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Jason Nguyen
Ms. Gongora
English 11
December 14, 2015
Human Inducement of Global Warming
Throughout its long history, Earth has warmed and cooled time and again. Climate has
changed when the planet received more or less sunlight due to subtle shifts in its orbit, as the
atmosphere or surface changed, or when the suns energy varied. But in the past century, another
force started to influence Earths climate: humanity (Pryzborski). Through the use of new
technology that requires fossil fuels, humans have created ways to pollute and destroy our planet.
The human population has manufactured ways to damage and hurt planet earth through the
consumption of fossil fuels, deforestation, and the industrial revolution. Fossil fuels may be used
in very beneficial ways, but there are always consequences for the use of fossil fuels.
Deforestation may also help with many businesses, farms, and cities, but it is destroying carbonabsorbing forests. Also, the industrial revolution may be a series of upgrades to technology, but
these upgrades downgrade the health of planet earth. Before humanity, planet earth would strive
and prosper, but because of humans, earth is starting to fall apart.
Scientists have concluded that most of the observed warming is very likely due to the
burning of coal, oil, and gas. This conclusion is based on the detailed understanding of the
atmospheric greenhouse effect and how human activities have been tweaking it (Global
Warming is Human Caused) Fossil fuels such as oil, coal, and gasoline contain an abundant
amount of carbon. Therefore, burning those fossil fuels release carbon dioxide into the
atmosphere. For example, when a gallon of gasoline is burned, approximately 19 pounds of

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carbon dioxide is released. As the sun shines on the earth, the heat and the light reflect off of the
earth and back into the atmosphere. Greenhouse gases trap and absorb some of this energy so it
cannot leave the atmosphere. Examples of greenhouse gases are: carbon dioxide, methane, water
vapor, nitrous oxide, and ozone. Overtime, the trapping of this heat and continuous release of
greenhouse gases will cause the temperature around the globe to increase at a rapid pace.
By most accounts, deforestation in tropical rainforests adds more carbon dioxide to the
atmosphere than the sum total of cars and trucks on the worlds roads. According to the World
Carfree Network (WCN), cars and trucks account for about 14 percent of global carbon
emissions, while most analysts attribute upwards of 15 percent to deforestation (Scheer and
Moss). Trees are the opposite of humans, the inhale carbon dioxide and exhale oxygen. When a
tree is cut down, it releases all of its carbon into the atmosphere. Unless we change the present
system that rewards forest destruction, forest clearing will put another 200 billion tons of carbon
into the atmosphere in coming decades, says EDF (Scheer and Moss). Also, cutting down
trees will cause a change in the surface albedo. Surface albedo is how much of the suns energy
is reflected off of the surface of the earth. Deforestation will decrease the amount of water vapor
released into the atmosphere, thus, affecting the regional temperature of the planet. Lastly, the
destruction of trees cancel out the process of photosynthesis, a process that absorbs carbon
dioxide from the atmosphere and stores it as carbon in trees. Findings from the United Nations
suggest that 25 percent of global emissions of greenhouse or heat-trapping gases come from
deforestation. Transportation and industry only account for 14 percent of emissions. This shows
how critical deforestation really is, compared to other sources of greenhouse emissions.
It wasnt that the Industrial Revolution became a stalwart juggernaut overnight. It started
in the mid 1700s in Great Britain when machinery began to replace manual labor. Fossil fuels

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replaced wind, water, and wood (McLamb). People do not realize how bad the Industrial
Revolution has affected the environment. From the year 1750 to the year 2000, the amount of
methane in the atmosphere increased from 700 to 1800 parts per billion. Carbon dioxide
increased from 275 to 400 parts per million. Since the atmosphere today contains a much higher
amount of greenhouse gases, more of the energy that is reflected off of the surface of the earth is
being absorbed and trapped. This then increases the global temperature because some of the
energy that is absorbed radiates back to the surface. Also, by around the mid 1700s, the worlds
population increased by 56 percent, reaching a billion by 1800. There is a direct correlation
between human population growth and increased use of natural resources. With such exponential
growth of human population, people need to find new ways to sustain life. Requirements include
food, energy, land, resources, and housing, and the inevitable, exponential increase in waste byproducts. Not only has the Industrial Revolution widely increased the use of fossil fuels, but it
also sparked a need for deforestation. Manufacturers increasing demand for wood would greatly
affect the environment. Destroying forests that absorb carbon emissions from the factories that
pollute the air is detrimental. Depletion of natural resources, the carbon emissions, pollution and
human health problems that have resulted directly from the Industrial Revolutions
accomplishments have only been disastrous for the world environment (The Industrial
Revolution and Its Impact on Our Environment). It would be easy to say that global warming is
cooling down or its not so bad but that is false. During the last decade (2000-2009)
temperatures have peaked at all time records and has been the hottest ever. Carbon dioxide
(CO2) may be removed from the atmosphere naturally, but humans continue to add more and
more without it being removed, thus leaving leftover CO2 in the air. The negatives heavily
outweigh the positives when it comes to global warming.

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The human race has greatly affected planet earth through greenhouse gas emissions
through fossil fuels, deforestation, and the Industrial Revolution. Fossil fuels contribute to about
14 percent of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. As long as fossil fuels burn, global
warming will get worse. Deforestation is the most detrimental of all emissions. They contribute
to about 15 percent and destroy carbon-absorbing forests and affect surface albedo. The
Industrial Revolution increased human population exponentially and increased the demand for
natural resources. It has sparked the use of fossil fuels and deforestation and caused this whole
mess. As global warming continues, a variety of detrimental occurrences will damage planet
earth. The primary issue resulting from pollution and carbon emissions is that of global
warming. As temperature rises, the glaciers are melting and oceans are rising. More animal
species are becoming endangered or extinct as a result of global warming (The Industrial
Revolution and Its Impact on Our Environment).

Works Cited
Global Warming is Human Caused. nwf.org. Nation Wildlife Foundation. ND. Web. 12 Dec.
2015
Global Warming. wikipedia.org. wikipedia. 9 Dec. 2015. Web. 12 Dec. 2015.
Pryzborski, Paul. Global Warming. nasa.gov. ND. Web. 12 Dec. 2015.

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Mooney, Chris. The U.S. has caused more global warming than any other country. Heres how
the Earth will get its revenge. Washington Post. Washington Post. 22 Jan. 2015. Web.
12. Dec. 2015.
The Industrial Revolution and Its Impact on Our Environment. eco-issues. ND. Web. 11 Dec.
2015.
Roddy Scheer and Doug Moss. Deforestation and Global Warming. emagazine. Earth Action
Network. 11 Nov. 2012. Web. 11 Dec. 2015.