The preliminary data collected at several places is the main source of this report by NCDS though it can be revised anytime at their discretion. The report took some extra time to arrive and extra precautions were taken to preserve the data carefully. The new scientific techniques used by NCDC have resulted in this delay.

The Goddard Institute for Space Studies of NASA has even ranked the year 2008 as the 9th warmest year based on its calculation. The data used by NASA and NOAA vary a bit but the Federal Government has accepted the fact that our environment is deteriorating constantly. Only if we react now, we will be able to protect our future.

Almost one-third of our carbon-dioxide emissions have dissolved into the seas forming carbonic acid in the process. This in turn lowers the alkalinity of the waters and makes it much more acidic. Fears that the acidity will spell an end to the coral reefs by the end of the century have augmented, and many reefs are in threat of disappearing by 2050. Studies in the Pacific Ocean have shown that shell-making organisms are under threat as well, as they are in need of a much more alkaline environment. Mussels, barnacles are shellfish would be unable to grow their strong calcified shells in the increasingly acidic waters.