I am completely convinced that climate change is real and it is largely human caused.  Climate scientists have convinced me that humans are the main cause of this rapid change.  Our world and temperature is changing quickly and humans are failing to recognize this.  I believe that our climate changes are due to burning fossil fuels, and deforestation.  These human activities cause global warming, loss of sea ice, glacier retreat, intense heat waves, stronger hurricanes, and more droughts.  I am convinced because I have read countless articles on how humans are causing climate changes and I wonder why no one decides to do anything about it?  Some evidence that does change my mind about people is that I know climate changes based on the factors and it has many influences.  Therefore people are not the only influences.  Sunlight is a huge factor that plays in heat and how it is let in or out of the system.  I understand that people are not the only cause of climate change but they are a major part of the problem.

You are definitely right Navah, Humans are one of the main contributors to climate change. I like how you could back up your evidence with your knowledge from articles that you have read. I recently read in "Union of Concerned Scientists" that 90% of heat trapping gases have been caused by human activities and thus increasing global warming. It is also interesting to know and which you have pointed out that their are other influences on climate change and I discovered the volcanic eruptions are one of them. An example of this is from the explosion of Krakatoa in 1883 that created cooler temperatures in its surrounding area due to the particles released from the explosion enabled the suns energy to fully reach the volcanoes surface. It is crazy to know that not only are warm temperatures created from natural reactions on earth but cool temperatures are as well.

Humans do pollute the envirement, however, we don't cause global warming. Ice ages have been occurring since the beginning of time and all that ice has to melt somehow. Like Sophia said, volcanoes pollute the air a lot. Most volcanoes let off as much pollution in one eruption as humans do over a year. Global warming isn't as much of a proven thing as oppose to a piece of a puzzle. It provides an answer to a lot of questions that can't be answered. It's really just a way of trying to understand what's going on.

Yes, humans have a pollution problem, but not as bad as most people make it sound. The earth has been heating and cooling since it's creation, and humans are just living their lives while the earth cycles around them, framing us for it's inevitable troubles. Even though there is melting of ice caps in some places, like greenland, in other places the ice is spreading. Last year a large portion of the USA was suffering from severe ice damage, while right now  in California, were dealing with a rain shortage. The climate changes all the time for it's own natural reasons.

ball is life

i do not agree with you christopher us humans beings do cause global warming. our society now days uses so much energy. with all this energy we put into the atmosphere the more it changes. since we use lots of energy it does heat up and melt the ice caps in the north pole. as we keep using all this energy and ice caps are melting. the climate is going to start changing.
         it has to be humans who are making the climate change. animals and little critters are not making the climate change. it is us because we are making all the factories and big cities. sure a beaver can cut down a tree but that is just a few beavers destroying the habitat not millions of people working and driving cars.

Stonehi, however, nature does have a major effect on climate change.Take the ice ages for example, there were no humans to "mess anything up" yet the world changed on its own. I do believe that humans have had an effect on the world with us releasing carbon dioxide. However, I feel that nature has also had an impact on climate change.

Stonehi
Things in nature such as volcanoes could affect the Earth’s climate change. Ice ages, and warm temperatures have happened in the past millions of years before humans existed. Volcanoes release a lot of pollution into the air when they erupt. Potentially, making the world warmer. Some scientists theorize that the dinosaurs vanished due to many volcanic eruptions that clouded the Earth’s atmosphere and destroying almost all wildlife.

That was daineld3 by the way

danield3, you are correct on some levels. I agree that nature has had an effect on climate change. Such as the ice ages and possible extinct of the dinosaurs. But, humans have a greater effect by releasing a lot of carbon dioxide through things such as factories and gas cars.

I also think that climate change is mostly made by humans, but nature also has an impact on climate change.  During the Ice Age about 7000 years ago the climate was modern and not that bad, but now that the Ice Age is over the climate is getting warmer.  Nature has a big impact on the climate change, but not as big as an impact as humans have.
Humans for many years now have been polluting the air with many different things.  Driving cars and some jobs pollute the air.  The pollution that we make goes into our atmosphere and gets trapped there and makes greenhouse gases which make the climate even warmer.  Humans have a big impact on climate change but it isn't all our fault and for now the earth can handle it and humans can survive

I think climate change is half and half. Half of it is our fault the other half is just that climate change. I mean Iceland isn't actually all ice and Greenland isnt all green. And once there was an ice age so obviously it can change on its own

I completely agree that humans are the main cause of climate change. Climate change is happening by released carbon dioxide blocking heat from escaping in the atmosphere. The carbon dioxide is mainly released by the burning of fossil fuels from cars, factories, and so much more common activities or objects found in our society today. Since technology has become somewhat of a necessity and a part of everyday life and by observations today will most likely continue to expand causing even more carbon dioxide emissions to continue to effect our planet. Also the use of fossil fuels have become so ordinary most people don't notice how much they effected the planet in just one day. In addition, the rise in population is going to add more people into the equation of climate change causes.

Although humans are a major impact on climate change nature also has an impact. For example, volcanoes emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere which probably helped cause past changes when gas-emitting products didn't exist. Even though they do release carbon dioxide they only release as littl e as 1% out of a year's carbon dioxide emissions while human activity releases 82% therefore humans are the main cause of global warming. We are causing seasons to shift, temperatures to climb, risk in wildlife, more heat related illnesses, sea levels to rise, increased risk of droughts and fires, and landscapes to change.

