To What Extent is Climate Change a Result of Human Activities?

This essay explores the extent to which climate change is caused by human activities, including the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, and industrial production. It discusses the effects of climate change on the environment and human health, and suggests intervention approaches to mitigate its irreversible effects.

To what extent is climate
change a result of human
activities?

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................4
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................5

INTRODUCTION
Climate change is the long term shift of weather patterns and temperature. Minor shifts in
temperature is natural however since the 1800s, this shift of temperature and weather has been
tremendous which is driven mostly by human activities. The change in climates threatens all
living beings as there is a high chance of food and water scarcity, increased floods, extreme
heating of the atmosphere of the earth along with significant economic loss. Dangerous weather
conditions arise when climate conditions worsens (Ruiz, Faria and Neumann, 2020). Burning of
fossil fuels have produces tremendous amount of smoke which contributes to climate change
more than any other human activity. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the
greatest threat to human and global heath is climate change. This essay highlights the causes of
climate changes that are unnatural to humans at a great extent. The discussion also revolves
around the human induced activities that are responsible for climate change.
MAIN BODY
According to a research conducted on the probability of climate change in the year 2016,
it is predicted that all the parts of southern oceans and the north Atlantic ocean will be
submerged in the ocean to due to heating of the Earth's atmosphere. The intensity of climate
change directly depends on the intensity of human activities. Human induced activities have
known to produce increased concentrations of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The
concentrations of greenhouse such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide are rising in the
atmosphere. The concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere has increased from 280 parts per
million to 396 ppm in the year 2003 (Huynh and Xia, 2021). Greenhouse gases have also known
to negatively impact the livelihood of organisms in polar ice caps. The exchange of CO2
between the land, marine and aerial life have known to cause disturbances in the ecosystem
(Kellogg and Schware, 2019). The induction of human based activities such as combustion of
fossil fuels, manufacturing of cement and cutting of trees are some factors that contribute to the
concentration of CO2. Similarly, volcanic emissions have a direct impact on increasing the
concentration of Co2 in the atmosphere. The replacement of dark dense forest into croplands that
are pale is a driving factor for climatic change or climate warming. The heat is trapped inside the
earth's atmosphere, this heat is lost into the space.
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The influence of humans on the climate is evident as it has caused positive radiative
enforcing, burning of fossil fuels cause increased levels of carbon dioxide which further
contribute to greenhouse effect. Increase of greenhouse gases can be clearly revealed by studying
the carbon isotopes that allow researchers to identify the source of carbon dioxide molecules
(Shahzad and et. al., 2021). This study can help in identification of source of carbon dioxide
molecules which is through fossil fuel burning. These heat trapping gases lead to a rise in
population along with high energy consumption. The alteration of climatic system is led mostly
by human activities. The changes driven by humans cause deforestation, urbanization and
vegetation shifts that also contribute to alteration of climatic conditions (Dottori and et. al.,
2018). Different emissions produced from burning of forests cause natural changes in the water
cycle and heating of urban island. Industrial revolution has caused increase in number of human
activities that cause release of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the Earth's
atmosphere. Even though both natural and man made factors influence the climate but natural
factors do not explain the warming of earth that has been observed over the last century. It is
extremely likely that human activities were the major cause for contributing towards the
warming of earth. The reflectivity and absorption energy of the sun is also one way through
which human activities contribute to climate change.
The temperature of earth rises and leads increased greenhouse effect. Atmospheric CO2
level have been known to increase by 40% since the industrial era which in current times
contribute to 414 ppm in the year 2020. There has also been an increase in the concentrations of
methane gas from 722 ppm to 1867 ppm in the year 2019 since the pre industrial times.
Similarly, nitrous oxide concentrations have risen from 270 ppb (parts per billion) to 332 ppb in
2019 (Ellis and Ellis, 2018). The reflectivity of human activities on the surface of earth such as
agriculture, construction of road and deforestation sometimes either lead to warming of the
atmosphere. Some factors such as deforestation increase the reflectivity globally. The solar
radiations emitted from the sun are reflected through the earth's atmosphere to prevent excessive
heating of the earth. Along with this some of the heart is absorbed into the earth's atmosphere.
Climate change occurs as a result of any disturbances of this incoming and outgoing energy. Any
minor change in the output energy from the sun will affect the balance. These greenhouses gases
including water vapour, carbon dioxide and methane absorb the energy of heat and keep the
natural state of the earth for the survival of living organisms (Goshua and et. al., 2021).
