Climate Change can result from both natural events and human activities. Some examples of natural causes of climate change are volcanic eruptions, ocean currents, solar variations, and earth’s orbital changes. Some examples of human activities are fossil fuels, warming of temperature due to industrialization, and deforestation of tropical rainforests. Factors of climate change can change and vary naturally over time. The issue of the fast increase in earth’s temperature over the past years is one of global importance and disputed origin. All these justifications are for the change in the earth’s temperature are valid, however, there is a reason to believe that human activity and carbon dioxide emissions are a great part of the cause for the …show more content…
If nothing is done about the reduction of the carbon dioxide in atmosphere, at least about the human contribution, our planet will be impact greatly. According to “Amazonian Deforestation: Impact of Global Warming on the Energy Balance and Climate”, “The effect of the regional changes in CO2 and in the anthropogenic greenhouse gases predicted for 2100 together with that caused by tropical deforestation... It can be seen that the higher impact on the energy balance is caused by the degradation of land. When the increase in greenhouse gases is taken into account together with the effect of deforestation, the changes are reduced, except in the case of the temperature. This is because of the increase in the thermal-infrared radiation flux emitted by the atmosphere toward the surface. The inclusion of the greenhouse gases leads to a reduction in the decrease of the specific humidity or even an increase in the specific humidity…” Deforestation and climate change can be perceived to be a spiteful cycle. Trees absorb water from the land and release it into the atmosphere through leaves. When forests are cleared as a result of human activities, water from the ground is not released into the atmosphere therefore, making the climate much drier. This implies that deforestation reduces the content of ground water, soil water as well as the atmospheric moisture. Trees are the major sources of water and with their removal; the natural water cycle is disrupted, leading to far reaching effects such as droughts. Furthermore, Deforestation leads to global warming due to increased presence of greenhouse gases in the earth’s atmosphere. Forests in reality infuse up carbon dioxide gas and therefore, offsetting the levels of carbon
The present climate change is mostly human induced; the increase in CO2 is mainly because of human activities. Activities like changes in land use pattern, deforestation, land clearing, agriculture, and other activities that have all led to a rise in the emission of carbon dioxide.
Deforestation is the clearing of a forest and/or cutting down of trees for human benefits such as agriculture, wood exports, etc. Deforestation is the cause of numerous environmental impacts such as habitat loss, flooding and soil erosion. It can also cause climate change, by reducing the amount of rainfall and changing the amount of sunlight reflected from Earth’s surface and increases the risk of forest . Tree growth is important for biodiversity because they absorb carbon dioxide which is a harmful greenhouse gas . However, since deforestation reduces natural carbon sinks, it disrupts the balance between oxygen and carbon dioxide in the air causing the amount of carbon dioxide in the air to increase. This poses a serious threat since carbon dioxide traps the sun’s heat and radiated light inside the earth’s atmosphere. So, with the increase in carbon dioxide more heat is trapped and thus adding to the effects of global warming. Among the many places where deforestation takes place, Amazon seems to be one of the most affected ones. More than 20 percent of it is already gone, and much more of it is severely threatened due to deforestation . It is estimated that the Amazon alone is vanishing at a rate of 20,000 square miles a year .
Most climate scientists agree that the main cause of global climate change is the human expansion of the greenhouse effect. This is the global warming that results when the atmosphere traps heat radiating from Earth toward space (climate.nasa.gov). The main gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect include water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and chlorofluorocarbons (climate.nasa.gov). Human activities are changing the natural greenhouse effect. The burning of fossil fuels like coal and oil has increased the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere (climate.nasa.gov). Carbon dioxide levels have increased from 280 parts per million to 379 parts per million in the last 150 years due to human act...
Climate change, otherwise known as global warming, has grown more apparent in recent years, with increased natural disasters, significantly warmer temperatures and unreasonably long seasons. Global warming is one of the main concerns that scientists have been researching for the past century. Scientific evidence shows that global warming is caused by human behaviors. Due to the amount of human-induced carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that have been released into the air, the earth is becoming a highly poisonous place to live on. Earth’s climate has been constantly changing ever since the Industrial Revolution, when innovations began and factories were built, which emitted mass air pollution. As more technological advances continued the years after, the amount of carbon dioxide in the air also increased. According to the UPI Space Daily News, “Global emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) - the main cause of global warming - increased by 45% between 1990 and 2010, and reached an all-time high of 33 billion tonnes in 2010” (Writers 1). The 1900s through the 2000s is the time period in which humans caused the most air pollution by creating vehicles and other industrial machinery. In the contemporary time period, human activities that contribute to climate change consist of hydraulic fracturing, rice cultivation, the increase of fossil fuel burning, and the rise of deforestation.
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, p.205). Scientific studies suggest that all these played a role in past global warming and cooling periods. Today, however, there is a lot of conflict on whether humans are causing a global warming that could be disastrous to humans and all species of plants and animals on this earth. This paper will first explain the greenhouse effect, then take a look at both sides argument, and, finally, analyze the effect of global warming on world-wide sustainability
Global warming and global climate change is the study of future increases of temperature across the globe. Studying climate change refers to how the over- all climate will change such as the dry places getting dryer and the wet places getting wetter. Global climate is dependent on “the greenhouse effect a natural process that helps regulate temperature” (Easterling and Karl). In the past few centuries humans have had a monumental effect on increasing of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Climate change is result of the increase amount of the greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere such as methane, carbon dioxide, water vapor, nitrous oxide, and ozone. “Global temperature has rose approximately 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit over
Climate change is a major issue that is only going to get worse. Climate change is a change in global or regional climate patterns. It has become more apparent since the mid to late 20th century onwards and is attributed largely to the increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide produced by the use of fossil fuels. Climate change has been an important issue for decades that has effects on the environment and people of the world with the end result potentially being catastrophic. Although many believe that prolific use of fossil fuels is the direct cause of climate change, there are many more underlying causes including population expansion as well as irresponsible consumption of natural resources that have
(2010, Jan 26). Deforestation Affects Amazon Rainforest Climate. Retrieved from www.mongabay.com: http://www.mongabay.com/external/Deforestation_Affects_Climate.htm. unknown. The symphony of the symphony.
