For many years, there have been constant statistical observations of the weather, based on which an idea of the climate and its changes is formed. Even though there has not been and still is no generally accepted opinion regarding the causes of climate change, scientists recognize the existence of global changes throughout history. Modern climate scientists also hold different views about the causes of climate instability. Most scientists support theories that argue about the anthropogenic hypothesis; the rest are inclined towards the idea of natural causes.
According to paleoclimatic studies and data collected over several hundred thousand years, the Earth’s climate has changed many times. Figure 1 is a graph of climate fluctuations compiled by scientists over the past 2000 years, which is good evidence of the cyclical nature of changes (McGrath, 2019). As can be seen from the graph, modern climate changes are several times greater than in previous millennia. Scientists explain this by the fact that there is a significant increase in the amount and concentration of greenhouse gases in today’s world. Because of this, the thermal radiation of the Earth decreases, so the average global temperature rises (Kweku et al., 2018). The most well-known way of getting carbon dioxide into the atmosphere is by burning fossil fuels. The technical development of civilization and industrialization are also strongly associated with an increase in the production of greenhouse gases and, therefore, climate change (Kweku et al., 2018). Along with the expansion of cities, the number of factories is also growing, which negatively affects the entire environment, including humans.
At the same time, the current warming in terms of the pace and scale of changes has no analogs. There is much evidence from different scientific circles that confirms that climate change is a historical process, so I tend to believe that global change exists. However, I believe that this may be one of the moves for world governments to take the focus away from the immediate problems of society. It does not mean climate change is fiction, but it is used as a pretext. Before the beginning of human history, there were significant and even catastrophic climate changes over many billions of years. Those that occurred already during civilizations greatly influenced the history, as well as cultural and political spheres.
References
Kweku, D., Bismark, O., Maxwell, A., Desmond, K., Danso, K., Oti-Mensah, E., Quachie, A., & Adormaa, B. (2018). Greenhouse effect: Greenhouse gases and their impact on global warming. Journal of Scientific Research and Reports, 17(6), 1–9. Web.
McGrath, M. (2019). Climate change: Current warming ‘unparalleled’ in 2,000 years. BBC News. Web.
Appendix A
