Are Humans Responsible For Climate Change

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.

The major greenhouse gas is water vapor. Then there is carbon dioxide, plus a few trace gases (Easterling & Karl, 2011, para4). Carbon dioxide enters the atmosphere by natural processes and by human actions such as burning fossil fuels. Methane, nitrous oxide, and fluorinated gases are all emitted into the atmosphere by human activities (U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2010, Greenhouse Gas Overview section).

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.

There are four major gases that cause the greenhouse effect.  These chemicals are Chloroflourocarbons (CFC’s), Nitrous Oxide (N2O), Carbon Dioxide (CO2), and Methane (CH4).  “CFC’s destroy ozone molecules by the thousands, causing a smaller amount of ozone in the ozone layer.  This allows more UV rays hit the Earth’s surface, causing a slight increase of the Earth’s temperature.  The more ozone molecules destroyed, the more UV rays enter the Earth’s atmosphere, making the temperature even higher”(What Is The Greenhouse Effect).

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).

Although part of climate change is caused by natural forces, humans unquestionably do contribute to the effects of climate change. As a whole society, we all impact climate change. This cannot be blamed on an individual and their choices. Those people didn’t chose to be affected by climate change in any way. They did not have free choice in whether or not to contribute to climate change. It wasn’t a few people that added on to the effects due to selfishness or cruelty and people don’t contribute because of psychological or physical issues within themselves. It is all of our combined actions that add up and have the effects of the climate change we see today.

The Industrial Revolution which took place in eighteenth century Great Britain acted as a sort of gateway to the discovery and usage of fossil fuels today ("Industrial Revolution." Para 1). It was an increasingly developing time as the economic market took off due to new scientific discoveries and expansion of industrial jobs and companies ("History of Fossil Fuel Usage since the Industrial Revolution." Para 4). New energy sources emerged. Some of which included fuel and motive power (coal, electricity, petroleum, etc.) ("Industrial Revolution." Para 2). A significant energy source that

Humans are to blame for global warming, there is no question about it. Humans and human actions are causing a rise in temperature worldwide. We have recorded a steady rise in temperature for the last fifty years. This rise is caused by an estimated 95% of human actions.Humans are to blame for global warming because of deforestation, population growth, and the use of non-environmentally safe products.

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.

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?

Climate change also known as global warming, is the rise in the Earth's surface temperatures. Even though the rise in the Earth's surface temperature may be slight it can still have a wide range of effects on ecosystems, rising sea levels, severe weather events, and droughts. A staggering amount of scientist believe that climate change is caused mainly due to the human use of fossil fuels. When fossil fuels are used, carbon dioxide is released along with other greenhouse gases into the air. Those gases trap the heat within the atmosphere. Some examples of ways humans use fossil fuels are oil, coal, and natural gas. Humans depend on theses fossil fuels to function everyday life. For example we use these fuels to heat our homes, run our vehicles, and are used in the power industry to produce electricity.

Climate change could be described as any process that causes adjustment to climate system be it a volcanic eruption to a change in the solar activity. Today, however, the phrase is most often used as climate change caused by humans. Climate change is also used commonly with another phrase – "global warming" – reflecting scientific observations of strong warming trends over the past century or so. Indicators like rising sea levels, retreating snow cover and glaciers, longer growing seasons and shifting wildlife has alarmed scientific community unanimously agreeing that the earth has warmed in the last century. Experts however are of the opinion that climate change is a more accurate phrase than global warming as the latter is just one component affecting the larger climate systems of the earth.

Greenhouse gases are compounds in the atmosphere that can trap and hold extra heat, which increases the temperature in the atmosphere. Greenhouse gases is the cause of the greenhouse effect that leads up to global warming. The greenhouse effect is the trapping of the sun’s warmth in the lower atmosphere that is due to the visible radiation from the sun. The solar radiation reaches the Earth’s atmosphere, then the rest of the sun's energy is absorbed by the oceans and lands which result in the heating of the Earth. After that the heat from the Earth goes towards space, some of the heat is trapped in the atmosphere by greenhouses gases which make the Earth warm enough to tolerate living life. The burning of fossil fuels and land clearing start to increase the number of greenhouse gases which travels into the atmosphere. The result of trapping extra heat cause the Earth’s temperature to rise. Scientist's has proven that the constant increase of heat in the atmosphere is caused by humans. The reason humans are proven guilty for the increase of global warming is because of the amount of carbon that is put into the atmosphere. Carbon is released from burning coal, oil, and gas or cutting down and burning forests. Carbon (CO2) is known as the main source of heat-trapping gas which is mainly responsible for the increase of warming over the years. The removal of trees is another cause of global

Most of the blame for climate change over the years especially after the 1850’s has been placed on humans. As long as modern humans have roamed the earth, they have been upsetting the natural balance of the earth. People have did this by clearing areas of land, killing animals, polluting water, etc. Before the “modern human”, people like the Native Americans cared for the earth. They respected the land and the people that cared for it. Unfortunately, people don’t care anymore. Until recently, people did not care for the earth. People did not realize the harm they were causing it. Now we know how detrimental things are that we continue to do and used to do.