Are the Recent Temperature Increases Due to Human Activity?
We are responsible for the increased the amounts of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere, which contribute to an elevated global temperature. This is supported by strong scientific evidence. The fact that the most recent years have been the warmest on record may be significant and a predictor of things to come. But lets not forget that our environment is also responsible. The earth serves as a vast reservoir for carbon dioxide. The earth maintains a steady state system that returns as much carbon dioxide to the atmosphere as is extracted. Plants die and decay, animal and humans exhale carbon dioxide, carbonate rocks decompose, and carbon dioxide escapes volcano vents, all contributing naturally to the Greenhouse Effect. The cycle goes on and on. Carbon moves in its many formsgaseous, liquid and solidfrom vegetable to animal, living to dead, and back again. But, we do more than our share. We do more than simply inhale and exhale, live and die. We have the skills that permit us to
Related Questions
- Glaciers started melting long before human industrial activity. Aren there other factors besides temperature determining whether a glacier advances or retreats?
- Is human activity warming the Earth or do recent signs of climate change signal natural variations?
- What was the estimated temperature on Earth before human activity?
