如果你稍微关注过气候变化的争论,你可能知道全球变暖的主要原因:温室气体在地球大气中聚集,并产生“温室效应”,或变暖效应。
You’re likely also aware that evidence of past warming periods has fueled the argument that natural causes are largely responsible for current global warming, and thus, our choices ofways to reduce global warmingare limited. If Nature’s calling the shots, is there any reason to change human activities that increase levels of carbon dioxide, methane, and other greenhouse gases?
While arguments persist, there’s little doubt that human-produced greenhouse gas emissions play a major role in the current warming trend. Nature has a role, but it pales in the face of increasing emissions from human activity.
What are some of the natural causes of global warming?
Think back to science classes from school. You undoubtedly learned at some point that carbon dioxide is a naturally-occurring compound, that it provides food for plant life, and that animals breathe it out. You may have also learned that decaying organic material releases CO2. There’s no need to question these facts. Greenhouse gases can be emitted into the atmosphere from a variety of natural sources.
Skeptics of climate science, however, have latched onto a number of natural phenomena, and attempted to argue that they’re primary global warming causes. Some of the natural occurrences you may have heard discussed include:
Volcanic Eruptions
Yes, volcanoes emit CO2 when they erupt; asGrist‘s Coby Beck showed, though,volcanic CO2 emissionsdo not outweigh those produced by humans.
Solar Cycles And Cosmic Ray
If you followed discussions about the causes of global warming at all, you’ve run across this argument. A recent study released by a group of European scientists concluded that “The chance of the natural cosmic-ray or solar irradiance explanation being responsible for more than 14% of the observed warming is quite negligible.” Originally sourced from environmentalresearchweb.org/cws/article/research/38751
Water Vapor
You may have heard the claim that water vapor’s themost prevelant greenhouse gas, and therefore is the main cause of global warming (not CO2). This is half true. Water vapor is the most prevalent gas; however, it’s produced asfeedbackof increased CO2 emissions, and is not a “forcing的问题。
Why human causes of global warming are a much bigger problem
Many of the activities you take for granted ultimately contribute to global warming, including
- Driving your car
- Turning on your air conditioning or heat
- Eating food that is locally out of season (or not locally grown), and shipped from other parts of the country or world
所有这些活动都依赖于化石燃料的使用。Burning of these fuels releases carbon dioxide… but CO2 that exists in a very different part of thecarbon cycle. Fossil fuels are sequestered carbon: the elemental remains of organic entities (plants, animals) that were “stored away” by natural systems in order to maintain stability in the climate. You may find it ironic that many scientists and engineers are searching for ways to sequester carbon emissions: Nature had already done it quite well!
Related Post:Climate Change Organizations
When you release carbon from fossil fuels by burning them, you’re essentially contributing to an “overflow” of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. This overabundance of heat-trapping gases can lead to:
- Rising sea levels
- Changes in seasonal weather and precipitation patterns
- Increased severe weather effects
- Lower rivers and lakes that are fed by snow and ice melt-off
- Habitat changes for a wide variety of plants and animals
So, can you claim a straight-line, cause-and-effect relationship between climate change and these phenomena? No… but we do know that climate change increases the probability of these effects. Consider Colorado University climate scientist Brad Udall’s analogy: the climate is like a six-sided die, with “Two faces [that] say warm, two normal, two cold. That is your normal climate… We have now changed it. Now it says three warm, two normal and one cold.” “Rolling the die” becomes much more treacherous.
Do natural events and occurrences play a role in global warming? Definitely.但如果我们从研究地质记录中学到了什么,那就是大自然的时间表与当前变暖周期的时间表非常不同——气候从未以如此快的速度变暖过。我们也知道极端的气候变化会给地球上的生命带来极端的结果,而你想要尽自己的一份力来确保这样的结果不会比它们发生得更快。
If you’re looking for more detailed scientific information about thecauses of global warming, check out the International Panel on Climate Change’s “Summary for Policymakers” of its Fourth Assessment Report.
Image credits:takomabibelotandflydimeat Flickr under aCreative Commons license
Richard De'Ayhsays
From one point of view it doesn’t matter what the cause . Fact is this planet is
getting hotter . Even a proovable increase of 0.1 degree in 100 years is a huge amount.
The scientists argue that it can decrease the same amount .However , how come the
scientists can’t calculate what exactly is going on . They can find planets travelling at
50 million miles an hour to black holes . What about the heat caused by nuclear reactors? The ultimate irony is that the people who make the the most noise about
GW have the biggest carbon footprints as they jet about from one summit to the next.
Earthlingsays
“Skeptics of climate science, however, have latched onto a number of natural phenomena, and attempted to argue that they’re primary global warming causes.”
……
Incorrect, there is no “primary” cause of of Glowbull warming.
ROGER MORAISsays
My opine on this is simple,keep on sucking all the oil all over this planet,which acts like a
coolant in your car causing the planet to overheat like your car engine would with no oil
to cool it,warm planet heats up the oceans, volcanoes erupt like the radiator in your car ,
spewing ashes into the clouds causing acid rain back to earth killing plant life and poisoning our waters and fish.
Give it some thoughts and logic kicks in and guess what?
You’ll agree or disagree as I think it makes as much sense as other theories I’ve read.