CC 0 Scientific Methods: Climate Change Caused by Human Activity

This assignment investigates the relationship between human activities and climate change, focusing on the application of scientific methods to analyze the issue. The assignment begins by posing the key question of whether climate change is caused by human activity and highlights the importance of answering this question to mitigate global warming. It then introduces the carbon dioxide theory (CDT) as a framework for understanding climate change, referencing the work of scientists like Gilbert Plass. The assignment emphasizes the need for various data types, including evidence, causes, effects, and data from sources such as NASA, to answer the key question. It explains how the greenhouse effect is a key way to test the CDT and how increased CO2 levels correlate with climate change. The analysis section discusses how scientific methods are crucial for assessing the impacts of human actions, such as fossil fuel burning and deforestation, on the environment. The assignment concludes by summarizing the findings and reinforcing the direct correlation between human activities and climate change, emphasizing the significance of the CDT in explaining these impacts.

Running Head: CC
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Scientific Methods
Is climate change caused by human activity?
(Student Details: )
3/4/2020

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Climate Change
Key Question: Is climate change caused by human activity?
The raised question is important to be answered for mitigating Global Warming (GW)
impacts on the globe. It is because Climate Change (CC) is directly related to GW and hence
able to avert changes occurred in the natural environment. Climate change is indeed caused
by human activities (NASA, 2019). In fact, the majority of the incidents in climate and
nature’s surroundings have occurred because of human lifestyle and efforts. Thus, by
researching the major human causes of climate change the scientists can save the earth from
the GW and Green House effect as well.
The theory
Initially, the carbon dioxide theory was proposed in the year 1861 by Tyndall (Plass et al.,
2020). There is a famous theory given by Gilbert Plass in relation to climate change. In this
context, the Carbon Dioxide Theory (CDT) of Climatic Change has been proposed in 1956
by an American scientist. As mentioned in (Plass et al., 2020), an American Scientist Gilbert
Plass has explored CC causes; with the help of his fellow scientists. The chosen theory of
CDT for CC explained key variations in the earth’s climate. The American scientist has
found that since the origin of recorded geological history, the Earth’s usual temperature has
been greater as compared to it is today. The CDT of CC was actually one of the most broadly
held since the beginning of the climate change. In this way, the theory is helpful to reconsider
the variations in the CO2 amount in the atmosphere (Edenhofer, 2015).

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Source: (NASA, 2019)
Data needs to answer the question
There is a need for various kinds of data to answer the key question such as pieces of
evidence, causes, effects, vital signs, sea-level changes, and data collected from the NASA’s
earth observatory (NASA, 2019).
Source: (NASA, 2019)

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For instance, the data related to temperature anomaly across the time needs to be collected
from a reliable source so that one can find how human activities are considerably affecting
CC and thereby causing global warming (Urry, 2015).
Testing CD theory
Here, the theory given by the American scientist suggests that the amount of liberated CO2 is
the majorly responsible factor behind the Earth’s Climate Change. In this context, the Green
House Effect (GHE) is the best way to test the carbon dioxide theory against human activities
for climate change (Plass et al., 2020). For example, excessive use of refrigerator, heater, air
conditioner, and other cooling appliances liberate chlorofluorocarbons in the atmosphere.
Hence, upon testing the CD theory, it has been found that the greenhouse effect is mainly
caused due to increased carbon dioxide and other gases concentration inside the earth’s
atmosphere. Moreover, due to an increase in the CO2 in the oceans raised the overall level of
seawater. In this way, carbon dioxide gas’s accumulation in the air, water and in any other
form of nature’s environment can considerably cause climate change, and thereby global
warming (Change, 2014).
Data Analysis
Based on the above data regarding CC causes and temperature statistics with carbon dioxide
variations, it can be said that the scientific method is the key to analyse impacts of human
activities on the climate of the earth (Plass et al., 2020). When data related to temperature rise
and its causes will be gathered then it will guide humans to work upon their actions. For
instance, plastics use, deforestation, AC use, heater use, fossil fuel burning and many more
are generating an abnormal proportion of the CO2 in the atmosphere (Edenhofer, 2015). In
this way, data can be used for further assessing the impacts of these collected data on human
actions against the earth, nature, and sustainability (Urry, 2015).
Theory explanation with evidences
In this context, the earth’s atmosphere is experiencing similar things as the glass within the
greenhouse (Change, 2014). In addition to that, the CDT stated that, the amount of carbon
dioxide when increases, then earth’s atmosphere become dense and warm across a bigger
frequency interval. In this way, the outgoing radiation gets trapped more effectively in the
Earth’s surface as well as the temperature rises (NASA, 2019). Therefore, the recent

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calculations done by ecologists are showing that if the CO2 content of the earth atmosphere
will double, then the earth surface temperature would definitely rise 3.6 degrees Celsius and
whenever the amount should be half, the earth’s surface temperature would definitely fall 3.8
degrees (Plass et al., 2020).
Summary
In whole, based on scientific methods in relation to climate change this discussion has found
the significance and application of the carbon dioxide theory successfully. Therefore, based
on this discussion, it can be said that climate change is having a direct correlation with human
daily life activities.

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References
Change, I., 2014. Mitigation of climate change. Contribution of Working Group III to the
Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 1454.
Edenhofer, O., 2015. Climate change 2014: mitigation of climate change. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
NASA, 2019. The Effects of Climate Change. [Online] Available at:
https://climate.nasa.gov/effects/.
Plass , G., Schmidt, G. & Fleming, J., 2020. Carbon Dioxide and the Climate Change.
[Online] Available at: https://www.americanscientist.org/article/carbon-dioxide-and-the-
climate.
Urry, J., 2015. Climate change and society. In Why the social sciences matter. London:
Palgrave Macmillan. pp.45-59.