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However, human pollution of greenhouse gases is so minor that it is not a contribution to the Earth’s climate change, and a natural cause is the only logical explanation. In order to understand how maintenance of greenhouse gases has a relation to the Earth’s climate, it is necessary to understand The Greenhouse Effect. The sun fuels the earth’s climate. The earth absorbs most of the sun’s energy called solar radiation, but some is reflected back into space. Clouds ND a natural layer of atmospheric gases absorb a portion of earth’s heat and prevent it from escaping into space.
This keeps our planet warm enough for life and is known as the natural “greenhouse effect”. These atmospheric gases are known as greenhouse gases. The main greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide, water vapor, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone (Environmental Protection Agency). Without the natural greenhouse effect, the earth’s average temperature would be much colder, and the planet would be uninhabitable. Although this is a necessary process, an overbuild up of roundhouse gases traps additional heat in the atmosphere, and creates a rise in temperature.
This rise in temperature is known as “global warming”. There is skepticism to the idea that build up of greenhouse gases causes a rise in temperature, but by referring to the graph “1000 Years of Global Carbon Dioxide and Temperature Change” it is clearly shown that as carbon dioxide rises, temperature also rises. Thus proving that carbon dioxide causes a rise in temperature. Humans are the publicly accepted explanation for the rise in roundhouse gases, so it is assumed that humans are at fault for the rise in temperature.
Understanding why humans are considers at fault requires knowing how they release greenhouse gases. Humans are the accepted explanation for global warming because of their usage of fossil fuels and other various activities, but more than 90% of human greenhouse gas emissions come from the combustion of fossil fuels (EPA). The most common fossil fuels are petroleum, coal, and natural gas. Fossil fuels are used to power all modern technology such as: kitchen appliances, laundry appliances, owners, planes, trains, and the biggest domestic emitters automobiles.
The combustion of these fossil fuels releases greenhouse gases into the atmosphere furthermore assisting in global warming. The burning of fossil fuels is responsible for five agitations of carbon dioxide and methane in the atmosphere (EPA). Also, another major human contributor is garbage and deforestation. All the waste humans create becomes decomposed, a process that leaves behind massive amounts of carbon dioxide (EPA). Although humans create massive amounts of green house gases, observing of past enraptures is crucial to see a correspondence between human emissions and rise in temperature.
Human greenhouse gas emissions add up to around six agitations, but by reviewing past temperatures it is easily seen that humans do not cause a rise in temperature. By referring to the graph “Global Observed Temperatures” the temperatures for the last 140 years are shown. First, the majority of the temperature rise took place from 1 905 to 1 945, and less production means less greenhouse gas emissions and a decrease in temperature. Although there are less human emitted greenhouse gases in hat time period the temperature rises, contradicting the current view on human induced global warming.
Also, in a period after World War 2 that economist call the post War Economic Boom industrial production Was at an all time high. If production is at an all time high greenhouse gas emissions are also at an all time high then ultimately the temperature should rise. However the temperature decreases in the Post War Economic Boom further more opposing the statement that human emissions cause a temperature rise. Lastly, Congress ratified the Clean Air Act in 1967 that forced many product manufactures to limit their products emissions of pollutants and greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
Once again less greenhouse gases should cause a decrease in temperature, but from the time the amendment was ratified in 1967, the earth has seen the five hottest years on record (EPA). With the understanding that human emissions are not the cause of global warming the risen question is why is the temperature rising? To answer that question an understanding of basic climatology is needed. John Carlisle, the director of Environmental Policy Task Force of the National Center for Public Policy Research, believes that Earth is currently in a warm interglacial called the “Holocene” that began 1 0, 700 years ago.
Between 6500 B. C and 3500 B. C, the temperature increased from 58 F to 62 F. This is the warmest the earth has been during the Holocene, which is why scientists refer to the period as the Holocene Maximum. Since the Holocene Maximum, the planet has continued to experience temperature fluctuations. In 900 A. D the planet’s temperature roughly approximated today’s temperature. Then, beet. ‘en 900 and 1100 the climate dramatically warmed. Known as the Medieval Warm Period, the imperative rose to an average of 61 F, as much as 2 F warmer than today.
After the Medieval Warming Period the climate continued to dramatically get colder. By 1 650, the temperature hit a low of 57 F. This is regarded as the coldest point in the 1 0,000 year Holocene geological epoch, known as the Little Ice Age. These temperature fluctuations are far from coincidences, and they have to do with the ocean. The ocean is a reservoir that stores carbon or a “carbon sink”, and needs carbon to run its oceanic ecosystem (Raven, Fallows). Carl Hunch, the Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Physical
Oceanography at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, explains that the oceans release carbon dioxide as the temperature of it cools down and takes in carbon dioxide when the temperature of it heats up. Because the ocean is so vast and giant it takes far more heat to change the temperature of water than land or air, water warms and cools much slower than land or air (Gross). Hunch explains that this process takes around 500 years. As explained before, the time between both the Medieval Heating Period and The Little Ice Age is around 500 years.
Also, the time between the Little Ice Age and the present day state is around 500 years. So in reality the ocean is reacting to the change in temperature, and releasing carbon dioxide corresponding to the past temperature. It is a cycle that has an unknown origin, but is obviously not caused by humans. We are being accused of altering the natural cycle of the earth’s climate, but there is solid evidence we are not. If global warming is not induced by humans and is induced by natural factors, is it mankind’s job to try and curb it?
During the past recent Ice Age there was a significant imperative decrease that plunged the earth into a frozen vast land. If the intuits living in that time period did not cause the change in temperature, why are we being blamed now? Also, if the intuits had somehow taken action to curb this Ice Age history today would be massively different, and most likely less advanced. On final thought it is important to realize that human pollution, although it does not induce global warming, does pose a serious threat to other species and our own, and change can start with small differences in your everyday life choices.