What's Causing Climate Change? Scientists Say It's Us

Humans have changed the global climate in a number of ways, and not all of these changes are favorable to the environment. While some are natural, like sunspots and volcanic eruptions, humans also play a significant role in changing Earth’s climate patterns, contributing to global warming and shifting weather patterns around the world. How are we doing this? Well, there are three main things that scientists believe are causing climate change: greenhouse gases, deforestation, and the ozone hole. Read on to learn more about each of these causes of climate change.

Carbon dioxide increases

The burning of fossil fuels—coal, oil and natural gas—produces carbon dioxide. And increasing amounts of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere are trapping heat from escaping into space. This is causing climate change. We’re adding more CO2 to our atmosphere faster than it can be removed by natural processes like photosynthesis and absorption by oceans, soils and plants, so levels continue to climb.

Carbon dioxide stays in the atmosphere for centuries

In less than one lifetime, humans have already raised CO2 levels from 280 ppm to almost 400 ppm—and emissions continue to rise. The most common misconception about climate change is that we can control what’s happening now just by cutting down on emissions, but it’s not as simple as that. We also need to figure out how to pull CO2 back out of our atmosphere in order to avoid some of its worst effects.

How carbon dioxide warms the planet

Greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide trap heat in Earth’s atmosphere, warming our planet. The build-up of greenhouse gases over time is a major contributor to climate change, although natural phenomena like volcanic eruptions and changes in solar activity can play a role as well.

The effects of human-caused global warming

melting ice caps, rising sea levels, and extreme weather events that wreak havoc on crops, wildlife and coastal communities are being felt around the world. But how do we know it’s our fault? Carbon dioxide has been in our atmosphere since before humans walked on Earth—how could humans possibly be to blame for all of these effects? Well, scientists have compiled a long list of reasons why they believe global warming is caused by human activity.

CO2 stays in the atmosphere for centuries

Once carbon dioxide gets into our atmosphere, it stays there for a long time—millions of years, in fact. That’s why scientists are so concerned about rising levels of CO2; we might not see all of its effects for many generations to come. As more and more people use resources like fossil fuels, billions of tons of CO2 enter our atmosphere each year—making it impossible to keep up with natural processes that remove CO2.

A hotter planet leads to melting ice, rising seas, and more extreme weather events

these are among climate change’s most prominent effects. In addition to harming our environment, global warming can have serious public health consequences, leading to premature deaths and placing additional stress on health-care systems around the world. What’s causing climate change? Scientists say it’s us. Humans are pumping ever more carbon dioxide into Earth’s atmosphere through fossil fuel burning, cutting down forests, and other activities.

Experts respond with calls for action

The most recent report on climate change from U.N. scientists warned that there are only 12 years to prevent global warming from reaching 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and urged world leaders to take action immediately to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide or face disastrous consequences for our planet. Although President Trump has said he does not believe in climate change, it is important for Americans to speak up about what they know is happening and demand government actions that prioritize clean energy development, pollution reduction and sustainability for future generations.