I don't think we are the main cause I think its half and half

Everyone here has been making excellent points — both nature and humans have effects on Earth's climate. However, there is indisputable evidence that points towards man as a primary contributor to climate change. Though there have been dramatic changes in climate at various points in the last hundred thousand years, the climate change that is currently occurring is happening at an alarming rate that has never been seen — according to NASA, most of this heating has happened since 1970, with the hottest 10 years on record being in the last 12 years. In the history of the planet, major climate changes like these have happened over millenia, but now they are happening over decades.
Most importantly, climate change is destroying the biodiversity of the planet. More species have gone extinct in the past 300 years than at any other point in history since the extinction of the dinosaurs. So what are we going to do about it? Climate change, as the leading cause of biodiversity loss, is the obvious place to start. The carbon dioxide level is 100 parts per million (PPM) over what i t has been at ANY POINT in the last 650,000 YEARS, and 90 PPM over what it was in 1950. That is an increase of about 133% in less than 70 years.
Our reliance on fossil fuels is a dangerous practice, but it is easy to limit!
Carpool to work or school if you cannot walk or bike, air dry clothes and dishes, avoid air travel, and stick to those elementary basics — recycling not only keeps trash out of our oceans and landfills, but it also limits our consumption of petroleum. Keep these little daily tasks in mind, and continue to use your voice to encourage elected officials to end global reliance on fossil fuels.
Whether or not you study and believe the evidence that supports climate change, you have an obligation to protect our planet.

ALSO: Here is an excellent source of information on climate change from NASA:
http://climate.nasa.gov/

Yes! It is real. Climate change is a very real and relevant issue that we must pay attention to. Humans are having a negative effect on their environments. This can no longer be ignored because the Earth is "heating up" faster than it ever has before. Navah, you make great points in your post. I like that you included other parts of the climate that are changing, not just temperature, because you are right. More than just temperature is changing. Great post.

I agree with you completely. The amount of carbon we release because of burning fossil fuels has impacted our world's climate change. However, people fail to notice just how big of an impact it is making on our environment. Seasons have changed, waters levels have risen, temperatures have increased and we are a big reason as to why that has happened. More awareness needs to be made about this topic so people have a better understanding about it.

I definitely believe this. Some of the ways we contribute is by: driving everywhere, using lots of electricity, and even just having the occasional bond fire. We can easily slow lots of these down by not driving as much, turning off lights when you are done with them, and instead of having a bond fire just talk to each others in a house. This saying we should slow down the output of our CO2. We will never be able to totally stop the output but we can slow it down.

I am so glad you brought up that point. No one seems to realize what a huge role climate change is playing in our lives. Every time we leave the lights on, take a long shower, or use the air conditioning for no reason we are greatly contributing to our carbon footprint. The carbon dioxide we emit absorbs sunlight, which contributes to global warming. Global warming then leads to heatwaves, droughts, and glacial retreat.
  It is impossible to reverse the effects of global warming, but we can at least try to keep it from getting worse. We can reduce our carbon footprints by saving electricity and by using alternative methods of transportation, such as biking or carpooling.

Yes,you are completely right Navah. Humans are a huge cause of climate change and need to do something to prevent further damage to the Earth. More people need to know about this problem and people need to stop ignoring this major problem as well. Addressing this problem may sound like something that would be hard to achieve, but it can be as simple as small every day things that add up to something much bigger. People need to start doing something about this problem or else everyone will be affected and there will be nothing we can do about it.

That is from a deniers point of view.

Stonehi, Navah, and Sophia, deniers (I am not one) seem to have a point that nature also plays a role.
        Nature does have a major effect on climate change.Take the ice ages for example, there were no humans to "mess anything up" yet the world changed on its own. I do believe that humans have had a huge effect on the world with us releasing carbon dioxide. However, I feel that nature has also had an impact on climate change. 
    Things in nature such as volcanoes could affect the Earth’s climate change. Ice ages, and warm temperatures have happened in the past millions of years before humans existed. Volcanoes release a lot of pollution into the air when they erupt. Potentially, making the world warmer. Some scientists theorize that the dinosaurs vanished due to many volcanic eruptions that clouded the Earth’s atmosphere and destroying almost all wildlife.

I do agree with you in some ways. The earth is a precious thing and we have to be able to protect it. But my question is what about the ice age. Their were no humans on the earth to effect it.  Believe me i understand that us humans create pollution but is it really enough for the earth to explode or implode. I do realize that people are not spreading the world and this could cause what?  In 100 years we can't breathe anymore and die. Well, i hate to break it to you but we will not be alive in 100 years.
After research i do believe that we have impact on our climate change. Yes our temperature is rising but every 10,000 years or so the temperatures have a drastic change and it affects us all. So once you find hard hitting facts that we effect all of Climate Change then. I only believe we are partly in fault.

I do agree with you in some ways. I do believe climate change is real and that the Earth's weather is always changing. There was an ice age and it went away because of climate change. There are hot days and sometimes cold days. It is just how the world works. Without any real statistics presented in your article, this more of an opinion rather than a scientific sound conclusion.

Unfortunately, the "climate change" issue has turned more political rather than scientific.  People are "taking sides" based on their political beliefs rather than examining real scientific evidence and coming to an independent and unbiased conclusion.  I do not necessarily agree with you when you say humans are the reason for climate change.  As I stated above, the earth has cooled and heated many times over hundreds of millions of years. To now point to one "cause" is being narrow minded and not looking at all possibilities.  For example, maybe there is no cause and this is just a normal process.  Maybe there isn't even any warming.  Humans are not in control of the weather. We can not just m ake it hot or make it cloudy and rainy. Yes, we do use fossil fuels, but there is no real evidence that it actually causes climate change - whatever climate change really means.