Climatic Effects
Earth's climate has fluctuated over the course of several billion years. During that span, species have arisen, gone extinct, and been supplanted by others. Humankind and our immediate ancestral species have survived the sometimes drastic fluctuations of the past several million years of our evolving climate quite handily. Although human beings and their ancestors have always changed the environment in which they have lived, human actions since the advent of the Industrial Revolution may be producing impacts that are not only local but also global inscope. Ever-growing fossil fuel use and other activities associated with industrialization have altered the concentrations of several atmospheric gases, including carbon dioxide. Theoretically, these alterations can cause alterations in the overall heat retention of Earth's atmosphere. Scientists around the world are engaged in studies to determine whether these changes in the atmosphere pose a risk of significant, negative environmental and human impacts.
Climate Change Theory
Climate change means different things to different people. To some, climate change refers to physical changes in climate and little more. To others, climate change is a theory of how certain gases in the atmosphere influence the climate. Still others focus on the human aspect, and consider climate change only in regard to the way human activity influences the climate.
This is a free page. This page contains 201 words. This
article contains 7,647 words (approx. 25 pages at 300
words per page).
Read the rest of this Article with our Climatic Effects Access Pass.
