Human Agency is at the Root of Climate Change and Global Warming - Research Paper Example

Human Agency is at the Root of Climate Change and Global Warming This work claims that human activity is the main cause for global warming. The following discussion establishes this contention. Introduction In the contemporary era, global warming has acquired the status of the most significant scientific issue. This problem poses a challenge to the basis of global society. Global warming has a major impact upon economics, individual lifestyle preferences, local politics and geopolitics. The excessive increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, leads to global warming (Maslin, 2007, p. 7). Such increase is the outcome of deforestation and the consumption of fossil fuels. The available evidence has demonstrated that atmospheric carbon dioxide levels are at a maximum for the past half million years. This has resulted in an unprecedented rate of global warming that has been the fastest in the past two millennia. The earth receives energy from the sun in the visible and ultra violet radiation bands. Around 33% of the incident solar radiation is reflected by the earth’s surface into space. The remaining portion of the solar radiation is principally absorbed by the land and oceans. This absorbed solar radiation increases the temperature of the earth’s surface, which emits the excess heat as infrared radiation (Maslin, 2007, p. 9). A portion of this infrared radiation is retained by greenhouse gases, and this leads to the warming of the atmosphere. The principal greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide, water vapour, ozone, methane and nitrous oxide. These gases, in combination, result in a greenhouse effect that warms the earth (Maslin, 2007, p. 9). As such, the greenhouse effect due to release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere is the result of human activities. Global warming and climate change are the handiwork of humans. This has been reiterated by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which has stated in no uncertain terms that human activity and not changes in solar activity, is the real culprit responsible for global warming (Jones, 2012, p. 32). During the period from the year 2005 to the year 2010, solar activity had been very less. Nevertheless, NASA discovered that the earth had absorbed much more energy than it had reflected or radiated back into space. Whilst arriving at this conclusion, this organisation had engaged in complex calculations relating to the energy imbalance of the earth (Jones, 2012, p. 32). In general, the total solar irradiance reduces by 0.1% during the recurrent respites in solar activity. Solar irradiance is defined as the amount of solar energy incident upon the surface of the earth. The cyclical hiatuses in solar activity have been ascribed to the shifts transpiring in the solar magnetic field (Jones, 2012, p. 32). Solar activity usually reduces to a minimum once in every 11 years. This period of minimum solar activity lasts for 12 months, approximately. However, this period of minimum activity, during the period under study, had extended to more than two years. During this time, researchers at NASA observed that the earth had absorbed 0.5 W/m2 (watt per square metre) more than it had released (Jones, 2012, p. 32). The above discussion reiterated the fact that global warming and climate change were manmade. In addition, meteorologists have demonstrated that the greenhouse gases permeate the entire atmosphere. An extremely disturbing aspect is that human activity is directly behind the increase in the proportion of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The situation is indeed precarious, because, the ever increasing proportion of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere leads to a corresponding increase in global warming or greenhouse effect. It is to be realised by every individual that global warming will not spare anyone (Maslin, 2007, p. 9). As such, this discussion revealed the truth that human activity was the significant contributor towards the emission of greenhouse gases into the earth’s atmosphere. There is near unanimity, when it comes to identifying the reason behind global warming and climate change. This reason has been deemed to be human agency. In fact, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) had categorically declared that the majority of the global warming changes are the outcome of human activity. Similarly, the Pew Center on Climate Change has stated that human activity results in the emission of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide (Afzal, 2007, p. 2). As such, it has been accepted unanimously, by the international climate organisations that the human activity has caused global warming. In addition, this institution has stressed that industrial processes, combustion involving fossil fuels and deforestation are some of the principal human activities that produce copious amounts of greenhouse gases. The latter are responsible for producing global warming and climate change. Some researchers have reported that the maximum carbon dioxide emissions emanate from the US. This nation consumes the largest quantity of fossil fuels (Afzal, 2007, p. 2). The above discussion reveals that the industrialisation of a nation could indirectly promote global warming. In all probability, deforestation is the outcome of a burgeoning population that deprives the land of its forests, in order to employ the land for agrarian purposes and to exploit the forest produce. The burning of trees brings about the release of the stored carbon into the atmosphere. This source contributes a sixth of the carbon emissions of the earth. On the other hand, if the forests had not been destroyed, they would have absorbed a tenth of the carbon emissions projected for the first 50 years of the 21st century (Afzal, 2007, p. 2). As such, deforestation which is the outcome of agrarian activity and the clearing of forests for their produce has an impact upon global warming and climate change. Moreover, the demand for food, biofuels and housing have led to deforestation. The latter enhances the amount of carbon dioxide inherent in the atmosphere, as there is an insufficient number of trees and inadequate amount of other vegetation to convert the carbon emissions and remove them from the environment (Santos, 2012, p. 385). Furthermore, the production of meat and cultivation of rice and other crops enhance the amount of the greenhouse gas methane in the lower atmosphere. Furthermore, consumer lifestyles tend to depend upon the combustion of fossil fuels to achieve improvement or for being sustained (Santos, 2012, p. 385). This constitutes another source of lower atmospheric carbon dioxide accumulation. In