Early Anthropogenic Hypothesis Essay

John Carlisle, the director of Environmental Policy Task Force of the National Center for Public Policy Research, believes that Earth is currently in a warm interglacial called the "Holocene" that began 10,700 years ago. Between 6500 B.C and 3500 B.C, the temperature increased from 58 F to 62 F. This is the warmest the earth has been during the Holocene, which is why scientists refer to the period as the Holocene Maximum.

The Industrial Revolution was a period that changed the course of human history in many ways. People often think of the positive outcomes rather than the negative consequences, for example, the creation of a more efficient manufacturing process that resulted in more products and profits. However, the industrial revolution also paved ways for humans to increase the amount of pollution being put into the atmosphere immensely. Evidence of this is seen in various graphs of Carbon Dioxide, Methane, and Nitrous Oxide. In these graphs, there is a notable spike in these levels starting around the mid 1800s, which is also around the time the Industrial Revolution started to take off and spread around the world. In the data of CO2 emissions, Carbon Dioxide was about 280 ppm (parts per million) in the pre-industrial time period, since then CO2 levels have increased rapidly resulting in around 407 ppm, which is the highest level humans have ever experienced. This being said, the whole human race needs to be self-conscious of what get exposed to Earth’s atmosphere.

Balog was once a skeptic of climate change as he believed that the theory surrounding global warming was based off of computer models. Furthermore, he did not believe that humans could alter the world’s climate on such a global scale. However, through studies of ice records, long tubes of ice drilled from the ground, Balog found key evidence suggesting ideas contrary to his prior beliefs. These glacial tubes preserved historical records of the past similar to the rings of a tree, recording past temperatures and CO2 levels. Using these records, one can see the direct variation between temperature and CO2. Additionally, the recent spike in both

Global warming has been a major concern and has greatly affected the environment around the world for years. Andrew Revkin stated in a New York Times article entitled “A Closer Look at Climate Panel’s Findings on Global Warming Impacts” that climate change throughout the 21st century will lead to increases in ill-health in many regions, as compared to a baseline without climate change. There have been a number of debates regarding this controversial topic, though most of the scientific community can recognize the existence of global warming. Many often question if this effect on the environment is caused by human activity or natural cycles. About 95 percent of scientific studies prove that global warming is essentially caused by man.

Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in the early 1800s, humans have been releasing ever increasing amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels.

Climate change began in the 1820s with Joseph Fourier and in the 1860s with John Tyndall. Fourier put into motion the “greenhouse effect.” An effect where trapped gasses in the lower atmosphere absorb the sun’s heat. Tyndall found that “greenhouse gasses” cover the earth like a sheet. This is how the earth keeps cool and warm. Yet, too much greenhouse gasses can be futile. During this time, humans did not know that they were the ones causing implications. 100 years later, Svante Arrhenius proposed that “…doubling the CO2 content of the planet’s atmosphere would raise its temperature by 2.5 to 4.0 degrees Celsius” (Frank, para 7). Any slight change in temperature can offset the ecosystem. People began to act to save their planet, but there are still many in denial.

However, it is the argument that is against human activity being the primary cause of global warming that provides a superior explanation to this currently unknown global phenomena we call global warming. Despite the overbearing support against this argument, there is too much factual evidence about the complexity of the atmosphere and all of its elements that outweigh the predictions being made and then amplified significantly. Using supporting facts leads to a superior argument than using mathematic estimations, which consistently fail to meet their expected results. The changes in climate, including temperature change and rising sea levels, have all been happening for thousands of years providing historical evidence to show this change in climate as a natural occurrence. The most critical aspect of the argument is that rising levels of atmospheric CO2 do not necessarily cause global warming, which contradicts the core thesis of human-caused climate change as stated in a publication made on ProCon.org where the director of Greenpeace International Patrick Moore spoke on the relationship between the CO2 emissions from human activity and global temperature. He states that "there is some correlation, but little evidence, to support a direct causal relationship between CO2 and global temperature through the millennia” (ProCon.org). It is important to acknowledge that regardless what the actual

The earth has an undeniable history of climate change whether it be warming or cooling. The evidence of the Little Ice Age proves the earth can cool by its own with no aid of human influence. However, in recent years it has been suggested humans have been instrumental in the warming of our planet and the melting of polar ice as a result of the industrial era. The industrial era has brought upon the increase of greenhouse gas emitted. According to City Metric, “One idea is that small increases in greenhouse gases due to the expansion of agriculture that started 8,000 years ago have in fact delayed the next ice age.” (Mark Maslin, 2017) The cause of ice ages is not completely understood, but seems to be a natural occurrence. However, the idea that ice ages were caused by the earth’s orbit still is not irrelevant.

