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The Sahara Desert in North Africa is the largest hot desert in the world and is one of the hottest, driest and sunniest places on Earth. Located just south of the Sahara is a narrow semi-desert steppe (a semi-arid region) called the Sahel , while Africa's most southern areas contain both savanna plains , and its central portion, including the ...
Climate change in Africa is an increasingly serious threat as Africa is among the most vulnerable continents to the effects of climate change. [1] [2] [3] Some sources even classify Africa as "the most vulnerable continent on Earth". [4] [5] Climate change and climate variability will likely reduce agricultural production, food security and ...
Solar luminosity was 30% dimmer when the Earth formed 4.5 billion years ago, [14] and it is expected to increase in luminosity approximately 10% per billion years in the future. [15] On very long time scales, the evolution of the sun is also an important factor in determining Earth's climate.
One of the hotter periods was the Last Interglacial, around 125,000 years ago, where temperatures were between 0.5 °C and 1.5 °C warmer than before the start of global warming. [40] This period saw sea levels 5 to 10 metres higher than today. The most recent glacial maximum 20,000 years ago was some 5–7 °C colder. This period has sea ...
Oxygen, O 2, meanwhile, was present in the atmosphere at just 0.001% of its present atmospheric level. [11] [12] The Sun shone at about 70% of its current brightness 4 billion years ago, but there is strong evidence that liquid water existed on Earth at the time. A warm Earth, in spite of a faint Sun, is known as the faint young Sun paradox. [13]
Over the years the Earth's eccentricity has varied between 0.005 and 0.0607, today the eccentricity of Earth's orbit is approximately 0.0167. [5] While the value of eccentricity does impact the distance of the Earth from the Sun, its primary impact on insolation comes from its modulating effect on the procession cycle.
Earth's energy budget (or Earth's energy balance) is the balance between the energy that Earth receives from the Sun and the energy the Earth loses back into outer space. Smaller energy sources, such as Earth's internal heat, are taken into consideration, but make a tiny contribution compared to solar energy.
This is an accepted version of this page This is the latest accepted revision, reviewed on 24 January 2025. Gas in an atmosphere with certain absorption characteristics This article is about the physical properties of greenhouse gases. For how human activities are adding to greenhouse gases, see Greenhouse gas emissions. Greenhouse gases trap some of the heat that results when sunlight heats ...