Mouhamed Gueye

English II

12-15-17

IS HUMAN ACTIVITY PRIMARILY RESPONSIBLE FOR GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE?

Reflection:

Climate change is a very debatable subject but it, majority-wise, favors the idea that

humans are the true source for the change in climate. Throughout my writing I constantly routed

my information through well renowned climate change scientists thus making my statement on

humans being responsible for climate change valid. Using the climate change scientists data and

statistics in relation to climate change were uses of ethos and logos. I applied credibility to my

sources with the climate change scientists and used logos by stating the results/data of the

research they did. Within the debate, the side that humans are responsible for climate change is

very logically backed" up by statistics that undeniably facts of human caused climate

disturbances.

Climate change has even shifted to the point that even natural disasters have been

intensified by the unprecedented development in the climate. An article in my essay showed

how hurricane harvey’s intensity was so severe that rainfall increased drastically and devastated

texas with intense floods. I used this article to emphasize a sense of emotional attachment,

pathos, by referring constantly to the suffering induced by the storm onto the texans as many

were left homeless and were constantly fighting for their lives. The debate on whether humans

are responsible or not definitely favors the point that they are responsible especially because of
the many instances and statistics that show how humans are directly related for the changes in

climate even if only little.

Essay:
Climate change is a drastically behemoth of a problem that is affecting the planet in a global

sense. The change in climate is primarily at the fault of of humans that have affected the planet

in devastating ways in a time span of a few decades. On the other hand, nature could be the

source of the change in climate as the earth is always evolving and changing as the planet ages

and atmospheric natural disturbances occur. Scientists have concluded that there is a Significant

increase in global temperature as of the modern day, Hurricane harvey has took thousands of

lives and destroyed many homes and may be tied to the change in climate and Modern day

human made structures and facilities damage and or disrupt the atmosphere and affect climate

change. Humans are the undeniable perpetrators of the change in climate.

Throughout the entrance of the 21st century, there have been a spark of technological

advancements and economical worth. Humans have dramatically affected temperature along

with the increase in economy ”sea level rise by 2100 under a high greenhouse gas emissions

scenario (in which emissions rise unabated throughout the 21st century) have increased from 2

meters to as much as 2.6 meters”. Greenhouse gases result in increases of heat and as stated by

scientists, emissions have increased from 2 meters to a remarkable 2.6 which is a horrific

increase in temperature as of modern day. Humans have even begun this damage to the climate

in the 1900s, “It is “extremely likely” that humans are driving warming on Earth since the

1950s…..95 to 100 percent confidence in the finding — came in a report released November 3
by the U.S. Global Change Research Program”. The statistics imply that the increase in

temperature could have very well have started in the 1950 and that humans are “extremely

likely” to be the cause according to the November 3 U.S global change research program report.

Scientists are highly sure that humans are the cause of the increase in climate change as early as

of 1950 to present modern day and the increase in sea level and such is drastic.

Climate change has also intensified natural disasters that are present around the world as it is

today. Natural disaster such as tornadoes, earthquakes, and blizzards may be increasingly worse

as climate change affects the temperature of the atmosphere and other features in the climate.

Hurricane Harvey was a terrifying storm that severely ravaged a majority texans and reportedly

“​The human contribution can be up to 30 percent or so of the total rainfall coming out of the

storm​” . Hurricane harvey could have been way less intense if human contribution to climate

change didn’t play a factor in the disaster but it's undeniable that humans contributed to

approximately 30% of the total rainfall thus worsening the storm. The hurricane also negatively

affected the citizens of texas as “​The entire Houston metropolitan region is flooding: Interstates

are under feet of water, local authorities have asked boat owners to join rescue efforts, and most

of the streams and rivers near the city are in flood stage​” and thus “​ ​thousands of people—and

perhaps tens of thousands of people—are facing a terrifying and all-too-real struggle to survive

right now​”. Hurricane harvey’s intensity put thousands of people in a situation in which their

lives and family lives were on the line in means of survival which is also the result of humans

interference and fault at climate change.

 Humans have polluted and altered the climate in a variety of ways that have significantly

changed it in just a few decades. Man-made human facilities are directly responsible for changes

in climate such as global temperature and atmosphere in general. Their are some resources on

our planet that release air polluting fumes onto the earth, For instance “burning fossil fuels, are

contributing to the world’s rising temperatures. A warmer climate threatens to raise sea level —

drowning islands and coastlines — and dramatically alter agriculture and ecosystems around the

world”. Fossil fuels are resources humans require daily such as oil for automobiles and even coal

which run factories and by doing so uplifts the residue into the air and polluting and or altering

the makeup of the atmosphere. There are other resources that significantly increase temperature

specifically like “​emissions of greenhouse gases, are the dominant cause of the observed

warming since the mid-20th century” which are located in facilities like suppliers which contain

fossil fuels and other gas resources for shipment which has been going on since early 20th

century. Temperatures have risen dramatically because of human emission of gases to the

point that “​Over the past 115 years global average temperatures have increased 1.8 degrees

Fahrenheit, leading to record-breaking weather events and temperature extremes” which is

dreadful to imagine but is unfortunately the fault of us.

