Human Beings are undoubtedly the Cause of Global Warming

Human Beings are undoubtedly the Cause of Global Warming

Global warming is one of the largest challenges facing the earth today. Lineman, Do Kim, & Joo (2015) define global warming as the increase in global average temperatures, mainly because of the increasing quantities of carbon dioxide gas in addition to other greenhouse gases in the space. It causes the greenhouse effect where solar radiation reaches the atmosphere, and some sun’s energy is redirected back to space. At the same time, the rest is trapped and radiated again by greenhouse gases. This cycle eventually makes the earth have extreme temperatures. This essay will examine why human beings’ activities are the reason for global warming. It is believed that human beings have increased this universal occurrence.

Hughes (2018) says Global warming is fast emerging as a worldwide threat to ecology function, hence the crucial need to understand the impact of extreme heat radiations on both humans and the environment. There are various ways human activities and emissions have contributed to global warming. Among them is burning fossil fuel. Fossil fuels have high carbon since they were originated from buried residues of animal and plants centuries ago. Some of the fossil fuels are wood, natural gas, crude oil, and coal, which are used in homes, cars and to generate electricity. Denchak (2018) says burning these fuels has created 80% of the energy used in the world today. Crude oil is mostly made up of hydrocarbons, while natural gas has methane. When fossil fuels are burnt, they emit Carbon dioxide and Sulfur dioxide gas, which create a cover in the atmosphere and prevent heat from escaping. Carbon is known to be the globe’s most known heat-trapping gases. There have been calls to use alternative energy like wind energy, solar power, and hydroelectric power systems. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) confirms that industrial pollution is half of the pollution globally. The release of different kinds of greenhouse gases such as and methane, Sulphur, nitrogen, and CO2, among others from industries, escalates the earth’s temperatures, causing global warming.

A second human cause for global warming is deforestation. This is the second-most global warming cause following combusting fossil fuels. Deforestation can come by logging, wildfire, agricultural clear-cutting; among others, when logging activities happen, humans burn the trees and leave them to rot. The carbon stored is then released into the air as carbon dioxide later mixes with other greenhouse gases. Just like burning fossil fuels, trees release carbon into the air when combusted. Forest degradation increases the reflection of sunlight back into the atmosphere. Barbosa (2020) states how Brazil has reduced deforestation activities in the country 40 per cent from 2008 and is on the quest to attain an 80 per cent decline by the year 2020. Brazil, among other states, is part of the Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) program. It is mandated to give incentives to people who manage and care for forest sustainability as they benefit economically. Fikreyesus (2017) says the REDD program has granted financial aid of $117 million in excess to national deforestation reduction in 44 Africa, Asia, and Latin American countries.

Land use is an effect of deforestation of forests and vegetation. Humans alter the earth to create more land to be used in agriculture. Currently, agriculture is practised in half of the world’s population. This aspect of land-use change has great effects on global warming (Schultz, 2016). People use the land for farming, mining while others rear animals. Land-use changes have other ways that bring about global warming. When inhabitants of a particular area change the type of vegetation, it translates to distorting the local temperatures. This will change how sunlight is reflected in the atmosphere and how much heat evaporates. For example, when humans change from to grassland from dark forests, this makes the ground lighter, hence reflecting more sunlight. Plants, vegetation, and forests absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, making them large carriers of the greenhouse effect gas. Intensive farming also affects the atmosphere in many ways. Most vegetation and forests are cleared to create land for agriculture. The uncultivated areas with vegetation are sources of gas emissions when they are burned. Also, the application of nitrate fertilizer releases nitrogen oxide gas to farms and fields and later to the ozone layer.

Rojas-Downing, Nejadhashemi, Harrigan, & Woznicki (2017) explain that livestock production releases 14.5% of the world’s greenhouse gas radiations, and this may intensify land degradation, air pollution. There are greenhouse gases that come from animal manure storage and enteric fermentation. Methane attributes a more substantial part of livestock emissions while the rests are Carbon Dioxide and Nitrous Oxide. Methane is formed from the digestive system in livestock, especially cattle, and in fermentative processes in waste manure. It comes from engines combusting fossil fuels and dung. Carbon dioxide is emitted by agricultural equipment and machinery that use fossil fuels too in the running. Nevertheless, these gas emissions are relatively small, attributing to one per cent of the world, human-caused emissions.

Although the many benefits industrialization has brought, there are adverse environmental effects it has caused. An increase in the human population has led to congestion in the urban areas hence sprouting many cities. According to Unfccc.int (2017), over half of the world dwells in urban towns, and figures are expected to increase to 2.5 billion by 2050. Industrial Revolution introduced large scale manufacturing, which involved the use of a vast amount of energy (power). Industries in cities world over emit and release greenhouse gases, especially in the steel, iron, and energy-intensive chemical industries. It is also worth noting that an upsurge of the human population and industrialization can bring significant use of fossil fuels and deforestation that lead to global warming. Densely populated cities in central heat islands experience higher degrees of temperature than the surrounding tropical areas. Coupled with the air pollutants emitted and high temperatures, this makes global warming higher in cities, especially in Latin America and Asia.

