• Question: Do you think Global warming is man-made and why?

    Asked by anon-376242 to Shanine S, Polly, Jonathan, Chathuri, Ashley H, Alex on 24 Nov 2023.
    • Photo: Jonathan Allen

      Jonathan Allen answered on 24 Nov 2023:


      Climate change is a naturally occurring phenomenon that has been happening since the Earth was created. That’s how we had things like the Ice Age. However, since the Industrial Revolution in the mid-1700s, mankind has been polluting the atmosphere with greenhouse gases that have been trapping in the sun’s heat that would normally have bounced off the Earth and back out into space. This thickening of our atmosphere is that we call the greenhouse effect and means the sun’s heat gets trapped and warms the planet. This is causes predominantly by human activities such as pollution from burning fossil fuels and non-recyclable rubbish, petrol/diesel engines in transportation, manufacturing and agriculture by having more animals that produce methane gases. Additionally, humans are cutting down trees through deforestation – trees are the best thing we have to absorb carbon dioxide which would reduce the global warming effect, so cutting them down is the worst thing we can do. Plus, if we cut down trees so we have more space to farm more animals, or build fossil fuel power stations, or build manufacturing sites or cities or roads or airports then we are doing even more damage. So yes, it is a man-made effect, but it is also something that mankind can solve by taking responsibility for our actions and emissions in order to reduce them or use other non-polluting means of transport, energy production, materials etc. And it is that which gives me hope for the future that we will solve this problem we have created.

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