Is Human Activity Primarily Responsible for Global Climate Change and Global Warming?
What is global climate change? Is human activity primarily responsible? According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, global warming “refers to the recent and ongoing rise in global average temperature near Earth 's surface. It is caused mostly by increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Global warming is causing climate patterns to change. However, global warming itself represents only one aspect of climate change” ("Climate Change: Basic Information”). Also, climate change “refers to any significant change in the measures of climate lasting for an extended period of time. In other words, climate change includes major changes in temperature, precipitation, or wind patterns, among other effects, that occur over several decades or longer” (“Climate Change: Basic Information”). According to procon.org “Temperatures on earth has increased approximately 1.4°F since the 20th century” (“Climate Change ProCon.org”). We come back to the question, are humans primarily responsible for global climate change? Yes! Humans are responsible based on recent research and fact of burning fossil fuel and emitting greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
What are fossil fuels? Fossil fuels are coal, oil and natural gas. When humans burn coal, (the world’s widely available fossil fuel) it releases CO2. CO2 is carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is the most potent greenhouse gas.
Do humans play a part in climate change or is it just mother nature? I believe that humans are play the main role in climate change. Since the Industrial age humans have played the main role in climate change because of greenhouse gases which cause the greenhouse effect. The main greenhouse gas that we emit is carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels, the other greenhouse gases that we emit are methane, Nitrous Oxide, and Fluorinated gases. These greenhouse gases will absorb and re-emit some of the infrared radiation that would normally be radiated out into space. Another cause of climate change is deforestation, ever since humans started cutting the forest down the climate has changed globally.
Coal, crude oil, and natural gas are all considered fossil fuels because they were formed from the buried remains of plants and animals that lived millions of years ago.
Currently fossil fuels are the world’s primary energy source. The fossil fuels include coal, petroleum, and natural gases. Fossil fuels are organic materials formed from decayed plants and animals that due to heat and pressure from hundreds of
We might disagree on the causes of global warming. We cannot ignore that it is happening. We still experience cold winters, average global temperatures has risen drastically for the past three decades. Polar ice caps are melting. Sea levels are rising. Scientists predict more extreme weather in the coming decades. Drought will probably be more common. Flooding and tropical temperatures might cause large amounts of methane gases to be released. This could be disastrous for our atmosphere. Climate change may have human causes; it might be a natural occurrence. We must find ways to save our planet.
Earth, a vibrant blue sphere in the solar system, is the only planet in the solar system that is currently known to host a multitude of life. Everything needed to survive and thrive is provided under a thin veil of atmosphere that separates all terrestrial organisms from the vast, frigid void of space. Earth is made up of intricate, collaborating systems that are often unpredictable. Land, water, air, and life-bearing organisms, including humans, collaborate to create a constantly fluctuating biosphere that is still being investigated to have a deeper understanding of its processes. In today’s technological age, the collection and interpretation of data has become paramount to help devise strategies to combat future threats. Data collection comes in many forms, but the collection and interpretation of climate data will be the topic under scrutiny. Recent data collected and analyzed by scientists suggests that the global climate is increasing in temperature and that information may be a cause for alarm. Why would this be a cause for alarm? The alarm should come from an understanding of how each living organism depends on one another to survive. If the delicate biological cycle is damaged or broken, the results could be catastrophic; forever changing the planet. This change in temperature may potentially affect all organisms that are currently known and those that have yet to be discovered and documented. This scenario is far too
Global warming is defined as the recent increase in the world 's temperature that is believed to be caused by the increase of certain gases (such as carbon dioxide) in the atmosphere. There are many different theories on whether global warming is similar or not to climate change. Simplistically, climate change is different because climate change is defined as a change in global or regional climate patterns or, in particular, a change apparent from the mid to late 20th century onwards and attributed largely to the increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide produced by the use of fossil fuels, having been measured over long periods of time, due to the changes in Earth’s orbit and organic carbon which reflect sunlight. Global warming and climate change are not to be confused because global warming is caused mainly by anthropogenic factors like the emission of carbon dioxide gas and use of fossil fuels whereas climate change is completely natural, however, according to Milan Radovanovic, “it is clear that the anthropogenic factors dominate the increasing temperature and the natural ones have the maximum influence…” (Radovanovic). Therefore, “the contribution to global warming from natural forcings and from natural internal variability is in the range between -0.2 to 0.2 [degrees] celsius over the period 1951-2010…” (Radovanovic). Natural factors have had the most effect on global temperature in the past 59 years totaling a 0.4 degrees celsius increase in
We've all heard about global warming as well as climate change. Climate Change is the buildup of massive amounts of man made greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere. Causing the Earth's temperature to slowly rise over a long period of time.The amount of carbon dioxide in the air has increased rapidly over the years. Climate Change is a global problem and recently an issue more and more people are paying attention to.
