Climate change will play a major role in our future.

When we look around and reflect on the

extreme weather we have experienced in recent history, the fact of the matter is that climate
change causes abrupt and major disturbances in lives around the globe. Typhoons, tornadoes,
hurricanes, earthquakes, firestorms as well as other climate events have rocked every corner of
the globe due to global warming.

Since the start of the Industrial Revolution, humans have increasingly been contributing
unnatural sources of greenhouse gases into the system, causing the system to become
unbalanced. Human emission is thought to have the biggest impact on extreme climate events.
To be clear, scientists can and do confirm that human activities, especially emissions of
greenhouse gases, are primarily responsible for recent observed climate change,” according to
a federal climate change report published in New York Times.

The human activities that bring about an imbalance of greenhouse gases are:
 Burning Fossil Fuels: burning coal to generate electricity, burning oil to power
vehicles and aircraft (vehicle emissions), or burning wood in fires used for
cooking or to provide heat, etc. changes the state of stored organic carbon from
a liquid (e.g. oil) or solid (e.g. coal/wood) into a gas (carbon dioxide) which is
released into the atmosphere.
 Deforestation: vegetation absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere during
the process of photosynthesis, converting this to carbon which is stored within all
plants (i.e it is a carbon sink). When vegetation is burned, this organic carbon is
released into the atmosphere in the form of carbon dioxide, and in so doing
becomes a carbon source rather than a carbon sink.
 Decomposing organic matter: landfills, animal waste, sewerage and dams are
all human sources of methane. For example, organic matter is trapped behind
dam walls where it sinks to the bottom of the dam and decomposes. Bacteria
produce methane in the decomposition process, which slowly escapes to the
surface and is released into the atmosphere. Landfill gas operations and
biodigesters provide a method of mitigation, and not only harness methane that
would otherwise be released into the atmosphere, but also provide an alternative
source of fuel.
 Natural gas extraction: methane escapes during oil and gas extraction (e.g.
fracking) operations and is released into the atmosphere.
Both natural and human factors contribute to global warming, however, evidence has
shown that the warming we are currently witnessing is largely as a result of human
forcing. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, there are several indications
that provide evidence that humans are the cause of global warming.

“Causes of Global Warming: the Human Impact.” Global Warming Facts,

globalwarming-facts.info/causes-global-warming-human/.

Friedman, Lisa. “Scientists Fear Trump Will Dismiss Blunt Climate Report.” The
New York Times, The New York Times, 7 Aug. 2017,
www.nytimes.com/2017/08/07/climate/climate-change-drastic-warming-
trump.html?_r=1.