**Abstract**

Comparison of the average mean surface air temperature around the world during 1951–1978 with that for 2010–2019 shows that the bulk of the warming is around the North Atlantic/Arctic region in contrast to the Antarctic ice sheet. Obviously, the temperature change is not global. Since there is a substantial difference between solar heat absorption between the equator and the poles, heat must be moving to the North Pole by surface ocean currents and tropical cyclones. The cold, dry Arctic air coming from Siberia picks up heat and moisture from the open oceans, making the sea water denser so that the warm water sinks slowly down to c. 2000 m. A deep-water thermohaline flow (THC) transports the excess hot (c. 18°C) water south to Antarctica. It is replaced by a cold (c. 2°C) surface water from that area. The latter quickly cool western Europe and Siberia, and glaciers start to advance in Greenland within about 10 years. The THC flow decreases in Interglacials, causing the increased build-up of heat in the Northern Hemisphere (c. 60% currently stored in the Atlantic Ocean), and the ice cover in the Arctic Ocean thaws. Several such cycles may take place during a single major cold event.

**Keywords:** global warming, major cold events, asymmetrical warming of the Earth, thermohaline currents, agents of transport of heat around the globe, minor cold and warm events

## **1. Introduction**

Climate change has become a major consideration for the public and politicians alike because of its economic importance. Naugebauer [1] provides a good summary of the history of its study, but the conclusion reached is that current theories and models do not adequately explain what is taking place. There is a universal assumption that climatic changes are worldwide. During the last two decades, many parts of the land areas of the Northern Hemisphere have experienced increasing mean annual air temperatures together with more extreme weather. The public, media, and politicians have been assuming that the warming trends seen in many places on land are the result of increased concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide, following the lead of a panel of climatologists appointed by various European governments that produces periodic reports on the amount and causes of the presumed warming, *e.g.,* IPCC [2]. However, many scientists have disagreed (*e.g*., [3–15]) citing too many causes that are closely correlated with recent major climate changes that are clearly not associated with carbon dioxide concentrations. The overall recent increase in mean average daily temperature on Earth is similar to that on the other planets in the solar system.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the evidence for a universal system of climatic change throughout the globe, together with some of the proposed causes and mechanics of the climatic changes that have taken place during the late Pliocene and Quaternary Periods. This should determine the most likely causes of the cold events and recent changes in weather around the globe.

#### **1.1 Definitions**

Global warming can be defined in two ways. Firstly, it can be interpreted literally as referring to increased surface temperatures throughout the whole world, but the IPCC defines it as the increase in mean annual air temperature of the Earth since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, assumed to be between 1850 and 1900 A.D. There is some disagreement as to when this began, but global warming enthusiasts and modelers assume that it is occurring everywhere on the Earth's surface.

Recently, many scientists are using the term climate change in place of global warming since there is strong evidence that the changes vary from place to place as they have done in the more distant past. These changes are closely related to the nature of the local environment and the relationship to both the distribution of land and sea, the continuing plate tectonics altering the arrangement and dimensions of the land and sea together with the current climate.

#### **1.2 The Earth within the solar system**

The Earth is essentially a closed energy system, the heat is supplied from the Sun and the geothermal heat flows from the interior of the Earth. The latter is regarded as being fairly constant at 0.06 W/meter squared at 30 degrees C while the incoming solar radiation is potentially 6000 times greater in its effect ([16], p. 37). It is determined by the so-called solar constant which is 1.37 kW × m−2 [16]. The total heat flux through the Earth's surface due to energy generated in the mantle and the crust is approximately 0.0257% of the total Earth's solar irradiation. There is an 11-year cycle of variation in solar irradiance, but this has not increased since 1950. The incoming radiation is modified by clouds, surface albedo, snow cover, soil moisture, vegetation cover, latitude, thermal conductivity, and soil latent heat. The world total energy production is estimated to be about 0.0077% of the total solar irradiation reaching the Earth. Thus, solar radiation supplies more than 99.95% of total energy driving the world climate [17].

#### **1.3 Current patterns of climate change**

When the average mean surface air temperature around the world during 1951–1978 is compared with that for the period 2010–2019, it is obvious that although warming has taken place, it is asymmetric (**Figure 1**). The bulk of the warming is in the northern hemisphere while the temperature changes in the southern hemisphere decrease southward and become negative in and near Antarctica. The same result is obtained from space satellites although the area with negative temperature change in the higher latitudes of the southern hemisphere increases. There are also differences between the oceans and land masses as well as between continents. Obviously, the temperature change is not global, nor is it concentrated in the regions of the maximum industry but varies regionally. Accordingly, we must be dealing with climate change, not global warming.

The First Law of Thermodynamics states that energy and matter cannot be created or destroyed, although they can change their form. In a closed system, a decrease in energy in one area must result in a comparable increase somewhere else. *Causes and Mechanisms of Global Warming/Climate Change DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.101416*

#### **Figure 1.**

*The pattern of change in mean annual air temperature between the periods 1951–1978 and 2010–2019.*

To get and maintain an asymmetric heat energy distribution as shown in **Figure 1**, there must be a set of forces preferentially moving heat energy towards the north polar regions as well as a mechanism to bring the energy back towards the South Pole. The rest of this paper will discuss the processes involved in the movement of heat energy around the globe in order to determine what may be happening. The conclusions must also explain the longer-term climatic history as we know it today.
