Climate Changes Due to Human Activity - Essay Example

Climate change is man-made and governments should take measures to control it." To what extent do you agree with this claim? Introduction The effects of climate change have become more apparent in the past few decades, especially in terms of warmer temperatures, but also in terms of extreme weather issues which have been attributed as part of the climate change phenomenon. The recent Category 5 typhoon which hit the Philippines and the current severe snowstorms in the US are just some of these extreme weather disturbances which have been observed. These weather disturbances have brought forth major damages to property as well as significant losses in life. Theories on climate change are varied, with studies indicating how the earth is naturally changing and naturally becoming warmer. Other interest groups, including environmentalists insist that climate change is purely attributed to the activities of man. This paper shall discuss the thesis that: climate change is man-made and governments should take measures to control it. The extent to which I agree with this claim will be assessed in this paper. Body Majority of the factors which contribute to climate change is man-made, and other factors are natural. Taken together, the impact of climate change is very much significant. Admittedly, the earth is warming, with most of the excess heat impacting our oceans. Our oceans serve as repository for our excess heat (Hansen, et.al., 2005). The oceans however generally have a significant capacity for absorbing heat and as such, the oceans are considered thermodynamically stable, not easily impacted by other elements. In order to effect change, any activity would have to include long-term and continuous phenomenon (Hansen, et.al., 2005). The warming of the earth is therefore being experienced over a prolonged and sustained period of time. Data supports the fact that the oceans are warming up and have gradually been warming up since the 1950s. Global warming is not caused by the increase in the internal geothermal natural heating or the heat from human activity (Willis, et.al., 2008). It is also not caused by external sources. The internal and external sources of heating have been discounted. A firm conclusion which can be drawn is that the increase in global temperature is caused by stored heat in the environment over a period of years. Any increase in the heat input would cause a rise in heat sent off into space. Such heat is not considered in measuring the increase in ocean temperature (Willis, et.al., 2008). In effect, the added source of heat needed to lead to global warming has to be higher that is considered and no source of additional heating has been noted. Even where different heating sources have been taken into consideration, only a small amount of sources observed would increase heating. Studies from various scientists indicate that the increase in the amount of greenhouse gases (GHGs) would lead to the elevation of warmth, mostly due to the greenhouse effect (Barker and Ross, 1999). Measuring GHGs in the atmosphere indicate that the increase has been consistent. The amount of energy from outside the earth’s environment is lessening and the amount of energy from inside the earth’s environment is steady. The combination of these elements would not amount to the heat observed in the earth’s environment in the last few decades. In effect, the earth is warming not because of the addition in heat input, but mostly because of the increased retention of the heat which is present in the earth’s atmosphere (Lyman, et.al., 2006). This is basically part of the greenhouse effect. The next step in this evaluation would now consider how man contributes to the greenhouse effect. The greenhouse effect is therefore the primary contributor to climate change and global warming with GHGs having a major impact on producing the greenhouse effect. As such, instead of excess heat being bounced back into space, it is trapped by these GHGs in the earth’s atmosphere, and bounced back into the earth (Lockwood, et.al., 2008). As a result, warmer temperatures are felt, including warmer oceans. Greenhouse gases mostly come from man-made activities, although there are also naturally occurring GHGs. Naturally occurring GHG sources may however release more GHGs as compared to man-made sources. However, the naturally occurring sources also have mechanisms for absorption (Lockwood, et.al., 2008). The natural sources of GHGs are considered and accounted for by the environment with their production and absorption process balancing each other out. In other words, there is no excess GHGs produced from natural sources. However, with the addition of man-made GHG emissions, the rate of absorption is not sufficient to eliminate the GHGs within our environment (Lockwood, et.al., 2008). Moreover, with rising temperatures, the naturally set sinks, including the permafrost and methane hydrates melt and add to the environment. Other sinks, including the oceans absorb to a lesser extent. Under these conditions, the relevance of the impact of the man-made emissions reaches outside the percentage for man-made emissions within the accumulated emissions (Ultimate Global Warming Challenge, n.d). As such, threats of global warming are very much relevant. The contention that man-made emissions of GHGs are insignificant when measured against natural emissions can be discredited in different instances. For example, the carbon dioxide emissions from volcanic eruptions is said to be equivalent to carbon