Global Climate Change
The global climate has changed significantly in the recent past. The change recorded revolves around the heating of the earth or increased planet’s temperature.
Many assumptions have been made regarding the causes of earth’s changes in temperature; with some quarters blaming human beings as the main cause of variance in the planet’s temperature. However, other quarters refute the assertion that men are behind the global climate change through refuting the points advanced by those proposing human beings as the main cause of the changes in global climate. For instance, those proposing the analyzed process is man-made have advanced that the increase in greenhouse gases and water vapors in the atmosphere are the main pointers people to be the cause of global climate change. In addition, the use of aerosols and domestication of animals has been blamed as contributing to earth’s climate modification. On the other hand, those opposing the aforementioned assumptions indicate that a green house gas such as carbon dioxide is not a pollutant as it plants utilize it for growth. Moreover, the opponents have refuted the idea that climate change is a global phenomenon.
They note that climate change is regional, and it has been established to modify rapidly from the past, which explains why it will still keep changing in the future. Considering the above-indicated points, it can be deducted the researched process is man-made because of the human activities that have been mentioned. Thus, this essay explores why the global climate change is man-made. The global climate change occurs because of the activities that humans do. According to Archer (2011), man-made climate change are resulted of the increased greenhouse gases emission into the atmosphere.
This happens mainly through two major activities, which include manufacturing in the factories and agricultural activities. Notably, the two pointed processes of producing enhance the greenhouse effect. This has a profound impact on earth because the greenhouse gases such as carbondioxide, water vapor and other gases in the atmosphere are not impervious to the sun. They allow the sun’s penetration into the atmosphere, which absorbs the planet’s heat that could be otherwise absorbed into outer space. Booth, Hammond, Lamond, & Proverbs (2012) assert that there would be no adverse climatic changes if the greenhouse gases were not emitted in large quantities into the earth’s atmosphere. Alternatively, it should be considered that, in limited quantities, the greenhouse gases in the earth’s atmosphere are more acceptable than a total lack of those; therefore this can also lead to lower of the atmosphere, which would make the planet uninhabitable.
Thus, more specifically, transport and agricultural activities are hugely blamed for the rising in such gases in the atmosphere. Humans eep advancing their transport from time to time: and the pollutant emissions have filled the surrounding our planet gaseous envelope with an emancipation of the road and air transport. These systems emit carbon into the atmosphere. Other greenhouse gases that contribute to global climate change include nitrous oxide, methane, hydroluorocarbons, sulphur hexafluoride and perfluorocarbons. Oxlade (2006) affirms these are entirely artificial gases, which prove that human beings are the main causes of the global climate change.
It is essential to note that power stations, which burn coal, are the main contributors of these greenhouse gases. Other causes of global warming include land use and livestock. These are human activitities and they contribute to climate modification in various ways. A case study by Shipley (2011) affirms that anthropogenic emmissions increased in the atmosphere between 1750-2007. The cause of growth of the harmful CO2 emmisions was the burning of fossil fuels, which is a human activity.
In addition, these greenhouse gases rose in the atmosphere due to the change in the use of land. Deforestation ranks top among the changes in land use by humans. This contributes to the global warming because of the reduction in the amount of carbon dioxide that the trees in the deforested areas could have absorbed. Hense the quantity of greenhouse causing gases in such areas doubles. It is also essential to note that deforestation goes hand in hand with burning of biomass, which also leads to the aforementioned process. These changes in land use are significantly human motivated; thus, are a weighty contribution to the global climatic changes.
Houghton (2004) has also been keen on the causes of climatic changes in around the globe, and he has noted that human domestication process is also a major contributor to global warming. This is effected by the increase in the number of livestock that humans have domesticated with time. According to Houghton (2004), livestock occupy almost 71 percent of the land that is utilized for agricultural purposes. Besides, Booth, Hammond, Lamond, & Proverbs (2012) point out that human liverstock activities contribute to emission of 9 percent carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, 37 percent of methane and 63 percent of nitrous oxide, which results because of fertilizer use.One more man-made cause of global climate change is blamed on the use of aerosols. Their use by human consequences to suspension of droplets or particles in the atmosphere and this leads to the cooling effect because it requires the burning of biomass, which begins with deforestation.
The use of aerosols also impacts on industrial pollution, especially while the production of soot, ammonium, airborne sulfates and nitrates. Lastly, the caused by desertification dust either contributes to global climatic changes. However, it also necessary to explore the ppoints advanced by opponents of global waming been a result of humans. Firstly, Houghton (2004) indicates that opponents believe carbon dioxide is not a contributor to changes in the global climate. This abounds from the fact that carbon plays a significant role in the atmosphere and has been in existence in the history of the earth. Since this chemical element has existed in more and few quantities, this proves the viewpoint that it plays a minimal role in altering the earth as plants also utilize it in their development.
Another position advanced by opponents is that climate change does not occur drastically. They are of the opinion that it takes a long time to change, and the fact humans are blamed for accelerating the change process is not genuine. In addition, the opponents of people been the cause of the climatic modification assert that the process cannot be claimed to be global. In their standpoint, climate change to be a regional affair and not a global one. This abounds from the fact that regional climate changes have been recorded to be changing adversely from the past, and it is a phenomenon that will continue in the future.
The opponents assert that humans will have to adapt to the changes as they unfold and they should not expect only warmer conditions that favor them. Despite the above allegations by opponents, they indicate that individuals should be cautious to engage in the destruction of the ennvironment, and try their best to preserve it for the next genrations. Nevertheless, the opponents statements do not hold much water as that of proponents regarding humans as the main cause of global climatic changes (Houghton, 2004). It should be noted that those supporting the notion that global climatic changes are initiated by men have produced solid evidence to back their claims.In conclusion, global climate transformations have baffled many people, whereas they have resulted to environments that humans and other animals cannot thrive in comfortably as they initially did. Thus, this has motivated many researchers into the causes of global climate changes, and various opinions have abounded.
Mostly, the analyzed phenomena have been blamed on human acivities. Some of man-made contribution to changes in global climatic conditions include desertification, livestock keeping, industries, transport and the use of aerosols. However, not everyone consented to the fact the global climatic change is entirely a man-made problem. Thus, opponents indicate that climatic modifications have been exhibited since time immemorial and this mostly occurs regionally as opposed to globally. Opponents also advance that greenhouse gas such as carbon dioxide is not as dangerous as it is implicated. This is because there earth has comprised of the gas from ancient times, and that plants also use it for their development, which renounces the claim that the gas is a major contributor to greenhouse effect, and global warming, as well.