The earth is constantly undergoing changes. This ranges from tectonic activity to atmospheric and climate changes. The most recent change that we have noticed, is the increase in temperature. Some believe that this increase is the result of human activity. However, this is not the case. The increased temperatures are within the normal tolerances from the past few thousand years (Robinson, Robinson, & Soon, 2008). This and other changes to the atmosphere have been going on for millions of years. Global warming is not our fault because it is a natural occurring phenomenon.
In order to understand the issue of global warming (also referred to as climate change), you must first understand what it means and how it happens. Global warming is a result of a process known as the greenhouse effect, in which the light and heat from the sun are trapped in the Earth’s atmosphere by greenhouse gases; which subsequently raises the average temperature on Earth. The greenhouse gases responsible for this process are carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, chlorofluorocarbons, and tropospheric ozone, all of which are released into the atmosphere through naturally occurring processes (Warrick, R. & Farmer, G., 1990).
The case for attributing the recent global warming to human activities rests on the following undisputed scientific facts:
The human race all around the world wonders if the climate is changing due to human activity or if it is just a natural occurrence. At certain parts of the Earth's surface, the climate can be observed much differently than other locations. As the years go by the average temperature of the Earth increases by little intervals. There are several different reasons why people believe the climate is changing every year. However, the increase of worldwide population and production of heat to the atmosphere is due to the increase of human activities that take place on a daily basis. Human activity is the main cause of the global climate change. The human impact on climate exceeds any known changes due to natural processes. The impact of this human activity is often misunderstood when looking at climate change.
Researches reveal that natural events as well as human related activities contribute to changes in average global temperatures. AtKisson affirms that global warming is basically a result of increased emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. This atmospheric carbon dioxide (co2) comes from anthropogenic (caused by humans) sources. The concentration of greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, nitrous gases, and methane in the atmosphere has increased evidently due to human activities since 1800. NASA’s article adds:
Climate change is defined as the change in global or regional climate patterns, which is apparent from the mid to late 20th century onwards. When looking at climate change there is an abundance of evidence that supports that humans are the leading causes of the drastic shift in the weather pattern but there is also a lot of evidence against humans actually causing climate changes. For example, the increasing levels of man made gases that are let into the atmosphere may have created a greenhouse effect, which traps heat and ultimately causes global warming. But there are also many scientists who believe that the earth has always naturally cooled down or warmed up at its own pace.
What is climate change? Climate change is weather over a long term period, such as hot summers and cold winters. As the late 20th century these patterns/ increasing heat has been occurring more frequently and can cause climate change disasters, some may believe that humans are responsible for these occupations. Some scientist believes by humans releasing fossil fuels, harmful gases and populating is the only reasonable theory on why climate changes occur. As recent discovery scientists are skeptical if humans are really the primary cause and if this is a part of the world’s nature cycle?
Fossil fuels—coal, petroleum (oil), and natural gas — are concentrated organic compounds found in the Earth’s crust. They are created from the remains of plants and animals that lived millions of years ago in the form of concentrated biomass. According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), fossil fuels meet 81 percent of U.S. energy demand.