Is Human Activity Responsible for Global Warming?
Over the last century, the global temperature of the Earth had changed drastically. Before the industrial revolution, the Earth’s climate changed due to natural factors rather than human activities; variation in sunlight and volcanic eruption were the natural causes of climate changes in the past. While these natural causes are still in play today, however, their influences are too small compare to human activities ("Is Current Warming Natural?"). Majority of scientists agree that the current global warming is due to human expansion of the “greenhouse gas effect”, that is, when the greenhouse gases absorb IR radiation and prevent it from radiating toward outer space which results in gradual heating of the Earth’s atmosphere and surface. Greenhouse gases that contribute to the global warming include water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and chlorofluorocarbons. Human activities are changing …show more content…
The climate experts estimate that the global temperature will be at least 8 degrees warmer by 2100 as the global emissions continue. Higher temperature contribute to more frequent and severe weather and worsening many types of disasters. The number of droughts, intense storms, and floods are increasing as we can see today (Walsh). As global warming is caused by human activities, therefore it is also human’s responsibility to fix this issue. There is no single solution to global warming, which is primarily a problem of too much heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Individually, we can reduce emissions by reducing our emission inputs from our behaviors. There are many technologies and approaches that can bring down the emissions by at least 80% by mid-century, including boosting energy efficiency, greening transportation, reviving renewables, phasing out fossil fuel electricity, and managing forests and
Over the last century, the global temperature of the Earth had changed drastically. Before the industrial revolution, the Earth’s climate changed due to natural factors rather than human activities; variation in sunlight and volcanic eruption were the natural causes of climate changes in the past. While these natural causes are still in play today, however, their influences are too small compare to human activities ("Is Current Warming Natural?"). Majority of scientists agree that the current global warming is due to human expansion of the “greenhouse gas effect”, that is, when the greenhouse gases absorb IR radiation and prevent it from radiating toward outer space which results in gradual heating of the Earth’s atmosphere and surface. Greenhouse gases that contribute to the global warming include water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and chlorofluorocarbons. Human activities are changing …show more content…
The climate experts estimate that the global temperature will be at least 8 degrees warmer by 2100 as the global emissions continue. Higher temperature contribute to more frequent and severe weather and worsening many types of disasters. The number of droughts, intense storms, and floods are increasing as we can see today (Walsh). As global warming is caused by human activities, therefore it is also human’s responsibility to fix this issue. There is no single solution to global warming, which is primarily a problem of too much heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Individually, we can reduce emissions by reducing our emission inputs from our behaviors. There are many technologies and approaches that can bring down the emissions by at least 80% by mid-century, including boosting energy efficiency, greening transportation, reviving renewables, phasing out fossil fuel electricity, and managing forests and