Impact of Human Activities on Climate Change

This essay explores the impact of human activities on climate change, focusing on the emission of greenhouse gases and changes in land usage. It discusses the effects of these activities on the Earth's climate system and highlights the need for sustainable solutions to mitigate climate change.

Running head: CLIMATE CHANGE
CLIMATE CHANGE
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Introduction
Human activities tend to contribute to change in climatic conditions by creating drastic changes
in the Earth’s environment in the amounts of greenhouse gases, cloudiness as well as aerosols that is small
particles. The major proportion of contribution towards climatic changes emerges from the smoldering of
fossil fuels which typically emits carbon dioxide gas to the atmosphere (Jang and Hart, 2015). Greenhouse
gases along with aerosols severely impact the conditions of climate by changing ongoing solar radiation as
well as thermal radiation which are included in the energy balance of the Earth. Studies conducted by Wu
et al. (2016) have noted that altering the atmospheric profusion or gas elements and particles tend to result
to a warming or cooling of the climate system. According to Myer et al. (2015), since the establishment of
the industrial era during the 1750s, the impact in general of human activities on climate conditions is seen
as an important sign of warming influence. The effect of human activities on climate during the 1750s
significantly surpassed the level because of certain identified changes in natural processes related to solar
changes as well as volcanic explosions. The thesis statement of the essay is “Human activities critically
resulting to the change in the climatic conditions.”
Discussion
The notion concerning that human have the capacity to alter climate conditions of the earth
possibly is counter-intuitive. However, the fundamental basic science is well comprehended. Reports of
Jang and Hart (2015) have revealed that every year, several human activities have been causing billions of
tonnes of greenhouse gases which are emitted to the atmosphere. According to Myers et al. (2015),
scientists have been aware for decades about the criticality of these human activities which typically
capture heat that would otherwise break out to space which is regarded to be comparable of covering the
earth in an invisible blanket. Human activities gradually have been causing emissions of four major
greenhouse gases namely carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O), methane (CH4) in addition to the

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halocarbons identified as a faction of gases including fluorine, chlorine and bromine. These gases
accumulate in the atmosphere have been causing concentrations in order to amplify with time. Reports of
Erickson and Jennings (2017) have claimed that significant amplification in all of these gases have taken
place in the industrial era which is highly attributable to human activities. There are mounting evidences
stating that human activities particularly burning fossil fuels are consequential to the increased levels of
carbon dioxide along with other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. These emissions are raising the
natural greenhouse effect thus causing the temperature of the Earth's atmosphere, ocean as well as land
surface to increase (Douglas et al., 2017). Human-driven changes in land usage and land cover related to
the deforestation, urbanization as well as shifts in vegetation patterns tends to alter the climate
consequential to alter the reflectivity of the Earth surface in addition to the release from deforestation,
urban heat island consequences also changes in the natural water cycle.
Greenhouse gas emissions released from transport are identified as major contributors to global
climate change. According to Lawrence and Vandecar (2015), over the last thirty years, carbon dioxide
release from transportation has increased rapidly in comparison to other sectors. However, it has been
anticipated that the rise of C02 will reach up to 10,000 mega tonnes by 2050. Reports of Alkama and
Cescatti (2016) have revealed that from 1900 to 2004, the C02 emissions from the world’s transport sector
have raised by around 37%. According to them, during the same period, road gas emissions from road
transport have raised by 30% in industrialized nations and over 60% in the developing nations.
Furthermore, air travel tends to emit around 12% of transport C02 emissions along with its share which is
projected to increase rapidly (Energy, Water and Transport, 2019). Human activities related to several
forms of transport modes are significantly contributing to global warming. Such an increase has been seen
to be higher in comparison to the direct emissions of C02 through the upstream CO2 emissions released
from oil refineries as well as from electricity used by electric vehicles and for aviation. On the other hand,

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authors have claimed that transportation as a form of critical human activities is proving to be one of the
most critical sectors to fully reduce greenhouse gas emissions due to the several small emission sources
such as vehicles and the intrinsic association with financial growth (Myers et al., 2015).
On the other hand, with significant industrialization as well as rapid urbanization, a major
increase in deforestation is giving an increase in global surface hotness. Jang and Hart (2015) have noted
that rapid and unrestricted forest reductions have been consequential to some of the most horrible disasters
during the past decades. As per the climate model reproduction, tropical forests tend to maintain elevated
rates of evaporation, further amplify rainfall and leads to a decline in surface level air temperature. While,
on the contrary, deforestation raises temperature level of the surface along with extreme release rates of
carbon dioxide, soil dilapidation in addition to raise in surface overflow leading to flash floods. As per the
view of Erickson and Jennings (2017), cutting down of trees has been critically causing changes to global
as well as climate patterns in regions in addition to leads to catastrophic rainfall predicts resultant to
extended dry climate. Studies have Kaewunruen, Sussman and Matsumoto (2016) have claimed that during
the past few years, there is an increase in population settlement and urbanization as well as land change
usage that have led to enormous increase in the rate of deforestation thus creating a deformation of global
climate patterns and raise in disastrous hydro-meteorological occurrences. Bearing on urbanization along
with climate change relies to the fact that urbanization during the early 20th century chiefly had been
limited to developed nations. However, high percentage of urbanization are presently occurring in the
lowest developed nations, along with the rest of the developing nations which presently constitute almost
three-quarters of the urban population of the world. According to Longobardi et al. (2016), over 90% of the
world’s urban population development is at present occurring in emerging nations. Such a speedy rate of
urbanization of developing nations has critically contributed to the augmented intensity and incidence of
unfavourable weather events. These adverse climatic occurrences tend to have destructive impacts on

