How Are We Contributing to Global Warming?

Human activity is said to be the number one contributor to Global Warming. We may not know it but we are one of the culprits that add excessive amounts of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a report that concluded human activity has been a very likely primary cause of global warming since 1950. It further said that it has been a major contributor to climate change since the Industrial Revolution in 1750.

So, what are the things that we do that contribute to climate change?

Driving cars and using electricity from coal-fueled power plants. We do these every single day and these activities add more carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases to the earth's atmosphere.

Deforestration. The excessive cutting down of trees in the forests to pave the way for housing development and farming also contributes to carbon dioxide increase. Trees absorb carbon dioxide from the air, so fewer trees mean more carbon dioxide left hanging about.

Agriculture also plays a major role in the increase of methane and nitrous oxide. Farm equipment and transportation used in agriculture are also powered by fossil fuels. Agricultural lime, fertilizers and food/fiber processing also release carbon dioxide in the air.

Carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide are three of the most notable greenhouse gases that pollute our atmosphere these days. And they have alarmingly increased over the past 250 years!