It is a big debate as to whether global warming is natural or caused by debilitating human activities. With literature demonstrating both sets of opinions with strong arguments, boiling down to a conclusion seems a harder haul. Still, this paper explores the reasons to highlight that global warming does have a natural cause, but it's too small compared to anthropogenic activities.
Clearly, the world has witnessed rapid warming in the last decade, and a fleet of surface instruments and satellites have recorded a host of signs that pinpoint catastrophic actions by humans. The clear outcome of these activities in reflected in form of aberrations in the environment. Since pre-industrial times, the CO2 concentrations only increased from 280 ppm to over 380 ppm. However, the industrial revolution has skyrocketed these concentrations by unprecedented levels. The argument solidifies the perception that industrial revolution has played a negative role when it comes to the environment.
Another school of thought has argued that CO2 has natural sources as well. Volcanoes, to say, emit a large amount of CO2 into the atmosphere. This argument carries due heft, but critics have failed to take it consideration the whole process of natural phenomenon. Undoubtedly, natural processes release a large amount of CO2, but nature retains a balance by removing the gas, at the identical rate. Considering the whole process into consideration, it is not an exaggeration to mention that the lion's share of concentration is because of the burning of fossil fuels.
Furthermore, thermodynamics tells that the heating of the lower part of earth's atmosphere is due to one or more processes that supply the heat to the lower atmosphere. These processes might include internal climatic variations, increased output from the sun, and changes in Earth's planetary activities. However, direct observations have asserted that none of the phenomenon has explained the warming that has occurred in the second half of 20th century. With no changes in solar output in the last two decades and no noticeable changes in Earth's planetary activities, the primary cause only rests at the accumulation of greenhouse gases.
Work Cited
Wang, James and Bill Chameides. Are humans responsible for global warming? April 2007. 25 Jan 2017 <http://www.edf.org/sites/default/files/5279_GlobalwarmingAttributuion.pdf>.
