however, that glacier melts could cause shallower quakes.
Andrew Hynes, a tectonics expert at McGill University, said the issue is not so much the load shift on the Earth's crust, but rather the increased fluid pressure in the fault that lubricates the rock, allowing the plate to slide.
"All earthquakes, except those produced by volcanic activity, are essentially the unsticking of faults," he said.
In other words, if you pump fluid into a fault, it can reduce the friction and allow the rock to slide.
Could the stress transfers and the added melt from glaciers inject more fluid into the rocks, creating earthquakes?
"It would only apply to earthquakes that are at shallow depths," he said. "But I wouldn't push it any further than that."
He added, however, that the decompression from melting glaciers could cause an increase in volcanic activity by releasing the liquid rock and its explosive potential.
At the same time, the number and severity of earthquakes appear to have increased over the last thirty years in tandem with accelerating glacial melt.
Some experts claim that jump can be explained by the increased number of seismograph stations — more than 8,000 now, up from 350 in 1931 — allowing scientists to pinpoint earthquakes that would otherwise have been missed.
But this does not explain the recent increase in major earthquakes, which are defined as above 6 on the Richter magnitude scale. Japan's earthquake was a 9.
Scientists have been tracking these powerful quakes for well over a century and it's unlikely that they have missed any during at least the last 60 years.
According to data from the U.S. Geological Survey there were 1,085 major earthquakes in the 1980s. This increased in the 1990s by about 50 per cent to 1,492 and to 1,611 from 2000 to 2009. Last year, and up to and including the Japanese quake, there were 247 major earthquakes.
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