Anthropogenic Climate Change

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Across the globe, people debate the cause of climate change. Some claim that all observed changes are simply natural, pointing to the historical records of the periodic rise and fall in global temperature. Others dispute those claims and instead state that climate changes are being caused by humans, and the unchecked release of carbon. Neither group is neither fully correct, nor incorrect. Climate change is both anthropogenic (human caused) and naturally caused. The difference between the two being: natural changes to the environment tend to be cyclical, balanced, and relatively ineffectual when compared to human changes to the environment, which are neither cyclical nor balanced. For the millennia that Earth has existed, many fluctuations in Earth’s climate have been observed. These changes tend to be cyclical, and in the long run the Earth remains in a constant state. Milankovitch cycles- fluctuation in the Earth’s orbit- are a key contributor to these temperature changes. As K. D. Bennet, an expert in climate cycles, states, “It has now been shown that Milankovitch cycles control the pace of Quaternary ice ages... with the 100- [kilo year] eccentricity cycle dominant in early Quaternary...” and that "Milankovitch cycles produce variations in the amount of solar radiation received by the earth and the latitudinal and seasonal distribution of this radiation..." (12). These cycles act, as stated, on a very large time period and are near impossible to observe on human time scales, unlike some other natural influences to climate. Unlike Milankovitch cycles which act on large time scales, volcanic eruptions occur very rapidly and can cause very sudden changes to local climate. …show more content…
According to volcanologist Terry Gerlach, these natural eruptions, “range from 0.13 to 0.44 billion metric tons [of carbon dioxide] per year” (201). Additionally, during the 9-hour periods of the Mt. St Helens and Pinatubo eruptions, 0.001 and 0.006 gigatonnes were released into the atmosphere every hour. Anthropogenic activity releases on average 0.004 gigatonnes per hour, so during these eruptions, carbon release seems to be equal to that of humans. However, as Gerlach states, “volcanic paroxysms are ephemeral, while anthropogenic CO2 is emitted relentlessly from ubiquitous sources” (202). Ergo, volcanic eruptions can and do release a sizable amount of carbon into the atmosphere, but their occurrence is so infrequent as to be relatively ineffectual in a modern climate. Anthropogenic emissions seem instead a large factor in the modern climate. Humans release a great deal of carbon into the atmosphere each year. This trend of release does not appear to be cyclical in nature, such as Milankovitch cycles are. This is displayed by the steady rise in CO2 in the atmosphere, from ~315ppm (parts per million) in 1960 all the way to surpassing 400ppm in 2015 (Tans). Nor does the increase seem to be slowing down, instead ppm increase has gone from 0.8ppm/yr. between 1960 …show more content…
However, natural influences- Milankovitch cycles and volcanic emissions, for example- are dwarfed by the anthropogenic release of carbon, which has caused an imbalance in the release and reabsorption of carbon dioxide and therefore a steady climb of carbon in the Earth’s atmosphere. It is clearly true that both humans and the planet itself alter the climate and cause it to fluctuate, however, human impact is much less stable and much more apparent than natural impact, which has historically displayed itself to be overall

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