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Essay / Anthropogenic Climate Change Essay - 1170
Climate change manifests itself through changes in weather conditions such as winds, humidity, and temperatures over certain durations of time. Natural climate changes occur less frequently and are triggered by factors related to geography as well as solar radiation. Earth's movement in the orbit triggers climate changes, causing some regions to be warmer than usual while others are considerably cold depending on Earth's position in the orbit. Heat from the sun causes changes in stratospheric ozone and increases the amount of greenhouse gases. Heat from the oceanic crust also contributes to warming due to episodic hydrothermal releases (Liao and Sandeberg, 2012). Volcanic activity also causes the release of certain elements that can block the action of the sun and also contribute to increasing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The most destructive human contribution to climate change is the burning of fossil fuels, which results in the release of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. in the atmosphere. Increasing levels of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and halocarbons in the atmosphere cause an imbalance in Earth's energy. In fact, gases modify solar radiation and thermal radiation which regulate terrestrial energy. Research indicates that anthropogenic climate change is responsible for the increase in global warming over the past fifty years. 57% of the carbon dioxide emitted is absorbed in the atmosphere while the rest is absorbed in the oceans. Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is the main greenhouse gas associated with global warming (Eby, Zickfield, Montenegro, Archer, Meissner and Weaver).,