The United States Environmental Association (EPA) has listed natural changes in greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations, volcanic eruptions and solar energy as some of the natural causes of climate changes on earth. However, the recent climate changes cannot be explained by natural causes alone. Research indicates that natural causes are very unlikely to explain most observed warming, especially warming since the mid-20th century. Rather, human activities can very likely explain most of that warming. These human activities are the causes of anthropogenic climate changes. The article also adds “Since the Industrial Revolution began around 1750; human activities have contributed substantially to climate change by the addition of CO2 and other heat-trapping gases to the atmosphere. These greenhouse gas emissions have increased the greenhouse effect has caused Earth’s surface temperature to rise. This is the primary reason which is affecting the amount and rate of climate change is greenhouse gas emissions from the burning of fossil fuels.” Other activities that initiate climate changes are caused by the gas emissions from fossil fuels used to heat homes, petroleum based fuels like gasoline and diesel used for transportation and electricity production which comes from burning fossil fuels.

“During the 20th century the Earth’s surface and lowest part of the atmosphere warmed up on average by approximately 0.6°C”, (Tolan and Berzon, 2005:91). Alongside this, man-made emissions of greenhouse gases, which also include carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide have increased. This is primarily due to the burning of fossil fuels for energy, transportation and land use changes including; deforestation for agriculture. “There is strong evidence that the warming of the Earth over the last half-century has been caused largely by human activity, such as the burning of fossil fuels”, (Royal Society, 2010:1, cited in Joffe and Nicholas, 2013:17).

11,700 years ago the geological epoch the Holocene was thought to of began following the Pleistocene epoch, together these time periods make up the Quaternary period. The Holocene has been described as being relatively warm and with a fairly stable climate. Not only this, but it is thought to coincide with the start of agriculture as human populations rose throughout the Holocene technology became more sophisticated aiding the rise of agriculture (Holden, 2012). The early anthropogenic hypothesis was published in 2003 by Professor W.F. Ruddiman, this was a three part hypothesis in which Ruddiman proposed humans reversed natural decreases in CO2 values within the atmosphere by deforestation. That they reversed natural methane decreases after 5,000 years by irrigating rice, they also caused a warming sufficient to prevent a new glaciation within the last several thousand years and during the Holocene (Ruddiman 2005). This hypothesis has attracted a lot of attention with many people both supporting it and criticising it. Throughout this essay I will be exploring the many arguments for and against the early anthropogenic hypothesis and stating whether or not human kind could have prevented the start of an ice age during the Holocene.

• Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a greenhouse gas that warms the atmosphere. • Since pre-industrial times, atmospheric CO2 concentrations have increased from about 280 parts per million (ppm) to over 380 ppm. Current concentrations of CO2 and other greenhouse gases are unprecedented in at least the last 650,000 years, based on records from gas bubbles trapped in polar ice. • Independent measurements demonstrate that the increased CO2 in the atmosphere comes

Current data reveals that the concentration of Carbon Dioxide in the earth's atmosphere is approximately 387 parts per million, which is roughly a 31% increase in the period 1750 to 2009. Consequently, it is evident that such increases in temperatures have caused a warmer planet (7). It is also evident that it is impossible to reverse the developments of industrial revolution. This means that as the advancements of industrial revolution continue and as energy demands increases, it is possible that this trend of climate change will continue for decades to come (McAloon, 8). The consent of the climate research community is that it most likely already affects climate noticeably and will compel significant

Since before the industrial evolutions humans have been pumping green house gasses—carbon dioxide, water vapor, methane, nitrous oxide, and chlorofluorocarbons— into the atmosphere however, it wasn’t until recently that the amounts being produced are shoving the Earth into a sixth extinction. While the causes of this upcoming extinction are constantly debated on it has earned itself the name Holocene extinction. This name is derived from the theory that humans are the main contributors to this extinction. To investigate the cause Elizabeth Kolbert, and American journalist and professor at Williams College, took the world on a wild and saddening journey on the human contribution to this looming extinction in her novel, The Sixth Extinction; An Unnatural History. Not only does Kolbert’s book explain how humans have contributed to global warming and its effects on life on land but also ocean acidification and how life under the sea has changed over the years.

Meanings that the relationship between the two would not be significant or at least not as much as some claim them to be. Another supporting fact of this idea is the “Medieval Warm Period.” This period of time was hundreds of years ago, where the temperature was recorded to be one of the highest on record. Now during this time the average temperature measured more than three degrees higher than it is today. But going back to the Carbon Dioxide idea, how is this possible. Obviously hundreds of years ago, factories did not exist, fossil fuels were not being burned, and the population level was not even close to what it is now. So the carbon levels were almost nonexistent, so this poses the question of why was there a major rise in temperature. Another era which did not match the idea was during the early 1930’s it began. During this time, large Co2 emissions began because of massive industrialization and a large amount of factories. The Co2 levels were sky rocketing and set record heights. Although, temperatures were on the decline. The temperature was on the steady decline for almost four decades after that. Obviously the Carbon level affecting the temperature idea is a little off or not fully proven.