The climate of the Earth is always changing. In the past it has altered as a result of natural causes. What is now referred to as “climate change” are changes that have occurred since the beginning of the last century and are continuing now. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) states that there has been a “discernible human influence on the climate”. |
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| Is it really caused by human activity? |
There are few scientists who do not believe climate change is not being caused by human activity. In the last 150 years (since the start of the industrial revolution) the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has raised from 600 billion tonnes to more than 800 billion tonnes. It is inconceivable that this increase in carbon dioxide concentration was caused by anything other than human activity.
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But does it really matter?
The global climate is a complex system with many factors that cause global temperatures to rise and fall. This includes the impact of differing solar radiation (or solar pulses) which some people have held up to be the principal cause of global climate change. This is unlikely to be the main cause of change.
There is a strong correlation between global carbon dioxide concentrations and the earth's temperature. Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases (GHG) act to trap infrared solar radiation from being reflected away from the earths surface (hence greenhouse effect). As the amount of carbon dioxide rises, so do global temperatures.
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Each one [of the Earth’s 5 million invertebrate species] plays a role in its ecosystem. It's like we’re tearing the cogs out of a great machine. The machine might work after you tear out ten cogs, but what happens when you tear out a hundred?
[Scott Black] |
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