Humans Are To Blame For Global Warming
Kevin Odhiambo Ogwa
Lake Michigan College
Abstract
Every human activity has a particular effect on objects surrounding his or her environment, be it physical, mental, or social. But notably, the most evident might be the effect of human activity on global warming. Global warming is quickly becoming a major topic of concern worldwide, and has been stirring up controversy everywhere with its adverse effects seen all over the world. It causes rise of the temperature, leading to – among other things - melting of the polar ice and glaciers, increase in sea level, and extreme weather events. Its effects can also be felt in the form of natural disasters like drought, floods, and tornadoes. Of recent,
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(Woodard, 2007, p.40). Based on these facts, the proponents of this line of thought argue that forces of nature are the major causes of climate change and not human activities as reiterated by most environmentalists and scientists.
Carbon dioxide caused by the burning of fossil fuels is responsible for global warming. The carbon dioxide gas cause global warming by preventing heat from being reflected back to the atmosphere and this leads to excessive heat retention hence global warming. The carbon dioxide is emitted through a process called greenhouse gas mitigation:
The scientific consensus on global warming is sobering: Its real, it’s happening now and carbon dioxide emissions caused by the burning of fossil fuels are almost certainly responsible. Predicting what the exact effects will be on humanity and the planet’s living resources is trickier, but a growing body of evidence suggests they will be profound…, and most wealthy industrial nations have adopted mandatory limits on carbon emissions under the 2005 Kyoto Protocol. (Woodard, 2007, p.27).
“Greenhouse gases (GHG) occur naturally in the atmosphere… But human activity has been boosting the concentration of some of them, most notoriously the carbon dioxide (CO2), which is released by burning fossil fuels… has been blamed for much of the excess retention of heat in the atmosphere that has contributed to global warming. (Woodard, 2007, p.29). Cooper, an author argues that “The action of carbon
The greenhouse effect, warming that occurs whenever the atmosphere traps heat from Earth towards space, is the main cause of global warming (NASA, 2016). Gases such as water vapor, nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide, and methane do not respond chemically to drastic changes in temperature, force climate change. One of the reasons for this is because of the deforestation of land for agriculture or industrial needs has increased concentration of green house gases.
Carbon dioxide is accumulating rapidly in the atmosphere, it is extending geographically as much as possible, and it is extremely expensive to fix, not to mention if it worsens. In Goodland’s research, the year 1990 was the warmest year, on record in more than a century, closely followed by the rest of the years of the 90’s. Since Goodland’s essay was written, 2016 was the warmest year ever recorded, followed closely by 2015 and 2014, according to the NOAA. The increase in climate is especially alarming because in the last 10,000 years, temperature did not change more than 2 to 4 degrees and it is currently steadily increasing at least .25 degrees every 10 years! Even though scientists all over the world disagree on the rate at which the world is warming they all agree on one thing: the world, is in fact, warming.
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.
Every year, almost 7 billion tons of carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere by human activity. That is the equivalent of 107,700,000 jet airplanes being in the air at once! This harrowing figure is the main cause of global warming, and has been increasing for the last 50 years. Global warming is caused by the increase of greenhouse gasses, carbon dioxide and methane primarily, in the earth's upper atmosphere directly caused by human burning of fossil fuels, industrial, farming, and deforestation activities. Global warming is defined as an increase in the average temperature of the earth's atmosphere (especially a sustained increase that causes climatic
Human activities are the leading contributing factors to climate change contributing to global warming. Whether it’s driving cars or heating our homes with natural gas, we are releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. According to an article written by Darryl Fears, “the planet is warming at an accelerated pace without any doubt, that humans are causing it with 95 percent certainty and that the past three decades have been the hottest since 1850.” The majority of human causes of global warming can be contributed to the increase of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, into the atmosphere. Of the greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide is said to be the most considerable cause of global warming, and most carbon dioxide emissions are the result of burning fossil fuels.
