Is the earth getting colder or hotter?

There is a worrying story in the ancient book "Liezi Tianrui". Legend has it that there was a man in Qi State who was worried all day long. He was worried that the sky was going to collapse and he would have nowhere to hide, so he was so worried that he didn't want to sleep or eat. Later, people used unfounded worries as a metaphor for unnecessary or unfounded worries.

However, since the 1970s, scientists have had a heated debate about the future temperature changes of the earth. The views of both sides are completely opposite. However, this is not a groundless worry, but a warning to the world. Announcement: Humanity will face the threat of climate anomalies!

What will the earth’s climate be like in the future? Is it getting warmer or cooler? Are scientists' worries grounded?

Greenhouse Effect

Some meteorologists predict that by the next century, the cold winters on the earth will no longer exist, and all ice and snow will melt away. Whether it is the snow falling from the sky, the glaciers in the Himalayas, or the ice and snow covering the polar regions, they will all be gone forever. If anyone still wants to hold an ice dancing show, they have to turn to a snow machine.

The disappearance of winter means that the weather is getting warmer, and the consequences are really terrible. The low-lying areas along the coasts of the Pacific and Indian Oceans will be submerged by seawater and become a vast ocean. Thousands of residents who originally lived there had to move to other countries. Some people have calculated that when all the ice and snow melt, the sea level will rise by about 60m, which means that all places with an altitude below 60m, including places below the 20th floor of Manhattan skyscrapers in New York, will be submerged by sea water...

Climate warming and sea levels are rising. Is this someone deliberately spreading alarmism? No, some scientists have found evidence that land is sinking due to rising sea levels. Big cities such as Shanghai, Guangzhou and Tianjin have sunk by about 15cm compared with the same period last century.

The trend of climate warming can also be proved from global temperature records. According to statistics from the British Meteorological Service, 1988 was the year with the highest temperature in the past century. At the end of this century, the average annual temperature increased six times, all in the 1980s. By the early 1990s at the beginning of this century, the global average annual temperature had increased by 0.59°C. It can be seen that the earth is obviously warming.

So why is the earth warming? Scientists believe that the impact of human activities on the climate is becoming increasingly serious. The world emits 12 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the sky every year.

Carbon dioxide has a peculiar effect. It can absorb a large amount of heat from the surface and lower layers of the atmosphere and prevent it from dissipating into the air, just like the glass of a greenhouse. Therefore, scientists use the term greenhouse effect to describe carbon dioxide. role. The higher the carbon dioxide content in the atmosphere, the more obvious the climate warming trend will be.

What is even more serious is that the "greenhouse effect" produced by certain trace gases in the atmosphere is far more powerful than carbon dioxide. These trace gases include; methane produced by the decay of organic matter, exhaust gases emitted by automobiles, and nitrous oxide released from nitrogen fertilizers in the soil... Although the current content of these gases is not large, its ability to absorb heat is very strong and can absorb carbon dioxide. The greenhouse effect is amplified.

In addition, there is also the impact of more and more artificial heat in the city. As the scale of urban construction and development increases, the population increases. The temperature in the city is 0.5 to 1℃ higher than that in the suburbs. This phenomenon is called the heat island effect.

The above reasons seem to be enough to prove that the earth is warming. However, while some scientists are rushing to come up with ways to control the greenhouse effect, other scientists have put forward tit-for-tat opinions.

The Parasol Effect

In recent years, scholars who have criticized the "warming theory" of the climate have appeared one after another. Some scientists have published research results one after another. They pointed out that the earth is developing in the direction of low temperature and humidification. Those who think that the earth is warming are just people's misunderstanding of unknown nature.

Some experts in geology, geography, paleontology, and archaeology in the United States believe that the "warming theory" is based on the statistical data of meteorological observatories, and the data of meteorological observatories is 97. 5% is taken from cities and their surroundings. It is not difficult to see that man-made warming only exists around cities, so there is no strong basis for the theory of warming.

NASA scientists have proven through satellite temperature measurements that the earth’s average temperature has not increased from 1979 to 1988, and is even declining. In the Northern Hemisphere, temperatures increased slightly over the decade, but in the Southern Hemisphere, temperatures were decreasing. Overall, the Earth is cooling.

The United States Department of Agriculture has been tracking research for many years and found that the earth is cooling. They made a detailed analysis of data from more than 1,200 meteorological observation stations. Since 1920, the temperature has increased only in large cities, while in urban suburbs and rural areas, the temperature has dropped.

my country’s meteorological experts also believe that my country’s meteorological data also shows that the temperature is showing a downward trend.

The earth is getting colder. What is its theoretical basis? Scientists have come up with all kinds of interesting answers.

Some say that our earth needs to be put into the "refrigerator" for a period of time every tens of thousands of years. This is called entering an ice age in the history of the earth. By then the whole world will be covered with snow, even the equator will be no exception.

The earth has experienced a warm period for nearly 10,000 years, and humans seem to have heard the hurried footsteps of glaciers.

Some scientists say that the cooling of the weather is related to the "parasol effect" on the earth. What is the parasol effect? This refers to the effects caused by soot in the Earth's atmosphere. Since World War II, the number of volcanic eruptions has increased from an average of 16 to 18 times per year to 37 to 40 times. From 1880 to 1970, man-made smoke and dust in the northern hemisphere has tripled, and smoke and dust emitted by industries, automobiles, stoves, etc. are constantly increasing. These aerosol particles suspended in the atmosphere are like parasols on the earth. They can reflect and absorb solar radiation, causing the ground temperature to drop.

Scientists have different opinions on predictions of climate warming or cooling, and there are great differences. Ed Breant, a professor at the University of Warren in Australia, seems to make sense. "The climate is changing, but the causes of the change are natural and not man-made," he said. He said the climate was simply becoming more variable. For example, the UK has just experienced the coldest winter in history. This is followed by the warmest spring and autumn. It is nothing more than natural climate fluctuations.

According to his point of view, whether it is the greenhouse effect or the parasol effect, although these man-made factors affect the earth's temperature, they cannot influence the general trend of temperature changes. Is the earth cooling or heating? It remains an interesting mystery. However, with the diligent exploration of scientists, all mankind will be able to withstand the test of climate change and meet the challenges of harsh climate.