Artifact 3

Early in my research I wanted to find out what was causing global warming. Well I found out this information while looking at various global warming. One website in particular had all the information I was looking for. On this website it explains that "Carbon dioxide and other air pollution that is collecting in the atmosphere like a thickening blanket, trapping the sun's heat and causing the planet to warm up. Coal-burning power plants are the largest U.S. source of carbon dioxide pollution -- they produce 2.5 billion tons every year. Automobiles, the second largest source, create nearly 1.5 billion tons of CO2 annually."

Another thing I wanted to find out is what are the damages of global warming. According to this website "Global warming is a complex phenomenon, and its full-scale impacts are hard to predict far in advance. But each year scientists learn more about how global warming is affecting the planet, and many agree that certain consequences are likely to occur if current trends continue. Among these:

• Melting glaciers, early snowmelt and severe droughts will cause more dramatic water shortages in the American West.
  
• Rising sea levels will lead to coastal flooding on the Eastern seaboard, in Florida, and in other areas, such as the Gulf of Mexico.
  
• Warmer sea surface temperatures will fuel more intense hurricanes in the southeastern Atlantic and Gulf coasts.
  
• Forests, farms and cities will face troublesome new pests and more mosquito-borne diseases.
  Disruption of habitats such as coral reefs and alpine meadows could drive many plant and animal species to extinction."

I then wanted to find out what effects global warming has on the United States. Some examples are "in 2002, Colorado, Arizona and Oregon endured their worst wildfire seasons ever. The same year, drought created severe dust storms in Montana, Colorado and Kansas, and floods caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage in Texas, Montana and North Dakota."

Source citation-

Natural Resources Defense Council." Natural Resources Defense Council 9 January 2006. http://www.nrdc.org/globalWarming/f101.asp 20 January 2006