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climatic conditions of these countries, thus resulting to lower capacities of combating with the costs of
climate change. In addition, the dynamics of urban centres are closely related to attributes of geography.
Studies of Douglas et al. (2017) have mentioned that latitude decides requirement of energy level by a
particular city in order to use facilities such as air-condition along with heating systems within housing
buildings and industries. It has been noted that as cities tend to rely on biodiversity, non-contaminated
water as well as other ecosystem services they have recently industrial over-existing ecological units or
‘ecozones’ which are related to coastal regions, wetlands as well as dry lands (Longobardi et al., 2016).
Furthermore, human settlement on water bodies for instances seas, lakes and rivers has previously seen as a
crucial factor in the financial as well as demographic growth of cities. Such a development is in existence
even in recent times. Lawrence and Vandecar (2015) have cited examples of ecozones near water bodies
which comprise of greater shares of inhabitants living in urban areas in comparison to the other ecozones.
Moreover, increasing urban centres in developing nations with have been critically encountering adverse
effects of flooding due to the amalgamation of factors chiefly related to solid surfaces in the built
surroundings, significant shortage of ecological spaces in order to soak up water courses in addition lack of
drainage systems. Meanwhile, reports of Ahmed et al. (2017) have claimed that by the next one year, it has
been predicted that approximately 527 cities comprising proportion of inhabitants of more than 1 million,
whereas the standard size of the world’s 100 largest cities will have attained more than 8.5 million. At this
juncture, the major disadvantage of this development pattern intended for human living sheds light on the
fact that these smaller urban areas have a lack of competence to support as well as endorse effectual
mitigation and adaptation actions towards the climate change
On the other hand, current levels of human consumption along with the rising level of population
are having a major unconstructive impact on the natural environment and consequently contributing to
climate change. As pre the view of Lawrence and Vandecar (2015), the prolongation of the existing rate of

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greenhouse gas release is anticipated to generate a substantial array of adverse outcomes hampering the
climatic conditions and have the propensity to increase over time. However, Weir, Dovey and Orcherton
(2017) have claimed that even if per capita emissions are held constant, population increases expected in
the next half century would increase the global emissions rate by about half. A much larger increase would
result if a per capita emission from energy consumption in developing nations that has risen till 10.2 metric
tonnes of CO2 in 2015 has increased to the U.S. level of around 19.5 metric tonnes. Moreover, the
increasing level of global consumerism is drastically altering the planetary climate system. According to
Kaewunruen, Sussman and Matsumoto (2016), as evaluated by the consumption of consumer goods,
humans currently are living at the highest level of unsustainable time in history. Such an increase has been
consequential to the acts of global consumption. The global consumption at present is regarded as the
major drive of climate change by means of the energy connected to industrialization such as
thermodynamic waste heat along with its ultimate deposition into the oceans. As per the studies of Ahmed
et al. (2017), as the rate of ocean heating along with the intensity of annual CO2 emissions and the rate of
global temperature has been significantly raising thus resulting to an immensely unstable climate future.
On the contrary, studies of Sachdeva, Jordan and Mazar (2015) have claimed that in recent times
humans are making constructive initiatives to shape their patterns of life in order to decline actions which
are being problematic to the climatic conditions such as with consumerism and a cultural pattern that they
recognize will advocate it. For instance, several people have been joining intentional simplicity
movements, endorse initiatives in order to facilitate citizens to take part in community-supported
agricultural groupings and further to involve in activities related to “free cycling” associations. Moreover,
the degree to which these initiatives have the capacity to in due course influence climate change will
depend on the level to which it will become extensive in addition to the coverage to which their altered
patterns of consumption will lessen GHG in addition to other climate drivers. Furthermore, industrialized

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nations who agreed to the treaty of Kyoto Protocol are lawfully bound to reduce excess release of six GHG
across the world by a standard of around 5.2% below their levels within the period of 2008 to 2014. Jang
and Hart (2015) have noted that he Kyoto Protocol further includes mechanisms as well as strategies which
facilitate industrialized nations to accomplish their set goals by lessening emissions through other means.
These procedures can be through acquiring carbon credits as in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme or by
efficiently offering financial resources for funding projects in developing nations by the use of the Clean
Developmental Mechanism (CDM) or Joint Implementation.
Conclusion
Hence to conclude, humans must consider that forests endow with a fortification to the biodiversity and
safeguards the soil exposure and further controls hydrological cycle, distinguishing heat and aid in
militating in opposition to the effects of human activities towards change in climatic conditions. Moreover,
with the growing population as well as growth of urbanization, there has been noticed a significant raise in
the level of deforestation with has been consequential to the disturbance of natural environmental patterns
in addition to raised the destructive impacts of natural hazards. In addition to this, to tackle climate
changes, it is important for humans to use sustainable urban transportation policies. These will not only
enhance local transport with an improved quality of life, but will further aid in lessening GHG and
efficiently address climate change issues. Furthermore, a win-win solution is thus feasible for the transport
sector for developed as well as developing sectors is to be guided by policy makers.

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