Does global warming happen fast or slow?

Surface temperature records indicate there has been about 0.6°C rise over the past 40 years. To place this within a historical perspective, 20,000 years ago earth was at the depth of an ice age. From 20,000 to 11,000 years ago the temperature rapidly increased about 8Ã�° C. If we divide those nine thousand years into 40 year segments (to contrast with the past 40 years), we find the temperature rose about 0.04Ã�°. 0.04Ã�° every 40 years is about the fastest temperature appears to climb due to natural causes.

0.6�°/.04�° indicates present climate change is fifteen times faster than that, and our climate models indicate the change is just barely getting started. Earth should continue warming in response to elevated CO2 levels for decades to come.

No one can tell exactly how fast it will happen, every time they do a model they get a slightly different answer. Although it is too late to stop global warming, it is not too late to slow it down.

A: Most of us do not take the whole world into consideration when thinking about global warming. Just because there have been unusually warm weather where you live doesn't mean everyone is experiencing warmer weather. On the other side of the world they could be having unusually cold weather. "Global warming" only means the overall average temperature continues an upward trend.

Although the ice caps are melting, that doesn't mean they will shortly disappear. There are seasonal variations--as the south polar cap (Antarctica) grows the north polar cap shrinks, and vice versa. Antarctica currently is growing in extent on the east side, while continuing to shed mass (lose volume) overall. A: Global warming is happening as you read this. Global warming is happening fast and quickly and will not stop until we implement solutions. A: The more greenhouse gas pollution we put in the air the faster global warming will occur.

Answer from the IPCC working group 1

The physical science basis (see link): "For the global average, warming in the last century has occurred in two phases, from the 1910s to the 1940s (0.35�°C), and more strongly from the 1970s to the present (0.55�°C). An increasing rate of warming has taken place over the last 25 years, and 11 of the 12 warmest years on record have occurred in the past 12 years....[In addition to Instrumental records] confirmation of global warming comes from warming of the oceans, rising sea levels, glaciers melting, sea ice retreating in the Arctic and diminished snow cover in the Northern Hemisphere."