Global Warming Effects on the Weather

Official agencies from the U.S. to the U.K. have declared 2007 the second warmest year on record—and the hottest ever in the Northern Hemisphere—despite a variety of climate conditions that usually lead to cooler temperatures.

Could global warming disrupt or redirect the Gulf Stream that helps keep Europe and North America temperate by bringing warm water north from the Gulf of Mexico. And if it did, what would the change do to temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere?

Urban heat islands are just what they sound like: hotter-than-average areas in cities that are surrounded by cooler suburbs and rural areas. But what causes heat islands? Are they connected to global warming in some way? Learn more about urban heat islands and what cities and individual homeowners can do to cool things down.

2006 was the warmest year on record in the United States, and the sixth warmest year globally, according to climate scientists around the world. The continuing trend of increasingly warm weather year after year has scientists worried about the possible acceleration of global warming.

Scholars are predicting that 50 million people worldwide will be displaced by 2010 because of rising sea levels, desertification, dried up aquifers, weather-induced flooding and other serious environmental changes.

Scientists working in Antarctica have confirmed that levels of key greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming are higher today than at any time in the past 650,000 years, and humans are responsible for the increase.

Melting glaciers caused by global warming will lead to an increasing number of earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions, according to geologists who have been studying the likely effects of global warming on the surface of the Earth.

Rising air and water temperatures worldwide are creating more frequent and severe hurricanes. While scientists debate what may be causing the temperature changes, there's no disagreement about the destructive force of the storms those conditions create.

What is the relationship between global warming and the El Niño and La Niña climate cycle that the Earth's atmosphere undergoes every few years? Are the two climate effects influencing global warming, or is global warming increasing the frequency and intensity of El Niño and La Niña?

The devastation created by Hurricane Katrina, following the four hurricanes that swept the Gulf states in 2004, has left many people wondering whether there is a cause-and-effect relationship between global warming and hurricanes.

When it comes to weather, the Pacific Northwest is best known for its legendary rain, but the region may be on its way to becoming the poster child for the effects of global warming and climate change. Read about the debate that's raging as Pacific Northwest air and water temperatures rise faster than average.

The first six months of 2006 in the United States were the warmest of any year on record, and the sixth-warmest for the world overall.

The majority of Americans, regardless of age, race, income or political persuasion now believe that global warming is happening and that climate change is linked to hurricanes, droughts, and other intense weather events, according to a poll by Zogby International and the National Wildlife Federation.

Single weather events can't be linked directly to climate change, but weather trends are a different story. Weather is becoming more extreme, and climate change is the reason. Learn more about the link between climate change and extreme weather.