Topics related to global warming

Air pollution causes an increase in greenhouse gasses, which causes climate change.

Global warming, also known as global climate change, is a topic that draws enormous interest from scientific researchers. Because climate change impacts numerous other sciences - such as, biology, environmental science and geology - the subject provides opportunities for a wide breadth of research studies. The research topics are not limited to the natural or physical sciences, with research topics in the social sciences available as well.

More "Superstorms"

In recent years, large and highly destructive hurricanes, tornadoes and other storms have wreaked havoc across the world. These include storms like Hurricane Katrina and the more recent Typhoon Haiyan, which scientists have labelled "superstorms." One interesting global warming research topic would be to try to quantify the effect of an increase in the average temperature of the earth on the number and magnitude of these storms. Researchers believe that increasing temperatures lead to greater oceanic evaporation, which provides fuel for these storms to form.

Agricultural Production

While rising temperatures might immediately seem to benefit agricultural production - warmer temperatures mean more months to grow - the nature of global warming, which is often inconsistent, has not led to this result. One research topic might be to take a major food source - wheat, corn or rice, for example - and see how rising temperatures affect yields in different regions of the world. Many crops do grow faster under warmer conditions, but this increased speed also means reduced yield. Research could use both historic data and current data and track the relationship between temperature and yield to quantify global warming's impact on agriculture.

Habitat Impact

Students interested in ecosystems can choose from a variety of global ecosystems - from very small and regional to large and continental - to assess how global climate change will impact a given ecosystem. For example, students could look at the Mississippi River Delta region and see how even a single degree increase in temperature throws off plant and algae growth, thereby causing one species or another to rapidly multiply or decline. A research paper could outline which species are most and least vulnerable, and explain the connections between various species and their climate.

• Reasons to stop global warming
• Ways we can stop global warming
• Ecological effects of Global warming