Human Induced Climate Change : Energy Use

The climate of earth has been increasing for past decade. The increasing temperature is not only harmful for environment but also dangerous for earth and peoples' survival. However, many international societies and groups have been putting their efforts to keep the atmosphare balanced, they are not enough. I believe people are the main cause of pollutions, destroy forests, and natural habitat. Therefore, atmosphare has been changing drastically.

We all know that atmosphere is continually evolving. We have had ice ages and hotter periods when gators were found in Spitzbergen. Ice ages have happened in a hundred thousand year cycles for the last 700 thousand years. There also have been time periods that seemed to have been hotter than the present in spite of CO2 levels being lower than they are currently. Overall what I am saying is that we have had the medieval warm period and the little ice age. Because of these evolutions there has been different effects on the earth.

The increased temperatures are part of a natural cycle that the earth goes through. These cycles include both warming and cooling periods. The most recent warming period was approximately 1000 years ago known as the “Medieval Climate Optimum” (Robinson, Robinson, & Soon, 2008). During the Medieval Climate Optimum the average temperature was much warmer than what is now. 1000 years ago they didn’t burn hydrocarbons like we do now, and the temperatures then were warmer than they are now. 200 - 500 years ago the earth went through a cooling period known as a “Little Ice Age” (Robinson, Robinson, & Soon, 2008). We are currently recovering from that cooling period. During the Little Ice Age temperatures dropped well below average. However, a study of more recent history temperatures can also show that the climates are cyclic and not the result of human activities.

Recently, there has been a warmer climate change, causing earth to get warmer, as well as negatively affecting earth, animals, and humans. Since 1880, the average temperature of earth has risen about 0.8 degrees celsius, which is a drastic change, even though it may not seem like much. Also, there has recently been a large amount of greenhouse gases being released, which is a large cause of why earth is getting warmer. Many consequences come with this change in climate. The fast-changing climate on earth has caused countless consequences that could permanently affect the earth.

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.

Throughout history climates have drastically changed. There have been shifts from warm climates to the Ice Ages (Cunningham & Cunningham, 2009, p.204). Evidence suggests there have been at least a dozen abrupt climate changes throughout the history of the earth. There are a few suspected reasons for these past climate changes. One reason may be that asteroids hitting the earth and volcanic eruptions caused some of them. A further assumption is that 22-year solar magnetic cycles and 11-year sunspot cycles played a part in the changes. A further possibility is that a regular shifting in the angle of the moon orbiting earth causing changing tides and atmospheric circulation affects the global climate (Cunningham & Cunningham, 2009,

The Earth's climate has changed throughout history. According to the findings of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the change of the earth’s climate has evolved through time. The global sea level rose about eight inches in the last century; the planet's average surface temperature has risen about 2.0 degrees Fahrenheit since the last 19th century; the oceans have absorbed much of this increased heat of 0.302 degrees Fahrenheit since 1969; the increasing number of record high temperature and intense rainfall events since 1950; and the overall increase of ocean acidification by about 30 percent. Most of these climate changes are attributed to very small variations in Earth’s orbit that change the amount of solar energy our planet receives. The heat-trapping nature of carbon dioxide and other gases was demonstrated in the mid-19th century. There is no question that increased levels of greenhouse gases cause the Earth to warm in response.

How does human activity make the greenhouse effect worse? In now day, almost every country, every people talking about environmental protection problem. One of the biggest part affecting the environmental is greenhouse effect. And the greenhouse effect getting worse that the root cause is ourselves: human activity. In life, some of the small act we never pay attention for that, but that act may be one of the cause to make the greenhouse effect worse.

The climate started changing more than usual back in the late 1800s. This is due to The Industrial Revolution happening in the 1800s. The Industrial Revolution was the first time humans started spitting CO2 into the atmosphere at a widespread scale. The Industrial Revolution was when humans started to industrialize, which means to build up industries. These industries usually manufactured things, which spat CO2 into the air.

Evidence indicates, Earth’s natural climate has a history of dramatic changes from warmer and cooler periods that can last for a few centuries. Mankind geologically speaking lives in a time period of intense climate change, and over the past million years we have experienced a dozen or so major glaciations, with the greatest occurring around 650,000 years ago, long before the Industrial Revolution, The Ice Age. This cooling period in Earth’s climate lasted for somewhere around 50,000 years and included the extreme buildup of ice that covered major regions, such as the Midwest, Canada, Germany, and several smaller regions. During this time the sea level had dropped by approximately 400 feet and the overall global temperature dropped nearly 9

Some people believe that climate change is nit caused by humans, but by natural causes. While others believe that humans are the cause of climate change. People that believe that climate change is due to humans believe that humans have caused climate change by the things we do everyday. Climate change is a very popular topic of discussion among people and what they can do to change it. Humans are mostly responsible for climate change because of burning fossil fuels, the industrial revolution, and deforestation.

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.

Earth’s climate, or the particular weather patterns over an extended period of time, has many contributing factors and has varied over the course of the planet. The planets’ global climate can also be broken down into regional climates based on the weather patterns of a specific area of land. These differing regional climates are averaged together and all contribute to the overall global climate of the planet. The Earth’s global climate effects factors such as temperature, amount of rainfall, glacial melting, and rising and downfall of sea level, along with many more aspects of planet Earth. Affected by both natural and man-made elements, Earth’s climate is constantly changing. These climatic changes have been taking place for 4.6 billion years and are now studied by using satellite-derived and thermometer-based temperature records and trends. However, these methods only allow scientists to study the global climate as far back as the 17th and 18th century, just a small fraction of Earth’s lifespan. In order to extend our understanding of Earth’s climate beyond this instrumental record of just a few centuries, scientists use proxy data, or natural clues that are buried in sediments, coral reefs, tree rings, fossil pollen, and glaciers. Methods such as paleomagnetism, tephrochronolgy, and radiocarbon dating assist in the extended understanding of Earth’s changing climate over the course of time.

“Throughout its long history, Earth has warmed and cooled time and again. Climate has changed when the planet received more or less sunlight due to subtle shifts in its orbit, as the atmosphere or surface changed, or when the Sun’s energy varied. But in the past century, another force has started to influence Earth’s climate: humanity”. (Earth observatory) Humanity has taken a toll on the world we live in. Dispersing an incredible amount of fossil fuels that has been destroying the world day by day. With the population of humans greatly increasing, the fuel for humanity had also needed to rise greatly to host

Since humans have come into existence they have always been a cause of change of whatever natural areas they inhabit along with the living organisms of those natural areas. The different types of organisms such as plants, animals, and microorganisms that inhabit these areas are known as biological diversity or biodiversity. (USEPA 2010 ) Biological diversity can be affected by many different things, climate change, and area being two specific things. Humans fit into a strange niche of biological diversity. While we have a part of biodiversity and in ecosystems, the human race has spread much farther than any other breed or type of organism except for