On the other hand, nature could pretty much be the reason why climate change has changed

the way it has. Although humans do pollute fossil fuels into the air, Nature has slowly but surely

increased the temperature of the earth. For instance, compounds within the air like “Carbon

dioxide in the atmosphere has increased from about 285 parts per million 250 years ago to about

380 ppm today. CO2 is a “greenhouse” gas -- it holds heat in the atmosphere ” which have
naturally been in the atmosphere since the beginning of time and slowly increased the overall

temperature of the earth and showing how nature has critically altered the climate slowly. The

statistics also show “Greenhouse gases comprise less than 1 percent of the earth’s atmosphere;

carbon dioxide is less than 4 percent of greenhouse gases; 96 percent of CO2 in the atmosphere

was put there by Mother Nature”. These numbers don’t add up logically as “The panel reports

that since the beginning of the industrial era, the atmosphere’s CO2 levels have increased by 40

percent”, this huge increase is completely the fault of humans as the industrial era sprouted

factories that burned fossil fuels and polluted the air. Some still hold strong in their beliefs that

nature clearly played a role in the sudden change in climate over the few decades of the 21st

century and humans are slightly the perpetrators of climate change while nature has always been

the real mastermind behind it all.

There are two sides in this ongoing debate that either humans are to blame for the climate

change or forces of nature itself are to blame for the disturbance in climate.Technically humans

are completely at fault as wherever you look you see automobiles pumping carbon dioxide into

the air and factories pumping coal fumes everyday repeatedly thus making a layer of condensed

heat and density which intensifies temperature from decades ago to modern day civilization.To

better our planet we should discourage factories and other human facilities from releasing toxic

fumes into the air and use less air toxic methods of fuel to better the atmosphere and stop the

disturbance before it is too late for us.

 

Annotated Bibliography:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/03/climate/us-climate-report.html

Lisa Friedman, Glenn Thrush November 03, 2017

The article was published by the new york times that prints in new york and is a very popular

newspaper around the U.S. This article was recently made by the new york times as of early

november 3, 2017. This source relates to climate change as it shows a report of the state of

climate change as of this month and or year. This source also uses examples such as exhaust

from human made vehicles that intoxicate the air. For my argumentative essay I plan to use the

quote “​Over the past 115 years global average temperatures have increased 1.8 degrees

Fahrenheit, leading to record-breaking weather events and temperature extremes​”. Also I’ll use
the quote “​that anything other than humans — the cars we drive, the power plants we operate,

the forests we destroy — are to blame”. Which both show how humans are indefinitely

responsible for the change in climate.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2017/11/03/humans-blame-global-warming-massiv

e-federal-government-report-says/829783001/

Doyle Rice November 04, 2017

This source is very popular in terms of best internet articles and is conducted by experienced

journalists. USA today provides tons of information about many topics to all states within the

U.S. This source relates to climate change as it pumps out statistics about the increase in

temperature. Also it shows how humans are directly involved in the damage climate change does

or will do in the future. I would use the quote “With the planet the warmest it's been in the

history of modern civilization” and “it's extremely likely that human activities, especially

emissions of greenhouse gases, are the dominant cause of the observed warming since the

mid-20th century” to support my views in the topic. These quotes will show how humans have

ultimately hurt the climate.

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/humans-climate-change-national-assessment-2017

Carolyn Gramling ​ November 03, 2017

This source is primarily for scientists but is also present and available to the public at large. Also

this source thoroughly analyzes the detrimental impact and devastation of climate change. This

source relates to my topic as it compares the climate in the past to the present and shows the

increase in temperature. This article also shows the severity of climate change such as global

warming temperature. I plan to use the quote “​It is “extremely likely” that humans are driving
warming on Earth since the 1950s” to show how the scientists have estimated when humans

started affecting the climate. Also i’ll use “sea level rise by 2100 under a high greenhouse gas

emissions scenario (in which emissions rise unabated throughout the 21st century) have

increased from 2 meters to as much as 2.6 meters” thus showing how man made structures are

intensifying climate change like global warming.

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/08/did-climate-change-intensify-hurricane-har

vey/538158/

Robinson Meyer​ August 27, 2017

TheAtlantic is a very renown internet article page that informs the public about world-wide

matters. This source was written by robinson meyer and published to the internet on Aug

27,2017. This source relates to climate change as it gives examples of the catastrophic effects of

climate change. Also this source shows how hurricane harvey may have been the result of global

climate change. I would use the quote “sea-surface waters near Texas rose to between 2.7 and

7.2 degrees Fahrenheit above average. These waters were some of the hottest spots of ocean

surface in the world” and “It may have been a strong storm, and it may have caused a lot of

problems anyway—but [human-caused climate change] amplifies the damage considerably”.

Both show how climate change is a issue that needs to be dealt with and how humans are making

natural phenomenon worse.

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/humans-found-guilty-climate-change

Beth Mole December 09, 2013

This article was created from the research done by scientists a few years back and provides

information on global warming. The article states statistics and facts about the cause of the

change in climate. This source shows how humans are entirely responsible for the change in

climate. In my argument i would use the quote ​“​atmosphere and ocean have warmed, the

amounts of snow and ice have diminished, sea level has risen, and the concentrations of

greenhouse gases have increased” and “90 percent confidence level that human activities, such as

burning fossil fuels, are contributing to the world’s rising temperatures​.​” both phrases magnify

the fact that humans are the reason for climate change.

Counter-argument source:

http://www.post-gazette.com/opinion/jack-kelly/2014/05/29/The-facts-don-t-add-up-for-human-c

aused-global-warming/stories/201405290275

Jack Kelly May 29, 2014

The source is by the pittsburgh post-gazette which publishes many articles on a variety of topics

across the nation. The source ties into climate change as the title is “The facts that don’t add up

for human-caused global warming” which shows how Jack will be writing about the change in
climate involving global warming. In my essay i’ll use the quote “carbon dioxide is less than 4

percent of greenhouse gases; 96 percent of CO2 in the atmosphere was put there by Mother

Nature”. This quote will help express that nature itself is at the root of climate change.