dioxide emissions in at least 10 years. This claim is however untrue. In measuring the carbon dioxide levels during volcanic eruptions, no increase in these levels have been observed. Carbon dioxide emissions from volcanoes reach about 145-255 million tons (Gerlach, 1991). Man’s yearly output is about 30 billion tons which is much more than the emissions from volcanoes. Levels of GHGs in the atmosphere have been steadily increasing. Man’s emission of GHGs through his industrial activities and forest denudation has been primary contributors to the rise in GHGs and the lack of balance in emission and absorption of these GHGs (Gerlach, 1991). Man-made emissions have significantly increased the surface and troposphere temperature, alongside stratosphere cooling. Stratosphere cooling is caused by global warming and further indicates how climate change is very much attributed to the greenhouse effect. Strong storms and other severe weather conditions are mostly fuelled by warmer ocean temperatures. In the past 10 years alone, the world has experienced several of these severe conditions, including Hurricane Katrina and Typhoon Haiyan. Droughts and floods are some of the consequences of these extreme weather conditions. The fact that population increase has led to man’s expanding land use needs have contributed to the loss of arid and agricultural lands. As a result, forest and vegetation cover have been lost to industrial buildings and activities (Levitus, 2005). These are all man-made activities which impact unfavourably on our environment, exacerbating the impact of climate change on the planet. Based on these details, climate change is mostly a man-made phenomenon because although there are natural contributors to the planet’s increase in temperature, the environment has its natural processes which help limit and reduce the impact of climate change to the planet (Ultimate Global Warming Challenge, n.d). Human activities have increased and expanded the impact also increased the pace of climate change. It is therefore possible to implement measures which can help temper, if not totally eliminate the unfavourable human activities which impact negatively on the environment. Governments are the primary personnel and agencies who can make the necessary measures to help manage climate change (Newell and Patterson, 2010). Firstly, as authorized legislative agencies, the government can pass the laws which would form the basis for action and penalties as well as sanctions. Most governments of the world have passed environmental protection laws in order to regulate the use of environmentally harmful and damaging materials and gases. Proper zoning and protection laws have also been established in order to ensure that land use would not be abused, especially lands set aside as forests and agricultural use (Newell and Patterson, 2010). The government is also the primary implementer of these laws and policies. Although policies and laws are in place, the issue of implementation is a significant problem, especially where violators are not caught and sanctioned. The role of the government is to strictly implement these laws, and impose significant sanctions to violators (Bernauer and Kempfer, 2013). This would help deter violators as well as ensure the swift resolution of issues arising from environmentally harmful or damaging acts. In acknowledging its major role in protecting the environment, man-made activities which heavily contribute to climate change can be prevented and reduced. Conclusion I agree fully with the argument that climate change is caused by man. There are natural changes in our planet which contribute to climate change, however, these changes are inconsequential when compared to the actual impact of man-made activities on our planet. These man-made acts mostly relate to the use of GHGs which contribute significantly to the greenhouse effect, eventually increasing the temperature of our planet. These GHGs trap heat in our atmosphere, instead of bouncing it out into space. Most of these GHGs come from man-made activities, including motor vehicles and industries. Drought and floods have been observed as part of the climate change phenomenon, including the increase in incidents of severe storm systems which cause major property damage and human losses. The role of the government in relation to climate change mostly refers to the passage of laws which would serve as standards in behaviour for GHG use and emission. The implementation of these policies is also important, especially in terms of strict monitoring and apprehension of violators. Serving the appropriate sanctions to these violators would help put across the message to the people that environmentally harmful acts are serious offences which would have to be legally sanctioned. References Barker, J. & Ross, M., 1999. An introduction to global warming, Am. J. Phys, 67(12). Bernauer, T., & Gampfer, R., 2013. Effects of civil society involvement on popular legitimacy of global environmental governance. Global Environmental Change, 23(2), 439-449. Gerlach, T.M., 1991. Present-day CO2 emissions from volcanoes: Transactions of the American Geophysical Union (EOS), 72, pp. 249, 254-255. Hansen, J., L. Nazarenko, R. Ruedy, M. Sato, J. Willis, A. Del Genio, D. & Koch, A., 2005. Earths energy imbalance: Confirmation and implications. Science, 308, pp. 1431-1435 Levitus, S. J., Antonov, I. & Boyer, T., 2005. Warming of the world ocean, 1955 - 2003. Geophys. Res. Lett., 32. Lockwood, M. & Fröhlich, C., 2008. 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