This climate change can be precipitated by a number of factors that cannot be blamed on human failures including solar variations, orbital variations, volcanic activity, natural release of greenhouse gases, etc2. However, most scientists have concluded that the climate change our world is facing today can be blamed mostly on human consumption habits and energy inefficiency. Both factors lead to increased carbon dioxide emissions which are encompassed in the general “greenhouse gases,” that are causing our Earth to slowly heat up.

WHY CARBON DIOXIDE?

So why are greenhouse gases and carbon dioxide emissions having such a negative impact on Earth? Greenhouse gases refer to a wide spectrum of chemical compounds found in our atmosphere that not only allow sunlight to enter the atmosphere but also absorb the infrared radiation produced when that light is reflected back towards space3. This absorption traps heat inside of our atmosphere which under normal circumstances helps regulate Earth’s surface temperature3.

Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring greenhouse gas that, before the Industrial Revolution, was mostly produced by volcanic activity, plant photosynthesis, respiration of living organisms, and other natural causes7. However, carbon dioxide is also released in large quantities through the burning of fossil fuels such as oil and coal. During the Industrial Revolution and increasingly in decades since, humans began to consume greater amounts of energy produced by fossil fuels for production of goods, transportation, etc.

<<Back Next >>