Carbon from different sources has different amounts of...
Climate Change is caused by Humans
Point 1- There is an undeniable spike in CO2 levels in our atmosphere. To deny this is just simply foolish.In a matter of roughly 50-60 years, Co2 levels have spiked from 280 parts per million to over 400. To put that into perspective, in the past 800,000 years, Co2 levels have fluctuated between 180 ppm to 280 ppm. A change of 100 ppm would usually take 5,000-20,000 years, however, the current spike took a mere 120 years. While Co2 levels have certainly been higher than this previously in the history of the Earth, never before has Earth experienced such a rapid spike in Co2, the current increase is 100 times faster than at the end of the last ice age [2]. Point 2 - There is a human fingerprint on the carbon that we release. Carbon from different sources has different amounts of neutrons (called isotopes), for example, Carbon from the ocean is "0" (normal) while atmospheric carbon tends to be from -5 to -9 (meaning 5-9 neutrons removed). However, carbon from fossil fuels is an even lighter form of carbon; -20 to -35 [1]. Using this information, scientists can accurately identify the source of carbon that we find in our atmosphere. It is not coincidental that there’s a rapid spike in Co2 while humans are polluting the air with tons upon tons of fossil fuels, the problem with this is, unlike plants and the ocean, factories don’t take Co2 “back in”. The natural cycle balances the Co2 level by constantly adding and removing Co2, while humans are simply just adding Co2 without removing any [3] as shown by this chart. Point 3 - Using computers, scientists have shown that natural factors simply can't account for the changes we have seen. As shown by the following charts, without accounting human activity, these simulations can’t explain the data we have been receiving. Point 4 - Since Co2 is inevitably a greenhouse gas, such a rapid spike in Co2 will cause temperature changes throughout the Earth. These temperature changes can provide a variety of consequences that scientists and the general population have observed; from rising surface temperatures to rising sea levels to the boundary between the troposphere and the stratosphere shifting up in recent decades. I won't go to the trouble to prove each of what has been observed for this debate is not about whether or not climate change is real, but whether or not it is caused by humans; both Pro and Con agree that climate change is real. In conclusion, scientists have recorded one of the biggest Co2 spikes in Earth history. Using the fingerprints that come with burning fossil fuels, scientists are able to record how much of the Earth's atmospheric carbon comes from the burning of fossil fuels. While the carbon cycle creates more carbon than factories, the carbon cycle is just that... a cycle, meaning it's constantly balancing the concentration of Co2 in Earth's atmosphere. However, factories, cars, and humans as a whole are just adding carbon to the Earth's atmosphere without ever using atmospheric carbon like the carbon cycle does. On top of that, recent computer simulations have shown that in order to get the type of changes we are currently experiencing... human activity has to be included or else the data we get back is not the one we have observed. The absence of human activity in these simulations results in completely wrong data, while the presence of human activity brings back accurate data; meaning human activity plays a large role in the climate of the earth. Since Co2 is proven to be a greenhouse gas and is proven to be directly correlated with temperature (as Co2 goes up so does temperature), a rapid spike in Co2 means rising temperatures across the globe, leading to a variety of consequences that we have recently observed. If not dealt with, these problems can only escalate and cause severe problems/destruction. Links [1] http://www.ucsusa.org... [2] http://globalwarming-facts.info... [3] https://www.skepticalscience.com...