What are the main causes of climate change? We took a look at the evidence for what is responsible.
Causes Of Climate Change – Obvious Reason
The use of fossil fuels like coal, gas, and oil is the primary contributor to climate change, according to overwhelming evidence. When fossil fuels are used, carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere, warming the earth.
Causes Of Climate Change -Historical Journey
Since the formation of the Earth 4.5 billion years ago, the climate has been changing. Natural causes have been the origin of these alterations up until recently. Volcanic eruptions, modifications to the Earth’s orbit, and changes to the Earth’s crust are examples of natural factors that affect the climate (known as plate tectonics).
The Earth has gone through a sequence of ice ages during the past million years, encompassing colder (glacials) and warmer (interglacials) periods (interglacials). The Earth’s orbit around the sun varies around every 100,000 years, causing a cycle of glacial and interglacial periods. Earth has been in an interglacial period with a steady temperature for the last few thousand years.
However, the rate of growth in the global temperature has accelerated significantly since the Industrial Revolution in the 1800s. Human activity has quickly risen to the top of the list of factors affecting our climate through the burning of fossil fuels and modifications to how we use the land.
Greenhouse Gases
The Earth’s atmosphere contains gases that trap heat and prevent it from escaping into space. These are the “greenhouse gases.” The “greenhouse effect,” which is caused by these gases, warms the Earth as a whole.
There are both natural and human-made sources of greenhouse gases. The atmosphere contains gases including carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide by nature. Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), for example, are solely created by human activity.
Most of the sun’s short-wave energy that reaches earth travels through unimpeded and strikes the surface. The majority of this radiation is absorbed by the Earth, which then emits infrared light with longer wavelengths.
Absorption
Some of this infrared light is absorbed by the greenhouse gases rather than being sent straight into space. The globe then warms as a result of radiation that the atmosphere emits in all directions and part of which is reflected back to the surface. This phenomenon, known as the “greenhouse effect,” is vital to our survival. Earth would be around 30 degrees colder today without greenhouse gases.
However, since the Industrial Revolution, we’ve been pumping the air with an increasing amount of greenhouse gases, trapping more heat. The greenhouse effect is heating the globe far more quickly than it would otherwise, maintaining it at a comfortable, steady temperature. The fundamental driver of climate change is what we refer to as the “increased greenhouse effect.”
Human Influence
By emitting carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, humans contribute to climate change. Since at least the last 2 million years, the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased. The amount of carbon dioxide increased by 40% during the 20th and 21st centuries.
We generate greenhouse gases in a variety of ways, including:
Fossil fuels are used because they contain carbon dioxide that has been “locked away” in the earth for thousands of years in the form of oil, gas, and coal. We release the carbon dioxide that has been stored in the atmosphere when we remove these off the land and burn them.
Forests absorb and store carbon dioxide, which is removed during deforestation. As a result of their removal, carbon dioxide builds up more quickly because there are no trees to absorb it. Additionally, when we burn trees, the carbon they held is released.
Agriculture: Crop planting and animal rearing release a wide range of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Animals, for instance, create methane, a greenhouse gas that is 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide.
Cement – Producing cement is another contributor to climate change, causing 2% of our entire carbon dioxide emissions.
Nature
Human activities and greenhouse gas emissions are the primary causes of climate change. However, numerous natural factors also contribute to changes in the climate system.
The climate may vary between warming and cooling due to natural cycles. Additionally, there are ‘forcings’—natural factors—that cause climate change. Despite the fact that these natural factors influence climate change, we know thanks to scientific research that they are not the main factor.
Conclusion
There is broad scientific agreement that people are the primary driver of climate change when all the available information is considered. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change made it clear in its most recent report that human activity is what is causing global warming.
Although natural climatic cycles can alter earth’s temperature, they cannot account for the extent and pace at which we are currently seeing changes. Not the 100 years that we have witnessed, but sometimes just months, these cycles have an impact on the world temperature. Longer-term modifications, such as Milankovitch cycles and solar irradiance, take countless ages.
