Are human activities a substantial cause of climate change?

Since the modernization of this century, the environment has gradually been concerned
by the society. For many years, there are questions whether or not human activity a
considerable reason for the global climate change. The term used climate but not weather is
because there is a difference between both words however typically can be interchangeable.
Weather is defined as the changing of the condition of the atmosphere in a short period of time
whereas climate is average of weather conditions over longer periods of time like in years
(Mapstone 2011, ix). Global warming is one of the serious issue and can cause results that
cannot be imagined such as the large iceberg melting at the Earths poles, sea level rises,
drought occurring often and the animal will extinct (Effects 2013). If warming continues until
the next century, many countries will sink down under the ocean as the sea level rising such as
in like Venice and Maldives. The point that scientists and debaters argued that human creates
greenhouse gases and the activities that human do is the substantial cause of climate change.
However, human activities causing climate change is not only owing to human activities or
greenhouse gases but it is conjointly relates to natural causes such as continental drift, volcano
eruptions and ocean currents.
The arguments that skilled scientists and debaters argued that the greenhouse gases
that created by human are one of the substantial causes of climate change. Greenhouse gases
such as carbon dioxide (

), carbon monoxide (), chlorofluorocarbons (), water

vapours, methane (

), nitrous oxide (

) and ozone (

) (Abbott 2012, 328-331). All of

these gas has completely different causes and the most important greenhouse gas in the
atmosphere is carbon dioxide. Deforestation, agriculture, clearing lands, burning will create a
result in an increase in the emission of carbon dioxide. The amount of carbon dioxide rises by
a third since the revolution of industrial begins. Next is methane, an organic compound which
can be created from natural sources, ruminant digestion, wastes decomposing, landfills and
lastly growing rice (Methane Emissions 2013). Principally methane can be found in Asia area
such as China and Asian country. Methane is also emitted throughout the oil drilling process,
mining coal and leaking gas pipelines due to accidents or bad sites maintenance.
Chlorofluorocarbons are the worst greenhouse gas because it is not produced naturally. They
are used in coolants in air conditional, refrigerators, solvent degreasing agent, cleaning agent,
blowing agent for foams and in aerosols. Chlorofluorocarbons will destroy the ozone of the
stratosphere. Stratosphere is incredibly important to human living in the Earth because it helps
prevent and avoiding ultraviolet rays which will cause melanoma or carcinoma if human
exposes themselves beneath these rays (Abbott 2012, 331).
Activities that human do are the next argument that human are responsible for the
climate change. The example of activities human are mostly such as logging, burning,
building factories and clearing land to create even more building. Trees are the agent that
takes in carbon dioxides and let out oxygen, when deforestation and logging occurs, there will
be no trees taking in all the carbon dioxides in, thus it will cause even more carbon dioxide in
our atmosphere (Lerche 2013). The temperature rises when the amount of carbon dioxide
increases and result in warming. Cutting the trees down will have an effect on the whole
worlds temperature and this is what global warming means. Apart from that, the numbers of
factories have been gradually multiplied. Building factories will produce waste and waste gas
and it is terribly harmful for the environment and also the health. Examples are, a coal factory
produces carbon dioxide and cars produce carbon monoxide which will cause blood vessel
problems and respiratory failures. Nitrogen dioxide will cause problems in the respiratory
system and acid rains. The last greenhouse gas which is important is ozone. It is around the
troposphere. It has an extra oxygen atom in its compound. Ozone which is in the stratosphere
block human from killing ultraviolet rays but if ozone has a higher concentration in the air we
breathe in, it actually weakens and shortens human lives (Abbott 2012, 331).
The arguments above stated that greenhouse gases and activities human do are
substantial cause of climate change. However, continental drifts, volcano eruptions and ocean
currents are the causes of climate change in a natural way.
The first argument of the natural cause of climate change is continental drift.
Continental drift means the mainland changes and moves freely over the surface of Earth from
their original position to another position (Plummer, McGeary and Carlson 2003, 462). As the
World Map was being closely observed, several landmass seems to be like jigsaw puzzle
which can be puzzled together. For example which is South America and Africa, both of these
landmass have the similar plants and animals although now is being separated widely by the
Atlantic Ocean. The continents that are acquainted with these days were shaped when the dry
land began gradually drifting apart uncountable years back. This drift additionally had an
impact on the climate as a result of it modified the physical features of the dry land, their
position and also the position of water bodies. The ocean currents flows and winds are
changed because of the separation of dry lands. The positions of the dry lands affected the
