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== '''[[Global warming]]''' ==
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''by [[User:Gareth Leng|Gareth Leng]], [[User:Raymond Arritt|Raymond Arritt]], [[User:Robert Badgett|Robert Badgett]], [[User:Nereo Preto|Nereo Preto]], [[User:Anthony Sebastian|Anthony Sebastian]], and [[User:Benjamin Seghers|Benjamin Seghers]], <small>(and [[User:Milton Beychok|Milton Beychok]], [[User:David Finn|David Finn]], [[User:Greg Harris|Greg Harris]], [[User:Ed Poor|Ed Poor]], [[User:Larry Sanger|Larry Sanger]], [[User:John Stephenson|John Stephenson]] and [[User:Paul Wormer|Paul Wormer]])</small>''
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==Footnotes==
[[Image:105582main GlobalWarming 2060 lg.jpg|right|thumb|Annual average global warming by the year 2060 simulated and plotted as color differences using EdGCM|250px]] 
 
'''[[Global warming]]''' is the increase in the average temperature of the Earth's near-surface air and oceans in recent decades and its projected continuation.  There is strong evidence that significant global warming is occurring; this evidence comes from direct measurements of rising surface air temperatures and subsurface ocean temperatures and from phenomena such as increases in average global sea levels, retreating glaciers, and changes to many physical and biological systems. It is likely that most of the warming in recent decades is attributable to human activity, particularly the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation.
 
Global average air temperature near the Earth's surface rose by 0.74 ± 0.18&nbsp;°[[Celsius|C]] (1.33 ± 0.32&nbsp;°F) from 1906 to 2005. The prevailing scientific view,
 
<ref name = Doran>See [http://tigger.uic.edu/~pdoran/012009_Doran_final.pdf Doran (2009)] 'Examining the Scientific Consensus
on Climate Change' for information on a poll of research-active climate scientists, other researchers and the public regarding the scientific consensus on global warming ''Eos'' 90: 21-2</ref> as represented by the science academies of the major industrialized nations<ref name = "academies">[http://nationalacademies.org/onpi/06072005.pdf Joint science academies’ statement: Global response to climate change]
*"There will always be uncertainty in understanding a system as complex as the world’s climate. However there is now strong evidence that significant global warming is occurring. The evidence comes from direct measurements of rising surface air temperatures and subsurface ocean temperatures and from phenomena such as increases in average global sea levels, retreating glaciers, and changes to many physical and biological systems. It is likely that most of the warming in recent decades can be attributed to human activities (IPCC 2001). This warming has already led to changes in the Earth's climate."</ref>
and the ''[http://www.ipcc.ch/ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change]'',<ref name=grida7>{{cite web | url=http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/wg1/en/spm.html|title=Summary for Policymakers|work=Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change|date=2007}}
*"Most of the observed increase in global average temperatures since the mid-20th century is very likely due to the observed increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gas concentrations...Discernible human influences now extend to other aspects of climate, including ocean warming, continental-average temperatures, temperature extremes and wind patterns" </ref> it is very likely that most of the temperature increase since the mid-20th century has been caused by increases in atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations produced by human activity. Climate models predict that average global surface temperatures will increase by a further 1.1 to 6.4 °C (2.0 to 11.5 °F) by the end of the century, relative to 1980–1999.<ref name=grida7/> The range of values reflects differing assumptions of future greenhouse gas emissions and results of models that differ in their sensitivity to increases in greenhouse gases.<ref name=grida7/>  
 
Scientists have not yet quantitatively assessed the potential self-accelerating effects of global-warming itself, either on threshold or rate.  Melting of permafrost, for example, causes increased production and atmospheric release of such newly produced as well as anciently stored methane gas, which  “….packs a far greater warming punch than [carbon dioxide] (CO<sub>2</sub>),”<ref name=walker2007>Walker G (2007) [http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/446718a Climate Change 2007: A world melting from the top down] ''Nature'' 446:718-21</ref> possibly as much as 25 times that of CO<sub>2</sub> per unit mass.<ref name=simpson2009>Simpson (2009) [http://www.ScientificAmerican.com/Earth3 "The Peril Below the Ice"] ''Scientific American Earth 3.0'' pp 30-7</ref>
 