“In the last three decades, the United States has had an average of 80% consumption of fossil fuels such as coal, gas and oil; all of which contribute to the emission of greenhouse gases” (Josef). All over the world, climate is varied; however, that is not the problem. The problem is that our climate and weather patterns are changing and leaving disaster and catastrophe in its wake. The common question of debate is whether humans are the main cause of this climate change, if it is solely a natural occurrence, and what can we do about it? “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
The climate on the Earth is changing. Ice age is interleaved with the global warming. In the present age, the temperature of the Earth's climate system continues to rapidly increase and it leads to global warming. Global warming is the process of gradual growth of average annual temperature of the atmosphere of the Earth and World oceans. The average temperature on the Earth was increased by 0.6C. There are various reasons for global warming, such as human activities, natural events, increasing of gases, such as carbon dioxide in atmosphere and solar activity (Global warming).
The article “an introduction to climate change” describes in detail about the causes of climate change, and its potential effect on earth. According to this article, the global warming is due to the accumulation of carbon dioxide and other pollutants formed from burning fossil fuels that accumulate on earth’s atmosphere so that light rays are reflected back to the earth surface causing the atmospheric air to heat up. In addition, the article also gives some relevant solutions to global warming such as reducing air pollution and use of “clean energy.”
Climate change is a long-term change in regional or global climate patterns. From the mid twentieth century to now, it has mostly been about a significant increase in average global temperatures. Climate change is a major issue in the world today, and a lot of people feel very differently about the cause of it. The common argument about it is whether climate change is a natural occurrence or if the recent increase in temperatures is because of humans. Climate change is a natural cycle in the Earth’s weather. Before humans started burning fossil fuels, there were still weather cycles on Earth that were as hot or hotter than what it is now. In fact, Earth’s weather now, is on pace with the previous weather patterns in history. Human emitted
Simply speaking, rainforests are basically the foundation of the earth. The most important role that rainforests play is ‘the lungs of the earth’. This is extremely vital to the earth’s survival as the trees and plants absorb carbon dioxide which they use to help grow and let out oxygen which we need to live. This system is known as the carbon-oxygen cycle and with numbers of rainforests declining, it is highly threatened. The largest rainforest in the world, the Amazon, alone is known to produce half of the world’s oxygen. A break down in the carbon-oxygen cycle means that we will not only have less oxygen, but an increase in carbon dioxide which eventually leads to global warming. This occurs as carbon dioxide traps heat which actually keeps the earth warm, with the right amount of carbon dioxide that is. This is called the greenhouse effect and occurs naturally however due to decreasing number of trees, there is more carbon dioxide than needed which traps extra heat making the earth hotter than needed, this is known as global warming which also causes a rise in sea level.
Every place, country, city, region has its own climate. Climate plays one of the important roles in people’s life. Climate is defined as the average weather, which means variety of weather conditions as rain, snow, hail, sun, and wind over period of time about 30 years that can be measured in any particular place.( IPCC Third Assessment Report - Climate Change 2001; editor:A.P.Baede) Climate change is a variation of average weather. There are 2 causes of climate change. The first is human activity which includes deforestation, burning fossil fuels, agriculture, transportation and infrastructure. The second is natural causes which include volcanic eruptions and variations in solar outputs. These causes have negative effect on the natural environment which leads to increasing of temperature, increasing in sea level, changing of precipitations, extremely weather, killing species of animals, birds, fish and plants. This essay will show that the causes of climate change have different effects on the environment. Atmospheric carbon dioxide variations, volcanic eruptions and solar outputs, have negative impacts on animals, plants, and environment.
One of the most evident problems associated to the environment is the issue of the logging of trees, mainly in undisturbed places such as the Amazon basin. Trees are considered the lungs of the Earth. They recycle all the polluting carbon in the air and return oxygen back into our atmosphere, creating a stable cycle of carbon in our atmosphere. However, the impeccable rates which trees are being cut down in our forests have grown to ever increasing and alarming rates. Trees that are made way for farming are burnt up releasing deadly amounts of carbon and thus leading to the problem of global warming. As its names suggest the world is slowly warming up and without any notice the environment which God has gave us will be slowly eradicated. The daily lives which humans carry on about every day are also a factor influencing on our environment and global warming. By driving cars that have a thirst for petrol we are releasing carbon dioxide and furthermore impacting on the world?s climate. In Australia environmental impact has always been evident. Land clearing especially in places such as Queensland has caused land to lay dry and lifeless where all forms of life is destroyed. By clearing land we are not only affecting our climate but are also destroying animal habitat and the usage of the land. Senseless actions by commuters in Australia, emitting tons and tons of lethal gases vulnerable to the atmosphere are starting to take its toll on our climate. We are seeing a harsher climate and at the same time less rain. If we want to preserve our world we must take a stance on this issue and take action for what is right, not carrying on the actions that will lead to a desolate, destroyed Earth.