Increase in the global average surface temperature resulting from enhancement of the greenhouse effect, primarily by air pollution. In 2007 the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change forecasted that by 2100 global average surface temperatures would increase 3.2–7.2 °F (1.8–4.0 °C), depending on a range of scenarios for greenhouse gas emissions, and stated that it was now 90 percent certain that most of the warming observed over the previous half century could be attributed to greenhouse gas emissions produced by human activities (i.e., industrial processes and transportation). Many scientists predict that such an increase in temperature would cause polar ice caps and mountain glaciers to melt rapidly, significantly raising the levels of coastal waters, and would produce new patterns and extremes of drought and rainfall, seriously disrupting food production in certain regions. Other scientists maintain that such predictions are overstated. The 1992 Earth Summit and the 1997 Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change attempted to address the issue of global warming, but in both cases the efforts were hindered by conflicting national economic agendas and disputes between developed and developing nations over the cost and consequences of reducing emissions of greenhouse gases.

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Precise satellite-based navigation and location system originally developed for U.S. military use. GPS is a fleet of more than 24 communications satellites that transmit signals globally around the clock. With a GPS receiver, one can quickly and accurately determine the latitude, the longitude, and in most cases the altitude of a point on or above Earth's surface. A single GPS receiver can find its own position in seconds from GPS satellite signals to an accuracy of one metre; accuracy within one centimetre can be achieved with sophisticated military-specification receivers. This capability has reduced the cost of acquiring spatial data for making maps while increasing cartographic accuracy. Other applications include measuring the movement of polar ice sheets or even finding the best automobile route between given points.

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The adjective global and the adverb globally mean pertaining to, or embracing, the totality of a number of items, categories, etc. They also mean comprehensive and all-inclusive.

It has been argued that global has replaced international or world as a way of referring to issues, processes and structures that affect human beings collectively.

Conceptual associations

• Global event, one that has an effect on on the entire planet.
• Global activity, describing actions of an entity, usually commercial that spans the planetary surface.

Global may also refer to:

• Global Aero Logistics, and airline and holding company
• Global (album), by Paul van Dyk
• Global (Bunji Garlin album), an album by Trinidadian Bunji Garlin
• Global (cutlery), a Japanese brand of cutlery
• Global Heresy is a 2002 film about a struggling American rock band in the UK
• global variable, an object in computer programming accessible in any scope
• Global Television Network, a Canadian television network

References

See also

• global city
• globalization
• Globalization and Health