Climate change is a threat that has been in existences for years, but appears to be a greater threat to the world currently. According to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, there is more than 90 percent certainty that emissions of heat-trapping gases from human activities have caused “most of the observed increase in globally averaged temperatures since the mid-20th century” (IPCC, 2007).
In recent years, the controversial subject of global warming has been more predominantly brought to our attention. Is the threat of global warming real? Is it man-made or is this just a natural cycle of earth? Does it really affect earth’s inhabitants? Should action be taken against it? If so, what kind and to what extent? It cannot be only a coincidence that the alarmingly rapid climate change coincides perfectly with the increased amount of pollutants that humans release into the environment. The once stable climate has in recent years begun to skyrocket, thus altering the delicate structure of earthly life. This proves to be hazardous to the future of the planet; some people worry that many of the resources the environment provides that
Carbon dioxide is the greenhouse gas naturally found in the atmosphere. Since the advent of the Industrial Revolution in the 1700s, humans have devised many inventions that burn fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gases, which, along with other human activities such as clearing land for agriculture or urban settlements, help some of these greenhouse gases accumulate in the atmosphere that in turn trap more heat radiation in the atmosphere causing the Earth’s climate to become warmer than it would naturally (Mastrandrea). This unnatural phenomenon is termed global warming by scientists and they blame it for an increase in the Earth’s surface temperature of about 0.6°C (about 1°F) over the last 100 years (Mastrandrea).
"Two thousand scientists, in a hundred countries, engaged in the most elaborate, well organized scientific collaboration in the history of humankind, have produced long-since a consensus that we will face a string of terrible catastrophes unless we act to prepare ourselves and deal with the underlying causes of global warming."
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.
• 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
When Carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere over time the carbon will add up resulting in the average temperature of Earth’s air and ocean. The temperature change takes over hundreds of years to change so the average temperature we see right now could most likely still rice if all carbon dioxide emission are eliminated. Humans contribute to global warming by increasing the greenhouse effect. The greenhouse effect occurs when greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrogen oxide, and fluorinated gases, collect in the earths atmosphere. Sun light passes through the atmosphere to the earth surface to allow the earth to heat up. The atmosphere traps the heat on earth to develop the earths temperature. The greenhouse effect is ruining this because the greenhouse gases trap to much heat on the earth causing overtime a higher average temperature. Carbon dioxide accounts for 82% of all United States greenhouse gas emissions from human activities. Currently the United States is ranked second in the top carbon dioxide emitters in the world.
To begin with, the environment we choose to place ourselves in has the ability to impact our wellness within an instance. With that being said, there’s a possibility our wellness is likely to be threatened. For those apart of organizations concerned about the wellness of others, it’s their responsibility to inform the community about how to prepare themselves for environmental changes. What has the possibility to occur within an environment varies. Everyone adapts to alterations differently, but is human activity responsible for global warming negatively affecting human health?
In addition, human activities like deforestation may increase the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. This is because forests help in carbon sequestration, which reduces the amount of carbon dioxide in the air. It follows then that clearing such tress will increase the amount of carbon dioxide since carbon sequestration will not occur (3). The man-made theory of climate change also explains that when these harmful gasses reach the atmosphere, they form a blanket, which traps heat in the atmosphere. This trapping of in the atmosphere is the phenomenon that causes the planet to get warmer, hence the term global warming (Sharma, 4).
Global warming is the constant increase of temperature in the earth’s atmosphere that is caused by the increase of carbon dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons, greenhouse gases and many other pollutants. Chlorofluorocarbons are any type of compounds of carbon, hydrogen, chlorine, and fluorine which are harmful to the ozone layer. Global warming can affect many things, one example is the rising of temperature which can result in different types of disasters like storms, heat waves, floods, and droughts. Global warming also causes Higher death rates, Dirtier air, Higher wildlife extinction rates, the increase of Acidic Oceans, and Higher seas levels. In this essay, I will provide information that will show how harmful global warming can be to not only the earth but to humans and animals, and what we can do to prevent it from increasing.