LET IT BE KNOWN—humans have had an increasingly significant role in changes to the Earth’s climate. But really, how could we not? With industrialization and development, lifestyles/cultures that favor individualism and consumerism, and an increasing populace demanding their share of the energy sector—all within the past few hundred years—how could changes not take place?
Source- NY Times
Indeed, changes in climate can be measured in a number of ways, perhaps most prominently through releasing of CO2 when fossil fuels like oil and coal are burned for energy. Graph 1 clearly shows a spike in atmospheric greenhouse gasses occurring around 1750, the start of the Industrial Revolution. This rise of GHG concentrations corresponds to the increase in temperature changes observed over the past millennium (Graph 2).
Graph 1- Atmospheric Concentrations of GHG
Graph 2- Temperature Changes Over the Past Millennium
Moreover, since this important revolution mass production and consumption have become the cornerstones of industry and society. Massive (rather than sustainable) agriculture production, deforestation, and other land use practices can also be attributed to this. But above all, it is our reliance on fossil fuels and our lack of sustainable practices within the energy sector that have gotten us into this mess (Take a minute to view the introduction of “Energy Crossroads: A Burning Need to Change Course)
The fact of the matter is that the natural impacts on the climate (changes in solar output, explosive volcanic activity, and some of the positive feedback loops) have not been nearly significant enough to account for all this change. Rather, it has been the impact of humans driving climate change. As a result, we will face more severe droughts, floods, and storms and changes to our environment in the future.
A former professor of mine once said “certainty and science never go together.” He described science as always being tentative and falsifiable. In a discourse where one is limited to the continuous and speculative process of hypothesizing about theories and conducting experiments, it is very difficult to truly prove anything. So scientists give confidence levels and work in shades of gray. But this inherent disadvantage in science has not prevented simple and significant societal changes from occurring. People are aware that smoking is bad for you. The importance of sleep is stressed especially amongst adolescents. Individuals and countries are cautious about nuclear energy. After all, common sense often prevails. With that said, I hope the evidence above is enough to convince others that humans are a significant cause of recent changes to the climate.
Tags: climate change, human-induced, sustainable development
