The ISCFC is all about reducing our individual and collective contributions to climate change.
But is climate change really happening? Is it mostly caused by human activity, including our production of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases?
In the United States and elsewhere, there are people who are not convinced by the science. But the great thing about science is that we use evidence to evaluate scientific questions. So what is the evidence related to climate change?
Are you or are you not convinced by the majority of climate scientists who say that climate change is real and largely human caused? Why are you convinced/not convinced? What evidence might change your mind one way or the other?
Yes, climate change is real. It is also caused primarily due to the burning of fossil fuels. Human activities have released large amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. Due to the large amounts of carbon dioxide and other gasses, it has caused the temperature on the Earth’s surface to rise. “Human activities currently release over 30 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year” (epa.gov). But the only way the gasses got released into the atmosphere was from human activities. “Rather, it is extremely likely (> 95%) that human activities have been the dominant cause of that warming” (epa.gov).
Certain gasses in the atmosphere block heat from escaping. The heat-trapping nature of carbon dioxide and other gasses was demonstrated in the mid-19th century. Most of the heat absorbed by the greenhouse gasses radiates in all directions and warms the Earth. Over the past century the burning of fossil fuels like coal and oil has increased the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide. This happens because the coal- or oil-burning process combines carbon with oxygen in the air to make CO2. Ice cores drawn from Greenland, Antarctica, and tropical mountain glaciers show that Earth's climate responds to changes in greenhouse gas levels. Ancient evidence can also be found in tree rings, ocean sediments, coral reefs, and layers of sedimentary rocks. This proves that current warming is occurring roughly 10 times faster than the average rate of ice age recovery warming. CO2 from humans is increasing more than 250 times faster than it did from natural resources after the last ice age. Humans caused global warming. But could also help reduce global warming from getting worse. This is why you should change or reduce the number of gasses you put in the atmosphere.