An increase in global temperatures will cause the sea level to rise, glaciers to retreat, sea ice to melt, and changes in the amount, geographical distribution and seasonal pattern of precipitation. There may also be changes in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events. These  will have many practical consequences, including changes in agricultural yields and impacts on human health.<ref>[http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/wg2/en/ch19s19-3-6.html Schneider ''et al.'' (2007)]. [http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/wg2/en/ch19.html Assessing key vulnerabilities and the risk from climate change]. In Parry ML ''et al.'' (eds) ''[http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/wg2/en/contents.html Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change]'' Cambridge University Press pp 779-810
*"There is new and stronger evidence of observed impacts of climate change on unique and vulnerable systems (such as polar and high-mountain communities and ecosystems), with increasing levels of adverse impacts as temperatures increase (very high confidence).
*There is new evidence that observed climate change is likely to have already increased the risk of certain extreme events such as heatwaves, and it is more likely than not that warming has contributed to the intensification of some tropical cyclones, with increasing levels of adverse impacts as temperatures increase (very high confidence).
*The distribution of impacts and vulnerabilities is still considered to be uneven, and low-latitude, less-developed areas are generally at greatest risk due to both higher sensitivity and lower adaptive capacity; but there is new evidence that vulnerability to climate change is also highly variable within countries, including developed countries." </ref> Scientific uncertainties include the extent of climate change expected in the future, and how changes will vary around the globe. There is political and public debate about what action should be taken to reduce future warming or to adapt to its consequences. The Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, was adopted by 169 nations.
''[[Global warming|.... (read more)]]''
 
=== [[Global warming/References|notes]] ===
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Latest revision as of 10:19, 11 September 2020

The Irvin pin. The eyes have always been red, but there are urban legends about the meanings of other colors.
A pin from another company, possibly Switlik or Standard Parachute. This style is common in catalogs and auctions of military memorabilia.

The Caterpillar Club is an informal association of people who have successfully used a parachute to bail out of a disabled aircraft. After authentication by the parachute maker, applicants receive a membership certificate and a distinctive lapel pin.

History

Before April 28, 1919 there was no way for a pilot to jump out of a plane and then to deploy a parachute. Parachutes were stored in a canister attached to the aircraft, and if the plane was spinning, the parachute could not deploy. Film industry stuntman Leslie Irvin developed a parachute that the pilot could deploy at will from a back pack using a ripcord. He joined the Army Air Corps parachute research team, and in April 1919 he successfully tested his design, though he broke his ankle during the test. Irvin was the first person to make a premeditated free fall jump from an airplane. He went on to form the Irving Airchute Company, which became a large supplier of parachutes. (A clerical error resulted in the addition of the "g" to Irvin and this was left in place until 1970, when the company was unified under the title Irvin Industries Incorporated.) The Irvin brand is now a part of Airborne Systems, a company with operations in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K.[1].

An early brochure [2] of the Irvin Parachute Company credits William O'Connor 24 August 1920 at McCook Field near Dayton, Ohio as the first person to be saved by an Irvin parachute, but this feat was unrecognised. On 20 October 1922 Lieutenant Harold R. Harris, chief of the McCook Field Flying Station, jumped from a disabled Loening W-2A monoplane fighter. Shortly after, two reporters from the Dayton Herald, realising that there would be more jumps in future, suggested that a club should be formed. 'Caterpillar Club' was suggested because the parachute canopy was made of silk, and because caterpillars have to climb out of their cocoons and fly away. Harris became the first member, and from that time forward any person who jumped from a disabled aircraft with a parachute became a member of the Caterpillar Club. Other famous members include General James Doolittle, Charles Lindbergh and (retired) astronaut John Glenn.

In 1922 Leslie Irvin agreed to give a gold pin to every person whose life was saved by one of his parachutes. By 1945 the number of members with the Irvin pins had grown to over 34,000. In addition to the Irvin Air Chute Company and its successors, other parachute manufacturers have also issued caterpillar pins for successful jumps. Irvin/Irving's successor, Airborne Systems Canada, still provides pins to people who made their jump long ago and are just now applying for membership. Another of these is Switlik Parachute Company, which though it no longer makes parachutes, still issues pins.

Footnotes