What causes it? Being a world renowned issue, global warming has several causes. It all mainly comes down to what exactly releases the greenhouse gases, and how much of it is actually released. Although there are many natural causes of the formation of these gases in the atmosphere, as years progress scientists are finding that humans in this era are definitely to blame for the majority of the warming. Most notably, the fault is in the level of carbon emissions in countries across the globe. Since the beginning of the last century, CO2 emissions have skyrocketed to unprecedented levels with an increase of roughly 7000 billion metric tons. Coincidentally, this rise occurred when industrialization started to increase at a rapid rate among the most populated countries in the world such as China and the United States. It has become quite clear that it was due to this fact that the earth is now increasing in temperature with each passing day. Despite this blatant indication though, humans are still showing no signs of stopping the growth of cities and the making of automobiles that only weaken the earth through air pollution. You have may have heard of the term fossil fuels more than once in your lifetime. Fossil fuels are essentially naturally occurring sources of energy that have developed throughout earth’s history. The issue with using these is that they are considered nonrenewable because they usually take a very long time to actually reform on their own. In addition, through the burning of fossil fuels, many greenhouse gases are emitted, and as a result will heat up the atmosphere. Humans are notorious for burning fossil fuels at an alarming rate. For example, cars often rely on gasoline (which is made from fossil fuels) to operate. This is made possible through the combustion process, which is basically a chemical reaction that occurs within the car resulting a release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. This has become a major issue because so many people across the globe depend on vehicles to travel between destinations on a daily basis. It turns out that in the US, cars make up one fifth of total gas emissions throughout the country. To give you somewhat of a perspective, 24 pounds of greenhouse gases are released from each pound of gasoline put into the tank. Other contributors to the growing CO2 emissions worldwide include the use of electricity among humans. It is estimated that 75% of electricity is generated by the burning of fossil fuels.
It’s not only the use of fossil fuels that are to blame for the warming of the earth though. The other leading cause of CO2 emissions has to do with the destruction of earth itself, and this is through the process of burning down trees and vegetation, otherwise known as deforestation. Plants play a large role in the carbon cycle. Essentially, they absorb carbon in the atmosphere and then turn it into oxygen as a result. However not all the carbon is transformed. Some of it is actually stored in the cells of plant, and so when the plants are burned down, they release that stored carbon into the atmosphere, further contributing to the issue. To make the situation even worse, those burned down forests are going to be replaced with houses and buildings that will further pollute the earth with modern necessities of humans such as heating, cooking, and lighting all being fulfilled.
The fact of the matter is that humans are just not showing much concern for the earth around them despite it being their home and habitat every day of their lives. The problem is that so many people believe that they are insignificant in their ability to put an end to this disaster. However this thought process is simply a chain reaction. If everyone tells themselves that they are not significant enough to make a change, then there will be no change. We need to open our eyes and see that we are indeed the root of the problem. If everyone just changed their daily habits by even a little bit, such as turning the heater 2 degrees lower during the summer, or turning off/unplugging electronics when they are not in use, then we would without a doubt see an improvement in our earth. Progress doesn’t happen overnight, and being mindful of the fact that we are indeed contributing to the warming process is the first step to being the solution.
National Institutes of Health. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, n.d. Web. 11 Jan. 2017. "Causes of Global Warming: the Human Impact." Global Warming Facts. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Jan. 2017.