Is global warming human induced or is it a natural phenomenon?

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Is global warming human induced or is it a natural phenomenon?

The term Global Warming refers to the observation that the atmosphere near the Earth's surface is warming. In recent times there has been a surge in the awareness about global warming. The causes of global warming are the subject of extensive research around the world and scientists have come up with a significant amount of evidence showing that the earth’s temperature is rising at a constant rate. In last century alone the temperature has increased by more than 1°C. This warming has been particularly strong during the last 20 years and has brought along retreating glaciers, thinning arctic ice, rising sea levels, lengthening of growing seasons, and earlier arrival of migratory birds. The issue of global warming concerns us all and the effects of global warming can have are far too much risk to be ignored.

Even though a lot of evidence points towards the fact that global warming is taking place, a considerable number of people still dismiss this idea. The question of whether global warming is actually taking place is another issue which comes up and I will not go into the details of this question. In this essay I will simply assume that global warming is taking place. Firstly, because all the research points towards that way and secondly, there is general view to believe it global warming is taking place.

In this essay I will try to address the question of whether global warming is human induced or whether it is just a natural phenomenon. To start with, the question is already difficult to answer. It becomes even more difficult as most of the information we have is blurred. The problem is different scientists, governments and environmental protection groups all have different viewpoints. The scientific evidence we have collected about temperature change and the concentration of greenhouse gases can be interpreted in two different ways: One way pointing to human interference in the environment and the other to natural occurrence. This issue has been the subject of many debates, arguments, and now the focus of this essay. From the sources available, I gathered the facts which give the most clear and precise information. The evidence for both sides of the argument is taken from studies and research done by governmental institutions and universities.  

I will start by explaining how global warming takes place. Scientists disagree on how exactly global warming takes place, but the most widely held belief is the greenhouse effect theory. Certain gases in the atmosphere act like the glass in a greenhouse, allowing sunlight through to heat the earth’s surface but trapping the heat from radiating back into space. As the greenhouse gases build up, the atmosphere of the earth gets hotter. The main greenhouse gases are water vapour, carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and nitrous oxide (N2O).

Let me move on and look at the evidence and arguments for global warming being human induced. There is strong evidence from studies done by various research organizations. The National Science Foundation for example reconstructed global temperature over the past 600 years and determined that the 1990s was by far the warmest decade and the average temperature in 1997, 1995 and 1990 were extremely alarming. The study also found that the levels of carbon dioxide went up by 25% during the last century. The scientists also studied “natural forcings”, that is, factors that can affect climate significantly but which are not part of the climate system itself. Based on statistical comparisons and analysis, they have found that natural changes in the brightness of the sun and volcanic emissions both played an important role in governing climate variations.

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, this time studying the temperature in the oceans, reported that heat in the deep ocean had been increasing at a surprising rate and that it contained far more heat energy than previously thought. According to the lead scientist, Sydney Levitus, “The data filled a missing piece of the global warming puzzle, suddenly scientists realized that the deep ocean was a heat-sink of sorts, and that the ocean was the place where much of the predicted heat of global warming was stored.” The data they got from the deep ocean was fed into two of the ...

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