Sunday, October 9, 2005: Page updated at 12:00 a.m.

Proving global warming

A world of evidence says global warming is real

Heat absorbed by greenhouse gases raises the planet's temperature

The natural greenhouse effect is vital to life on Earth, but industrial emissions have boosted the atmosphere's insulating power.

The Earth is getting warmer — and humans play a major role

All temperatures expressed as deviations from the average

Sources: Carbon Cycle Greenhouse Gases Group, Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1900-2003, NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, NOAA Climate Monitoring and Diagnostics Laboratory (CMDL), NOAA National Climatic Data Center, NOAA Paleoclimatology Program, Northwest Weather and Avalanche Center, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of Washington, University of Zurich, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Geological Survey, World Glacier Monitoring Service

Research by SANDI DOUGHTON, KRISTOPHER LEE and WHITNEY STENSRUD;
graphics by KRISTOPHER LEE / THE SEATTLE TIMES