climate is because the different position has different temperature, the level of moisture and
weather. Continental drift happening even nowadays which is the Himalayan is stretching
2400 kilometres to the China landmass day by day slowly and the same time steadily (Darcy
2012).
Besides, volcano eruptions also one of the natural cause and should be taking the
responsible of climate change. When volcanoes erupt, it will turn out and throw up an outsized
volume of sulphur dioxide, water vapour, voltaic dusts and ashes into the atmosphere
(Plummer, Carlson and Hammersley 2010, 85). Although volcanic activity last for less than a
few days for only these massive volumes of gases and ashes will have an effect on the pattern
of the climate. Most gases went into the stratosphere then to the space however sulphur
dioxide will not, it combines oxygen and water to create aerosols of sulphuric acid and this
may keep for years. These aerosols will have an effect on the amount of clouds, the
distribution of the clouds and aerosols are efficient reflectors of daylight (Abbott 2012, 331).
Wind within the stratosphere carries the aerosols quickly around the whole world that bring
the concept of cooling after a serious discharge. The ash and sulphuric acid turn out haze
which block the incoming sun rays that reaches to the troposphere and the ground surface
therefore lead to changing climate to cooler (Abbott 2012, 331). In 1815, the eruption of
Tambora, Indonesia was the largest volcanic eruption ever recorded and causes there is no
summer in the year of 1816. Approximately the lava flows kill instantly 10,000 people
(Plummer, Carlson and Hammersley 2010, 85).
Last but not least, the ocean current is the last argument to the substantial cause of
climate change. Ocean current is the major component of the climate system as the seas
coated the Earth about 71% (Cain 2010) and sea water can absorb double the amount of the
Suns radiation as either the atmosphere or land surface and store them. Ocean current is
different between waves. Waves is the movement of the surface of water close to the beach,
ocean currents are referring to the particular movement of surface seawater. Ocean currents
flow steadily and predictable directions, and it is much faster than the encompassing waters
(Murphy and Nance 1999, 246). Ocean current will flow for a long distance and together they
create the great flow of the global conveyor belt which is playing in a dominant part when
making a decision or determining the climate most of the Earths regions and creates different
climate zones such as tropical areas and four seasons areas. There are two ocean currents that
which the cold ocean current and the warm ocean current. Warm ocean currents bring the
warm water from the tropical areas to the poles whereas the cold ocean currents bring the cold
water from the poles to tropical areas which means ocean current circulating warm and cold
water all around the Earth. For instance, the globe strongest ocean current, the Gulf Stream in
the North Atlantic Ocean. It brings warm salty water from the equator up to the coast of
Greenland in the Arctic. The warm water will travel on the surface of the ocean because warm
water is not very dense. When it travels to the Arctics, warm water heats the countries of the
north Atlantic like the United Kingdom, this is also the reason why the United Kingdom has
mild winters. It then will cool down and which increase the density, because the denser water
sinks to the ocean floor where it is carried back to the equator (Changing ocean currents
2013). The ocean will release the most abundant greenhouse gas on Earth that is water
vapours as the heat is being absorbed by the sea water and vaporised into water vapour. Water
vapour has the twice the effect of carbon dioxide and it has the function of contributing to the
formation of the clouds, which has the ability to shade and block the sunlight and also having
a cooling effect to the planet.
As the conclusion, several debaters and scientists tell that the substantial cause of
climate change is the various greenhouse gases created by human and the activities human do.
However, the nature have the responsibility to the climate change too such as continental
drifts, volcano eruptions and finally the ocean current. In the other way to think about this is,
human are trying scale back the activities which will damage the harm and also the climate
but at the same time human also making an attempt to avoid wasting the environment now by
the idea of reuse, reduce and recycle, no plastic day, Earth hour, engineering is finding a way
to take over the utilization of fuel for the vehicles, the government suggested people to plant
more tree around their homes and using the ENERGY STAR product to scale back energy
used (Climate Change & You 2007). Educator should be more concern in the environment by
teaching and giving information to the future generation and make them have the responsible
of taking care the environment as well as the Earth. Hope that the blaming between the major
cause of the climate change between human activities and the nature can stop and human
should work together to make sure the environment is good and will be continued for the next
century. Whether humans are responsible for the bulk of climate change is going to be left to
the scientists, but it is all of our responsibility to leave this planet in better shape for the future
generations than we found it (Huckabee 2012).

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