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However, increase in the concentration of these greenhouse gases lead to enhanced heating of the
earth's surface. The lowering atmosphere of the earth makes the earth even warmer contributing
to global warming and change in the climate (Change, 2019).
The emission of pollutants by human based activities alter the energy balance of Earth's
surface and affect the quantities and types of particles in the atmosphere, many of which can be
toxic for survival of humans. The production of livestock and clearing of trees increase the
trapping of heat inside the atmosphere. The top 3 contributors of climate change: Transportation: The generation of largest share of greenhouse gases is through the
transport sector. The emissions from transportation primarily come from combustion of
fossil fuels, that are mostly based on petroleum for fuel. Petrol, gasoline and diesel based
vehicles produce the most amount of greenhouse gases. Production of electricity: The share of emissions produced by electricity in the year
2020 was 15%. Burning of fossil fuels is one way through which 60% of electricity is
generated (Arias and et. al., 2021).
 Industrial production: Fumes produced by chemical reactions of raw material contribute
to the emission of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The total concentration of
industrial emissions was 24%.
Commercial and residential emissions produced by use of certain products in homes and
businesses is also one contributor of greenhouse gas concentration. Along with these factors,
agriculture and use of land emit more CO2 than they absorb since the starting of industrialization
(Philipsborn and et. al., 2021).
A global climate model is used to rectify long term climate predictions by use of a
complex mathematical representations of components of major climate system. This model
involves the interaction of atmosphere, land surface, ocean, sea and ice to predict the energy
balance of the earth's atmosphere. Climate models usually follow a set of factors that help
researchers derive the climatic projections that might be helpful in the future (Rosenzweig and
et. al., 2018). Some severe effects of climate change include increasing hotter temperatures and
higher severity of storms. The health of species is at a high risk with increase in temperature of
earth. There is a greater possibility of poverty and displacement among humans with global
warming. These computerized models help in predicting the intensity of climate change and also
enables researchers to identify intervention techniques for conservation of human resources. Out
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of every other greenhouse gas, methane is extremely potent and it is emitted into the air through
production and processing of crude oil, which is an extremely important component of human
resource. Methane emission also get into the air through mining of coal.
CONCLUSION
From the above essay it can be concluded that climate change is irreversible and different
measures should be employed to save the environment otherwise these effects can be harmful for
the present and future generations of human existence. The most important step is stop the
emission of greenhouse gases and make commute to work in an eco-friendly way. Being more
energy efficient helps in reducing pollution and therefore, cause decrease the production of
greenhouse gases. The usage of legislations that aid in reducing the irreversible effects of climate
change should be promoted. The overstatement of educating people about the harmful effects of
climate change is crucial along with encouraging use of renewable source of energy than
utilization of fossil fuels which cannot be replaced easily. The impact of climate change is severe
along with the temperature that continues to rise causing catastrophic effects on earth.
Intervention approaches should be implemented to ensure saving the climate from terrible
alterations and to preserve the plant for future generations.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals:
Arias, P., and et.al., 2021. Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of
Working Group14 I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change; Technical Summary.
Change, C., 2019. The Future of Our Pasts: Engaging cultural heritage in climate action Outline
of Climate Change and Cultural Heritage. International Council on Monuments and
Sites-ICOMOS.
Dottori, F., and et.al., 2018. Increased human and economic losses from river flooding with
anthropogenic warming. Nature Climate Change, 8(9), pp.781-786.
Ellis, E.C. and Ellis, E.C., 2018. Anthropocene: a very short introduction (Vol. 558). Oxford
University Press.
Goshua, A., and et.al., 2021. Addressing climate change and its effects on human health: A call
to action for medical schools. Academic Medicine, 96(3), pp.324-328.
Huynh, T.D. and Xia, Y., 2021. Climate change news risk and corporate bond returns. Journal of
Financial and Quantitative Analysis, 56(6), pp.1985-2009.
Kellogg, W.W. and Schware, R., 2019. Climate change and society: consequences of increasing
atmospheric carbon dioxide. Routledge.
Philipsborn, R.P., and et.al., 2021. Climate change and the practice of medicine: essentials for
resident education. Academic Medicine, 96(3), pp.355-367.
Rosenzweig, C., Solecki, W.D., Romero-Lankao, P., Mehrotra, S., Dhakal, S. and Ibrahim, S.A.
eds., 2018. Climate change and cities: Second assessment report of the urban climate
change research network. Cambridge University Press.
Ruiz, I., Faria, S.H. and Neumann, M.B., 2020. Climate change perception: Driving forces and
their interactions. Environmental Science & Policy, 108, pp.112-120.
Shahzad, A., and et.al., 2021. Nexus on climate change: Agriculture and possible solution to
cope future climate change stresses. Environmental Science and Pollution
Research, 28(12), pp.14211-14232.
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