Man-made climate change can be defined as a global rise in temperature is due to human activities. For instance, the excessive use of the fossil fuels for industries and transportation sector is putting pressure on natural ecosystems of the earth. Most of the scientists are skeptical that human activity is causing the global warming. Climate deniers are of the view that climate change is natural and not due to the human activity.
Misperceptions on Man-made climate change
First, if global warming is real, then why are we experiencing record-cold winters? One cannot deny the fact that extreme colder temperatures are observed in some of the areas. For example, the winter of 2009 to 2010 was extremely cold in Europe and particularly in Antarctica region. It would be wrong to claim it as a evidence against the global warming. Climate change is the complex phenomenon and multifaceted in nature. Moreover, El Nino is causing extreme weather patterns after every four years. Winters are getting warmer in the South American west coast. As a result, Europe is experiencing extremely cold weather due to increase in temperature of the sea surface of Northern Hemisphere.
Second, the sea ice in Antarctica region is not decreasing but the ice sheets have reduced immensely in Arctic region for past few years. The Antarctic region remained protected from the increase in global temperature. Due to the strong winds and ocean currents, that protects it from external climate changes. The increase in average Earth temperatures is empirically observed since systemic measurements of temperature began in 1880. 2016 was recorded as the warmest year along with 2015 and 2014 at a second and third place in terms of a global rise in temperature. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the average increase in temperature was 0.85 degrees Celsius (about 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit) from 1880 to 2012.
Third, climate change is a natural phenomenon. Humans are not the only factor in the past; the current warming is just a part of natural process. The Earth’s climate has changed many times over the years as part of natural environmental processes. But the current rise in temperature is alarming because the pace of temperature has increased from last 10 years. According to the Climate change skeptics, CO2 emissions from human activity are not the only factor that influences the Earth’s climate to large extent. They are of the view that CO2 emitted from other sources such as volcanoes, by plants and the permafrost cycle.
The increase in carbon emissions caused by burning fossil fuels has disrupted the imbalance in the Earth’s atmosphere. According to the IPCC, it is “highly probable” that human activities have been the primary cause of global warming since the mid-20th century. In 1750, the concentration of CO2 has increased by 40 percent and methane by 150 percent. According to environmental pessimists that represents the conservative think tanks. For example, the Cato Institute that is funded by companies such as Volkswagen and other powerful groups that rely on the use of fossil fuels.
Fourth, it is often claimed that predicting weather forecast is difficult. How can we predict climate for coming 100 years? Predicting the weather is very different from predicting climate change. The weather is short-term often unpredictable that is influenced by a variety of factors. The climate, on the other hand, is long-term and can be observed. It is easy to predict the increase in global temperatures over decades by using different methods. According to the IPCC, the validity of climate forecasts has improved in recent years.
According to environmental pessimists, the rise in temperature by couple of degrees is not a major issue since Earth is resilient. On the surface level, the rise of temperature of few degrees doesn’t matter. But on a global level, these minor changes in temperature can have extreme consequences. It causes more extreme weather conditions such as drought, storms, and wildfires. The increase in sea levels due to melting glaciers can cause submergence of populated areas across the globe. The implementation of climate protection laws is needed. IPCC predicted that the average global temperature could go up to 5.4 degrees by the end of the 21st century.
Conclusion
It is difficult to predict the Earth’s climate for coming years due the changing nature of natural processes. Earth has an ability to replenish its deteriorating resources but the process is slow and gradual. It needs time to reproduce and recycle the used resources. The over-consumption of existing resources is increasing the pressure on the natural process of planet earth. To sum up, instead of arguing that man-made climate change is a myth scientists should focus on reducing the overuse of natural resources, for example, fossil fuels to meet the needs of an ever-increasing population.