Causes for Climate Change

Causes for Climate Change

Introduction

As of 2018, NASA stated that carbon dioxide concentration in the earth’s atmosphere stood at four hundred and eighty parts per million; this was the highest in three million years. From the early twentieth century, the effect of human activity – the burning of fossil fuel – has increased and has led to heat-trapping of the greenhouse gases within the earth’s atmosphere, thus increasing earth’s average temperatures leading to global warming (Cao and Gao 12). Other human actions, such as deforestation and intensive farming, have also contributed to global warming and climate change. What are the human activities that cause climate change, is human activity the only cause of climate change?

Sub-topics (Causes for Climate Change)

Fossil Fuels Burning

The United Nations estimates that in ten years, the world will be producing fifty present more coal, oil, and gas. As the world seeks to maintain global warming temperatures at 1.5 ⁰C, fossil fuel production continues to rise. A UNEP report states that most governments are doing the opposite that what they have promised to do – reduce their carbon emissions. Fossil fuels are responsible for seventy-six percent of the total greenhouse gas emissions. In the United States, gas and oil production is set to increase by thirty percent by 2030 (Uprety 43). Therefore, governments need to refocus their national plans on keeping up with climate agreements. Oil and gas production should be reduced or stopped to switch to cheap and renewable energy.

Deforestation

Forest exploitation has been a significant contributor to climate change. It is the second leading cause of climate change and produces twenty-four percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. This problem is elevated by deforestation in tropical rainforests such as Amazon, produce enough carbon dioxide than all trucks and cars on earth’s roads. In Indonesia and Brazil, deforestation is the main contributor to the national greenhouse effect. Trees aid in regulating climate through the absorption of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. When these trees are cut down, the carbon dioxide stored in the trees is lost into the atmosphere.

According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, forests are the habitats to about eighty percent of the world’s biodiversity. Preventing deforestation will result in positive benefits such as reducing the amount of carbon dioxide added into the atmosphere and reducing social and environmental issues regarding climate change. Forests are home to about three hundred and fifty million people who rely on them for food and livelihood. Sixty million of these people are entirely dependent on the forest for their livelihoods.

Measures need to be put in place to stop deforestation as a mitigation approach and support forest conservation efforts. This will preserve biodiversity, including traditions and cultures. To assist in these conservation efforts, we should offer support to organizations that conserve and reforest.

Intensive Farming

Modern agriculture, food distribution, and production are a significant contributor to greenhouse gases. Agriculture contributes about fourteen percent of the total emission of greenhouse gases. Rural use of land also has an impact on climate change. According to a Professor of Soil Science from Ohio State University, discovered that in the last one hundred and fifty years, four hundred and seventy-six billion tones of carbon was emitted from farmland soil due to inappropriate farming methods and grazing practices.

Counterargument

As much as a human activity contributes to climate change, there are natural causes attributed to climate change, such as volcanic eruptions, sun’s intensity, and naturally occurring greenhouse gas concentration. NASA says that these natural processes are still in action today, but they have very little or very slow influence to be considered the cause for a rapidly changing climate.