How can we determine whether human activities are causing climate change?
It is stated in the Third Assessment Report by the IPCC, that “the observed increase (in global temperature) over the last century (0.3% -0.6%) is unlikely to be entirely due to natural causes and that a pattern of climatic response to human activities is identifiable in the climate record”. Although this statement is not the forthcoming, there is a consensus that human activities are having a direct impact on the climate change we have been experiencing. (Source: Consequences – The Sun and Climate) We have quite a clear understanding about the climate of the past through obtaining information from such methods as tree ring widths, ice cores, coral reefs etc. The information gathered about past climate has shown us that we are currently experiencing unprecedented increases in Carbon Dioxide and other natural GHG’s than ever before. Looking at the past 1000 years alone, we can see that levels of carbon dioxide have only seen minor fluctuations in the levels in the atmosphere, compared t
