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Global Warming

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Encyclopedia of Global Justice
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One component of the broader science of climate change – an observed pattern of increased average global temperature – which, if accurately extrapolated into the next few centuries, suggests potentially catastrophic impact on agriculture, inhabitable land area, distribution of fresh and salt water, weather patterns, epidemic diseases, extinction of plant and animal species, and perhaps even human survival. Politically, global warming is the subject of heated debate, but the basic science is accepted by a broad consensus across all relevant disciplines. Due to the sheer complexity of climate and weather patterns, assessing likely long-term impacts remains quite uncertain.

What is more certain is that the impact of unrestrained global warming will not fall equitably “on the just and the unjust,” but will in many of its manifestations will fall on populations who had little or no role in creating the hazard. Even a herd of cattle may contribute in a modest way to raising the concentration...

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© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

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Rosenberg, C. (2011). Global Warming. In: Chatterjee, D.K. (eds) Encyclopedia of Global Justice. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9160-5_613

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9160-5_613

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-9159-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-9160-5

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