This article is the second of five in a series to understand the basic science of climate change. In this article, we explore the causes of climate change. After the re -election of Donald Trump, who prohibited the term “climate” in many federal sites and in government reports, this article is a reminder about science that is obscured by ideology.
Despite a vocal minority of climatic denaders, there is no reasonable doubt that the weather is changing and that change is the result of human activity. But climate science is complicated, and few adults learned about that at school. If you do not understand climate change as well as you want, let this be your introduction to a basic understanding of climate science. Welcome to climate change 101.
What is climate change?
As explained in the first article in this series, climate change is the environmental crisis created by greenhouse gases launched into the atmosphere by human industrial activity. The concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere has increased from approximately 280 parts per million in the nineteenth century to more than 430 parts per million today and still increases rapidly.
Climate change is an environmental crisis because humans evolved and societies grew a duration of a long era in the history of the earth that has ended because the global temperatures of higher industrial emissions. Humans, not nature, must change their behavior to restore the atmosphere to the state in which we develop as a species. Our survival is at risk.
This greater concentration has the natural greenhouse effect of the Earth’s atmosphere intensive. It has raised the average global surface temperature at 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius) and is causing a waterfall or complex changes to climatic patterns. These interruptions result in more frequent and extreme climatic events, redistribution and destruction of wildlife populations, and many other harmful changes.
Greenhouse gases
There are many greenhouse gases (GHG), which include methane, nitrous oxide, fluorinated gases, carbon dioxide and steam equally water. Except for fluorked gases (chlorofluorocarbons and hydrofluorocarbones), which are made by the human, any of these gases can occur naturally or generate by human activity.
Each gas has a different capacity to kick heat (known as its global heating potential) and a different life in the atmosphere. Among the GHGs, water vapor is the most common by volume, and fluorinated gases are the most powerful, with global heating potentials measured in thousands. However, carbon dioxide is the most significant for climate change because we are adding a lot to the atmosphere. And once launched, it remains in the atmosphere for a long time, up to 1,000 years.
Natural causes of climatic variability
The basal amounts of carbon dioxide are generated through natural processes such as the exchange of the oceanic atmosphere; Soil, plant and animal breathing; and decomposition. The atmosphere, like all natural systems, is variable. The concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere fluctuates naturally.
Using ice core samples, scientists can measure the historical concentrations of CO2 in the air. Duration The last 400,000 years, the natural variation in atmospheric CO2 levels was between 200 and 280 parts per million. Regularly recurring factors such as stations, oceanic cycles and the Schwabe solar cycle create part of the variation. Irregular events such as volcanic eruptions and large forest fires can also contribute to variations.
But all these combined sources do not take into account the changes that have been documented in the last century.
Anthropogenic greenhouse gases
Climate change is anthropogenic. Anthropogenic is a great word that simply means “caused by people.” Humans have increased atmospheric carbon dioxide levels by 45 percent from the beginning of the industrial age. Half of that increase has occurred since 1980, and a quarter since 2000. Methane concentrations have increased 2.5 times in the same period of time, and most of the increase has occurred since 1980.
Natural cycles and rare combined events do not result in such high numbers. But these numbers are consistent with post -industrial emissions levels. In 1950, atmospheric CO2 levels reached their highest point by 800,000 years, and have increased since then.
But this circumstantial evidence is not the only reason to identify the anthropogenic causes of climate change. According to NASA, the carbon produced by the burning of fossil fuels has a different proportion or heavy carbon atoms to light, so it leaves a different “fingerprint” that the instruments can measure. The measured decrease in carbon-13 isotopes in the atmosphere indicates that increased carbon dioxide levels are the result of burning fossil fuels.
We did this to Perurselves.
Global Causes of Climate Change
Worldwide, the main sources of greenhouse gas emissions are:
- Electricity and heat production (25%)
- Agriculture, Silviculture and other uses of the Earth (24%)
- Industry (21%)
More than half of GHG’s global emissions are generated in Asia, where only China represents 31% of the world total. However, Asia houses 60 percent of the world’s population, and much of China’s industrial production is for the consumption of North America. This puts per capita emissions in Asia slightly below the world average.
US Causes of Climate Change
The Americans, on the other hand, have a very high GHG production per capita. The United States, with only 4.3 percent of the world’s population, generates 15 percent of global greenhouse gases. In addition, while Asia has recently become an important taxpayer to climate change; The United States has issued more CO2 total than any other country. The United States has published around 400 billion tons in total, which makes it responsible for 25 percent of historical emissions.
The use of fossil fuels in the United States also follows a slightly different pattern from the rest of the world. Using 2018 data, the EPA total estimates of US GHG emissions for the economic sector. Their estimates indicate that transport generates 28 percent of GHGs in the electricity of the US. UU. Follow as a second close to 27 percent. Greenhouse gas emissions of transport too much – 90 percent, come from burning diesel and diesel fuels.
Fortunately, transport is an area where most people have a control level and can take measures to reduce their impact.
Most greenhouse gas emissions of electricity generation, around 63 percent, come from electric power plants that burn coal and natural gas. People generally have less control over their sources of electricity. But there are some actions that people can take both for their energy supply and to reduce their electricity consumption.
The third article in this series deals with the consequences of climate change.
OneDitor Note: This article was originally published on May 11, 2020 and was updated in May 2025.