addition, mankind has been felling trees from centuries. Initially, the objective was to clear land for agriculture and to use the wood as fuel. From the past two centuries, there has been a tremendous increase in deforestation, chiefly due to the emergence of logging, as a highly profitable industry. The pace of deforestation had been further accelerated by industrialisation, which demanded a considerable amount of cleared land (Country Watch Incorporated, 2013, p. 185). The fact that forests require much more time to rejuvenate themselves, has served to render the process of deforestation a major issue. An extreme example of the harm caused to the environment is provided by the deforestation of the tropical rainforests, which has produced substantial adverse effects upon the ecosystem of the world (Country Watch Incorporated, 2013, p. 185). Consequently, deforestation affects the environment in a negative manner. There has been a natural change in the terrestrial temperature throughout history. Nevertheless, the recent and unprecedented increases in global temperatures have been attributed by scientists to the manner in which mankind generates energy for its domestic, commercial and other requirements. Electricity is usually generated by the combustion of fossil fuels, such as coal and oil. This process results in the release of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The greenhouse gases do not permit the heat radiated or reflected by the earth to escape into space. In fact, such heat remains trapped by these gases in proximity to the earth’s surface (Smith, 2011, p. 6). This trapped heat engenders global warming and climate change. As such, the climate of our planet has undergone significant change, due to human activity. These anthropogenic effects on the terrestrial climate have become increasingly obvious. In fact, the most prominent change to the earth’s climate resulting from human activity is that of global warming. In addition to being predicted by climate models, global warming has been observed in reality (Chou, Chen, Tan, & Chen, 2012, p. 3291). A study by Chou et al., claimed that climate change was principally caused by human activity. Conclusion It is indisputable that human activity causes the continuous release of greenhouse gases into the environment. These gases lead to global warming and climate change. The consumers of a society make significant contributions of greenhouse gases to the environment. This is due their consumption of fossil fuels and products. Such contributions are deemed to be direct. On the other hand, people contribute indirectly to global warming via the manufacture of products and the provision of services. These products and services, exercise an adverse impact upon the environment and enhance global warming. Moreover, deforestation also contributes to the enhancement of the problem of global warming. People indulge in activities such as clearing forests for agricultural and industrial purposes, thereby causing global warming indirectly. It can be surmised from the above discussion that human activities are the main contributors towards global warming. This work substantiates the hypothesis that human activity is a significant contributor towards global warming. References Afzal, B. M. (2007). Global Warming: A Public Health Concern. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 12(2), 2. In this popular article, Brenda M Afzal has claimed that certain human activities cause global warming and climate change. Some of these activities are; industrial processes, combustion of fossil fuels and deforestation. She has convincingly argued that agricultural cultivation and gathering of forest produce has resulted in the clearing of forest land. Chou, C., Chen, C.–A., Tan, P.–H., & Chen, K. T. (2012). Mechanisms for Global Warming Impacts on Precipitation Frequency and Intensity. Journal of Climate, 25(9), 3291 – 3306. In the above work, Chou and colleagues have claimed that anthropogenic influences cause climate change. Their work reiterates that global warming is accelerated by human interference with nature. Country Watch Incorporated. (2013). Global Environmental Concepts. Micronesia Country Review, 173 – 191. In the above article by Country Watch Incorporated, it has been claimed that de -forestation was not a recent development. It principally due to industrialisation after World War II. The deforestation of the tropical rain forest has emerged as a serious concern, since it has produced a substantially adverse effect upon the ecosystem. Jones, J. (2012). NASA: Human Activity, Not Solar Activity, Driving Global Warming. Civil Engineering, 82(4), 32. Jenny Jones has shown in the above article that human activity has led to global warming and climate change. As such, changes in solar activity are not responsible for climate change. These facts have been corroborated by calculations of the earth’s energy imbalance, undertaken by NASA. Maslin, M. (2007). Global Warming: Causes, Effects, and the Future. St. Paul, MN, USA: MBI Publishing Company. Mark Maslin in the above article, has described the all – encompassing character of the global warming problem. In addition, the author has analysed the reasons for the major exacerbation of this problem. This work had identified the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation as the main reasons for the abnormal increase in greenhouse gases, which resulted in global warming. He has also contended that the greenhouse gases, such as water vapour, ozone, carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide create a blanket like effect upon the atmosphere near the surface of the earth. This serves to increase the temperature. In addition, the author suggests that human activities are the primary cause for the ever increasing global warming. Santos, M. A. (2012). Investigating consumer knowledge of global warming based on Rogers’ knowledge stage of the innovation decision process. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 36(4), 385 – 393. Maria AO Dos Santos has made an important observation in her above cited article. She has declared that the burning fossil fuels had resulted in the accumulation of carbon dioxide in the lower levels of the earth’s atmosphere. Such gases bring about global warming, as they trap a significant amount of the heat and do not allow it to escape into outer space. Smith, N. (2011). Wild Weather. Scholastic SuperScience, 23(3), 4 – 7. In the above article, Natalie Smith has shown that burning fossil fuels for energy, releases greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. This phenomenon leads to the trapping of heat near the surface of the earth. As a result of this, the earth’s temperature increases gradually. This is the main reason for global warming. Read More