With the increase in industrialization, waste has become ever harder to manage. There is a tremendous global concern for the organic waste released in large cities. The release of effluents and pollutants by big factories clog the atmosphere with carbon and other dangerous gases that contribute to the warming issues. After the waste has been dumped, it decomposes and releases carbon dioxide and methane gases, which are hazardous and toxic to the ozone layer.  Factories have been adamant in using the 3 Rule waste management plan that is Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. According to Spiegel (2019) world, over 30 per cent of food is wasted yearly, translating to 8 per cent greenhouse gas global emissions.

According to Ramachandran & Kedia (2010), aerosols have an impact on global warming. They are minute particles of pollution that reflect sunlight to the atmosphere and release cooling effects to the planet. It can also be defined as tiny particles found in the atmosphere that is produced by burning different kinds of fossil fuels like wood, coal, biofuels, and petroleum. A large amount of human-made aerosols comes from air pollution from industries and vehicles.

On the other hand, there are natural causes of global warming. Long before human existence came into being, the globe went through hot and cold phases. The Milankovitch Theory supports this. It explains that hundreds of thousand years ago, three cycles occurred in earth’s orbit that brought climate variations. The Milankovich cycles(eccentricity, obliquity, and precession) were caused by the alterations of the planet’s orbit shape when close to the sun. Also , the tilt of the planet’s rotation axis caused these cycles. When there is change on the earth’s orbit, it affects how the sun shines on latitudes and in different seasons. If the sun experienced in the extreme northern latitudes is intense, then the planet will experience high temperatures and be warm. Volcanic eruptions causing global warming can be traced back to millions of years ago. These molten lava eruptions released greenhouse gases into the earth’s atmosphere. Stordal, Svensen, Aarnes, & Roscher (2017) describe how a famous volcano eruption caused the Siberian Traps 253 million years ago. It poured high quantities of greenhouse gases like sulfate aerosols, Methane, Sulphur dioxide, and carbon dioxide, causing long term global warming. It is still believed that the Siberian Traps might have destroyed the ozone layer, increasing dangerous ultraviolet radiation on the planet. However, humanity’s print on global is still evident world over.

The world must deal with haste to find remedies and counter global warming so that we can save our planet. Despite the natural causes of global warming described above, man is to be blamed for the effects of global warming being experienced on earth. I would recommend possible measures to curb and reverse the warming effects. One way is to use alternative sources of energy like water, wind, and solar panels. Reduction in fossil fuel combustion will minimize emissions of the greenhouse effects gases into space. This is so prevalent in developed countries where industrialization and manufacturing are done on a large scale. Another measure is to campaign and enforce afforestation and to reclaim forests and vegetation. Increasing the forest cover will create a balance in nature. Governments should arise and condemn activities that increase global warming in the world.

References

Barbosa De Oliveira Filho, F. J. (2020). Impact of environmental law enforcement on deforestation, land use, and natural regeneration in the Brazilian Amazon (Doctoral dissertation, University of Cambridge).

Denchak, M., 2018. Fossil Fuels: The Dirty Facts. https://www.nrdc.org/stories/fossil-fuels-dirty-facts

Fikreyesus, D., Meshack, C. K., Danso, E. Y., Mamuye, S., Sintayehu, M., Franks, P…. & McNicol, I. (2017). Reconciling forest conservation with food production in sub-Saharan Africa Case studies from Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Ghana.

Hughes, T. P., Kerry, J. T., Baird, A. H., Connolly, S. R., Dietzel, A., Eakin, C. M., … & McWilliam, M. J. (2018). Global warming transforms coral reef assemblages. Nature, 556(7702), 492-496.

Lineman, M., Do, Y., Kim, J. Y., & Joo, G. J. (2015). Talking about climate change and global warming. PloS one, 10(9).

Ramachandran, S., & Kedia, S. (2010). Black carbon aerosols over an urban region: radiative forcing and climate impact. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 115(D10).

Rojas-Downing, M. M., Nejadhashemi, A. P., Harrigan, T., & Woznicki, S. A. (2017). Climate change and livestock: Impacts, adaptation, and mitigation. Climate Risk Management, 16, 145-163.

Schultz, B., 2016. Impacts of Man-Induced Changes in Land Use and Climate Change on Living in Coastal and Deltaic Areas. Irrigation and Drainage, 67, pp.6-18.

Spiegel, J., 2019. Food Waste Has Crucial Climate Impacts » Yale Climate Connections. Yale Climate Connections. https://www.yaleclimateconnections.org/2019/05/food-waste-has-crucial-climate-impacts

Stordal, F., Svensen, H. H., Aarnes, I., & Roscher, M. (2017). Global temperature response to century-scale degassing from the Siberian Traps large igneous province. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 471, 96-107.

Unfccc.int. 2017. Rapid Urbanization Increases Climate Risk For Billions Of People. <https://unfccc.int/news/rapid-urbanization-increases-climate-risk-for-billions-of-people