Is Global Warming a big threat to mankind?

very true executive85....... In a recent study it has been found that there is an increase of 0.56 meters in the sea and oceanic water levels around the world as the ice mountains and also the poles are melting down. There is bigger threat to Australian Continent as the height of the land surface of Australia in many parts is only over a meter than the sea level.

In addition to this discussion I'm putting here what Mr.Geoffrey Lean says who is an Environmentalist. Levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere have jumped abruptly, raising fears that global warming may be accelerating out of control. Measurements by US government scientists show that concentrations of the gas, the main cause of the climate exchange, rose by a record amount over the past 12 months. It is the t hird successive year in which they have increased sharply, marking an unprecedented triennial surge. Scientists are at a loss to explain why the rapid rise has taken place, but fear that it could show the first signs that global warming is feeding on itself, with rising temperatures causing increases in carbon dioxide, which then go on to drive the thermometer even higher. That would be a deeply alarming development, suggesting that this self-reinforcing heating could spiral upwards beyond the reach of any attempts to combat it. The development comes as official figures show that Britain's emissions of the gas soared by three percent last year, twice as fast as the year before. The increase caused b the rising energy use and by burning less gas and more coal in power stations jeopardizes the Government's target of reducing emissions by 19 percent by 2010. It also coincides with a new bid to break the log jam over the Kyoto treaty headed by Stephen Byers, the former transport secretary, who remains close to Tony Blair. Mr.Byers is co-Chairing with US Republican Senator Olympia Snowe a new task force, run by the institute of Public Policy Research and US and Australian think tanks, which is charged with devising proposals that could resolve the stalemate caused by President Bush's hostility to the treaty. The carbon dioxide measurements have been taken from the 11,400 ft summit of Hawaii's Mauna Loa, whose enormous dome makes it the most substantial mountain on earth, by scientists working for the US government's National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration. They have been taking the readings from the peak- effectively beathalyzing the planet- for the past 46years. It is an ideal site for the exercise. 2,000 miles from the nearest land and protected by freak climatic conditions from pollution from Hawaii, more than two miles below. The latest measurements, taken a week ago, showed that carbon dioxide had reached about 379 parts per million(ppm), up from about 371ppm in 2001. These represent three of the four biggest increases on record(the other was in 1998), creating an unprecedented sequence. They add up to a 64 percent rise over the average rate of growth over the past decade of 1.8 ppm a year. The US scientists have yet to analyze the figures and stress that they could be just a remarkable blip. Professor Ralph Keeling-whose father Charles Keeling first set up the measurements from Mauna Loa said,"WE ARE MOVING INTO A WARMER WORLD".

Thank you for correcting me Sapphiresage, I'm not that good at science as you are......all my concern is how can any human at an individual level can help save the world before its too late.... Thanks again, I'll edit my post.