Humans Are The Cause of Global Warming Essay Example

By 2100 sea levels will rise six feet, and the earth will warm up six degrees. Global warming is an important issue in the world today because it will affect the descendants of today’s generation; moreover, many are skeptical and believe that global warming is natural. Last year, the Arctic was warmer twenty-five degrees Celsius than normal (Busby). Along with this evidence, there is an immense amount of proof that global warming exists and is happening now. The IPCC describes the amount of evidence: “Scientific evidence for warming of the climate system is unequivocal.” The home of all life will soon be uninhabitable if humans do not try to preserve the ecosystem. In the past decade, this argument on if humans impact global warming has gone from a scientific issue to a political issue; however, over time the argument has that via greenhouse gases, ozone depletion, and weather change that global warming is a necessary issue.

The scientific evidence is so prevalent that greenhouse gases are a major element of global warming. Greenhouse gases contribute to the absorption of ultraviolet rays in the atmosphere. Gases like carbon are greenhouse gases because they act as a greenhouse for the earth: traps heat and does not allow hot air to escape. Hausfather explains the greenhouse contribution; accordingly, “In fact, as NASA’s Dr. Gavin Schmidt has pointed out, the IPCC’s implied best guess was that humans were responsible for around 110% of observed warming (ranging from 72% to 146%), with natural factors in isolation leading to a slight cooling over the past 50 years” (2). Hausfather explains that humans are the main reason for global warming; therefore, humans can do something to stop it or at least slow it down. He even explains that the reasons why the numbers aren’t even bigger are due to the Earth naturally cooling itself down again. The Earth needs greenhouse gases to maintain a stable climate; however, an excess of these gases causes the earth to warm up much more to the point of the Earth being uninhabitable (Blanchfield 1). The cause of greenhouse gases are a various amount of reasons; likewise, carbon dioxide has the largest impact on the temperature, but with no greenhouse gas, then the Earth would be too cold. Tree depletion by humans is another reason for global warming because the carbon cycle is disturbed since the trees are not there to absorb the carbon, so the carbon stays. Greenhouse gases definitely have a major impact on global warming, and humans create an abundance of these gases, triggering the warming.

The weather is an effect of global warming, and it affects everyone. The weather mainly shows how quickly global warming is affecting us and how it can become an even worse issue in the near future. Gradoni, a writer for NASA, shows how ferocious natural disasters have become: “It was the first year (2017) on record that the continental United States experienced two Category 4 hurricanes: Harvey and Irma”(2). Hurricanes in the Americas began being recorded in the fifteenth century when Columbus arrived in the Americas. Deadly hurricanes are not a coincidence; consequently, they are the result of global warming causing hurricanes because they warm the ocean water, thus, making the hurricane more powerful. Along with hurricanes, weather and sea levels are also changing. An example of weather changes is the dry spells occurring in California, causing dangerous forest fires (Busby 2). These weather changes are continually getting worse, and the droughts may cause food shortages, nevertheless, people losing everything they own. If these events continue to happen for a long period the world will be in chaos. Another thing to worry about is the sea levels. NASA believes that sea levels will rise in the coming years; “Global sea level has risen by about 8 inches since reliable record keeping began in 1880. It is projected to rise another 1 to 4 feet by 2100” (NASA 8). The reason this would occur is that the ice in cold areas like the Arctic will melt, causing the ocean waters to flood with more water. Four feet do not seem like an issue, however, the sea level would rise two hundred sixteen feet if all the glaciers melted (National Geographic). The entire coastline of every continent would be different and would cause a disaster to the economy of many countries. This would make many homeless, and if the the the the land is lost, but the population rises it would cause many problems. Cities like New Orleans, Houston, New York, and many other cities would all underwater, causing relocation and complications in the United States. The world population continues to increase, and water is taking over land; moreover, the world could be in chaos soon. Natural disasters, weather changes, and rising sea levels all prove humans are the cause of global warming and give humanity more of a reason to try to slow down global warming.

The continuously depleting ozone allows the sun’s rays to be considerably more dangerous to people’s skin, and the damage is certainly becoming a larger problem. The purpose of the ozone is to block harmful ultraviolet rays that the sun emits; therefore, if the ozone lessens in protection, crops will be damaged, blindness will increase, and the rate of skin cancer will also increase (EPA). Many of the problems with the weather are happening in today, and the only way to stop the increasing numbers is to begin to take care of the planet. If nothing happens, then starvation from famines will occur, along with an increase in blindness and cancer, if the people do not change how humans treat the Earth. The causes of the ozone depletion are CFCs, aerosols, HCFCs, carbon tetrachloride, methyl chloroform, methyl bromide, and deforestation. Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are most known for destroying the ozone because they are commonly used like in refrigerators. The reason it causes is that it absorbs more radiation than carbon dioxide does; therefore, it traps heat in the atmosphere. Natural events also deplete the ozone, along with other factors, thus, causing the ozone to eventually be extremely weak and thin. The ozone does grow back, however, it is on a pace of depleting faster than it comes back. Blanchfield describes it as, “When the canopy of leaves is removed through clear-cutting or burning, the sudden warming of the forest floor releases methane and carbon dioxide”. She then says “Dead trees can no longer take up carbon dioxide or convert it to oxygen and are not able to serve as a carbon sink” (3). On top of the fossil fuel emissions, humans are cutting down the only outlet that cleans up after the wastes put it out; therefore, the waste does not have anywhere to go but the atmosphere, and that results in ozone depletion. The causes of ozone depletion in Earth’s atmosphere rare numerous, therefore, humans need to take a stronger effort to find a solution if they do not want a catastrophe to occur.

In conclusion, greenhouse gases, the ozone depletion, and deforestation cause worsened natural disasters and rising sea levels. These trends will continually worsen to a point where the Earth is uninhabitable; however, it can be stopped by simply using alternatives to greenhouse gases. Humans must act quickly, or sea levels and the Earth’s temperature will force the planet to a human-caused catastrophe. Global warming is not a theory, however, it is a fact and is backed by government-run companies like NASA. Countries and citizens must clean up their act if they want their descendants to live on a clean and beautiful Earth.